Healthy and fresh with a sweet, zingy sauce. Great as an appetizer or snack, and you can easily make them at home.
I have an obsession with fresh shrimp spring rolls because they are so fun to eat! It’s as if you are eating a wrap of the most amazing, well-balanced salad ever. You get veggies, protein, carbs and a ton of flavor from the herbs in each bite. Yum.
I order them every time I go out for Vietnamese food, so I knew I had to learn to make them at home to help save some money. They are super quick and easy to make and they double as an appetizer or a snack.
The freshness from the veggies and herbs, paired with the sweet, salty, spicy, citrusy dipping sauce really opens up your stomach and gets you ready for your meal. If you know me, you know I love spicy. I made my dipping sauce a bit spicier than a lot of the ones that you would find. I used two Thai chilies in my sauce, so I recommend starting with one chili and working your way up.
Fresh Shrimp Spring Rolls with Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 sheets rice paper
- 8 ounces rice vermicelli
- ½ pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 small head of red-leaf lettuce
- 1 bunch mint
- 1 bunch Thai basil
- 2 Thai chilies, chopped (include the seeds)
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2½ tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 cup warm water
Instructions
- The dipping sauce. Combine the fish sauce, warm water, Thai chilies, garlic, lime juice and sugar in a small bowl. Mix thoroughly until the sugar is fully dissolved and set aside.
- Step 1. Boil the shrimp in a small pot for 3-5 minutes until they turn pink. Remove the shrimp from the pot. Pat dry and wait for them to cool to room temperature before cutting into halves.
- Step 2. Soak the vermicelli in a large bowl of warm water for 3-4 minutes until softened, then drain off all the water.
- Step 3. Tear off the mint and Thai basil leaves from the stems until you have about one cup of each herb.
- Step 4. Tear off eight leaves from the lettuce and cut them in half length-wise.
- Step 5. Prepare a large bowl of water for the rice papers.
- Step 6. Time to assemble. Take a sheet of the rice paper and quickly dip it into the bowl of water so that the entire sheet is hydrated. Place the rice paper onto a flat surface. Start by placing three halves of the shrimp onto the rice paper, with the cut side facing up. Place two pieces of lettuce on top of the shrimp. Add in a couple of mint and Thai basil leaves. Take a small bundle of the vermicelli and place on top of the herbs. Roll it all up as if you are rolling a burrito. Make sure it is rolled tightly, but careful not to break the rice paper. Enjoy them with the dipping sauce.
Notes
- For the dipping sauce, start with one Thai chili and adjust the spice level from there.
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