banh mi venice makes awesome fresh spring rolls with shrimp, rice noodle, bean sprouts, lettuce, and mint with hoisin almond butter dipping sauce. m thought we could do that at home and after months of asking me to make them, she took matters into her own hands, ordered the noodles and rice paper wrappers from amazon, and we bought all of the veggies today. she even made almond butter from scratch for the homemade hoisin sauce.
here are some other websites she consulted:
white on rice couple: pork and shrimp spring rolls
Pork and Shrimp Spring Rolls
Yield: Serves 3-4
Total Time: 45 min
Ingredients:
For the pork and shrimp spring rolls:
1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
about 1/2 pound (8 oz) boneless pork loin or shoulder
1 (8-10 oz) package dried rice vermicelli noodles or “rice sticks”, cooked to package instructions.
1 small head of lettuce
1 medium cucumber, cut into thin strips
fresh herbs: mint, asian basil. Vietnamese coriander, Vietnamese perilla or cilantro
about 12 (8-inch) rice paper wrappers or rice paper spring roll wrappers
For Hoisin Peanut dip:
1/4 cup hoisin ( If hoisin dip is too thick, add water to thin out the dip)
2 heaping tablespoons peanut butter, almond butter or cashew butter.
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Directions:
For the hoisin peanut dip: In medium bowl, combine all dip ingredients together. Use a fork to help blend well.
Cook the dried rice vermicelli noodles to package instructions.
For the rolls, start by preparing the pork. Bring medium pot of water to boil and add pork. Boil the pork on medium heat for about 15-25 minutes or until the pork is cooked. Remove from water, allow to cool and slice into thin strips.
For the shrimp, heat a medium pan, add vegetable oil. Lay shrimp on pan and sear on both sides till shrimp becomes pink and cooked. Remove shrimp from heat, allow to cool and slice each shrimp lengthwise in half.
Gather all your filling ingredients on plates: noodles, shrimp, pork, lettuce, cucumber, herbs and rice paper wrappers.
Please check out our photo tutorial on how to roll spring rolls and the photographs in the blog post to see how to roll with the sliced shrimp showing on the outside.
Add warm water to a large bowl. Quickly dip each rice paper wrapper in warm water for a few seconds and lay on rolling surface such as a cutting board or plate (they will still be slightly stiff).
Lay your lettuce first on the soft spring roll wrapper, then add the strips lettuce, herbs, cucumber, noodles and pork.
Roll spring roll till you have about 1/3 of rice paper left, then lay about 2-3 pieces of shrimp, cut side up in a row and finish rolling. The shrimp will lay on the outside of the spring roll when you are finished rolling.
Serve with the hoisin peanut dip.
minimalist: vietnamese spring rolls
Serves: 4 (8 spring rolls total)
Ingredients
Spring Rolls
1/2 cup each julienned carrots, red pepper and cucumber
1 bunch fresh cilantro
1 bunch fresh mint
4 ounces vermicelli or rice noodles (the thinner the better)
8-10 Rice Spring Roll Papers
Almond Butter Dipping Sauce
1/3 cup salted creamy almond butter
1 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce (GF if gluten free)
1-2 Tbsp brown sugar, agave or honey if not vegan (depending on preferred sweetness)
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp chili garlic sauce
Hot water to thin
Crispy Tofu
8 ounces extra firm tofu, drained and thoroughly dried/pressed
4 Tbsp sesame oil, divided
3 Tbsp cornstarch
2.5 Tbsp almond butter dipping sauce
1 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar or agave nectar
Instructions
Start by preparing rice noodles in boiling hot water for about 10 minutes (read instructions on package), then drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat and cut pressed tofu into small rectangles. Toss in 3 Tbsp cornstarch and flash fry in ~3 Tbsp sesame oil, flipping on all sides to ensure even browning – about 5 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.
Prep veggies and prepare almond butter sauce by adding all sauce ingredients except water to a small mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add enough hot water to thin until a pourable sauce is achieved. Adjust flavors as needed (I often add a little more chili garlic sauce and brown sugar).
To add more flavor to the tofu, transfer ~2.5 Tbsp of the sauce to a small bowl and add an additional Tablespoon each of soy sauce, sesame oil and brown sugar (or agave) and whisk to combine.
Add tofu back to the skillet over medium heat and add “sauce/glaze,” stirring to coat. Cook for several minutes or until all of the sauce is absorbed and the tofu looks glazed, stirring frequently (see photos). Set aside with prepared veggies and vermicelli noodles.
To assemble spring rolls, pour very hot water into a shallow dish or skillet and immerse rice paper to soften for about 10-15 seconds.
Transfer to a damp cutting board or damp towel and gently spread out edges into a circle. It may take a little practice, so don’t feel bad if your first few attempts are a fail!
To the bottom third of the wrapper add a small handful of vermicelli noodles and layer carrots, bell peppers, cucumber, fresh herbs and 2-3 pieces of tofu on top (see photo). Gently fold over once, tuck in edges, and continue rolling until seam is sealed.
Place seam-side down on a serving platter and cover with damp warm towel to keep fresh. Repeat until all fillings are used up – about 8-10 spring rolls total.
Serve with almond butter sauce and sriracha or hot sauce of choice. I like to mix mine and go dip happy.
Leftovers store well individually wrapped in plastic wrap, though best when fresh.
thekitchn’s peanut butter but use almonds:
How To Make Homemade Peanut Butter
Makes about 1 1/2 cups
What You Need
Ingredients
2 cups (16 ounces) raw, shelled peanuts (See Recipe Notes)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1-2 tablespoons peanut oil or other oil (optional, for creamier peanut butter)
1-2 tablespoons honey or other sweetener (optional, for sweeter peanut butter)
Optional Add-Ins: 1-2 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or other spice, handful of chocolate chips, a few spoonfuls of nutella
Equipment
Baking sheet
Food processor or blender
Spatula
Container with lid
Instructions
Roast the peanuts (optional): Heat the oven to 350°F and toast the peanuts on a baking sheet until lightly golden and glossy with oil, about 10 minutes. You can skip this step if you prefer raw nut butter or if you’re using pre-toasted nuts; roasting gives the peanut butter a deeper flavor and also helps make the oils looser and easier to blend into a smooth butter.
Pulse the peanuts until ground: Transfer the peanuts to a food processor or blender. If you toasted your nuts, do this while the nuts are still warm. Pulse a few times just until chopped.
→ For chunky peanut butter, remove 1/2 cup of chopped nuts and set aside.
Process for 1 minute: Run the food processor or blender continuously for 1 minute. Stop and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. At this point, the peanut butter will look gritty and dry, almost like couscous.
Process for 1 minute: Run the food processor or blender continuously for another minute, then stop and scrape down the sides. At this point, the butter will start clumping together. It’s not quite peanut butter, but it’s getting there!
Process for 1 minute: Run the food processor or blender continuously for another minute, then stop and scrape down the sides. At this point, the butter will be glossy and soft, like very thick peanut butter.
Add the salt, oil, sweetener, and any other extras: Sprinkle the salt, oil, sweetener, and any other extras over the top of the peanut butter.
Process for 1 to 2 additional minutes: Continue processing the butter until it becomes completely smooth. Homemade peanut butter will still be a little more gritty than Skippy peanut butter, but should be spreadable at this point. Taste and add more salt or other add-ins to taste. If you reserved some nuts for chunky peanut butter add them now and pulse a few times to incorporate.
Transfer the peanut butter to storage container: Scrape the peanut butter into a storage container, cover, and refrigerate. The peanut butter can be used immediately and will keep for several weeks in the fridge.
Recipe Notes
Using Toasted Nuts: You can also use nuts that come pre-roasted from the store. I still like to give even pre-toasted nuts a quick trip through the oven to warm them up and help the oils loosen up.
Other Kinds of Nuts: You can absolutely substitute any nut you like in this recipe. The method is exactly the same for making almond butter, pistachio butter, or any other kind of nut butter
Making More or Less Peanut Butter: You can use this technique with any amount of nuts. I find that I typically end up with about a half-cup less peanut butter than the amount of nuts I originally started with (for instance, 2 cups of peanuts makes about 1 1/2 cups of peanut butter).