This is Beetroot
Vietnamese salad rolls 
14 February 2007, 16:04
February 10, 2007
This is a favourite appetizer from Vietnamese restaurants, and as my wok cookbook has no recipe for it, I went ahead without a safety net.
These had a very purply red leaf butter lettuce, brought out nicely if disturbingly by the stoneware and tablecloth.
The non-recipe…
Vietnamese salad rolls
6 rice paper wraps
1/3 package rice vermicelli, cooked, rinsed, cooled
12 cooked prawns, sliced lengthwise
green onions, cut in quarters lengthwise
small lettuce leaves
bottled “peanut flavoured sauce” for dipping
The difficult bit is preparing the rice paper wraps. Here are the instructions for reconstituing them in a dry Edmonton winter:
- Prepare two damp cloths: wet and wring two tea towels
- For each wrapper: run wrapper under cool water
- Place on damp cloth and cover with a second damp cloth, then wait one minute or more
- Manipulate with a bowl of warm water handy
- Work with reconstituted wrapper atop damp cloth. Don’t futz with it
- Fill and fold end over contents, roll edge and filling over and it sticks by itself! You’ll get it
What I should have done:
- added some thinly sliced boiled pork shoulder
- cooked the prawns before cutting them lengthwise, to keep them from curling into pigtails
It’s very handy to have on hand:
- Frozen raw tail-on prawns—much easier than peeling your own
Sad news, the dear Chinese Superstore closed down. We plan to hit Chinatown this weekend, and I figure to just stock up on all my nonperishable Asian ingredients at once.
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