Spring rolls are a cousin of the egg roll. Egg rolls are made with an egg and wheat flour wrapper; spring rolls are made with a thin rice paper wrapper. The fragile skinned spring rolls can contain any number of fillings. It is all in the creativity of the chef. In the coastal cities of Vietnam, seafood is plentiful and frequently featured in spring rolls and other local dishes. Spring rolls can be prepared with the raw wrapper, called fresh spring rolls, or they mat be fried like egg rolls. I learned about spring rolls while searching for an authentic Vietnamese egg roll.

• 1 package dried rice noodles
• 1 head iceberg lettuce
• ½ pound deveined & cooked shrimp
• 12 mint sprigs
• ½ pound fresh bean sprouts
• 3 tbsp Peanut butter

• 1 large cucumber
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 pack 10-inch rice spring roll paper
• 1 medium avocado, peeled, seeded, sliced
• 36 chives
• ½ cup crushed roasted peanuts

1. Cook rice noodles in pan with 4 quarts of lightly salted, boiling water for 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of cooking oil to pan during the last minute of cooking. Drain rinse noodles from pan and immerse in cold water. After noodles have cooled, drain in colander.
2. Peel cucumber and halve lengthwise. Use a melon baller or spoon to scrape out seeds. Cut across halves to make about 3-inch pieces. Cut into 1/4-inch matchsticks.
3. Cut lettuce head in half. Remove stem. Cut in thin cuts across face of lettuce half to make thin strips of lettuce. Rinse bean sprouts under running water and drain in colander.
4. Cut through shrimp lengthwise. Smaller shrimp -one cut, larger shrimp - two or three cuts.
5. Peel and seed avocado. Cut into thin slices. Toss with a tablespoon of lemon juice.
6. Work with just a couple of rice sheets at a time. Immerse sheet in a bowl the warm water to soften the sheets for handling. After wetting, do not let the sheets touch each other- they will stick. Gently remove sheet from water (they are fragile) and spread flat on a dry towel.
7. Place lettuce, bean sprouts, rice noodles, a sprig of mint, avocado slices, three chives, a pinch of garlic and shrimp on the middle of the softened rice paper. With your fingers, gently arrange the filling in the shape of the spring roll. Total amount of filling to be about 1/3 cup. The rice paper is fragile and you can easily tear the paper rolling an overfilled spring roll.
8. Fold up the bottom third of the rice paper. Press filling together snugly. Fold sides over the filling. Roll from bottom to top to completely enclose the filling. Set on waxed paper or non-stick surface for a few minutes until surface of rice paper partially dries and sticks to itself. Repeat until all of the filling is used.
9. Add 1 tablespoon of hot water to the peanut butter, Stir to make a smooth mixture. Add crushed peanuts and mix to make peanut dipping sauce..
10. Serve spring rolls with peanut sauce. In Vietnam, Nuoc Cham is popular as a dipping sauce.