Vietnamese Beef and Herb Rice Paper Rolls Recipe

Instead of pan-frying, you can barbeque the beef on a table-top grill greased with oil.

Ingredients : Makes 12 rolls

1 stalk

2 cloves

1 tablespoon

1 teaspoon

1/4 teaspoon

1 tablespoon

500 g

1 tablespoon

30 g

20 g

Lemon grass

Shallots, sliced

Garlic, minced

Sugar

Fish sauce

Sesame oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Sesame seeds

Sirloin or fillet steak

Oil

Rice paper wrappers

Lettuce leaves, washed and dried

Mint leaves

Fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves

Method :

Cut off the thick bottom one-third of the lemon grass stalk.
Discard the rest. Blend the lemon grass, shallots, garlic and sugar to a smooth paste. Add some fish sauce if the mixture gets too dry.
Transfer to a bowl then add the remaining fish sauce, sesame oil, pepper, sesame seeds and beef. Set aside to marinate for 1 hour.
Heat the oil in a frying pan. Pan-fry the meat on very high heat for 1-2 minutes on each side, or until done to taste.
Transfer to a plate to cool. Once the meat has cooled, slice thinly.
Dip 1 sheet of rice paper in a bowl of warm water for 3-4 seconds. Remove and place on a tea towel, smoothing the rice paper with your fingers.
Place 1 lettuce leaf on each sheet.
Add some beef, mint and coriander leaves. Fold one end over the filling, then fold the sides, and roll up tightly, pressing to seal.
Cut in half and place on a serving plate.
Repeat until all the ingredients are used up. Make sure the rolls do not touch each other or they will stick. Serve with Vietnamese Dipping Sauce.