Authentic Gỏi Cuốn | Vietnamese Pork & Shrimp Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

This traditional recipe for fresh Vietnamese summer rolls is very easy to make and comes with a delicious hoisin peanut sauce – the best dip to have with Vietnamese spring rolls! It’s the perfect healthy Asian appetizer or snack. Save yourself a little extra time and money by making this quick, easy, and affordable Vietnamese restaurant staple at home!

Vietnamese Peanut Dipping Sauce Recipe

The traditional peanut dipping sauce that comes with this Vietnamese summer rolls recipe is a lot easier to make than you think!

All you have to do to make your own Vietnamese spring roll dipping sauce is whisk peanut butter and hoisin sauce together in hot water until well incorporated and bring to a boil. Then, add a tablespoon of white vinegar. It adds a delicious brightness to the sauce that keeps you coming back for more.

This extra step with the white vinegar is the secret to what makes this Vietnamese peanut sauce recipe so good.

Easy and Authentic Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Gỏi Cuốn) Filling

There are many different options for filling your Vietnamese spring rolls. But the original gỏi cuốn are made with sliced pork, shrimp, rice noodles, vegetables, and herbs.

For my traditional Vietnamese spring roll recipe, I boil unpeeled shrimp for 1-2 minutes and pork loin for 15 minutes (plus10 minutes for it to cook in the residual heat). I prefer using unpeeled shrimp versus the store-bought peeled version. They just taste better. Don’t worry, you won’t be biting into any shells, they’ll be peeled later on.

To quickly stop the cooking process for both meats, I remove them from the hot water into an ice bath. This keeps them from getting an overcooked texture and flavor, plus makes them easier to handle when it’s time to assemble the rolls.

The Best Way to Cook Rice Noodles for Vietnamese Spring Rolls

The secret to my Vietnamese summer rolls recipe is the perfectly cooked noodles.

This is the easiest method to cook rice noodles – bring a pot of water to a boil.  Once boiling, add the rice / vermicelli noodles, stir to loosen them up and turn OFF the heat, put ON the lid and set the timer for 8 minutes.  Noodles will be perfectly cooked every time with this method.  Afterward, rinse the noodles with hot water to remove any excess starch.  Usually, noodles are being rinsed with cold water to stop the cooking process.  But there is no risk of over-cooking these noodles using my fool-proof method and the hot water will avoid the noodles from being sticky once cooled.

This unique passive method is the best way to perfectly cook rice noodles for this Vietnamese spring roll recipe or for any noodle recipe as a matter of fact.

How to Assemble Your Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Gỏi Cuốn)

If you follow all the instructions for the filling ingredients, making these rolls will be a piece of cake. It’s really fun too and can be a great bonding activity with your partner, friends, or children!

To assemble the rolls: dip your rice paper in water so it softens, then add lettuce, mint leaves, a variety of Vietnamese herbs, bean sprouts, rice noodles, peeled shrimp, and sliced pork loin.

These Vietnamese spring rolls were even more delightful because I used my home-grown bean sprouts, which added a wonderful crunch. I have a helpful guide if you want to learn how to grow your own!

You can slice the shrimp if they’re too big, but remember to place them skin side down so you’ll be able to see the beautiful shrimp color from outside the roll.

Then, serve your Gỏi Cuốn with your Vietnamese spring roll dipping sauce and enjoy!

The details for my Vietnamese spring rolls and Vietnamese peanut sauce recipe are below. I hope you enjoy this wonderful Vietnamese dish!