www.PassionforPork.com

Ground Pork Salad Rolls

Last night my friendLenaand I were seriously craving some Vientnamese food. Unfortunately being Celiac means I’m limited to which restaurants serve up gluten-free dishes. After trying one place on the north side ofEdmonton, we decided to stop at the grocery store to pick up some ingredients for salad rolls.

I madeLenasome with peanut-sauced ground pork a few weeks back that had her game-on for our last minute dinner idea. Simple yet delicious, I am a huge fan of making and eating copious amounts of these paper thin parcels of goodness.

You can pick up a package of rice wrappers and vermicelli in the Asian section of most grocery stores. You can fill them with just about anything you want – here is what we did.

Ingredients

• 1/ 2 package rice vermicelli
• 8 rice wrappers (6.5 inch diameter)
• 2 carrots (grated)
• 2 cups lettuce or purple cabbage – shredded
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro or fresh basil
• 500 g ground pork
• ½ cup peanut sauce
• Dipping sauce

1. Panfry grilled pork until thoroughly cooked (strain if necessary). Add peanut sauce, stir, and let cool.

   

2. Place rice vermicelli in bowl of boiling water and let soak 3 to 5 minutes, until soft. Drain, and rinse with cold water.
3. Fill a shallow pan with hot water. Dip one rice wrapper in the hot water for 5 seconds. Remove and lay wrapper flat on a cutting board or plate.
4. Add desired amount of noodles, pork, vegetables and herbs in the centre of the wrapper. (I like to put it in the bottom third of the wrapper to help get a good wrap)
5. Fold the edges of the wrapper slightly inward. Beginning at the bottom edge of the wrapper, tightly wrap the ingredients. Repeat.
6. Serve with your favourite dipping sauce such as peanut, hoisin, or sweet chili and fish sauce.

The flavoured ground pork will give your salad roll a serious flavour kick compared to the typical shrimp ones at most Vietnamese restaurants. I think these are a bargain to make, fun to roll, and a guaranteed smile with every bite.