Fresh Spring Rolls
Published Dec. 21, 2023
- Total Time
- 1 hour 30 minutes
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
Advertisement
Ingredients
Yield:12 rolls
- Salt
- 18medium shrimp (about ½ pound), peeled and deveined
- 6ounces thin rice vermicelli noodles
- 12(8-inch) rice paper wrappers
- 2Persian or mini seedless cucumbers
- 12butter or Boston lettuce leaves
- 1large carrot
- 1½packed cups mixed fresh herb leaves, such as cilantro, mint, basil, shiso and/or dill
- ½cup store-bought or homemade fried shallots (optional)
- Nước chấm or peanut sauce, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
119 calories; 1 gram fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 23 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 5 grams protein; 229 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and make an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice and cold water. When the water is boiling, turn off the heat, add the shrimp and cook until opaque throughout, about 1 minute. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the shrimp to the ice bath.
- Step 2
Add the noodles to the hot water and let sit, with the heat off, until tender, 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the brand. While the noodles are soaking, halve the cucumbers crosswise, quarter lengthwise, then thinly slice into thin matchsticks. Remove the ribs from the lettuce leaves. Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the carrot until you have ¾ cup.
- Step 3
When the shrimp are cool enough to handle, pat dry; reserve the water bath. When the noodles are ready, drain and transfer them to the ice bath to cool. Place a shrimp on a cutting board on its side and press down with your non-dominant hand. Slice the shrimp in half lengthwise from head to tail and remove the black vein. Set aside and repeat with remaining shrimp.
- Step 4
When ready to assemble, drain and shake dry the noodles. Fill a large, deep dish or pie plate with a couple inches of warm water and gather all your ingredients at your work surface.
- Step 5
Working one at a time, submerge a rice paper wrapper in the warm water for 3 seconds; the wrapper will still be firm. Transfer to a work surface (avoid wood, which can dry out the wrapper). Pretend the wrapper is a clock face: fold the lettuce in half and place between 4 and 8 o’clock, leaving a 1-inch border on both sides. Top the lettuce with about 2 tablespoons of herbs, 1 tablespoon carrots, 4 pieces of cucumber, a pinch of fried shallots (if using) and about 3 tablespoons (1½ ounces) of noodles. Press the filling down to flatten. Grab the wrapper at 6 o’clock and pull it snugly over the filling. Roll tightly away from you once so the lettuce is facing up. As you roll, use your fingers to tuck the filling under the wrapper.
- Step 6
Fold in the short sides (3 and 9 o’clock) over the filling and press to seal (if this is proving difficult, you can leave one or both sides open). Place 3 slices of shrimp cut sides up on the wrapper between the fillings and top of the wrapper (12 o’clock). Continue rolling tightly until sealed. Transfer to a platter and repeat with the remaining wrappers, spacing the finished rolls apart so they don’t touch. When your water is cool, replace it with more warm water as needed. Serve with peanut sauce and/or nước chấm for dipping.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
George Gollin
I find that putting the rice paper wrapper (after moistening) on a damp dishtowel helps while filling and rolling: the wrapper stays put, even as I am rolling it around the filling. And adding lots of ground peanuts to the filling (even though there may be peanuts in the dipping sauce) makes for a tastier spring roll. Adding bean sprouts, but coarsely chopped, makes for a nice variety of textures too.
David G
There are many types of basil, and if you use Italian basil, which is all you will find in most supermarkets, it will be a bad choice. I tried it once, and never again. You can use Thai basil, which has a distinctive licorice/anise flavor or lemon basil in many Asian markets. Holy basil is very close to Thai basil, but I've never seen it in a grocery store. You might get lucky and find it at a garden plant sale.
Karen
I have been making a variation of these for years. I leave out the vermicelli, carrots and cucumbers and swap in avocado and mango along with the shrimp and herbs. Trader Joes sweet chili sauce is a great alternative for dipping.
Jennifer
They are, actually, not spring rolls. They are summer rolls.
Kay
Living in France in 1974, I worked in a small Vietnamese restaurant where my job was to make fresh spring rolls. This is similar to recipe but we did not use lettuce. The delicate carrot slivers, cucumber and herbs made them delicious. Dipping sauce next step!
Huong
Goi cuon is a southern Vietnamese dish. They should be eaten with nuoc mam pha, not nuoc cham which is a northern invention. By the way the emphasis is on crunchyness, sweet and sour so the vegetables should not be soggy. A bit of sour apple such as Granny Smith with cucumber and carrot should do.
Cathleen
My husband and I made these for a flower-themed dinner years ago. We layered in fresh organic pansies by adding another wrapper. They were so beautiful that our dinner group applauded. We served the rolls with from-scratch peanut sauce. We thought we had made way too many, but no, all were devoured.
Barbaraben
Thanks for including a link to the recipe for peanut sauce. I'm always guessing.
McMo
I skip the noodles, they don’t add anything for me, and we use tofu to keep everyone happy. Tofu, carrot, cucumber, Thai basil and cilantro, wrapped over a damp lint free towel , perfect. We dip in peanut sauce that has some spice .
Susan
I sometimes make spring rolls with langostino from Trader Joe’s.
Yvette
Add peanuts to the actual roll. Lay moistened paper in a damp towel while preparing with fillings.
jessieonbi
Having a shrimp allergy what do you think about substituting fresh (sea) scallops?
Gail Taylor
I’m allergic to shrimp and all nuts, but I’ve made this for many years with tofu, carrots and lettuce. For dipping I use plum sauce and sometimes thin it with rice vinegar. My guests always love these.
JoyM
I like the carrots better cut into matchsticks like the cucumbers. I found that grated carrots have an unpleasant texture.
Scott
Easy fresh and delicious, use local seafood
Helen
Made as directed. Nice crunch a texture but needs a bit more flavor. I will mix it up a bit next time
Florian
I feel like this could be written better. As it is currently written it looks so intimidating at first glance because it is so long, though could be appreciated by first timers in the kitchen since it is so nuanced. Really though, it’s quite a straight forward preparation and easy to improvise and play around with. Boil/grill(!) shrimp and devein. Gather herbs. Cook noodles as directed by package. Moisten rice paper and wrap firmly around ingredients. Bam!
Martha
I’ve made these summer rolls (spring rolls are deep fried and have totally different ingredients) many times. Last summer for our Saturday fun dinner I made a kind of deconstructed summer roll. All the filling ingredients plus bbq pork slivers and we all loaded up Boston lettuce leaves and smeared or dipped peanut sauce. Much less work and so delicious.
AS
I have been making these for years, but I love adding thin julienne carrots (salted for 10min, squeezed, and marinated slightly in vinegar sugar). Also, dropping tiny bit of black bean sauce on the soften rice wrap before assembling noodle veg meat/seafood also gives some depth!
Virginia
These rolls do not traditionally use basil or cilantro. Shiso, mint, heart leaf, Vietnamese coriander (rau răm), and chives. These could be found in an Asian market.
EW
Mine stuck to the platter which meant they were a torn mess to get off. Glad I tried it. Was a refreshing meal. But good grief.
cate
Brand and quality of fish sauce matters. The fewer the ingredients, the better. A fish sauce with just fish and salt is not diluted with water. The way to tell if a fish sauce is highly diluted is by the protein content. The higher the water content, the lower the protein content. The better quality fish sauces will be a clear brown color, contain 3 g - 4 g of protein with a very simple ingredients list. Red Boat is an example of a high-quality fish sauce.
Dean
Our family made this as a “build-your-own” meal. We loaded a platter w/all the insides & put a half inch of water in a couple of pie dishes so individuals could soak the rice paper & then make their ideal roll. Super fun!
Mary
I raise Thai basil in my AeroGarden and it's wonderful!!! Very different from Italian basil.
Jill Mercedes
Same for me as others mentionned: I also leave the vermicelli and lettue out by now, but like to do variations by adding avocado, carrot ribbons, red cabbage julienne, red bellpepper stripes, chili, lots of cilantro and fresh mint leaves and sometimes a few dropes of toasted sesame oil, even a teaspoon of guacamole and baba ganoush now and then for body made it to the heart of the rolls, which I like to double in ricepaper and serve along with a Nuoc Cham sauce for breakfast.
DJ
A nice addition, or even replacement for the shrimp, is baked tofu. I use a variety that comes from Trader Joe’s
LouiseS
This was excellent! I julienned the carrots and cucumbers on a mandolin so they were beautifully thin and even (like in the photo, which are clearly not box-grated carrots). Also, save yourself some time and buy a bag of frozen, already-cooked peel & eat shrimp.
Christine
With the amount of time that it took me to cut, assemble, and clean up I could’ve just ordered it from my local Thai restaurant. These tasted identical but it was messy. Save yourself some time (and money if you’re making it for just one or two) and order it from your local Thai restaurant (plus the peanut sauce will taste better - they add a little razzle dazzle that was missing from this peanut sauce recipe).
DJ
I find that most of the spring rolls that come from Thai restaurants are loaded – almost half full – with rice noodles. Personally, I don’t want that much empty calories in my food. I eliminate the inside rice noodles and instead fill it with more shredded lettuce. If you try the recipe a few times you will find you will develop your own better technique for rolling the rolls and they won’t be messy at all. I make them frequently, for just one person…
Monika Vail
The Shun knife yielding purists will crucify me but buy pre-cut matchstick carrots in a bag. I love using mint and more readily available. A few shakes of sesame oil and seasoned rice vinegar on noodles adds interest
joolz
Try doubling up on the rice paper. Easier to roll and adds a nice texture. We also skip the rice noodles and increase the vegetables. Swapping the shrimp out for a slice of perfectly ripe mango makes for a delicious vegetarian version.
Private notes are only visible to you.
Advertisement
