Fresh Spring Rolls (Summer Rolls) Recipe
These fresh spring rolls pack with juicy shrimp or chicken, cool rice noodles, and fragrant herbs like mint, basil, and cilantro. Each bite of this salad comes with soft rice paper wrap. I like to dip it in creamy peanut dipping sauce.
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What is the Difference Between Fresh and Fried Rolls?
Another name of Fresh spring roll is “Summer Roll” The wrapper is the rice paper, feature raw vegetables, herbs, and often shrimp, pork, or rotisserie chicken. Fried spring rolls, on the other hand, come with a crispy outer layer made from deep-fried wheat flour wrappers. These rolls contain a savory filling of cooked vegetables, meat, or seafood, offering a rich, crunchy texture. Read more about history of summer rolls from “Siam“.
How to Keep Summer Rolls Fresh.
Summer rolls are best to eat right away and normally stay fresh for about two hours at room temperature. Refrigerating them will harden the shells. However, I have seen the Asian markets’ trick to keep them fresh longer. They wrap each of them with plastic wrap individually then store in an airtight container. You can refrigerate these rolls up to two days. Before eating, bring the roll to room temperature.
Noodles for Summer Rolls
You can omit the noodles to keep it low carb. However, the noodle that most people use for the dish is rice vermicelli. If you decide to use this noodle, consider using some of it for a different dish such as with Thai Green Curry. Also, keep in mind that although it only takes one minute to cook rice vermicelli, it does need another 20 minutes of resting time. Then drain and wash this noodle with cold water.
In this particular video and pictures, I used the Somen noodle. That is because the texture of the Japanese Somen noodle is similar to rice vermicelli and perfect for cold dishes. Moreover, Somen noodle does not need resting time making this recipe quick and easy! I also got lucky to find some pink Somen noodles. I think they are pretty :D.
Fresh Spring Rolls (Summer Rolls) Recipe
Equipment
- 1 pot
Ingredients
Peanut Dipping Sauce
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup Hoisin sauce
- ¼ cup tamarind concentrate
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- 1 tbsp peanut (roasted and crushed)
For Fresh Spring Rolls
- 1 package rice paper
- 1 cup lettuce
- 1 lb shrimp (peeled and devein)
- 1 carrot
- 1 cucumber
- ¼ cup mint
- ¼ bunch cilantro
- 2 oz somen noodle (1 -2 bundles or rice vermicelli) (See the link)
Instructions
Make Peanut Dipping Sauce.
- On medium heat, combine water, peanut butter, tamarind concentrate, and Hoisin sauce in a pot. Stir or whisk until well mixed, then let the sauce boil for 1-2 minutes. Set it aside or store it in a jar. (Cooking this sauce extends its shelf life to up to 1 month in the fridge.)
Cook and Half the Shrimp.
- On high heat, bring the water to a boil and cook the shrimp for 2 minutes. Rinse the shrimp with cold water to stop further cooking. (Optional) Halve each shrimp for easier rolling.
Cook the Somen or Rice Vermicelli Noodle
- On high heat, bring the water to a boil and cook the Somen for 2 minutes. The strain and rinse with cold water. Set it aside.
- If using rice vermicelli, cook the noodle for 1 minute. Cover and remove from the heat and let it sit for 20 minutes. Then strain and rinse with cold water. See my green curry video for clarification.
Assemble
- Fill a shallow dish with some water. Dip a rice paper in the water for 5 – 10 seconds. Place the rice paper on the cutting board. It should be still firm at this point.
- Layer herbs, vegetables, and nThen place shrimp (the pink side down for presentation). Refer to the video for clarification.
- Pick up the sides of the spring roll and fold them in over the toppings. Lift the edge closest to you and pull it snugly over the toppings. Continue rolling the spring roll all the way up, like a burrito.