Hey! I'm Des!
Welcome to Life’s Ambrosia where Dinner is served and memories are made. Here you will find over 1000 tried and true recipes for every possible occasion. In the last 10 years, this blog has helped millions of families put dinner on the table and create food memories. Let me help you too.
Shrimp Summer Rolls
Mmmm…rolls. Not the kind you serve with turkey at Thanksgiving, but the Asian style wrap kind. The kind stuffed with tons of wonderful goodies. From ground pork to shrimp to veggies only. I’m talking about egg rolls, spring rolls, lumpia, summer rolls, salad rolls. Whatever you want to call it, I love them. You can get a variety of them in just about any Asian restaurant and I’ve even seen them popping up on many traditional American restaurant menus. Most of the time they are fried. Now don’t get me wrong, they are delicious fried, but a recent trip to a Thai restaurant inspired me to try the non-fried version at home. They are cool and crisp and stuffed with a tangy mixture of shrimp, cucumbers, carrots, cilantro, green onions and sweet Thai chili sauce.
Summer rolls, as they are most often called, include various kinds of veggies and usually shrimp all wrapped up in rice paper. Rice paper can be a little hard to work with because it is so fragile. So although this recipe makes about 10 rolls you will want to have a few extra rice paper wraps in case one rips. You can pick some up at your local Asian market.
I love the nutty flavor that sesame seeds add to this dish. I chose to use black sesame seeds because I loved the color of the black with the pink prawns. If you can’t find them feel free to substitute regular white sesame seeds that you can find in just about any grocery store.
Shrimp Summer Rolls
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound 51-60 count prawns, thawed if frozen, peeled and deveined
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sweet thai chili sauce
- 1 teaspoon black sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1 cup shredded carrot
- 1 cup finely sliced cucumbers think matchsticks
- 1/2 cup chopped green onions
- kosher salt to taste
- 10-12 8 1/2 inch round rice paper wraps, plus more in case one rips
Instructions
- Bring 3 cups of water to boil in a saucepan. Carefully add prawns to the boiling water. Cook for 3 minutes or until shrimp are pink. Remove and place in a strainer. Run cold water over them until they are cool.
- In a bowl whisk together garlic, rice vinegar, sweet Thai chili sauce, sesame seeds and cilantro. Stir in carrots, cucumbers, green onions and chilled shrimp. Season to taste with salt. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Set up a work station with the chilled mixture, a wide bowl or pie dish with water in it to soak the rice paper, a flat surface to roll the rolls and a dish to store them in. Soak 1 piece of rice paper in the water for about 30 seconds or until it becomes soft and pliable. Carefully lay the wet wrapper on a flat surface. Place 1 teaspoon of the filling on the wrapper about 1 inch from the side closest to you. Working away from you, carefully fold the wrapper over the mixture. Next fold in both sides and then continue rolling away from you to seal. Place finished roll seam side down in the dish you are storing them in. Repeat with remaining filling and wraps.
- Cut each roll in half. Serve
Notes
Hey! I'm Des!
Welcome to Life’s Ambrosia where Dinner is served and memories are made. Here you will find over 1000 tried and true recipes for every possible occasion. In the last 10 years, this blog has helped millions of families put dinner on the table and create food memories. Let me help you too.
Debbie
April 7, 2018 at 12:18 pmThis recipe looks great!! I have a quick question. Recipe in step 3 calls for 1 teaspoon of filling per rice paper wrap is that correct? I have made other wraps with rice paper and it doesn’t seen like enough filling. Thanks
Deseree
April 7, 2018 at 6:32 pmI would say a heaping teaspoon but you could always double up if you want them to be fuller. I just err on the side of caution so as not to tear the wrapper. I hope this helps!
Rebekah
July 24, 2012 at 12:07 pmLove your site. Your shrimp lime tacos got me hooked on your site; I make them regularly. Wondering if you have a peanut dipping sauce recipe? I want to make the spring rolls but want a tasty peanut sauce.
Deseree
August 2, 2012 at 8:11 pmI don’t have a recipe for peanut sauce but I’ll work on one!
Dropfood
July 2, 2009 at 5:35 amGreat recipe!
Jeff
June 26, 2009 at 12:58 pmAny suggestions for meat other than shrimp, Des? I’m not a big fan of shrimp and was thinking maybe BBQ’d pork (those thin little flash fry pork chops) would go well.
Other than that these look great.
Deseree
June 26, 2009 at 2:51 pmThanks Jeff! Now that you mention it I think BBQ pork would probably be really good in this. I would just make sure they are cut into bite size pieces to make eating the roll easier.
finsmom
June 26, 2009 at 12:27 pmI love these little rolls – so refreshing for summer time! Yum!
ravenouscouple
June 26, 2009 at 10:44 amvery nice rendition of this classic vietnamese dish!
zoe
June 26, 2009 at 8:14 amI have always wanted to make this but never get around to it. Summer rolls are so fresh and crisp! Love your ingredients!