Viet'd Up with Gỏi Cuốn

Viet: gỏi cuốn

English: spring roll

Pronunciation: yoi (like a question) coon (rising)

A weekend in Vietnam (aka Thai's mom's house) always Viets me up a bit.  I was already thrilled when his mom set out all the ingredients to make fresh shrimp spring rolls, but then she said that she would show ME how to make them.  Me! Người mỹ trắng!  So here is a 100% legit Viet recipe, from the mouth of a woman raised on the Southern tip of Vietnam:

1. First, moisten the bánh tráng (round sheets of rice paper).
2. Lay the sheet flat on a plate. 
3. On the closest part of the sheet to you, put a small amount of fresh lettuce, cilantro leaves, cooked (not hot) rice noodles, and four or five shrimp (or meat of choice).
4. Then, fold in the right and left sides of the bánh tráng to keep the ingredients from falling out the sides.
5. Keeping the sides held in, wrap the closest part of the bánh tráng over the ingredients very tightly.
6. Roll tightly.

NOTE: The gỏi cuốn will taste 10 times better if you are wearing purple pajamas brought from Vietnam a month ago, size XL.

It is also wonderful to have Thai's mom as my Vietnamese Consultant.  Instead of spending 10 minutes surfing the net and piecing together a shaky pronunciation, I simply turn around and say into the kitchen, "How do you spell trắng?"  That leads to a 10 minute explanation of that word and 5 related phrases, each spelled out and repeated several times.  The Viet newspaper next to me is covered in handwritten Vietnamese words.  I find it quite enjoyable!