We took a cooking class at the Mia Resort in Nha Trang, Vietnam on our honeymoon and the first dish we made was traditional Vietnamese spring rolls. This post is a how-to on making them, as well as how to make them as an interactive appetizer for a party. We did this recently with our friends and it was a big hit!
We hadn’t realized the amount of work that goes into these – all veggies must be juilienned; noodles, shrimp and pork must be cooked; a sauce has to be prepared; peanuts have to be crushed and shallots have to be fried. We saw it all first hand, as the staff had the ingredients ready for us so that we could focus on the technique.
All the ingredients go onto the rice paper that has been softened by rubbing it with water.
The soft paper is folded around the filling then rolled.
Sean was a pro.
Before finishing the final roll of the paper, we put a green onion in as a garnish, then completed the roll by making one last fold.
Success!
Sean and I love to entertain and cook for our friends. We always have an appetizer of some kind like homemade guacamole or hummus. We wanted to share some of what we learned in our Vietnamese cooking class, so we decided to make spring rolls. We then thought it would be fun to have everyone make their own like we did. We prepped all the ingredients, having enough to for 8-10 people to make 2-4 rolls. 
It was a great time – our friends loved making them and experimenting with what ingredients they liked best. We served some Thai sweet chili dipping sauce alongside the rolls. We highly recommend engaging activities like this around food for parties.
Beautiful, right?
- 1/2 lb fresh rice noodles ( if dried ,re- constitute before use )
- 16-24 pcs rice paper , dried if available
- 1 lb carrot cut in julienne
- 1 lb cucumber cut in julienne
- 1 lb pork loin steam and cooled
- 16 pcs shrimp, cooked, cooled and sliced longways
- 1/3 cup fresh basil and cilantro chopped finely
- 1/2 cup fried shallot
- 1/3 cup gr chopped roasted peanuts
- 20 3-inch pieces of green onion for garnish (optional)
- Dip fingers into a small bowl of water and rub both sides of rice paper to soften so it can be rolled
- Add ingredients at one of end of the paper - begin with proteins, then vegetables, then noodles, then herbs and finished the small pile with shallots and peanuts. Don't add too much or you won't be able to roll it correctly.
- Fold the end of the ingredients so the it completely covers them. Fold the two sides over and then continue rolling.
- If adding green onion as garnish, place is into the roll before the final fold and leave 1 inch sticking out.