Let’s face it, who doesn’t like a fresh spring roll? Some might know these delicious snacks as summer rolls – they are the ones that are packed with vegetables and smooth noodles.
Now, when you think of fresh spring rolls, you’ll probably be thinking to yourself – “ah, but I’ll need to go and get take-out, won’t I?”.
Luckily, no! These amazing spring rolls are actually really simple to make from the comfort of your own kitchen. In fact, once you make one batch, you’ll be questioning why on earth you didn’t make them before!
One of the best things about making your own fresh spring rolls is the fact that you can make them to your own specifications.
Maybe you need them to be gluten free, vegan, etc. or maybe you just want to add your own vegetables in them!
Don’t panic though, we’ll show you how you can do this, so no need to start scouring the internet. If you’re looking to make these amazing rolls at home – read on and learn much more.
What Are The Key Ingredients For Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls?
Before you get started, you will need to know what ingredients are going to go into these delicious rolls. We’ve got all the ingredients that you need to know about listed below:
Rice Papers
There’s no use in having a spring roll that falls apart in your hand, so you will need to use something to keep everything together.
This is where rice papers come into play. You can find either square or round versions, but the round ones are typically much better.
Vermicelli Noodles
When it comes to noodles, you will have a huge abundance of choice and variety to look through. However, vermicelli noodles are by far the best choice for these spring rolls.
They’re one of the thinnest types you can buy, so they slide in perfectly to this recipe.
Pickled Carrots
Any pickled vegetable that you choose to include in your spring rolls will allow them to burst with flavor and improve the aroma too. However, pickled carrots are likely your best option here.
They’re pretty cheap to buy or even grow your own and they do not take long to pickle in your own kitchen, so if you want the best choice for a pickled vegetable – pickled carrots are your go-to option.
Cucumber
Cucumber is a favorite to include with spring rolls because it adds a little more crunch to the rolls, but also contains plenty of vitamins and minerals.
Not only this, as they are easy to chop and prepare – it makes them ideal for a quick recipe.
In addition to this, cucumber is filled with water, which can help the moisture and consistency of the spring rolls as a whole.
Purple Cabbage
Purple cabbage adds not only flavor and aroma to your spring rolls, but it also changes the color within the rolls!
Therefore, you can add a healthy dose of this beautiful vegetable for your health, but also improve the color and smell of the rolls!
Gem Lettuce
Gem lettuce is one of the softest types of lettuce out there, and it makes it an ideal choice for spring rolls within the wrap.
This is not only because of its health benefits, but also because the lettuce helps to keep together all the other ingredients.
Try to avoid using lettuce like Romaine lettuce because you will find it much too crunchy and hard.
This will only ruin your overall dining experience and detract from the other flavors and aromas that you should be enjoying.
How Exactly Do You Make Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls?
At this point, your mouth will be watering and you’ll likely be wondering to yourself – okay, so how do I make these gorgeous spring rolls?!
Well, we’ve got that covered too. Below, you will find a step by step guide on how to make your very own Vietnamese fresh spring rolls!
Source Your Ingredients
Of course, you can’t make great spring rolls without having the ingredients to make your spring rolls now, can you?
So, the first thing you will want to do is to source your ingredients. For the best possible results, it’s a good idea to try to find a store that sells fresh ingredients. Preferably, you will have an Asian food store nearby.
If not, you can source similar ingredients in most grocery stores, find your ingredients online or better still – grow your own!
However, it’s important to remember that if you are going to find your ingredients online, you should be mindful of the ingredients that are being used within each item. This is especially important if you have any specific allergies.
Start Making Your Spring Rolls
It’s quite a simple, quick and easy process to make these spring rolls. To begin, you will want to make your rice papers wet using a bowl filled with warm water (not boiling water though).
Then, you will use your fingers to push this down onto a plate.
Next, you will add all of your other ingredients from the right to the center of the rice paper, and while the plate is facing you, start folding the left side over and press it down, and then repeat this process to the right side.
Now, flip the plate so the unfolded side is facing towards you and then pull the wrapper over these ingredients. Imagine you are making a burrito and push down the roll and begin rolling it towards you.
And that is quite simply it! Now, it’s important to note that if you’ve just tried this and you’ve got ingredients all over the counter – don’t panic! This is a bit of a skill, so it will take you multiple goes to get this right.
Remember to continue practicing until you get the method just right!
Handy Tips For Perfect Spring Rolls
Of course, you will want to know all the tricks of the trade, and we’re here to help you with some handy tips that you can use to improve your chances of making some amazing spring rolls.
Warm Water Is Perfect
Always remember to dampen your rice papers in warm water before you start. This will help to soften the wrappers and make the rolling process later much more simple for you.
It’s important to remember not to use boiling water at this point. The wrapper’s consistency might change a little too much and you might end up with the opposite effect to what you’re actually looking for.
Vermicelli Noodles Are The Best
As there are so many different noodles that you could possibly choose, it can be a little confusing – but trust us when we say that vermicelli noodles are by far the best option here.
They’re incredibly soft and the perfect size for this dish!
Vary The Textures
If you want some spring rolls with a mixture of soft and crunchy textures, then one of the best things you can do is to cut up the vegetables into different sizes.
Try not to make them too large, but chop and change them as you go along.
For example, you could chop the cucumber into small pieces, but have larger cabbage or vice versa. This will make the textures incredibly varied and you’ll enjoy a different texture with every bite!
Save Time
If you want to save some time making these spring rolls, you could prepare the wrappers before you head out and store them in the refrigerator. You could also prepare your vegetables by chopping them and storing them.
One of the best ways you can do this is before you head to work, prepare these wrappers for when you come home – and then you can go right into finishing up and eat your meal!
Add Your Own Protein
Protein is critical as part of a healthy and balanced diet, so you will need to make sure that you’re adding your own protein source. If you are looking to make a vegan dish, then you could choose tofu.
However, non vegetarian and non vegan spring rolls can also be made. It’s just a case of personal preference and whatever you feel might go well with the rolls!
Frequently Asked Questions
It might come as little surprise that many people have some frequently asked questions when it comes to these amazing spring rolls. We’ve got the most common questions below with our answers.
Can I Keep Spring Rolls Refrigerated?
You can, but the length of time that you refrigerate a finished spring roll for will depend on the ingredients that you have used. For clarification, you should refer yourself to ingredient packaging.
If you have grown your own ingredients, then we would urge caution for storage. Try to use your ingredients and eat them as soon as you can.
Are Spring Rolls Healthy?
Of course this will depend on what ingredients you have used, but generally speaking yes! They are low calorie, packed with vitamins and minerals and highly nutritious.
However, you will need to add some protein for a very well balanced dish.
Just be careful with the serving size and how much of each ingredient you include within the spring rolls.
What Is A Summer Roll?
A summer roll is a spring roll, it’s just a different name that is used to describe them! Don’t panic if you are trying to find ingredients and you can only find ones labeled with “summer roll”.
When Should I Eat Spring Rolls?
These delicious spring rolls can be enjoyed at any time of the day, and of course you can adjust the ingredients and serving size accordingly.
However, the best choice will be a lunch dish – perhaps something that you take to work or school.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to Asian dishes, some of the most popular of them are Vietnamese spring rolls – and when you’ve tried and tested them yourself, it’s easy to understand why.
We hope this guide has helped you to make your own!
Hi, my name is Justin Roberts and I like to live by one major rule in life – health is wealth. And where does all health stem from? The food choices we make.
I grew up in a not-so-wealthy household that often struggled to get food on the table.
The food we did eat was cheap, holding no nutritional value at all. I’m talking frozen foods, carbs, fats, and very little fresh produce.
I am fortunate enough to have made a life for myself where the money for food is no longer an issue, and I have spent the majority of it looking into healthy foods and different diets to try.
The most notable is keto and paleo. I am also interested in only using whole foods wherever possible – call it trauma!
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