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!

Vietnamese Spring Rolls | Gỏi Cuốn

Course Appetizer, Main Course, Snack

Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 cups Water
  • 1/2 cup Peanut butter
  • 3/4 cup Hoisin Sauce
  • 1 TBSP White Vinegar
Additional Ingredients:
  • 1 lbs pork loin (if you are using pork belly, you need to cook it a lotlonger than pork loin)
  • 1 lbs shrimps

Instructions

Directions for Peanut Dipping Sauce

  • Heat up the water
  • Add peanut butter – whisk until all is dissolved
  • Add Hoisin Sauce – whisk until all is dissolved
  • Let it come to a boil
  • Add 1 TBSP white vinegar
  • Whisk and set aside

Directions to cook Pork Loin

  • Bring water to a boil
  • Add Pork Loin
  • Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes
  • After that, turn OFF the heat, put on the lid and let the meat cook in the residual hot water for another 10 minutes. 
  • Remove from hot water and put meat in an ice bath to stop the cooking

Directions to cook Shrimps

  • Bring water to a boil
  • Add Shrimps and cook only for 1-2 minutes
  • Remove from water and put shrimps in an ice bath to stop the cooking

Directions to cook Rice / Vermicelli Noodles EASIEST COOKING METHOD

  • Bring water to a boil
  • Add noodles and separate the noodles a little
  • Put ON the lid
  • Turn OFF the heat
  • Set timer for 8 minutes
  • Noodles will cook perfectly in the residual heat. 

Video

Notes

TIP: After 8 minutes, drain and rinse with HOT water.  Usually, people rinse it in cold water to stop the cooking.  But since we are using the “passive” cooking method, there is really no risk of over-cooking the noodles.  Instead, we rinse it in hot water, so the rice noodles are not sticky after the cool down.
Keyword Fresh Spring Rolls, Spring Roll Recipe, Vietnamese Cooking, Vietnamese Food, vietnamese recipe, Vietnamese Spring Rolls