Make Ahead

Vietnamese-style Spring Rolls with Korean-style Beef

by:
July 21, 2011
4
3 Ratings
Vietnamese-style Spring Rolls with Korean-style Beef
  • Makes 12 spring rolls
Author Notes

Truly fusion! Familiar Vietnamese spring rolls with Korean-style beef inspired by ideas from my grandmother's and mom's kitchens (don't tell either that I messed with their recipes). - knoh —knoh

Test Kitchen Notes

There are many things rolled into this recipe to love. The dipping sauce is the perfect Asian-inspired condiment. It's salty, spicy and has an element of surprise that begs the question “just what’s in this smoothing things all out?”. The steak marinade pops the beef with sweetened soy and jalapeño heat. The shrimp provides a snappy texture to the finished roll. I will make these again but I’ll drop down to a single wrapper (having two plus the noodles yields an overly gelatinous feel) and next time I’ll add fresh basil or mint for a burst of flavor and color. - cheese1227 —cheese1227

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Spring Rolls
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 piece ginger, about the size of your thumb, peeled
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup Mexi Coke
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1/2 jalapeno pepper, including seeds and ribs
  • 1 pound flank steak
  • 24 rice spring roll wrappers
  • 12 small leaves red or green leaf lettuce
  • 4 ounces maifun rice stick, cooked and cut after cooking
  • 18 medium shrimp, cooked and halved lengthwise
  • Scallion Ginger Dipping Sauce
  • 1 piece ginger, peeled and minced (double the size of your thumb)
  • 5 green onions, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon gochukaru (Korean crushed red pepper)
  • 1/2 cup neutral oil such as grapeseed
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce (or to taste ... all ingredients are to taste)
Directions
  1. Spring Rolls
  2. For the marinade, process garlic, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, Coke, vinegar and jalapeno until smooth.
  3. Trim fat from steak. Pour marinade over steak. Cover and refrigerate for four to 12 hours. Remove from refrigerator 30-60 minutes prior to cooking. Rub off marinade.
  4. Heat oil in iron pan on medium-high heat. Place steak on pan and cook for four to six minutes, depending on thickness. Turn and cook for another three or four minutes. Let steak cool considerably. Slice against grain into fairly thin slices.
  5. Bring four cups of water to a near boil and pour into wide, shallow bowl. Immerse rice wrapper into hot water and lay onto large plate. Repeat and place one more sheet onto same plate directly over first rice wrapper. Set plate aside and repeat with two more rice wrappers. Always prep one plate ahead to allow wrappers time to absorb water and to cool slightly.
  6. Arrange ingredients in prepped wrapper on the third that's closest to you. 3 shrimp halves (they look pretty when the shrimp shows through), 1 lettuce leaf, 1 small handful of maifun and 1-2 slices of steak. Roll into a snug log, tucking ends in, like a San Francisco-style burrito. Repeat til you're done. Serve on the same day. Do not refrigerate.
  1. Scallion Ginger Dipping Sauce
  2. Mix all ingredients together and serve with assembled spring rolls.
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11 Reviews

Jay C.
Jay C. September 3, 2015
this marinade is delicious. i had to modify a bit since i didnt have coke, but since coke is a tenderizer with some sugar i replaced it with a bit more vinegar and 1.5 tablespoons of sugar. it tastes a bit like the sauce you get from chinese restaurants that comes with pot stickers.
 
Diedre A.
Diedre A. January 17, 2014
coke is poison...what can it be replaced by?
 
Maryliz
Maryliz November 21, 2011
These look wonderful !! I'll try them as soon as I can get the wrappers. Maybe the addition of some chopped spring onion would be good for the filling also. One question, Can these be deep fried? I think they would make an extra tasty crunchy appetizer !! Especially with the dipping sauce !! Now I really am hungry. Thanks for this recipe !
 
knoh
knoh January 21, 2014
Apologies for taking so long to respond to this comment. I love the idea of adding spring onions. I have never tried deep frying rice wrappers, but spring roll wrappers fry very well. If you try deep frying the rice wrappers, please let us know how they turned out!
 
knoh
knoh August 6, 2011
cheese1227: Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments on the recipe. I agree that two wrappers is too thick. And have also been considering the addition of chives or some other herb to the spring rolls themselves. Plus I think that it's better to make them about 2/3 the size of the rolls in the picture. I'll make some tweaks then update this recipe soon.
 
brittka
brittka July 25, 2011
These look like the perfect summer dish - such beautiful presentation! Can you tell me what a maifun rice stick is?
 
knoh
knoh July 25, 2011
:) Maifun is a very thin--similar to cappellini--rice noodle that is popular in Thai and Vietnamese cuisine. It's available at Trader Joe's and many grocery stores.
 
Sagegreen
Sagegreen July 21, 2011
These sound delicious and I love the composition of your photo.
 
knoh
knoh July 23, 2011
Thank you for the kind and encouraging comment ... and from such prolific food52er.
 
mpittsm
mpittsm July 21, 2011
This looks great for summer- one question: what is Mexi Coke?
 
knoh
knoh July 21, 2011
Mexi Coke is the colloquial name for Mexican Coke which is Coca-Cola bottled for Mexico. It uses cane sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup used for Coke in the US. It's readily available at most supermarkets here in LA as it gains popularity. Regular coke works just as well. Kiwi, pears, sugar and brown sugar are widely used in Korean kitchens as tenderizer/ sweeteners.