Authentic Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls

Hello, all, I hope this post finds you all well.  Over the years, on few occasions, I have posted two posts on Vietnamese fresh spring rolls but none of them are purely authentic, therefore, with this post, I will have another dish to add to my blog's menu, and hopefully the contents of this post would have something useful to you and your families.

Ingredients:
-Cooked Shrimp sliced in halves (Size 21/25)1
-Cooked pork shoulder sliced thin with 2/3 inch in width 2.5 inches in length2
-Red leaf lettuce
-Various Vietnamese mints and herbs
-Bean Sprouts
-Chinese Chives
-Rice Paper Wraps (size 8.5 inch, preferably the Three Ladies Brand)
-Cooked Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli, preferably the Three Ladies Brand(Approx. 5.3 oz = 150 grams)3
-Pickled Carrot and Daikon4

***All vegetables should be spun and/or drain well after washing.

Ingredients For Dipping Sauce:
-1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
-1/2 cup of Hoisin Sauce (Lee Kum Kee Brand)
-1/4 cup of extra crunchy peanut butter
-1 cup of CoCo Rico (Natural Coconut Flavored Soda) or any other type of coconut juice that you can find.
-2 teaspoons of sugar
-1/4 teaspoons of tapioca flour
-1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
-Chili Paste (Rooster Garlic Chili Paste Brand)

Make The Dipping Sauce:
-In a mixing bowl combine and mix well all the ingredients together except the cooking oil and the chili paste.
-Place a small sauce pot on the stove, turn the heat on high, drizzle 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil into the pot, then add in minced garlic, use chopsticks to stir them well as you slightly brown the garlic. Next, pour in the hoisin mixture, bring to a boil. In 3-4 minutes the mixture will thicken and ready. Turn off the heat, pour the dipping sauce to small bowls, top them with hot chili paste and some pickled carrot and daikon4.

Wrapping The Vietnamese Spring Rolls:
-Moist the entire rice wrapper in warm water, place them flat on a clean cutting board, (preferably using the rice wrapper tray for better result)
-Place some lettuce, herbs, mints, bean sprouts, 3 shrimp halves, 2 – 3 slices of pork shoulder, a bit of Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli. First, carefully fold in the front side, then the two sides, place 4-5 inches long Chinese chives in the middle, then fold the bottom flap upwards and roll tightly.

--------------------------------------
Foot Notes:
1) How To Cook The Shrimps:
-Shell and devein the shrimps, place them in a small sauce pot, pour just enough water to cover the shrimps. Bring it to a boil, use a spatula to mix them around. When all the shrimp cook evenly then turn the heat off. Fish the cooked shrimps out, put them into an ice cold bowl of water with some freshly squeezed lemon juice right away. Drain them well 15 minutes later in a colander, then slice them in halves, put them aside till needed.
2) How To Cook The Pork Shoulder:
-Clean the pork shoulder well with a little salt under a running cold faucet water. In a hot pot of boiling water, place the pork shoulder in, lower the heat to medium so the pork shoulder will cook slowly. Use the meat thermometer to check the pork shoulder, to make sure you don’t overcook it. The thermometer should be registered at 160 F. Sliced into thin slice when the meat is completely cooled down.
3) How To Cook The Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli:
-In a medium pot, bring 5 cups of cold water to a boil, drizzle 3 teaspoons of Apple Cider Vinegar and add 1 teaspoon of salt into the pot. Place and submerge 150 grams (5.3 oz) of Dried Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli in the pot. Stir once or twice, wait for about 20 seconds when the water is back to boil, cover the lid tightly and turn off the heat.
-15 minutes later, pour the Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli into a colander, wash them well under the cold running water for 4-5 minutes. Let it drain well and put it aside till needed.
4) How To Make A Pickled Carrot and Daikon:
-Peel one or two carrots and daikon, wash well.
-Shredded them into thin strips with mandoline vegetable slicer, mix them well, sprinkle over them with a pinch of salt and a little of white sugar. Mix well and put it aside for 10 minutes. Next, use your hands to squeeze out the carrot and daikon juice, then place the carrot and daikon in a clean mason jar.
-Mix the pickled mixture with the following ratio depends on the amount of carrot and daikon you have that you can use the cup, bowl, or smaller measurement.
-3 sugar
-1 Apple Cider Vinegar
-6 Spring Water

**Mix them well together, pour the mixture into a mason jar. The pickled carrot and daikon can be eaten a few hours later. No need to make this in advance.

All greens and vegetable are ready and spun dried

cooked pork, cut into strips

shrimps

getting everything ready

this is the rice wrapper tray

use a cutting board instead if you do not have a rice wrapper tray, however, after 4, 5 times you might find a puddle of water right on top of the cutting board.  That is one the reason why the rice wrapper tray can be really handy, they are perforated, therefore, it helps a lot. 

the dipping sauce

The Vietnamese fresh spring rolls are an appetizer dish, easy-to-make, a delicious delicacy to bring to a party or snack at home. One thing you have to keep this mind and it's imperative that the Vietnamese fresh spring rolls have to be freshly made, consume within a day, do not store the left-over rolls in the fridge; the rice wrappers would be dry and unappetizing to eat if you do.  Now you can see why the word "fresh" comes into play in the name of the dish, right?  Bon appetit, everyone.