Live Elle: vietnamese

Vietnamese Shrimp Spring Rolls w/ Homemade Peanut Sauce

I recently met up with an old friend and went to eat Vietnamese at a cute new place that opened up in our town - I had never eaten this cuisine before so quite frankly, I wasn't too sure as what to expect. We started by ordering the shrimp spring rolls (which was the first thing that caught my eye on the menu) and went for a curry dish as a main. Safe to say that with the food, a bottle of wine and good company that the whole dining experience was divine. The shrimp spring rolls that we ordered were so amazing that I wanted them again the next day - - can I just say: where has peanut sauce been all my life? OMG. prawns + peanut sauce = is on a whole new other level. This is what led me to get inspired to make my own. As much as there is a pleasure of eating out it's not always money friendly. I love shrimps, so even more this dish was perfect but I know that not every one shares the same opinion so don't fret because the protein can substituted with ANYTHING of your choice or just stick to veggies and get your protein fix from the peanut sauce. When I found out how easy this dish was to recreate at home I jumped to the occasion, the ingredients are still quite minimal so I stick to my cooking with ease approach! It is SO simple and again time efficient, this is further proof - that you can eat healthy without having to spend hours in the kitchen. This on a whole took me 10/15 mins max from start to finish - the dishes might be included in that time lapse. WIN.

It seems like something I would enjoy mostly in the summer months when you want your food to be fresh and cold when there's a heatwave outside but nonetheless even for a lunch or as a starter like we had ordered it .. I can assure you that your soul & your bellies will thank you once you consume these. I went all out and decided to make my peanut sauce from scratch, as well as cook my own shrimps, but if you're in a hurry or don't feel like prepping your own, I am sure you can find store bought and ready. I always recommend whenever possible to make your own as YOU know what you put inside and can 100% guarantee that it is with pure, clean ingredients but let's be honest, there are days where we simply don't have time for it and it's perfectly okay.

INGREDIENTS:

For the Spring Rolls

- X1 Pack of Raw Shrimps (or cooked)

- x1/2 pack of Rice Wraps

-x1/2 Cucumber (Julienne)

- x2 Carrots (Julienne)

For the Peanut Sauce

- x2tbsp of Peanut butter

- x1 tbsp Soy sauce

-x1tsp Ginger powder

-1/2tsp of Chilli powder

-Water

(depends on the consistency of your dip)

HOMEMADE PEANUT SAUCE: In a blender just whizz up all the ingredients together - depending on the consistency of your dip, add as much or little of water as you like - just keep in mind the more you add the more runny it will be so perhaps start by adding a little each time, and add in more as you go along.

HOW TO :

This part is completely optional I decided to use raw prawns and cook them before starting my spring rolls. This step is super fast as shrimps don't take long to cook - I added x1tsp of butter to the pan to infuse with the shrimps.

The reason why I love cooking my shrimps from scratch, is so that it gives them more of a fresh flavour in the spring rolls, with the butter & parsley taste which I just love - French twist on a Vietnamese dish it seems.

Your prawns will be done once they turn pink in colour. You don't want to over cook them as they will become rubbery. Just as long as they cook thoroughly, honestly it takes about a minute on each side.

DISCLAIMER: I am using a pan here, but do NOT put the fire on. It's the only thing wide enough for my rice wraps to fit into, if you have a deep bowl which is with the perfect width then go ahead and use that. We are dipping them in cold water only.

You want to allow them to soak half a second on each side. Don't over soak them - just eye ball it even if they come out slightly stiff after half a second they will soften whilst you adding the ingredients so don't worry.

Now's the fun part: Making the spring rolls. You can barely see the sheets on the plate as they have gone transparent. I have aligned two on top of each other to make sure that they don't break and to support the toppings.

Add your first layer of carrot strips, cucumber and shrimp in a line in the centre. You don't want to over bombard it so that it's easy to roll. I took a small handful of each ingredient.

Start by closing off the sides first - depending on the length you want your spring roll to have, don't envelope them to close to the middle.

Then take your sheet from one side and slowly start rolling it firmly holding the ingredients tightly together.

and that is it! trust me.. it's not science. It's the easiest thing. you're going to want to make more than one trust me on this. You can even roll some ahead of time to have for lunch the next day.