I think it depends on the 'wrap'. If you are using flour based or 'won ton' wrappers, my guess is you can make them ahead as long as they are separated so they don't stick together.

Rice wrappers (or non-cooked), if that is what you mean by 'Vietnamese', don't fare well long term. You might have to play with keeping them moist with wet paper towels, if they don't stick.

Linda,
If you're talking about the fried & not the rice paper wrapped Vietnamese spring rolls then yes, they can be made ahead, frozen & reheated. I'll need to check my book at home for exact instructions (Lemon Grass by Mai Pham- an excellent Thai & Vietnamese cookbook with a great spring roll recipe).

We love to make these, serve them with a table salad for wrapping & sweet, hot sauce for dipping. They're great for parties, too.

Nina

I was hoping to make the rice paper wrapped rolls. Would prefer not to fry.

I suppose I could make them right away in the morning for a 2pm lunch if I keep them moist as Jessy says?

Linda

If you are planning this for Saturday, and today is Tuesday, I'd recommend you make a few today so you can determine how far you can push it.

One suggestion - when I roll them and they tear, no problem, I just wet another wrapper and double roll. You could try that.

Do you still need recipes? I find I just use slaw/julienned veggies, boiled vermicelli noodles, a protein (chicken for me, but others could use shrimp, pork) and an aromatic like basil or cilantro. I make mine with shiso (perilla leaves) but I can find them easily here.

Thanks, Jessy! I have Thursday off, I can practice then.

Linda

Linda, Is it a possibility to have the guest make their own ala Jessy's fresh spring roll class at Canny Camp?

Linda, when I was selling catering, I had a customer who wanted the fresh spring rolls but our chef didn't know how to make them, so I had to teach him. God it was funny! Practicing ahead is a very good idea. Getting the hang of soaking the wrappers just enough to be flexible without getting them so wet that they turn into glue that sticks together worse than the most clingy plastic wrap takes a bit. It is quite a brief dip in the water, really, because the water will continue to soak in once you remove them...so actually, you take it out just before it really is soft enough to use. You'll see.

Anyway, he made them in the morning for an evening event and they were fine. As you roll them, set them on waxed paper or saran wrap and turn them occasionally so the skins dry just a little...running a fan on them can help this along. Then store them in single layers if possible, but if you must stack, do so between layers of waxed paper or saran wrap as well. Check them every so often to turn them if they start getting a bit sticky. If you are going to cut them in half for the presentation (very pretty if you've used colorful veggies), do that just before serving.

Have fun!

Linda,

How about instead making summer rolls with a couple of different sauces, that way you can make them in advance and they just need refrigerating. I know, I should stay away! Lol.

Brenda

Like you, I've never made them before but am planning to for a party next month. Two of the recipes I'm considering for a trial run say you can freeze, then thaw and cook later. I was going to cook some immediately (both frying and baking) and freeze some for later to see what sort of results I got from the different methods. It sure would be a help if you could get all the time-consuming prep and assembly done on Thursday and have nothing to worry about on Sat. except the actual cooking!

Here are a couple of sauces that sounded particularly appealing to me. The first is Mai Pham's recipe.

NUOC CHAM

3 Thai bird chilies, sliced thinly (if you can't get those, sub 1 serrano pepper)
1 clove garlic, sliced
3 T. sugar
2/3 c. warm water
1-1/2 T. fresh lime juice
5 T. fish sauce
2 T. grated carrots, for garnish (optional)

Reserve about 1/3 of the sliced peppers for garnish. Using a mortar and pestle, combine remaining pepper slices, garlic and sugar until ground into a coarse, wet paste. (If you don't have a m&p, just mince chilies and garlic finely with a knife. It will be fine -- just not quite as 'bright' a taste because smushing them releases the maximum amount of natural oils.) Combine all ingredients in a bowl, stirring to mix. Allow to sit about 10 minutes. (It will keep up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator, but she strongly recommends making it immediately before serving for best flavor.) Garnish with reserved chili rings and carrot if desired.

This next one sounds like it would provide a nice contrast in both taste and appearance. It's from Bon Appetit.

SALSA FOR SPRING ROLLS

1 orange, peeled and pith removed
1 small sweet red pepper, seeded and chopped
2 green onions, sliced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 T. oriental sesame oil
1-1/2 tsp. fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tsp. soy sauce

Combine all ingredients. This one says it can be refrigerated up to 2 hours before serving.

sm

Oops -- meant to add some info from Mai Pham about fish sauce. If anybody else is as much a novice at preparing Vietnamese and Thai dishes as I am, you might find this helpful too.

She said only buy fish sauce that's in a glass jar -- never in a plastic container. Also, she recommended that you purchase sauce in the $3-$4 price range. (The stuff that's only about $1 is very poor quality.) And it shouldn't be dark. A deep color is a sign that there are lots of additives and/or it's started to oxidize. As she described it, premium fish sauce should look like "a glass of iced tea".

Her final tip was to always mix fish sauce with other liquids in a recipe before heating. Adding it by itself to a dry, hot pan will make that terrible odor spread all over your house.

sm

Make sure you get large wrappers. I tried making these a long time ago with wrappers that were about 6 or 8 inches in diameter. Not good. Very very difficult if I remember correctly. Buy wrappers that are at least 9 or 10 inches in diameter. Makes it much easier. (I'm assuming you will be using the wrappers that come in circles.)

And make half with a LOT of cilantro (which I love.) But since many people don't like cilantro (make the other half without. Just a suggestion.

IMO they are much better if refrigerated in advance so make them at least 4 hours in advance, at least the ones that you don't cook (except of course you need to steam the shrimp and/or saute the barbeque pork pieces if you are using those for filling.)

Thanks for the tps rachelellen!

Brenda, what's the difference between spring and summer rolls?

SM, Freeze and Cook? I don't see what would be cooked.

Here is one of the recipes I am thinking of. No cooking involved other than cooking the vermicelli.

Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls
from allrecipes.com

2 ounces rice vermicelli
8 rice wrappers (8.5 inch diameter)
8 large cooked shrimp - peeled, deveined and cut in half
1 1/3 tablespoons chopped fresh Thai basil
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 leaves lettuce, chopped

4 teaspoons fish sauce
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic chili sauce

3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon finely chopped peanuts

Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Boil rice vermicelli 3 to 5 minutes, or until al dente, and drain.
Fill a large bowl with warm water. Dip one wrapper into the hot water for 1 second to soften. Lay wrapper flat. In a row across the center, place 2 shrimp halves, a handful of vermicelli, basil, mint, cilantro and lettuce, leaving about 2 inches uncovered on each side. Fold uncovered sides inward, then tightly roll the wrapper, beginning at the end with the lettuce. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
In a small bowl, mix the fish sauce, water, lime juice, garlic, sugar and chili sauce.

In another small bowl, mix the hoisin sauce and peanuts.
Serve rolled spring rolls with the fish sauce and hoisin sauce mixtures.

Linda

Sorry. I was a little slow on the uptake, but I get it now. When you said you'd prefer not to fry, my brain interpreted that as meaning you were going to bake instead. The 'fresh' kind didn't even occur to me.

Most recipes I've seen for that type either say to serve immediately or that you can refrigerate up to 2 hours. As rachelellen said, though, you can probably stretch that time frame a bit. I'd think you'd also need to be sure that the filling was really, really well-drained to avoid sogginess. The one thing that's always emphasized, though, is that they'll stick together badly if you try to stack them. If you're expecting a large group, you might need to ask some neighbors if you could 'borrow' a little refrigerator space Sat. morning.

sm

Linda, the main difference is that the summer rolls basically are fresh using rice paper, veggies and shrimp, and served with traditionally a peanut sauce -- not deep fried. Here is a link for a pretty standard recipe as I personally don't make them, as I have an easy source for them. I just thought it might be an option since it can be made in advance and has some of the same spices. You can make different sauces for them also.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/105012

Brenda, that recipe is very similar to the other one I am considering, except I plan to add steamed shrimp to about half of them. On review on the recipe I posted above said a really good sauce can be made from mixing peanut butter and hoisin sauce. Simple and delicious and the reviewer was Korean so I am guessing he/she knows a bit about these things!

Linda

I asked a similar question a couple of months ago. The answers from that thread may help you.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Will Spring Rolls Stick?

Linda, that recipe sounds pretty good. Don't hesitate to add some other veggies. A thin julienne of carrot, quickly blanched, adds a spot of pretty color, as can fine slivers of presoaked shiitake mushrooms.

As Steel Maggie (hope that's o.k. :D) said, making sure the veggies and vermicelli are well drained is a darn good idea, especially if you're going to make them ahead of time.

About the shrimp...if you break their backs before you cook them, you'll get straight pieces that are easier to wrap.

I'm not sure if I can explain that in words, but I'll try in case you have no idea what I'm talking about.

If you want shrimp that stay straight when cooked instead of curling, this is what you do:

Peel the shrimp, and stretch it out leg side down, on a cutting board. Starting at the head end, gently, but firmly push the shrimp onto the board with your thumbs as though you were trying to pop it's back during a massage. You will feel it pop. Do this at 3 or 4 other places along the "back" of the shrimp and you will end up with a shrimp that lies flat and straight along the board, and won't curl when you cook it. That's how Japanese chefs make Tempura shrimp that are straight.

Thanks, RE (I hope that's OK...LOL). I have never known that about shrimp. I will give it a try.

Yes, the other recipe I found on Epicurean.com has carrot and green onion, and another has cucumber. So I figured I would take bits from each recipe and use different veggies plus the addition of shrimp.

I am going to "play" tomorrow and see how I do. Then I figure if I have all my ingredients prepped ahead I can roll them Saturday morning.

Linda

I've made these several times with left overs eaten 2 days later and they held up very well. They're easy to make and great to use up those little bits of left overs in the fridge. They're great for weight watcher lunches!!