Gordon Ramsay's "Vietnamese fresh spring rolls" sugar free Umpa?
In my opinion, the Nem cuon mua xuan, or fresh spring roll, sums up Vietnamese food: fresh, healthy,
textural and balanced in flavour. On my travels I discovered that Vietnamese chefs can study for
months learning how to make these rolls, being taught the different filling and dipping sauce
combinations. Like many dishes in Vietnam, the ingredients in spring rolls vary from region to region
and throughout the seasons. The chefs that I worked with in Hanoi described these as ‘summer
spring rolls’. On my last night in Vietnam I served these spring rolls as the first of seven courses. They
work perfectly as an appetiser and look pretty impressive, too. For the best results you need to use
the freshest ingredients. For extra crunch I have used baby gem lettuce, however, follow your palate
to chop and change the ingredients in the rolls, such as using crab instead of the prawns, changing
the pork for mushrooms or, if you don’t like rice noodles, add more lettuce and cucumber. The hoisin
peanut dipping sauce is one of the most commonly served accompaniments to these rolls.
MAKES 12
PORK
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp Chinese five-spice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
300g pork tenderloin
fillet, sinew removed and finely sliced
vegetable oil, for frying
DRESSING
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp caster sugar
SPRING ROLL
1 baby gem lettuce,
washed, core removed and shredded
handful of coriander leaves, torn
12 sheets of rice paper,
16cm in diameter
small handful of Thai basil, picked
small handful of saw leaf or mint leaves, picked
small handful of coriander leaves, picked
200g cooked rice
vermicelli noodles
12 chive flowers
12 cooked prawns,
peeled, de-veined and cut in half lengthways
DIPPING SAUCE
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
1 red Thai chilli, finely chopped
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
4–6 tbsp coconut milk
1 tbsp tamarind paste
100–150ml water
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
For the pork, mix together the sesame oil, five-spice and salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the pork
strips and toss together to coat. Heat a little vegetable oil in a frying pan and stir-fry the pork strips for
2–3 minutes, until cooked through. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
To make the dressing, whisk together all the ingredients in a large bowl to combine. Add the shredded
baby gem and coriander leaves and coat well in the dressing.
Fill a large bowl with warm water and, one at a time, quickly dip in each sheet of rice paper, passing
them through but not soaking them. Drain them flat on a clean, damp cloth. Do not over-soak or they
will fall apart and tear when being rolled.
To make the dipping sauce, gently fry the garlic and chilli in a little oil in a frying pan for 2 minutes until
softened. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 6–8 minutes until reduced by half, adding
extra water if needed to loosen the sauce.
To make the rolls, lay all your ingredients in an assembly line. Take one rice paper sheet and lay it flat
on a clean surface. Place the herbs on top and gently create a small pile of rice noodles on top (the
pile should be long and narrow). Fold over two sides of the rice paper to enclose the filling and roll
over once. Place the chive flower alongside the rolled up section. Take one strip of pork and two
halves of prawn and lay them neatly alongside the chive flower – they should be positioned tightly
against the roll. Slowly roll once again. Tuck the edge of the rice paper into the filling. To seal the roll,
lightly brush the rice paper with warm water. (Make sure the filling is compact.) The prawn and spring
onion should be visible through the rice paper. Repeat the process with the remaining sheets of rice
paper. Cover with cling film to stop the rolls drying out. Serve with the dipping sauce.
