Vietnamese spring rolls for a special occasion

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postaday2016, spring rolls

One of our son’s favorite meals is the Vietnamese spring roll, as a pre-birthday celebration, I got into the kitchen this morning and whipped up a batch of about 60 spring rolls. He was so happy and boy, did he put a dent into the 60, we bought him an ice cream cake, but we never got that far, he got his favorite food and he didn’t want to know anything else.

The spring rolls aren’t hard to make, they’re just time consuming, wrapping the filling with rice crêpe papers and then frying them in peanut oil. The filling itself comes together fairly quickly; two finely diced onions, four minced cloves of garlic, 15 grams of reconstituted Chinese black mushrooms sliced, 60 grams of grated carrots, 50 grams of reconstituted rice bean threads, 250 grams of crab meat, 500 grams of ground pork, salt, pepper and a teaspoon of fish sauce and three beaten eggs to bind the filling. Once the rolls are fried, you serve them with lettuce and mint, dipping them in a Vietnamese dipping sauce called Nuac Man, 1/3 of fish sauce, 2/3 water, some minced garlic, grated carrot, a teaspoon of sugar, lemon juice and a dash of red pepper flake. The different flavors and textures all come together to make a singular taste which is almost addictive, they’re hard to stop eating once you start.

Our son was very happy, we have leftovers so we know he’s coming back very soon.

Nem or Vietnamese springrolls

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Asian, deep-frying, filling, postaday2013, spring rolls, Vietnamese

Today I made the Vietnamese spring rolls or at least half of them, the filling is all done and I still have at least enough for another thirty spring rolls. The filling is relatively easy to put together; it’s shredded carrots, ground pork, lump crabmeat, sliced black mushrooms, chopped onion, minced garlic, beaten egg, salt, pepper and rice threads. The tedious part is wrapping them in the rice wrappers. This time my hubby and my baby boy did the wrapping and they did a really nice job. I fried them in peanut oil and then the best part came; eating them. I love the difference in texture between the crispy spring roll and the lettuce and mint, it’s good to have your greens when you are eating deep fried food. I love the dipping sauce; a combination of fish sauce, minced garlic, water, sugar, red pepper flakes, and shredded carrot. The flavors are harmonious with the spring rolls, lettuce and mint, it overall effect is a symphony of exciting flavors in your mouth.

Tomorrow we will be having more of what is a great thing, yum yum.

More food and family

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cousins, dessert, eating, family dinners, family gatherings, food, postaday2012, spring rolls, swiss cheese, tomato salad, vietnamese spring rolls

By now you must be thinking that I have gone through all of my relatives and no, I haven’t just yet. Today we welcomed my cousin, her husband and their nine children, none of which are twins, at my Tantine’s house. She is the one who is my chauffeur’s mother and my mother’s sister, who is currently staying there as well. At 11:30 this morning my Tantine, Tonton, the baby girl and I got into Tantine’s car to help prepare for the arrival of two carloads of small human beings and their parents. We didn’t come empty-handed, my Tantine made a terrine of potatoes, tomato and zucchini with creme fraiche and swiss cheese, she also brought the roast beef, the bread and the apricot tart. Tantine L. at her house had made a tiramisu and a huge mushroom, avocado and tomato salad. She also spent all day Wednesday making Vietnamese spring rolls for all of us, for later today at dinner. The roast beef and the terrine were simply for lunch.

We sat down to eat, mind you we were 17 divided between two tables, at 12:30, we had the hors d’oeuvre of gratton on toast rounds, gratton is a type of pate, and cantaloupe. The salad was the appetizer, next came the roast beef and terrine, followed by cheese and salad and then the two desserts. My cousin Didier and Vivianne stopped by for dessert and left after coffee.

Since we were killing time until it was dinner time to get back to the business of eating, we played cards for a while and then went for a walk around the neighborhood. When we got back, it was time to sit back down and tackle the Vietnamese spring rolls, to be brief, there aren’t any left. We went through the spring rolls, the lettuce and the mint as if we hadn’t eaten just a few hours before. On top of that we finished what was left of the apricot tart and graduated to ice cream. I tell you it almost feels like I have entered in the French marathon of family dinners, I am not complaining, they are just too great to pass up. The food, the laughs and the conversation, it’s the best.