Vietnamese-Style Summer Rolls with Peanut Sauce

Ingredients :

Peanut butter	3/4 cup
Water	1/3 cup
Hoisin sauce	3 tablespoons
Lime juice	2 tablespoons
Soy sauce	4 1/2 teaspoons
Sugar	1 tablespoon
Chile-garlic paste	2 1/4 teaspoons
Garlic	1
Sesame oil	1/2 teaspoon
Shrimp	25
Rice vermicelli	4 ounces
Rice paper wrappers	16
Bean sprouts	1 cup
Mint leaves	1 bunch
Basil leaves	1 bunch
Cilantro sprigs	16
Chiles	2
Cucumber	1
Scallions	3
Lettuce leaves	8

Directions :

• Whisk all of the ingredients together in a medium bowl; set aside.
• Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add the shrimp and cook until bright pink and just opaque, about 1 1/2 minutes. Drain in a colander and run under cold water until cool. Pat the shrimp dry with paper towels and place on a cutting board.
• Holding your knife parallel to the cutting board, halve each shrimp horizontally.
• Fold the bottom half of the rice paper wrapper over the filling. Holding the whole thing firmly in place, fold the sides of the wrapper in.
• Then, pressing firmly down to hold the folds in place, roll the entire wrapper horizontally up from the bottom to the top.
• Turn the roll so that the seam faces down and the row of shrimp faces up. Place it on a rimmed baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and fillings. Leave 3/4 inch between each summer roll on the sheet so they don’t stick together, and replace the water in the pan or dish with hot tap water as needed.
• If not serving immediately, keep the summer rolls tightly covered with plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 2 hours. Serve with the peanut sauce for dipping.
• Place in a medium bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.
• Cook the rice noodles according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
• Place all of the ingredients in separate containers and arrange them in the following order around a work surface: rice paper wrappers, shrimp, rice noodles, bean sprouts, mint, basil, cilantro, serrano (if using), cucumber, scallions, and lettuce.
• Place a clean, damp kitchen towel on a work surface. Fill a medium frying pan or wide, shallow dish large enough to hold the rice paper wrappers with hot tap water. Working with 1 wrapper at a time, completely submerge the wrapper until it is soft and pliable, about 15 seconds. Remove the wrapper from the water and place it on the towel.

• Working quickly, lay 3 shrimp halves in a row, cut side up, just above the center of the wrapper, leaving about 1 inch of space on each side. Layer a scant 1/4 cup of the rice noodles over the shrimp, followed by a few bean sprouts, 2 of the mint leaves, 2 of the basil leaves, 1 sprig of cilantro, and 2 pieces of serrano, if using. Place 4 of the cucumber sticks and 2 of the scallion pieces on either side of the noodle pile. Roll one piece of lettuce into a cigar shape and place it on top of the noodle pile.