Vietnamese cuisine is gaining popularity in the United States and the world, so today, I invited Todd and Diane of White on Rice Couple to share a delicious Vietnamese recipe with us: Goi Cuon Thit Heo Nuong (generally known as “Goi Cuon”) or Vietnamese fresh spring rolls with a killer hoisin peanut dipping sauce (my personal favorite!). Please welcome White on Rice Couple to Rasa Malaysia as they unveil the techniques of rolling these fresh spring rolls plus the secret family recipe of Goi Cuon.
Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls (Goi Cuon Thit Heo Nuong)
Guest Writer: White on Rice Couple
Guest writing for Rasa Malaysia’s gorgeous and delicious blog is both exciting and an honor. To be part of this grand celebration of Asian foods from all around the world is both educational and inspiring. Reading all the great guest bloggers’ family recipes and food traditions shows us just how much we all have in common, no matter what part of the world we hail from.
I’m sharing my families “go-to” dish, grilled pork fresh spring rolls or know in Vietnamese as Goi Cuon Thit Heo Nuong. How could I not? Mom would have me feathered and tarred with caramel ginger sauce, just like she does with her precious duck. And Dad would have my head on a platter, covered in chilies and garlic, just like his special fried snapper dish. My parents certainly are not the abusive nor violent kind. They’re just very passionate about their food and even more thrilled to be able to share it with others…(get Vietnamese fresh spring rolls/Goi Cuon recipe after the jump)
So Vietnamese fresh spring rolls, filled with fresh herbs, veggies and grilled pork all wrapped with rice paper, are always available in my parents kitchen. Whenever one of us homesick 6 kids came home from college, the military or the all-too-often relationship dispute, my mom made sure there were the ingredients available for this quick and hearty assembly of spring rolls.
Pretty much anything wrapped in rice paper was a sentimental sign to let us know that we were safe and satisfied to be back at home.
But the best spring rolls/Goi Cuon were with grilled pork. Mom loves her pork, in 3 ways: grilled, braised and boiled. And it was her quick, “magic sauce marinade” of fish sauce with her grilled pork that we all turned to for emotional comfort. She always has an abundant garden full of fresh Vietnamese herbs as well, so her staple bag of spring roll greens is always washed, ready and waiting to be devoured with her grilled pork.
Dad’s favorite dip for these grilled pork rolls is his hoisin-peanut dip. This fast and easy dip is his “pride and joy” because he can’t compete with Mom’s fish sauce dip. Yes, there is plenty of healthy cooking competition in my family
This brown colored, hoisin peanut dipping sauce is just the perfect sweet/spicy dip for the fragrant, herb filled rolls. The best part about this this dip is that Dad whips it up in less than 15 minutes. Not bad for an aging car mechanic that takes FOREVER to do an oil change on my car! (But I’ll leave that for a later post).
Back in the old days, with 6 growing and hungry kids, my parents always made these fresh spring rolls for us because it was simple, quick and delicious. Especially when finances were tighter and when we were on a strict budget, these economical spring rolls never broke the piggy bank. Time was also of the essence and all they had to do was to grill the pork, wash the vegetables and let us kids do all the rolling ourselves.
These fresh spring rolls are healthy, satisfying and a great way for kids and adults to eat their veggies!
Ingredients:
(Serves 4)
For the grilled pork:
1 lb pork chops, loin, butt or shoulder. Sliced thin.
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 shallots, minced
1 Tbs fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1/4 cup peanut or vegetable oil
Hoisin Peanut Dipping Sauce Recipe
1 cup (8 oz) hoisin sauce (if sauce is thick, add about 1/4 cup warm water to reach desired consistency)
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 Tbs rice vinegar
2 garlic, crushed
1 minced thai chili, or more for desired spiciness
For spring roll rice paper assembly:
About 10 rice paper wrappers
Lettuce
Cucumber, cut into long slices
Fresh herbs: mint, cilantro, basil, vietnamese coriander, balm or perilla
Bean sprouts
Method:
1. In plastic bag, combine all ingredients for the grilled pork. Let marinade for about 20 minutes. Grill both sides of pork for about 2-3 minutes, or until desired texture.
2. In blender, combine all ingredients for the hoisin peanut dipping sauce. Blend until everything combines smoothly together. If it is too thick, continue adding warm water until desired consistency.
3. In bowl of warm water, dip each rice paper wrapper for about 3-5 seconds (depending on rice paper thickness). Do not over soak your rice paper wrapper! Place on work service and allow rice paper to soak up water and become gelatinous and pliable (about 30 seconds to 1 minute, again, depending on the thickness rice paper).
4. On top 1/3 side closest to you, lay lettuce on the bottom for added strength to the wrapper. Then place meat, herbs and other vegetables. Roll up spring roll about 1/3 way through, then fold in the sides. View step-by-step photographs of spring rolling here.
5. Serve with hoisin peanut dip.
Note from Rasa Malaysia:
There you have it, a family secret recipe of Goi Cuon or Vietnamese fresh spring rolls. I am personally a huge fan of these spring rolls and they are always on my “to-order” list whenever I go to Vietnamese restaurants. While most restaurants serve Goi Cuon with a fish sauce dip, please do try out the hoisin peanut dipping sauce recipe. It’s heavenly!
Related Posts:
- Lumpia (Filipino Spring Rolls) Recipe
- Banh Hoi (Vietnamese Rice Noodles with Beef)
- Bo Luc Lac (Vietnamese Shaking Beef)
- Grilled Shrimp with Green Papaya and Mango Salad
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{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
hey there, this is also a must-order for me, and I agree that the hoisin sauce is great with these lovely rolls..thanks for the recipe!
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Yeah, I think I’d prefer hoisin-peanut sauce too (don’t tell mom! :) Healthy and delicious is so tough to achieve, but these rolls pull it off beautifully! :)
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Wow, great photos! Ready for publishing shots! Also a great recipe. Really enjoy your guests enteries. Of course I know their work already from having been a tester on Jaden’s cookbook and I now follow their site as a daily destination like yours. It’s great to see all the great food-bloggers working with each other in such an open way.
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This doesn't only look delicious but so fresh, healthy, tasty & beautiful. Great pictures.
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Such a beautiful dish. Almost too pretty to be eaten.
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Oh those rolls look fab!
When I eat these at home, my mum normally serves it with prawns (shrimp to Americans) but I’m not a fan so the marinated pork here sounds like a delicious alternative. Thank you!
P.S. Adding vinegar to the hosin-peanut sauce is interesting. The recipe we use is simpler. Looks like I’ll give that a go! :D
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What a great dish! They look so fresh, vibrant and utterly delicious! I’m really intrigued by that dipping sauce too!
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Delish! The last time I made spring rolls myself was from Cook’s Illustrated (and if you read Cook’s you know how long ago that was). So of course the recipe had about 30 steps and dirtied every utensil in the kitchen.
This looks way more doable, and a lot tastier! Thanks!
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salivating - makes me wanna be backin HCMC for the food
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Tastes of Home: Hope you like the hoisin sauce & now make this dish as a "must-make"! :D
Manggy- Too late, Mom already read your commment! She wants to TALK to you the next time you're in town…
Michael - Thank you! and we agree that food bloggers getting together. What a wonderful form of ideas and inspiration.
Helene- Yes, they are actually very, very healthy. Enjoy!
Jun- Once you get past the look, the taste is even better! Hope you get to make them!
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Hello
I chanced upon your blog while looking for buttered prawns recipes. I must say, your food styling and photography is excellent. It must look better than the actual food itself ;)
I will put your blog on my frequently view page so my friends in Stockholm here can also get some ideas on some of these wonderful eye-catching dishes.
I have a request, please try to post a recipe on Indian rojak or Pesumbur i think. The gravy is made of some kind of sweet potato base i think. I am craving for that and am going back to Malaysia in December and will definitely hunt down indian rojak in KL.
regards from Sweden,
Di
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ce’nedra : The vinegar adds a bit of extra tang and brightness to the dip. You can add some fresh lime juice too if you like! Hope you enjoy the dip!
sgcc: thanks! The dip is really easy and versatile. Try to add some extra crushed peanuts on top for extra texture!
Kitt: Wow, that’s alot of tinsels! Hopefully you can minimize your kitchen mess with this recipe!
foodcrazee: Oh, you can’t get any better than the Viet food in VietNam! So glad to know that you were there!
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Ahhhhhhhh! Those look so good. My husband would adore these… on the list!
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Goi Cuon! I love goi cuon and always order them at Vietnamese restaurants. Haven’t tried goi cuon with peanut-hoisin dipping sauce, will have to try making this at home myself!
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OMG I SO LOVE THESE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stunning photos too! Thanks for the recipe as well. I’m going to try it.
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You guys did it again! They look wonderful. I am vowing to make some spring rolls soon. I just must, after all I have the master spring rollers to learn from!
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Mollie- oh, yes, these are hubby loving rolls! Let us know what he thinks of them!
anonymous- Once you make these, there’s no more turning back to restaurant rolls. Cheaper too!
camemberu- Thank you so much for the Spring Roll enthusiasm! Hope they make you as happy as they have made us!
lisa- Hi!!!! Thanks for stopping by here and you all your boys will LOVE these!
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Looks fantastic! Are the reddish colored leaves red perilla? If they are, I had no idea these were used in Cietnamese cooking (we use red and green perilla in japanese food).
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talking about the vietnamese food, i just tried out in Miss Saigon. The boss invited us to go there and have a food review on their latest menu items. you can find out more from my post. :)
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Marc- The herb is Vietnamese perilla, which are more purple. Japanese red perilla/shiso is a little different, with more ruffled edges like the green shiso. Both the flavors of the Viet Perilla and the Japanese Red perilla are very similar. We grow all three of these perilla’s and when it comes to blind taste testing of the purple vs. the red, no one can really tell the difference. Both are earthy and very aromatic.
The only difference is the texture, where the Japanese red shiso is softer. Whew! Can you tell that we love herbs? :D
Allenooi- Wow, did you mean that you tried out for the broadway play? Good luck!
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Oooh, I have everything in my pantry ready for these (except the pork). Thanks for sharing your mother’s recipe, I can’t wait to try it!
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Such beautiful presentation! I always find it so hard to roll mine let alone have them looking like yours. Really beautiful.
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The sauce sounds interesting… I also have another alternative for the sauce and see if you like it too:
- sweet chilli sauce
- oyster sauce
- finely crushed peanuts)
- fish sauce
- lime juice (lemon is fine too)
Mix the sweet chilli sauce and oyster sauce (with the comparison 2:1) in a small bowl, add a few drops of fish sauce & lime juice. Then top it with crushed nuts and mix it well. For people allergic to nuts, I think this sauce will do fine without the crushed nuts.
I usually it the shrimp version (mix of cooked shrimp, mint leaves, sprouts and lettuce), but I am very keen to try the grilled pork at home!
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We had this for dinner tonight, and it was SO good. I wasn’t so great at rolling them, but that didn’t affect the flavor! I think this is definitely going to become a staple in our kitchen.
The recipe makes too much dipping sauce, though. I made a half recipe and it’s still going to be too much for the amount of meat and filling you make. So now I have to go out and buy more filling to use up the sauce. What a shame. ;-)
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It would be nice to have a 5 star rating system for those who have tried this dish to make comments, like the one on food-tv.com.
Thanks and I plan on trying your dishes.
Best regards,
Mark
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Mark - let me think about it :) Thanks.
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I would liketo share my family Penang Nyonya receipe with you, this one is 3 or 4 years old. Gulai Bakut is full of hot, sour and spicy flavour.
Nyona Cusine is very skillful, it comes with pratice.I have students feel fustrated when receipes do not worked out, espcially Nyonya kueh.
Vietnamese is a very light dish, excellent for lunch or entree. Well done.
bee lee
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dia chi tim mon an viet nam
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