It was the 15th Night of the new Chinese Lunar New Year – the Year of the Snake, or what is commonly referred to as Chap Goh Meh. It is customary for the Chinese families to have dinner together to mark the end of the festivities so many who have come home from afar would usually make an effort to stay on till after this dinner.
You may recall from my previous post that I had succumbed to the intensely agonising pain in my left shoulder, elbow and wrist and resorted to treatment via acupuncture and I was told in no uncertain terms that I was not to eat prawns…
…crabs, belacan, cincaluk and the like for at least a month.
We had planned to have Vietnamese rolls for the dinner that night and my missus was thinking of putting that off till another time but she had bought all the ingredients. In the end, we decided to go ahead with it and I could just omit the crustaceans from the ones I rolled for myself.
For the rolls, we had this rice paper…
…that we had bought and brought back all the way from Auckland, New Zealand.
You have to take out one the sheets…
…like this and dip it in hot water till it softens like this…
Then you have to put the ingredients onto it…
– lettuce, shredded chicken, taugeh (bean sprouts), crushed peanuts, freshly-pounded chili…and my missus and my daughter could add the prawns to theirs followed by the very most important and essential ingredient in Vietnamese rolls…
– the peanut butter hoisin sauce…and then, you roll it up nicely like this…
and eat it. I remember we had mihun when we had this in Wellington, New Zealand but I guess my missus had forgotten all about it and I do think it is up to the individual what one would want to put in the rolls – I, for one, would probably add some thinly-sliced omelette as well…or crab perhaps – that is when the time comes when I will be allowed to eat that again. Hehehehehehe!!!! But it was all right. As it was…
…I found it absolutely delightful and wouldn’t mind having that again sometime. Anybody wants to join? Wink! Wink!
Each of us also had this individual serving roast chicken thigh with the mashed mixed sweet potatoes and potatoes…
…to go with the rolls and I would say we had had a really sumptuous and enjoyable dinner to bring the joyous Chinese New Year festivities to a close for this year.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Yes Arthur! I want to join!
Vietnamese rolls are healthy and delicious and I like the idea of wrapping any ingredients that you like but of course the vegetable is a must!
What’s the recipe for your peanut butter hoisin sauce?
Come, come! We can have a Vietnamese roll party when you’re here. For the sauce, just the peanut butter, hoisin sauce, prawn stock (and since I could not take that – my missus used fish gravy/sauce and water), garlic and a bit of vinegar.
i’ve been trying to get the paper rice for so long..anyway, i had a friend who did her sauce with blended avocado and fish sauce…it was good..
I don’t think you can get it here – maybe in KL or Singapore. We got ours when we were in Auckland. I guess that’s the basic thing we need – what goes inside would be up to us. I was thinking of something along the lines of the dip/sauce for sotong kangkong (not rojak).
Count me in, Arthur! I love Vietnamese rolls. That is something I cannot resist. I saw these paper rolls at Giant long ago. Must go and look for it. The roast chicken thigh and mashed sweet potatoes look very delicious too!
They have at Giant? I wonder if they have at their hypermart here. Must drop by one day to check it out.
Can courier 1 Vietnamese roll over? lol
Nah!!! I’m sure you have lots all over there – nicer and more authentic ones some more. I tried once at a food court in KL – did not think much of those though…I thought popiah’s nicer and our own and the ones I had in NZ too – much nicer.
nice Vietnamese spring rolls.. the roast chicken looks good too though I’d like chicken breast, less fat, haha. 😀
Never mind which part – it depends on the chicken and how you cook it. Roasting is good as much of the fat would have dripped away…but grilling and frying is bad…even if it’s breast.
Ooooh yumm! The Vietnamese roll sure looks good and healthy too! 🙂
It was good! Just can’t wait till I get better and we can have another round of those – with prawns and crabs added some more. Yum! Yum!
Arrgghhh..I want…I want..I want the Vietnamese rolls!! **pulling Arthur shirt like a kiddo** Please make this if I come over to Sibu.
You’d better come soon while we still have the skin left. Otherwise, you will have to buy there and bring over. No problem at all! Much easier than making popiah.
Now only you ask! It has been over a week or more.. lol… I have taken much of that when I was in my sister’s place… I kind of miss the Viet noodles though… they put lime juice in their soup.. 🙂
Can have second round mah! We’ve got a lot of the skin left over. So, are you coming? 😉
Isn’t that too late asking us to join now? Are you making the rolls again? But i know it must be so difficult to abstain from eating crustaceans.
Of course. Can’t wait to fully recover and we’ll have another round of Vietnamese rolls with all the prawns, crabs and what not. Some people never learn hor? Hehehehehehe!!!!!!
That’s an interesting way for the dinner on the last day of CNY! What a nice fusion 🙂 I love Vietnamese rolls too, but have never made them before. After seeing your post, it doesn’t look that hard to DIY! I should scout for those rice paper first! 🙂
Yes, they’re sooooo easy to make and very nice too. Shouldn’t be a problem getting the skin there – so many of them around. In Auckland, I saw it being sold in every supermart.
Hhhmm, something different for chap goh mei dinner…. nice!
Yes, it was great – different from the usual…and these days, all the dishes would be the usual stuff we eat every day – not like in the old days when we get to eat nice stuff only once a year.
peanut butter hoisin sauce?…very special sauce…
Nice, very nice. You can see the ingredients in my reply to an earlier comment or you can google for the recipe – may vary between one and the others though.
Absolutely healthy Vietnamese roll . What is actually rice paper? Something like our popiah skin. Looks good. Love to have a bite of it, hehehe!!!…
Nope, different. We don’t get very good popiah skin in Sibu anymore – maybe the old folks have died, the younger ones make and theirs are thick and yellow and rubbery. This is a whole lot nicer and a whole lot easier to prepare.
I made this once but not looking as delicious and appetizing like yours.
I wonder what yours was like. Did you blog about it?
That sauce looks delicious. That’s will power omitting those delicious looking prawns. How does the pain go?
The sauce is the star attraction – it gives the roll its really yummy taste. The pain – numb, stiff, tight…but after moving and “exercising” the arm a bit, it is not so bad – still not perfect, I’d know something is there but it is not a problem.
I want those rolls!
Come on over. I can host a party – I still have the skin…a lot! 🙂
We had these for our reunion dinner, but with char Siew not prawns. Hope your pain is better now.
Improving, thanks. Yes, I can imagine it would be nice if we had the roast chicken in it instead of/as well as the boiled shredded chicken that we used that day. Can be anything, obviously…
The roast chicken looks so good.. nice colour and all. I however don’t like sweet potato mash, only like them fried. Your Vietnamese rolls also look very delicious and I love the peanut butter hoisin sauce… much better than the usual original sauce 🙂
Yup, it was good for a change – the sweet potato mash. I would prefer my own mashed potatoes anytime. Dunno the original – maybe that was the one they used in KL – not nice. I did not enjoy it at all.
Vietnamese roll is definitely healthy and yummy. I cannot resist it at all.
It certainly is. Everything’s boiled or blanched or raw…no oil, no frying, no msg.
Wah your Vietnamese rolls looks very good, and that plate of prawns looks fresh, you know I am a big fan of prawns! haha xD
Yes, my missus gets from one seller – only the freshest prawns, not the pre-frozen ones.
i have always wanted to learn how to use the rice paper rolls. thanks for the post, masterchef! 🙂
Blush! Blush! So there you have it now – go, give it a try. Btw, I met your brother, Eddie, this evening at Sing Kwong, Salim. He’s looking good.
hve bought readymade viets rolls before but not to my liking becos its jus prawns,coriander n fish sauce.the other version they have is deepfried small popiah where u wrap with lettuce and dip in vinegar chilli sauce. but yours looks yummy esp with the hoisin peanut sauce so may give a try as these rice paper are so easily available here. btw hope your hands are better.
Yes, they are sold all over in NZ too. I had both in KL, Sunway – the deep fried ones were like deep fried popiah, not bad…but the non-fried ones like this were not nice at all. Even the skin was different – like paper. Ate once, swore I would never eat it again…but when I had it again in Wellington, it was different and so very nice. Can’t wait for another round. Arm’s much better…hope will be as good as new soon…and can start eating prawns and belacan and all.
The rolls looks tempting, and healthy. The chicken thigh is nicely roasted, with a beautiful golden color. How to prepare the mixed mashed sweet potatoes and potatoes? Just mashed both cooked potatoes together? Does the mix fares better than potatoes alone? Need any seasoning? Sorry for so many questions. I’m trying to cook something for my wife and is contemplating on how to make some good mash potatoes. I’m glad you posted this.
I prefer mashed potatoes – the mix is good for a change but I would not think it is really as nice. My mashed potatoes, I add a bit of butter and cheese and milk – so rich and creamy and fragrant. Maybe I can blog about it one of these days…
Please Arthur…I would like to see that. I heard that a good mashed potatoes is not easy. hope you can shed some light 🙂
Just cut some potatoes into wedges & boil till soft (use fork to check – it it does not stick, it’s ready), remove the skin and eyes when done…mash and add a bit of butter (a spoonful enough), chopped cheddar cheese slices (this will melt easily unlike the block ones) and add fresh milk, not too much, till you get the right texture. You can spread on a tray and bake a while in the oven for the top to be a bit crusty. I made some here for the cover of my version of the shepherd pie:
https://suituapui.wordpress.com/2008/12/30/the-lonely-goatherd/
Thank you very much Arthur 🙂
Welcome.
ooo cannot eat prawns ah? It’s “poisonous” in Chinese terms is it?
I don;t really enjoy vietnamese rolls coz didnt like the “smell” of the wrapper. Prefere the old type popiah wrapper
No good popiah skin here…and the frozen ones at the supermarkets suck big time. I would not bother making popiah with those available – wasted effort – with all the nice ingredients, all spoilt by the lousy skin.
oh we call that dish lumpiang sariwa and it comes with
a special sauce too but the wrapper we use were a bit thicker
No idea what that is – sounds more like what we call popiah…or in English, spring rolls.
well roast, fried, steamed, smoked, of what so ever
i like chicken the most
I’m ok with chicken. In fact, I’m ok with most anything… 😉
That’s the first time I see rice rolls. The only thing I’m familiar with is popiah skin which definitely doesn’t look like that. We don’t have to soak popiah skin right?
This looks yummy. Yums!
Of course not. Go to Asia Cafe, I think that’s what it’s called – the food court across the road from Snowflake in Sunway. They have a Vietnamese stall selling these there – you can try theirs. I did once but I did not think theirs were very good. Mine’s nicer.
Yummy and healthy. I am tempted to make some now except all I have is rice papers, eggs and lettuce:P
You need the sauce – without the sauce, it would be bland, not so nice…never mind what you put inside.
Oh no! I haven’t eaten my breakfast and it’s lunch time. I’m so hungry… drooling at the roasted chicken picture!
Nah! Penang – gourmet paradise…lots of nice things to eat there. You wouldn’t want to eat these. Hehehehehe!!!!
Vietnamese roll, nice and yum yum. But in this case i will choose the roast chicken thigh over the roll. kekekkeke
When you come back to Sibu , we have Vietnamese roll part at my house, want? 😉
This looks delicious! I haven’t had Vietnamese rolls for a while.
I like how the skin is translucent so you can see all the ingredients inside. 🙂
I reckon that makes it taste better. I’ll love to cook this when I’m back too.
Elections buddy! 🙂
Will wait till the time comes, Can always arrange something then. Hope you’ll stay longer than just a couple of nights to be able to fit everything in. 😉
was about to ask u where to get that rice paper until i saw that it comes all the way from NZ. Must be really convenient to have that 🙂
You should be able to get it at your side too. Somebody said she saw it at Giant. After all, they sell the rolls at places in KL. I don’t think we have it here.