Square Spring Roll (Ram Goi)

Title:
Square Spring Roll (Ram Goi)

Yield:
2 Servings

Categories:
Vietnamese,
Appetizers




Ingredients:





   1/2 lb Raw shrimp, shelled and


          -deveined


          Black pepper


   1/2 ts Granulated sugar


     2    Scallions, both white and


          -green parts


   1/2 lb Pork butt


     1 ts Fish sauce (nuoc mam)


     1    Clove garlic


     1 tb Vegetable oil


    10    Dried rice papers (banh


          -trang)






 For dieters or the cholesterol conscious++an oven baked version of


 spring rolls.  In Vietnam these are often baked over charcoal. Cut


 the shrimp into small pieces and sprinkle with the black pepper and


 the sugar. Slice the scallions crosswise into very thin slices. Slice


 the pork into thin pieces, 3 x 2 x 1/8 inch.


 


 Combine half the slice scallion with the shrimp and meat, the fish


 sauce and a dash of black pepper.


 


 Chop the garlic fine; place on a platter near the stove, along with


 the remaining scallions.


 


 Heat the oil and fry the garlic and remaining scallion briefly until


 they brown slightly.  Add the pork-shrimp mixture and keep stirring


 over high heat until cooked, about 5 minutes.


 


 Cut or break the 10 rice papers into quarters.  Place the cut rice


 papers on a flat surface.  Using a pastry brush, or your fingers,


 paint water over the entire surface of each of the pieces; this is to


 make the brittle papers become soft and flexible.  Try working an


 about 10 quarters at a time.  This will help you work faster.  While


 some of the wrappers become pliable, you can be filling the others.


 


 Place 2 pieces of shrimp and 2 small pieces of pork on the pointed


 end of a paper, arranging the filling in a square shape.  Bend the


 pointed end over the filling and roll twice, then fold the sides over


 and continue to roll into a 2-inch-long cylinder about 1 inch thick.


 Place on a tray, with the open end on the underside to prevent


 unrolling, while you fill the remaining rolls.  Place the rolls in


 the oven, directly on the oven rack, without preheating.  (They can


 be crowded together while baking so that you can get many onto 1


 rack.) Again, be certain to place them open end down; turn the oven


 to 350 degrees and bake them for about 40 minutes, 20 minutes on each


 side.


 


 NOTE:  These can be filled several hours before cooking, covered with


 a plastic wrap, and refrigerated.  Or they can be baked and then kept


 at room temperature for several hours.  They never lose their


 crispness. Use bamboo chopsticks or tongs for turning the rolls.


 


 From "The Classic Cuisine of Vietnam", Bach Ngo and Gloria Zimmerman,


 Barron's, 1979.


 


 Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; April 14 1991.


 


 File ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/food/mealmaster/recipes/cberg2.zip