Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls

Made this beautiful dish to bring over for the weekly family dinner. I don't think the in laws are used to eating something so 'out of the ordinary' (to them anyway), but I was glad to see my mil actually enjoying it and it goes to show that she's more adventurous than I give her credit for. My fil on the other hand who was having a cold kept on saying he didn't want to eat it cos it was 'cold'. He actually thought it came from the fridge. Kept on insisting it was cold even before he tried it. But at least he did try a bite. I think they weren't so used to eating Thai basil because of the strong flavour and fragrance. Mil seemed to enjoy it, but not so much sil. What's important is my darling hubby telling me that it was delicious and that's all I needed to hear :)

I bought the prawns at Pasar that morning and boiled it myself. It was soo good and sweet. The other fillings included marinated pork, thai basil leaves, vermicelli and curly lettuce. I cut the spring rolls in half so that it wouldn't be so daunting to everyone. This is a great dish for entertaining, cheap, easy and you can make the rolls and the dipping sauce it in advance!

Step by Step for beginners:

Prepa. ration:

1. Get your prawns and just drop them in boiling water till they change colour. Once they change colour, take them out and soak in cold water or just run the tap over them to stop them cooking and cool them down. Then peel the prawns and if you wish, half them so you can make them go a long way, meaning 1 roll will only use 1 prawn rather than 2. But if you're generous and u can't be bothered then just leave it whole.

2. Boil some water in another pan. While that's happening, wash your lettuce leaves (curly lettuce is prettier) and if using, thai basil leaves, spin dry or towel dry.

3. Get some rice vermicelli. If you use fresh ones then you only need to dunk them in some hot water. You can even use the same water you boiled your prawns in, this cuts a step and saves reboiling water. Fresh ones only need a few seconds, dried vermicelli will take a few minutes. Remove from the water and run tap water over it to stop it cooking and set aside.

4. Once the water in the other pan is boiled, turn off the heat and get your wrapper. Dunk it in the hot water while rotating it. You don't need to dunk it till soft, just till it's wet and lay it on a plate or cutting board. The water will actually absorb into the wrapper and soften it, that's why you don't have to dunk it till it's limp and soft.

5. Then get the prawns and lay them on the wrapper. Lay them down towards the other end of the wrapper away from you. If you've halved the prawns then make sure you put the stripes or orange side down. Then lay your lettuce leaves beside the prawns closer to you and put the basil leaves on top and some rice vermicelli. Then fold the sides towards the middle and then roll the skin away from you making sure it's tight and there you have it!

To make peanut dipping sauce, add equal amounts of peanut butter and hoisin sauce and mix well.

To make the vinegar dipping sauce, pound some garlic and chilli, transfer to a jar with a lid and add sugar, water, vinegar/lemon and fish sauce and shake till thoroughly mixed. Taste and adjust.