Vietnamese cuisine has a feel and a rhythm of its own. A sublime tone of delicious, delicate, calmly satisfying flavors, whether in their soothing Pho soup or these pretty rice paper wrap rolls. If you have tried rice paper wrap rolls before, chances are that someone else have pre-rolled the rice paper rolls for you. Ever thought of rolling your own?
After having taught by my Vietnamese friend’s mom on how to wrap my own rice paper rolls with the mouth-watering grilled lemongrass beef, I couldn’t stop thinking about them. During that time (in the 1990s), there wasn’t any Vietnamese restaurant in Malaysia yet. Years later on my first visit to a Vietnamese restaurant, I was so looking forward to making my own roll and was disappointed to have them served pre-rolled. After searching near and far, I have yet to come across a Vietnamese restaurant that serves rolls with lemongrass beef.
I’m so excited that rice papers are available in some supermarkets like Jusco and Tesco, and they are actually produced locally. If you’ve never wrapped with Vietnamese rice paper, don’t be daunted. Wrapping rice paper rolls is like making a spring roll or burrito and you don’t have to make it perfect.
Whether it’s dining with family or having friends over, rice paper roll DIY makes a fun social activity at the dining table. Place salad, beef, rice paper, and dipping sauce on the table. Prepare a few deep plates or large bowl deep enough to drip the rice paper in, filled them with hot water. Invite guests to dip the edge of the rice paper in the water and turn to wet evenly. Place the salad and beef and roll up like a spring roll.
Check out Viet World Kitchen very detailed explanation and description about wrapping rice paper rolls.
This post is submitted to Your Best Recipe of May 2012 hosted by Spicie Foodie.
- 300g [url href=”http://www.justasdelish.com/grilled-lemongrass-beef/” target=”_blank” title=”Grilled Lemongrass Beef”]Grilled Lemongrass Beef[/url]
- 12 Rice Paper Rounds
- 12 sprigs fresh Mint Leaves
- 1½ cups (120g) Bean Sprouts
- 1 large Carrot – Grated
- 12 sprigs fresh Sweet Basil (Daun Laksa/Kesum)
- 1 head Lettuce – leaf separated and tear of stiff spine
- [url href=”http://www.justasdelish.com/grilled-lemongrass-beef/” target=”_blank” title=”Grilled Lemongrass Beef”]Vietnamese Dipping Sauce[/url]
- Place grated carrots in a bowl of dipping sauce.
- Prepare a deep plate or large bowl deep enough to dip filled with hot water. Dip one rice paper round into bowl of warm water until soft (it takes a minute or two). It’s ready for wrapping and rolling when it’s pliable and slightly tacky – like a Post-it note.
- Place lettuce leaf horizontally on the edge of rice paper near to you. Top with 2-3 mint leaves, grated carrots, sprouts, basil and beef. Don’t over stuff or the roll may burst, just have a bit of each ingredient for the flavour.
- Fold in the two side flaps, and then roll the entire thing up. This is for close ended roll.
- Repeat Step 3 to make a total of 12 rolls.
- Serve with Dipping Sauce. [br][img src=”http://www.justasdelish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/RicePaperRolls3.jpg” width=”202″ height=”171″][img src=”http://www.justasdelish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/RicePaperRolls4.jpg” width=”202″ height=”171″] [br][img src=”http://www.justasdelish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/RicePaperRolls5.jpg” width=”202″ height=”171″][img src=”http://www.justasdelish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/RicePaperRolls7.jpg” width=”202″ height=”171″] [br][img src=”http://www.justasdelish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/RicePaperRolls8.jpg” width=”202″ height=”171″][img src=”http://www.justasdelish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/RicePaperRolls9.jpg” width=”202″ height=”171″]
Comments
24 responses to “Vietnamese Lemongrass Beef Rice Paper Rolls”
[…] Rice paper roll or Summer roll is a popular (and healthy) appetiser served in room temperature. Image by Shannon Lim of Justasdelish.com […]
EASY to making and DELICIOUS. I used beef mince, because the butcher i went to didn’t have any pork…enjoyed and will be making again!
Hi Dean, thanks for updating me and that recipe went well for you. This is one of my favourite recipes and just thinking about it gets me drooling at the middle of the night
I always love these rice paper wraps. So healthy and filling, and I like that you used lemongrass beef as an ingredient for the wraps. Nice savory dish. The best part is that even you are full, you don’t feel bad or stuffed. It’s always light meal that gives me great feeling after eating “a lot”. 🙂
I’ve been craving these rice paper rolls with lemongrass beef for a long long time, and finally I found some rice paper.. You are so right, this is indeed a guilt free meal 🙂
Hi Shannon,
Lola’s comment says, “Thanks for the recipe. I was waiting for it. Delicous.
Greetings or regards.”
Sorry for butting in, but I speak Spanish & thought I’d help:)
Thanks for your translation! That really helps! I used google translate but it gave me some strange translation 🙂
Vietnamese is one of my favorite cuisines. I love fresh spring rolls like this. Thanks for being a part of the YBR:)
thanks Nancy!
Wow, this looks absolutely delicious! What a healthy dish! I’ve never seen rice paper before, but I will definitely seek them out!
Thank you, yup it’s a healthy dish. You can look for the rice papers at Asian stores.
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I love rice paper rolls. They are so light and healthy! The filling sounds super delish.
Thank you! Yes, this rice paper rolls are light and healthy
I also prefer the DIY paper rolls. This encourages an interaction with the people you are eating with, plus it makes the meal more satisfying.
[…] Shannon, JustAsDelish, Vietnamese Lemongrass Beef Rice Paper Rolls […]
Love these things. One of our favorite Viet places makes them. Great post!
Thanks 2peasandapot! oh it’s great to have a restaurant that makes them. I still haven’t found one that serves with lemongrass beef..
These look absolutely delicious! Can they be prepared a few hours in advance?
thanks Kristen! you can keep rice paper rolls soft and chewy for several hours, covered in plastic wrap, at room temperature. If you refrigerate them, the rice paper hardens and becomes plastic-like. I like to set up a do-it-yourself situation and have people make their own at the table.
That’s great! Thanks for the tip about not putting them in the fridge; I probably would have done that 🙂
It has been ages since I last had some rice paper rolls. They look delicious and healthy indeed!
Thanks Angie! Hope you get to try them again. Are rice paper rolls available in Germany?
¡Gracias por la receta! La estaba esperando. Que rica
aludos!!!
Thanks Lola! I use google to translate your comment but the last sentence don’t make sense 🙂 Hope you get to try this recipe and update me how the recipe turn out for you. Buen fin de semana!