Vietnamese Summer Rolls

Dip a sheet of rice paper a third of the way into a bowl of hot water for about 2 seconds. Turn it and dip remaining section, then lay on a damp towel. Working on bottom third of rice paper, spread a bit of lettuce, noodles, carrots, herbs and pork and/or shrimp. Fold up bottom edge to cover, then fold in the sides. Roll tightly. Continue with remaining ingredients. Combine fish sauce, sugar, ginger, chili-garlic paste and about 1/4 cup water. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt and pepper if necessary. Serve rolls right away, or refrigerate, lightly covered, up to 2 hours. Cut each roll into 2 or 3 pieces, then serve with dipping sauce and lime wedges.

Comments from the website: If you have ever considered making a Vietnamese summer roll, you may have been intimidated by the process. But these delicious rolls are not at all difficult. I learned my summer roll technique from a native of France. I learned three things: Rice paper is very forgiving; don’t overstuff; and the more you make, the easier it gets. The rolls include rice vermicelli, lettuce, shredded carrots, a variety of herbs (the best combination is basil, mint and cilantro), and pork or shrimp or both. I would consider only the herbs truly sacred, but substitutions would work elsewhere: hard-cooked egg or tofu for the pork or shrimp, shredded daikon or anything else crunchy for the carrots, chopped greens for the lettuce, any pasta for the noodles.