Vietnamese Lemongrass Beef Salad Summer Rolls

Beef Salad Summer Roll

People often ask me how I could bear to live in a lonely house in the middle of a field. Point is, I actually find the solitude inspiring. When the wind rises and goes crazy outside, I feel calmer than usual looking out from the inside. Just like when I was a kid in Singapore and a thunderstorm would break out at night and it would rain cats and dogs. And I would spend the night imagining adventures in faraway lands and sleep all the better in the middle of them all.

But I do dislike the fireworks that tend to wake us all up around midnight here every other night. Unnatural and therefore all the more intrusive. At the beginning I thought we had a fireworks factory near our house. In Paris we had the right to 2 fireworks display in a year. Over here, we get them at least twice a week. Who could be so rich, right?

But investigations revealed that between June and September, there are many celebrations (many religious - now where do the churches get their money?) in the different towns and villages surrounding ours and they would all usually end with a firework display. Oh.

So back to my solitary existence (during school hours) in the house, I do so welcome the calm and the quiet, being able to be with my thoughts for once. With shopping probably out and the fact that most of the Ferrari and school mothers are not into cooking (many can't cook and most want to watch their figures), I intend to enjoy my own company to the fullest and indulge myself in useful occupations. In fact I was mopping the floor yesterday (have not done it in 2 months) when I suddenly thought of making Vietnamese Lemongrass Beef Salad Summer Rolls. Just like that.

It is actually a normal Viet Beef Salad like what I usually make when the fancy strikes. Only that I've decided to wrap it in rice paper and make Spring Rolls out of them, to be eaten with a Nuoc Cham dip. Very delicious and refreshing, Hubby came back for lunch this afternoon with the express desire to finish up the rolls remaining from last night.

The Summer Rolls :

Rice Paper Rounds

Grilled Beef marinated in a lemongrass marinade

Salad Leaves

Shallots

Carrots

Cucumber

Bean Sprouts

Mung Bean or Rice Vermicelli
Mint Leaves

Coriander Leaves

Lime Juice

Salt and Pepper

The Dip :

50ml Lime Juice

50ml Fish Sauce

30ml Cold Water

1-2 Tbsp Sugar

2 Tsp Plum Sauce

1-2 cloves Garlic

Chilli Padi

Some julienned Carrots

It takes some practice to handle the rice paper wraps with some success, but it'll come after 2-3 rolls. I use hot/warm water to soften the dry rice paper that one can buy from an Asian store. It takes a few seconds each (depending on the temperature of the water) and then you take it out of the water and place it on a chopping board or whatever.

One big rice paper is needed for each roll. Though my first few rolls often needed 2 until I get less nervous about it. The rice paper is not as fragile as it looks.

Fill it up with the meat (so that it shows1st thing), salad leaves, then the tanghoon, cucumber, shallots etc. Don't forget the fresh herbs, they add an aromatic touch to the whole roll. Squeeze some lime juice and sprinkle some salt and pepper over the filling.

Roll it up by folding the 2 sides inwards and then rolling the roll from the bottom to the top.

Cling-wrapped Summer Roll

The rolls are best eaten fresh, but for convenience's sake, what I usually do is that I wrap them up individually in plastic film and keep them in the fridge till I serve them. In addition, the wrapping is useful as it makes it easier to eat the roll later on i.e. you unwrap the roll bit by bit as you eat it, making it easier to hold the whole thing and dip it into the sauce.

If you are good at rolling it nice and tight, you can even slice it into 2 artistically and serve it showing off its cross-sections.

The rolls can also be filled with cooked prawns etc. A nice change from pasta and more pasta.

Meanwhile, did I tell you that I got screamed at by an Italian yesterday? They like to stick to your car like glue, and then when they nearly kissed your bum because you have found a parking lot, signaled and started to park, they pull up to your side and scream at you.

The good thing about not speaking Italian is that you didn't understand what all that emotion was about (ignorance, as we know, is bliss), but being a very curious girl, I must admit that I was a little frustrated about it. Otherwise, I see no point in having the last word on this kind of unimportant thing, so if I could make her happy by telling her that I was in the wrong, I would have done so. Only I couldn't speak in her tongue. A pity as God knows she may need it, she looked like she had eaten too much pasta and has not had enough sex. And back to pasta, they make you fat just like German sausages do. If you don't believe me, just come to Modena.