Vietnamese spring rolls - cold, the non-fried kind

The glass noodles, shrimps, mint and that wrap they are in (what is it?)...looove them
I can not get enough of these babies, they are just so yummy...so i was wondering if anyone out there has made these and can share with me some of the ingredients and recipies
Thank you much!!

Shaggy and Nisha should be able to give you some tips. They made very similar, very yummy ones for the Cook & Dine evening.

Simple.
You just need to get some rice paper wrappers. All asian supermarkets sell them. They are hard, so you brush both sides with a bit of water, and they become pliable a couple of minutes later. They dry out pretty quick too, so you wanna stack them on a plate, sprinkle with a few more drops of water, and clingfilm the plate up to keep them moist.

Then you just have to fill them with what you want - glass noodles, mint, dried shrimp, crushed peanut, julienne vegetables like carrot and spring onion, and the ubiquitous beansprouts. For the noodles, try and get mung bean vermicelli.

You can also make them up, deep fry them, then wrap each one in a lettuce leaf. Vietnamese love to wrap shit up in lettuce.

There are millions of these types of thang all across asia, the best being poh piah (sorry about spelling) that I used to eat in Singapore by the dozen.

For a vietnamese styley dipping sauce for your spring rolls, mix 2 spoons water, 2 spoons fish sauce (vietnamese fish sauce is stronger and fishier than thai nam pla BTW) 2 spoons chopped coriander, a bit of chooped red chilli, and a teaspoon of soft brown sugar.

@Don Riina

Your the best! I love these things as well, but never knew how to make the dip. Yummy!

When I make them I dip the rice paper in boiling water rather than cold water because cold water makes them slippery and difficult to work with while hot water makes them tacky and sticky--the rolls seal easier and I find are much easier to make.

I like my spring rolls filled with rice vermicelli, carrots, fresh shrimp, bean sprouts (just a few per roll), a little butter lettuce, mint, basil and cilantro. Yum.

For Nuoc Cham (dipping sauce) I use crushed dried chiles, minced garlic, Vietnamese fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. Sometimes I float a few torn cilantro leaves on top. I've never heard of adding water to Nuoc Cham...not sure what the point of diluting the flavors would be.

Thanks for the warning

THANK YOU guys for all the suggestions, so detailed! great! going to give it a try the next few days..

I LOVE these as well - knew a Vietnamese dude back in California whose mother would literally make hundreds of these for any party we had, with all the right sauces to dip in as well, and it was love at first sight/taste.

Does anyone know where one can get these out at a restaurant here in Munich? Seems like they only have the darn fried kinds here, which I'm not all too excited about.

Oh, eriiki tubbs, you are in luck. I know an amazing Vietnamese restaurant that does the spring rolls as well as hundreds of other delicacies...definitely the only authentic Vietnamese I've found in Munich so far.

Cam Ly
Pfeuferstr. 33

I always order delivery from there (and I will warn others that delivery can be very slow) but I've heard the restaurant is really nice (one of my neighbors works there). In addition to the spring rolls, I can highly recommend the Bun Cha Nem and the Pho.

@Saan
I was just about to post about CamLy, too. For us it's very convenient since it's very close to where we live and the food is really excellent - please be sure to tell your friend - but the service is really slooooow.

The first time we went we couldn't understand why it was taking so long, there was hardly anyone else in the restaurant... then it dawned on us that they were busy with the delivery orders! Needless to say, now we order by phone and go to pick up the food. It's a pity, though, I would still like to go there occasionally.

I LOVE PHO!! YUMMY! I'll go & try the restaurant then!

Edit: Just checked the link you gave. The tagline reads Chinese to me Will check it out anyway.

Well I have no idea if the ownership is actually Vietnamese but I promise the food is good. I love the big bowl of herbs and things they give you to put in your Pho or on the Bun Cha Nem...this restaurant doesn't just use the regular basil, cilantro and mint but also a bunch of crazy plants I've never heard of...it was a lot of fun to try all the new flavors.

@Don riina

When i was a child i hate those poh piah but later on i dont mind eating if those hawker vendor could add more eggs as substitute LOL

Okay back to the topic, I have created a few times and mint leaves is a must (interesting taste) and for the dipping sauce i would add either hoisin sauce or just a little of sweet soy sauce into Don's recipe (except brown sugar. It will be a more thicker sauce and not forgetting to put those chopped peanuts into the dipping as well

@Don Rinna---Do you happen to have poh piah recipe?
If not i have it.

Last but not least this Teng's restaurant is pissing me off since there have been so many negative comment about it. In near future i will visit them to see if it is crap or not.

The main reason I like popiah is the sweet soy. I think that stuff tastes heavenly.
C'mon then andy101, post your popiah recipe, and I do hope it includes dried shrimp.

Where do you guys find dried shrimps (hae-be) in this city/country?? (I get my supply from home & it's costly ) And ikan bilis. Or, is there an Indonesian/Baba shop?? (trying my luck ) If not, is there a demand for one??

Well, I personally think that ikan bilis is pure evil and not fit for human consumption , but dried shrimps are nice, and can be bought at any asian supermarket in munich, and are cheap. I'm going out to at least one asian store on saturday, I'll try to remember to do a price check. The range of goods on offer at the shop on Hohenzollernplatz is quite good, and they might well have ikan bilis, but the prices are insanely high there.
At any rate, any asian store can probably get ikan bilis for you if you ask them.

@don--riina- alright my Popiah recipe will be posted very soon within my thread Authentic Asian recipe and yes it include dried shrimps but must be fry fried till fragrant.

I don't agree that Ikan billis (anchovy) is evil as i love when it is mhhh crispy fried with peanut for my nasi lemak or normally i substitute as a fish soup stock instead of using meat

@ Zimmer...Aiyoh (Singlish) ... you and i should go asian grocery shopping one day together. There are alot of asian vegetables or stuffs sold here (can't compare the quantity from holland though) and surprisingly some of them (Vegetables) looks even nicer than those we had in Asia.

Dried prawns are available here and they comes in two categories cheap or expensive. The more expensive ones will be more red compared to those inferior grade of dried prawns. This is also the case for Ikan billis.

There is a shop here called Bali shop but you must understand that most of the products here comes from holland distributor or from a few German owned companies in Munich. So it is all the same. If you are really interested about Baba Nonya stuffs then i can recommend one shop to you. (Please read from my thread within Authentic Asian recipe)

@Andy101: ya, we should go pasar shopping together! is this "Bali" shop on Augustenstrasse? i swear i'll never step in there ever again because that woman there is so bitchy, so unfriendly & prices so high! so unlike Balinese culture look forward to your other (shop) mention!

and i agree that dried shrimps are not better than ikan bilis. i hope to get some to make nasi lemak too! BTW, my mum grinded some ikan bilis into powder form so it's so easy to cook up a soup!

@Zimmer--Strangely when i shop there she was always friendly to me. Yes it is that shop Hmm perhaps she had a quarrel with her indonesian husband on that day.