Dipping Sauce

  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 fresh red chilli, seeded and shopped
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 3 tablespoons orange juice

To make the dipping sauce, combine all the ingredients in a small dish and mix well.

Vietnamese Beef Springrolls

  • 1 lb (500g) fillet cut into thin strips
  • 3 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 4 tablespoons minced lemongrass
  • 3 tablespoons minced shallots
  • 1½ tablespoons soft brown sugar
  • 1½ tablespoons sesame oil
  • 125g rice vermicelli
  • 8 dried rice paper wrappers
  • 1 soft lettuce
  • handful of basil
  • handful of coriander
  • handful of mint

1. Cut beef into thin strips. Combine garlic, lemongrass, shallots, sugar, fish sauce, sesame oil and mix together well. Marinate together with beef strips for at least 1 hour.

2. Blanch the rice vermicelli in boiling water until soft, just a few minutes. Drain and set aside.

3. Take a large bowl of warm water and dip one end of the rice paper wrappers in it until soft. Spread rice paper out on kitchen towel to absorb som of the water.

4. Take a piece of soft lettuce and place it in the centre of the rice paper wrapper, add 6-7 beef slices, some rice vermicelli and a little of each of the basil, mint and coriander.

5. Take the edge of the rice paper closest to you and fold it over the filling, making sure it is quite tight. Fold in the sides and then continue to fold over the edges until you have a neat spring roll. Repeat until all the rice paper wrappers are used up.