Pork and Prawn Rice Paper Rolls
5-6 Servings
1:00 Prep
0:10 Cook
Easy – You’ve got this!
This recipe was created in collaboration with Fairfield City Council.
Tết Trung Thu (Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival) is a popular time of your in Vietnamese culture and typically falls in September or early October according to the lunar calendar. Similar to the Lunar New Year, it’s a time where Vietnamese families gather, rejoice and share a meal together.
Traditional pork and prawn rice paper rolls often feature. Tender slices of pork belly and sweet prawns rolled in rice paper sheets with fresh vegetables and fragrant Vietnamese herbs then dipped in a sweet and savoury hoisin and peanut dipping sauce.
Food plays an important role in celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival (Tết Trung Thu). Rice paper rolls have the ability to bring together several core values that are central to Vietnamese life: family, children, gratitude, and tradition.
As a result, pork and prawn rice paper rolls are often served DIY-style, allowing everyone - even kids! - to create their own culinary adventure. My top tip for celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival is to offer a wide variety of fillings and extras. This not only caters to different tastes but also gets the whole family engaged and excited.
Other rice paper roll options include:
· Vietnamese Beef Rice Paper Rolls
· Vietnamese Crispy Pork Rice Paper Rolls
If you are looking for the perfect recipe to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, look no further than these delicious and engaging pork and prawn rice paper rolls.
Ingredients:
Pork belly:
400g pork belly or pork fillet
1 small knob of ginger
3 shallots or 1 brown onion
1 tablespoon premium fish sauce
½ teaspoon anchovy salt
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1.5L water
Peanut & Hoisin Sauce:
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
4½ tablespoons peanut butter
2½ tablespoon sugar
150ml Water
Rice paper rolls:
400g cooked prawns, shelled, deveined and split in half
175-200g rice paper sheets
1 bunch Vietnamese/cos lettuce/gourmet leaves
2 Lebanese cucumbers, cut into 5-6 cm batons
1 bunch mint
1 bunch coriander
1 bunch Vietnamese perilla (optional)
1 bunch Vietnamese fish herb (optional)
1 bunch garlic chives (optional)
Method:
How to cook pork belly:
1. In a large pot, place pork belly with all ingredients and cover pork well with water. Bring to the boil, then simmer on low for 45 minutes covered. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 30 minutes. In the meantime, make Vietnamese dipping sauce and prepare the rice vermicelli noodles.
Duncan’s tip: If using pork fillet, simmer on low for 8 minutes then cover, remove from heat and allow to sit for 30 minutes.
2. Remove pork and allow to rest for 15 minutes before slicing into 1-1.5cm slices.
Peanut & hoisin sauce and rice vermicelli noodles:
1. In a small saucepan, add all peanut sauce ingredients and heat on medium until it bubbles. Stir well until well combined, use a stick blender if required. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
2. Bring a large pot of water with a tablespoon of salt to the boil then add thin rice vermicelli and boil on high for 7-8 mins then strain and pour into a large bowl of cold water. Portion out in small serving sized bundles immediately into a colander to prevent noodles from sticking together.
How to make rice paper rolls:
1. Dip rice paper sheet into cold water, coat evenly, shake off excess water and place on large plate. Add a piece of lettuce, some vermicelli noodles, cucumber, a selection of herbs, a few pieces of pork and prawns towards the bottom third of the rice paper sheet.
Duncan’s tip: Adding too many ingredients can increase the size of your rice paper roll making it difficult to consume.
2. With gentle but firm pressure, roll rice paper sheet over and away from you once then fold in both ends and roll until rice paper roll is sealed.
Duncan’s tip: Roll rice paper rolls with firm but gentle pressure, like cradling a bird you want to apply enough pressure that the bird doesn’t fly away but not too much pressure that you could hurt the bird.
3. Enjoy with warm hoisin and peanut dipping sauce.
