The spring roll
Anyone who thinks of a dish with bean sprouts will probably think of the spring roll. A tasty snack after an afternoon in the city. Handy for handing out to visitors. Maybe you get it at the local Chinese. But where did this tasty snack originally come from? And which different variants are there? We list it for you in this blog!
Did you get all hungry after reading this blog? That's a good thing! We are sharing a delicious recipe so you can make this Asian snack yourself.
Origin
The spring roll originally comes from China and is often eaten as an appetizer or snack. The dish has found its way into Filipino, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Cambodian and Thai cuisine, among others. Each cuisine has its own variations. For example, Vietnamese spring rolls are smaller and narrower than the Chinese variety and the sheets are made of rice flour instead of wheat flour. In contrast, the spring rolls in the Netherlands are much larger compared to the oriental varieties. A similarity between all these varieties? Spring rolls often contain bean sprouts...nice and crunchy!
Fresh or fried?
In Vietnam, you can get spring rolls both fresh ('goi cuon') and fried ('cha gio'). Goi cuon, also called spring rolls, are freshly rolled spring rolls made of cultured rice sheets filled with rice vermicelli, fresh raw vegetables and herbs and shrimp or fish. These spring rolls are served with a peanut dipping sauce, 'nuoc mam' (fish sauce) or hoisin sauce. Cha gio are spring rolls made of rice sheets filled with a mixture of pork, glass noodles, mushrooms, and vegetables and deep-fried. This variety is often offered in markets in the Netherlands. Although the Dutch like to dip these spring rolls in (sweet) chili sauce, Vietnamese are more likely to use fish sauce as a dipping sauce.
The dutch variant ''loempia''
The word "loempia" (the dutch word for spring roll) entered the Dutch language through Indonesia's colonial past. In fact, spring roll is the old Indonesian spelling of the Chinese word "Lun Pia," which means "soft pancake. The spring roll became known in the former colony of the Dutch East Indies with the arrival of South Chinese traders.
So, the spring roll has spread internationally from China and therefore has many varieties, but often every variety contains bean sprouts. Do you want to learn how to easily make a healthy Vietnamese goi cuon? Then read the recipe from 24Kitchen below!
Vietnamese goi cuon with bean sprouts, carrot, daikon and shrimp
For 4 people, 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 32 cooked shrimps
- 200 g glass noodles
- 250 g bean sprouts
- 1 bunch of mint
- 16 large rice sheets
- 1 carrot
- 200 g daikon
- 100 g salted peanuts
Getting started!
Soak the noodles in hot water for about 5 minutes, drain and chop finely. Peel and cut the carrot and daikon into thin strips. Finely chop the peanuts and mint. For the filling, mix the carrot, daikon, mint, peanuts, bean sprouts and noodles. Fill a bowl halfway with lukewarm water. Soak a rice sheet in this for 20 sec. and place on a clean board. Tip: If the rice sheets stick to the cutting board or work surface, place them on a clean, damp tea towel and work quickly. Spread the filling over the center of the rice sheets and place 2 shrimp on each rice sheet. Fold the rice sheet over the filling, fold the sides inward and roll up. Serve the spring rolls with soy sauce or the dip sauce written below.
Dipping sauce
- 3 red rawits
- 1 bunch of coriander
- 120 ml sweet chili sauce
- 3 limes
- 50 ml sesame oil
- 120 ml fish sauce
Finely chop rawit and the cilantro. Mix the chili sauce with the zest and juice of the limes, rawit, cilantro and sesame oil and add fish sauce to taste.
Source recipe: goedgevulde loempia's van 24 Kitchen