Serve as snack or entree

Winter in Dubai is almost like a nice fresh sunny day in Melbourne. And what could be better than enjoying the season with our loved ones accompanied with some light enticing snack. Something you could eat with your fingers, get a little messy and have some afternoon tapas fun.

You should think of Vietnamese Spring Rolls as salad in a wrap which guarantee perfect bites every time. The rich crunchy texture of the lettuce, the beautiful fragrant of basil, brings out the distinct taste of the coriander. The prawns, rice vermicelli and wrap gives just enough weight to satisfy the appetite.

No salad will be complete without some dressing to go with it. The Hoisin sauce mixed with the tangy, slightly bitty dipping sauce enrich and smoothen the taste of all the ingredients.

Ingredients

• a handful of rice vermicelli
• 10 spring roll wrappers or rice wrappers
• 20 large prawns
• 2 tbs finely chopped basil
• 3 tbs finely chopped coriander
• 3 leaves lettuce, chopped

For sauce

• 4 ts fish sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tbs fresh lime juice
• 1 finely chopped garlic
• 2 ts white sugar
• hoisin sauce

Steps

1. Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Boil rice vermicelli for 3-5 minutes
2. Mix basil, coriander, and lettuce.
3. Lay the wrapper flat, In a row across the center, place 2 prawns, a bit of rice vermicelli, basil, coriander, and lettuce, leaving about 4 cm uncovered on each side. Fold uncovered sides inward, then tightly roll the wrapper. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
4. Steam the roll for about 5 minutes until the prawns is cooked.
5. In a small box, mix the fish sauce, water, lime juice, garlic, and sugar.
6. In another small bowl, put the hoisin sauce. You can add some chopped peanuts.
7. Serve rolled spring tolls with the fish sauce mixture and hoisin sauce.

Guacamole, a dip made from avocados, is originally from Mexico. The real trick to great guacamole is to use good avocados. Make sure your avocados are ripe. Depending on your taste, you can serve guacamole dip smooth or chunky. People usually serve this dip with corn chips, or an array of fresh vegetables.

Ingredients

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 tbs lime, juiced
• 1/2 ts salt
• 1/4 finely diced onion
• 2 tbs finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 tomato diced, seeds and pulp removed

Steps

1. Cut the avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avocado from the peel, put in a mixing bowl.
2. Mash the avocado.
3. Add the onion, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and tomato. Mix it well. Remember that much of this is done to taste because the variability in the fresh ingredients. Start with this recipe and adjust to your taste.
4. Cover with plastic warp and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
5. Serve with corn chips.