Served Dish

Nems - Thai Spring Rolls

A family favourite

Makes:

24 rolls

Filling
125g rice vermicelli	Soften vermicelli by placing in a bowl with hot water Set aside to soften
1 tbsp. of oil 4 cloves of garlic, crushed 2 tsp. fresh ginger, grated 4 stems of coriander (cilantro), finely chopped 3 green onions, finely chopped	Heat oil in a deep pan Add garlic, ginger, coriander and green onions Sauté for 2 minutes
250g ground pork 2 celery stalks, very thinly sliced	Thinly slice celery using a mandolin Add ground pork and celery to pan Sauté until pork is cooked, breaking down the pork into small pieces
250g carrots, shredded to thin strips 45g cucumber, peeled and finely chopped 4 tbsp. sweet chili sauce 2 tsp. fish sauce 1 tsp. raw sugar	Add carrots and cucumber to pan and mix well Blend together chili sauce, fish sauce and sugar and add to pan Drain vermicelli and roughly chop pasta and add to pan Mix well and let cool

Preparation
6 pkgs of rice wrappers (8 in each pkg with a diameter of approx. 17cm) Oil for deep frying	On a nonstick surface (use a silicon sheet if available), place as many rice wrappers as possible, without overlapping them Cover with a very wet cloth and keep covered for approx. 10 minutes to soften Fill pan with oil to 3cm Heat oil To assemble nems: Take one softened wrapper and place 1 heaping tbsp. of filling in the centre. Fold sides in then roll nem Take a second softened wrapper and place rolled nem in centre. Fold sides then roll nem. Set aside to fry Repeat steps 1 and 2 until finished You'll need to replace the rice wrapper under the cloth to keep the process moving. Make sure cloth remains wet or rice wrappers won't soften very much Fry a few at a time. Brown on both sides
Head of lettuce Fresh mint Plum sauce	To serve, place nems in the centre of a serving platter and surround with lettuce leaves and whole mint leaves To eat a nem: Take a leaf of lettuce and add a couple of mint leaves on top of it. Place the nem in the centre. Roll the nem with the lettuce and mint. Serve with a plum sauce