Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls

These vegan Vietnamese fresh springs rolls make a perfect starter to most Asian dishes. They do take some time to prepare but its the sort of food that should be enjoyable to make when you have time. Do it with someone, music and a drink.

The ingredients listed make around 6 spring rolls depending on how much you fill them. If you've got veggies and sauce left over just put them together with some of the left over rice noodles the next day for a really quick and simple stir-fry.

Ingredients

1 carrot, grated and cut julienne 

1 mini kos lettuce, chopped 

1 large handful of beansprouts 

1/2 a cucumber, cut julienne 

4 spring onions, cut julienne

1 large handful of fresh mint, chopped 

6 sheets of rice papper

1 nest / portion of vermicelli rice noodles

Sauce 

2 tablespoons of peanut butter, crunchy of soft 

1 tablespoon of light soy sauce

1 tablespoon of sweet chili sauce 

1 tablespoon of maple syrup (if you want it even sweeter)

Juice of half a lime

1 inch piece of grated ginger

Method 

Step 1. Make the sauce.

Simply add the ingredients to a small bowl and mix. 

Step 2. Prepare the veggies.

Cut and chop so your ready to go.

Step 3. Cook the rice noodles.

Pour boiling water over the noodles and leave them to stand in the water for 3 minutes. Rinse off with cold water and leave to dry.

Step 4. Prepare the rice paper. 

Add hot water to a large flat pan so its around 1 inch deep. Soak 1 sheet of rice paper in the water for 30 seconds, remove from the pan and lay on a damp tea-towel on a flat surface. 

Step 5. Ready to Roll. 

Add some of the rice noodles to the top of the rice paper followed by some beansprouts, carrot, cucumber, spring onion and mint. Don't overfill or its tricky to roll. Roll a little, tuck the ends in then roll the rest of the way. Repeat for as many as you want.

Step 6. Serve. 

Dip the spring rolls in the sauce and enjoy!