Traditional Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Goi Cuon)
Made with shrimp, pork belly, and a variety of vegetables, this traditional recipe for fresh Vietnamese spring rolls or goi cuon is an easy dinner that comes together in a little over an hour and requires very little cooking. It's a dish that I could eat over and over again all year round! Included in this blog post is a detailed step-by-step guide on how to roll a perfect spring roll.
- Prep time
- 1 hr
- Cook time
- 15 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- ¼ cup hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp corn starch
- 1 tbsp roasted peanuts (optional, chopped into small pieces)
- 1 lb pork belly (thinly sliced)
- 1 lb shrimp (halved)
- 5 oz vermicelli noodles
- 12 pieces rice paper (see note 1)
- 1 head lettuce
- 1 cucumber (julienned)
- mint to taste
Instructions
- 1
Vietnamese Peanut Sauce
- 2
Heat a tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- 3
Add hoison sauce and peanut butter. Saute for another 30 seconds.
- 4
Add the water and bring it up to a boil.
- 5
Mix corn starch with 1 tbsp of water and add to the sauce. Simmer until it thickens (1-2 minutes).
- 6
Pour it into a bowl and set aside. Top with peanuts right before serving.
- 7
Spring Rolls
- 8
Bring 8 cups of water to a boil and add in the pork belly. Cook the pork belly in boiling water for an hour or until the internal temperature is 160 degrees F.
- 9
While the pork belly is cooking, bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a separate pot. Add in the vermicelli noodles and cook for 2-3 minutes. Sample the noodles to make sure they are done. Set aside.
- 10
After you cook the vermicelli noodles, bring 6 cups of water to a boil in the same pot and add in the shrimp. Cook the shrimp for 2-3 minutes or until the shrimp turns orange and the meat is orange and white. Set aside to rest for 10 minutes. Slice the shrimp in half.
- 11
Slice all your vegetables at this point. Slice your cucumbers into thin pieces.
- 12
At this point, your pork belly should be done. Once it's done cooking, set it aside to rest for 10 minutes until it is cool enough to handle. After it rests, shave off the skin and then slice it into thin pieces. The pork belly should be as thin as possible and about 1 inch wide. This shape will help you wrap the spring rolls more easily.
- 13
Now you're ready to create the spring rolls. Dip the rice paper in warm water to hydrate it. Lay the rice paper on a flat plate. Place lettuce, mint, cucumbers, noodles, and pork belly on one end of the rice paper.
- 14
Roll it halfway. Make sure to roll it as tight as possible, so it's easier to dip and eat. Place 3 shrimp right in front of your roll. This will allow for the shrimp to appear neatly at the end.
- 15
Roll over the shrimp as tightly as possible. Tuck in the sides of the roll before completing your last roll.