Peanut Dipping Sauce
2 tablespoons peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon of sesame oil
½ teaspoon veggie oil
chopped peanuts for garnish
Heat oil in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add minced garlic, and when it begins to turn golden, add hoisin sauce, sugar, peanut butter. Stir until the peanut butter has dissolved and mixture is well blended. Adjust the thickness of the sauce by adding more peanut butter to thicken or more water to thin out.
Goi Cuon
This recipe makes 12 pieces, which you may serve as appetizers, allotting two or more per person.
1/2 pound medium shrimp (30-35 count per pound), cooked until pink, then shelled and cooled
1/2 pound boneless pork loin
12 sheets eight-inch-round rice-paper wrappers (banh trang)
6 or 7 leaves of Boston lettuce, rinsed and pulled apart into small pieces
4 ounces rice vermicelli, cooked and cooled
24 stems cilantro
Separate the sheets of rice paper and dampen each by dipping in warm water or wetting with your fingers. Wipe off the excess by hand and stack the sheets one atop another, separating them with paper towels so they don't stick together.
Place a sheet of rice paper on a flat surface. You will be making each roll in layers so that each group of ingredients is wrapped in a separate fold of the rice paper. Place a piece of lettuce, cilantro, and small portion of noodles near the top third of the rice paper and fold the edge once over the filling, rolling it tightly. Fold one end in over the filing and then fold the second end over the filling.
In the next layer, place a few pieces of pork on the paper and fold again. For the final layer, place the shrimp halves in a straight line, one behind the other, then the egg, on the paper and make the final fold, continuing to roll until the package is closed tightly.