Vietnamese Grilled Shrimp Summer Rolls Recipe

By
Joshua Bousel
a photo of Joshua Bousel, a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Joshua Bousel
Joshua Bousel is a Serious Eats old-timer, having started sharing his passion for grilling and barbecue recipes on the site back in 2008. He continues to develop grilling and barbecue recipes on his own site, The Meatwave, out of his home base of Durham, North Carolina.
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Updated May 09, 2019
Marinated and grilled shrimp are paired with quick pickles, lettuce, cilantro, mint, and vermicelli to make a classic Vietnamese summer roll. . Joshua Bousel

Vietnamese summer rolls rightfully earn their name—the combination of fresh greens, tangy pickles, and grilled seafoods or meats that fill their thin rice wrappers certainly delivers seasonal flavors.

For these particular summer rolls, I marinated shrimp in a ubiquitous Vietnamese combination of fish sauce, sugar, garlic, and black pepper. Next I grilled the shrimp over high heat until just cooked through, then laid three out on top of a softened sheet of rice paper. I then topped each with quick pickled daikon, carrot, and cucumber, followed by rice vermicelli, bibb lettuce, cilantro, and mint and wrapped them up. I repeated that for the all shrimp I grilled and then served them alongside a peanut dipping sauce.

The shrimp had a slight salty and briny flavor from the marinade, with a touch of added sweetness. They served as a light base that got a lot of freshness from the herbs and lettuce, and a contrasting tang and crunch from the pickles. They were fine on their own, but even better when dipped into the nutty peanut sauce that heightened their complexity and added the right amount of extra moisture to really make them awesome.

Why this recipe works:

  • A fish sauce, sugar, and garlic marinade adds a sweet and salty flavor to the shrimp
  • Quick pickled cucumber, carrot, and daikon give these rolls a tangy crunch
  • Lettuce, mint, and cilantro provide a contrasting freshness to the shrimp and pickles

Recipe Details

Vietnamese Grilled Shrimp Summer Rolls Recipe

Active 60 mins
Total 2 hrs
Serves 8 servings

Ingredients

For the Quick Pickles

  • 1 cup rice vinegar

  • 1/3 cup sugar

  • 1 hothouse cucumber, julienned

  • 1 medium carrot, julienned

  • 1 small daikon, julienned

For the Marinade

  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce

  • 1 tablespoon water

  • 2 teaspoons sugar

  • 2 teaspoons freshly minced garlic, about 2 medium cloves

  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  • 24 medium shrimp (about 2/3 pound), shelled, deveined, and tails removed

  • 4 oz rice vermicelli

  • Eight 8-inch spring roll wrappers

  • 1 large bunch fresh mint, washed and dried

  • 1 large bunch fresh cilantro, washed and dried

  • 1 head Bibb lettuce, washed and dried

Directions

  1. To make the pickles: Whisk together vinegar and sugar in a small bowl. Place cucumber, carrot, daikon in a jar or container. Pour in enough vinegar and sugar mixture to fully submerge vegetables. Cover and let stand for at least one hour, or transfer to refrigerator for up to a week.

  2. To make the marinade: Whisk together fish sauce, water, sugar, garlic, and black pepper in a small bowl. Place shrimp in a resealable plastic bag and pour in marinade. Seal bag and place in refrigerator while preparing vermicelli and grill.

  3. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add in vermicelli and cook for 3 minutes. Drain in colander and run under cold water. Set aside.

  4. Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread the coals evenly over entire surface of coal grate. Alternatively, set all the burners of a gas grill to high heat. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate. Skewer shrimp and place on grill. Grill skewered shrimp over direct heat until shrimp are opaque and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer shrimp to platter and remove from skewers.

  5. Fill a large, shallow bowl with hot water. Place 1 spring roll wrapper in water and let soak until soft and pliable, about 15 seconds. Transfer wrapper to a work surface. Place 3 shrimp in center of wrapper and top with lettuce, vermicelli, pickles, a few mint leaves, and a few sprigs of cilantro. Fold bottom of wrapper over filling, fold over sides around filling, then roll wrapper shut. Repeat with remaining 7 wrappers. Serve immediately.

Special Equipment

Grill, 8 wooden skewers (soaked in water for 30 minutes prior to use)

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
139 Calories
1g Fat
30g Carbs
3g Protein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories 139
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 1g 1%
Saturated Fat 0g 1%
Cholesterol 1mg 0%
Sodium 385mg 17%
Total Carbohydrate 30g 11%
Dietary Fiber 3g 11%
Total Sugars 11g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 13mg 66%
Calcium 61mg 5%
Iron 2mg 12%
Potassium 379mg 8%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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