Prawn rice paper rolls with nuoc cham
40 min · 23 g protein · 259 cals / serving
Fresh, crunchy rice paper rolls packed with sweet prawns, crisp lettuce, cucumber, carrot and a garden of mint and coriander, wrapped soft and translucent and dunked in a bright nuoc cham of lime, fish sauce, garlic and chilli. Lunch you eat with your hands.
Ingredients
Rolls
- 12 sheets (22 cm) rice paper wrappers
- a bowl of warm water water, for dipping the wrappers
- about 1 kg whole cooked prawns (480 g peeled) boiled shrimp, peeled, deveined and halved lengthways
- 25 g dried rice noodles, thin rice vermicelli
- 1 cos heart romaine lettuce, shredded
- 2 Lebanese cucumbers, cut into thin batons
- 1 large carrot, julienned
- 1 bunch fresh mint, leaves picked
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves picked
Nuoc cham
- 30 ml fish sauce
- 45 ml lime juice
- 60 ml water
- 3 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1 bird's eye red chili pepper, finely chopped
Steps
- Stir the fish sauce, lime juice, water, sugar, garlic and chilli until the sugar dissolves, and set aside. Cover the noodles with boiling water for 3 minutes, then drain, rinse under cold water and drain well.
- Lay out the prawns, noodles, lettuce, cucumber, carrot and herbs in front of you, like an assembly line.
- Dip one rice paper sheet in the warm water for 5–10 seconds, until just pliable but not floppy, and lay it on a damp board. Place 3 prawn halves, pink side down, in a row across the middle. Top with a little lettuce, noodles, cucumber, carrot and herbs.
- Fold the bottom edge over the filling, fold in the sides, then roll up firmly. The wrapper sticks to itself as it dries. Repeat with the rest, keeping the finished rolls under a damp tea towel so they do not dry out.
- Serve straight away with the nuoc cham for dipping.
Good to know
My wrappers tear. Why?
They are soaked too long. Dip them only until they bend; they keep softening on the board while you fill them. A board wiped with a damp cloth stops them sticking.
Make them ahead?
They are best within a couple of hours. To pack them for lunch, wrap each one in plastic wrap so they do not stick together, and keep the sauce in a jar.
Peanut dipping sauce?
A spoon of peanut butter loosened with hoisin, lime and hot water is the other classic. It is richer, so serve it alongside the nuoc cham rather than instead.
Per
- Calories
- 71
- Protein
- (37%)
- 6 g
- Fat
- (7%)
- 1 g
- Carbohydrates
- (55%)
- 10 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 278 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1036 kcal goes into the pot and 1486 g of ingredients comes out as about 1460 g of food: 71 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.