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Last night on my way home I stopped at a Vietnamese restaurant where I used to eat pho. I stopped eating there because of the tiny portions (see my post about it by clicking this link: ….Pho….
Knowing that I would be disappointed by the skimpy pho, I placed my hope into an order of summer rolls…….
Well, the same crappy principle as with the pho (a ton of stock, a tiny amount of anything else); only this time, there was a ton of wrapper (2 per roll !) and just a tiny bit of filling. I could have kicked myself for not following my own previous advise to avoid this place.
So, what’s an old cook to do? Well of course, make my own version of rice paper rolls 🙂
Mind you, these are NOT Vietnamese summer rolls! And, because of their plumpness, rather than eating them by hand, I suggest you use a fork in order to have a less messy encounter with these babies. 🙂
However, these rolls consist of the exact amount and ratio of ingredients I craved when I ordered the rolls in the restaurant and was so badly disappointed:
A small amount of wrapper, LOT’S of noodles and shrimp, and NOT drowned in fish sauce and basil. Ahhhh, the good life ! 🙂
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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P.S.
If you prefer the more traditional skinny shape, just arrange the filling accordingly.
P.P.S.
I am still hoping to find a decent Vietnamese restaurant around here 🙂
>Hans’ Peanut Sauce
This recipe may not be the most authentic, but it’s really, really good.
Serve it as a dipping sauce, over hot or cold noodles or as a salad dressing.
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 4 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons chili paste
- ½ teaspoon garlic paste
- 1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Whisk all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Store covered in the refrigerator until ready to use. Whisk again before serving.
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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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- slice 1 lb medium size cooked shrimp in halves
- soak 8 oz rice sticks in hot water until soft, drain, mix with the shrimp (reserve 12 halves for garnish, 2 inside the rool and one on top), fine julienne of 1/4 red pepper and 1/4 yellow pepper, fine julienne of 1/4 red onion and 3 ea finely sliced basil leaves, dress with rice vinegar, fish sauce, chili pepper, kosher salt and sesame oil to taste
- prepare the peanut sauce according to the recipe on this page
- the good stuff……
- rice peper sheets
- soak 1 sheet at the time in warm water until pliable
- remove to a work surface
- add a bit if peppers, cucumber and two half shrimp
- top with the salad
- fold both sides over the top, then roll tight
- recipe will produce 4 “fat” rolls or 8 thin rolls; serves 2
- Shrimp And Rice Stick Pillows With Peanut Sauce And Sweet Chili Sauce
- Shrimp And Rice Stick Pillows With Peanut Sauce And Sweet Chili Sauce
- Shrimp And Rice Stick Pillows With Peanut Sauce And Sweet Chili Sauce
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