Gorgeous Vietnamese rolls!

Mom bought a packet of these without knowing what it is used for.
She always think that I'm a Miss Know It All. She would always say "you should know what to do with these" Whenever I am trying something new and I am not sure how its gonna turn out, mom would always say "of coz its gonna be ok, you're clever!"
At times I wonder, is it meant to be a compliment or a challenge? :p

I had Vietnamese rolls only once and I loved it. It was $2.50 per roll and I thought that was overpriced for a such a small roll!
When mom bought a packet of rice paper, I was obviously thrilled! Well, being me...I procrastinate as usual. 2 months past, the packet of rice paper was still sitting pretty in the pantry till today. We were watching some tv progs on Food Network last night and it was featuring this. Mom obviously had to remind me of E packet of rice paper :p

Anyways I decided to give it a try and the first bite left me speechless......

It was soooooooo freaking good! Even mom who has a xxxs appetite ate 6 of these. It was that good! The sauce was so so good! The saltiness from the hoisin sauce, the richness of the peanut butter and the lime juice...it worked like magic!

The filling itself is very versatile. You can basically use anything. I used lettuce, shredded carrots, shredded leek, cilantro, mint, seared chicken, omelet and prawns. I'm so gonna do this again! My brothers would definitely love this! :) If you love Vietnamese rolls, do give this recipe a try, in fact I insist! ;)

For the rolls, these are what I used. You can add other ingredients too.

Ingredients for the rolls:

Rice paper

Lettuce - Shredded

Leek - Shredded

Cilantro

Mint leaves

Chicken fillets - cut into strips and season sprinkle with some salt and pepper before searing/pan frying.

Prawns - Steam/pan fry

Method:
Dip one rice paper wrapper into warm water. Cold water works too but its faster to use warm water.

Shake off excess water. Place some filling in the center of rice paper and wrap like a spring roll.

Ingredients for the dip:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 small garlic clove - (pounded)

1 tbsp sesame oil
juice of 2-3 limes
1/4 cup water

2 bird eye chili -pounded (optional)

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. stir until well combined, adding more water to thin the sauce if necessary.

Garnish with chopped peanuts before serving.

*The bird eye chili is only necessary if you prefer you sauce to be hot! It still taste incredible without it! :D