Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls

Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls are super quick to prepare! Packed with juicy prawns, vermicelli, crisp lettuce and fresh mint, they’re perfect as a light snack or healthy lunch. Pair them with our Peanut Hoisin Dipping Sauce – you won’t want to stop at one!

Why We Love This

We love rolling our own cold rolls with family – it’s so light and refreshing to enjoy on a warm summer night. It’s fun to lay out the table with platters of rice paper sheets, sliced prawns, vegetables and herbs, and get creative with our own rice paper rolls combinations. There’ll be hands flying everywhere to grab all their favourite ingredients, pop them onto rice paper sheets, and quickly roll them up to start eating!

In Vietnam, we found that rice paper rolls were usually sold by street vendors or at dedicated restaurants like our favourite in Nha Trang – Nem Nuong Dang Van Quyen. We especially loved the rice paper rolls filled with nem nuong (grilled pork sausage) and mountains of fresh herbs all ready to wrap into glorious rolls, then washed down with a beer or two.

What You’ll Need

• Rice Paper Wrappers – These often come in two sizes, so we usually buy the larger size wraps. Look for them in the international section of your local supermarket, head to an Asian grocery or buy them online.
• Vermicelli Noodles – Sometimes known as rice stick noodles, these are available in two versions: one made with rice and one made with mung bean thread. They are almost identical once cooked, so you can use either. Just like wrappers, you can possibly find these at your supermarket, otherwise the Asian grocery or online will be your best bet.
• Fresh Herbs / Greens – The most common are fresh mint (regular garden mint is totally fine), coriander/cilantro, and lettuce. You might also like to include some bean shoots for extra texture.
• Protein – Our local Vietnamese restaurants and eateries usually include fresh prawns and/or thinly sliced pork. At home, we’ll often make them with slices of BBQ chicken which makes for super quick prep!

How to Wrap Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls

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The trick with wrapping Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls is to start with the greens! To assemble your rolls:

1. Grab a rice paper disc and rotate it in the warm water until all surface areas have been covered.
2. Pop it on your plate and top with lettuce, mint and vermicelli on the edge closest to you, then pop the prawns about 2-3cm closer to the top edge.
3. Next, grab the bottom of the rice paper and fold it tightly over the greens.

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4. Tuck in both sides and continue rolling up the rest of the way.

That’s it! All that’s left is to dip it in your delicious peanut hoisin sauce and eat. Yum!

We’ve put together a quick video below to show you how to wrap your own rolls in seconds.

Best Rice Paper Rolls Dipping Sauce

We love to serve our Vietnamese Rice Paper rolls with this amazing 5 minute Peanut Hoisin Sauce. The mouth-watering combination of fresh rolls with creamy, nutty sauce simply bursts with flavour – so fair warning, you might want to grab the entire plate and run!

The sauce only takes minutes to prepare, so you can easily whip up a batch while the vermicelli noodles are soaking. That way everything is ready to eat as soon as the rolls are ready.

It’s up to you whether you choose to serve the sauce warm or cold. It’s delicious either way, so see what works best for you.

Depending on the amount of water you add – you can make the texture of the sauce super thick (so more sticks to the roll), or thin it out with more water for a smoother texture.

The sauce can also be made a day or two in advance if you’re making a large batch of rice paper rolls.

Wandercook’s Tips

• Use Lukewarm Water – This softens the paper quickly without them turning into mush.
• Be Quick – Dunk half the rice paper into the water and quickly rotate until the entire surface is covered. Don’t leave it in the water any longer than necessary, or they’ll become too sticky, flimsy and hard to work with.
• Sauce Inside the Rolls – We’ve never seen this done anywhere else! If you’re eating the rolls straight away, why not slather plenty of the sauce between the herb and prawn layers. This way you’ll have extra delicious flavour in every bite, without needing to dip! Try it with the original peanut hoisin sauce, nuoc mam cham or our homemade umami sauce.

FAQs

Variations

Rice Paper Rolls are perfect to eat any time of the day, but we usually have them for lunch, as a snack, or as a tasty entree before dinner.

While we love to make them with prawns, mint, lettuce and vermicelli, here are some more ingredient ideas for you to mix and match:

• Nem nuong (grilled pork sausage)
• Pork belly
• Chicken – make it even easier by using leftover BBQ chicken or roto chicken from the supermarket.
• Bean sprouts
• Cucumber – use a mandoline slicer for nice thin strips – not essential, but it’s easier than slicing.
• Carrot – same as above.
• Capsicum
• Cabbage
• Vietnamese mint
• Fresh coriander / cilantro

Want more delicious Vietnamese treats? Why not pair these fresh cold rolls with our tasty Vietnamese Sweet and Sour Fried Wontons (Hoanh Thanh Chien), and wash it all down with a refreshing Vietnamese Iced Coffee?

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