Everybody knows about egg rolls, but Vietnamese spring rolls are something special.

Combining the flavors and textures of fresh green herbs, thin noodles, peanuts, pork or shrimp, they offer a tasty treat this time of year — when our palates are turning to lighter, more springlike fare.

Unlike egg rolls, spring rolls are not fried in oil. While some of the ingredients are cooked, the vegetables remain raw and crunchy.

Jeremy Nguyen, a staffer at the Asian Community and Cultural Center, gave a class recently on how to make spring rolls. About 20 people attended. 

He started by getting all the ingredients ready. He boiled a package of thin rice noodles (very thin wheat noodles also can be used), stirring as they cooked to a delicate tenderness.

Meanwhile, an assistant peeled some cucumbers and sliced them paper-thin, piling the slices on a platter.

Nguyen poured a packet of raw peanuts into a microwaveable bowl and zapped them at high in the microwave for three to four minutes, until they acquired a golden-brown hue. 

He prefers using shrimp rather than pork in his spring rolls, so he had a couple of pounds of jumbo shrimp. Another assistant peeled off the shells and deveined the shrimp; then Nguyen took a sharp knife and carefully cut each shrimp in half, lengthwise.

He also had fresh greens purchased at one of Lincoln’s many Asian markets. They included long coriander leaves, basil, a heart-shaped leaf called lizards tail and a mint variously known as Asian mint or spearmint. He separated the leaves from the stems and piled them loosely in bowls.

Meanwhile, Nguyen poured a large bottle of hoisin sauce (also available at Asian markets) into a saucepan and warmed it on the stove, adding part of a packet of Knorr tamarind soup base, made in the Philippines. “That makes a delicious sauce,” he said. 

After completing these preparations, he lined up all the ingredients on a table along with an electric wok filled with water. He brought the water to a boil, then dumped in the raw shrimp and cooked it until it was white and pinkish. 

After that, the room erupted into something of a free-for-all as participants constructed their own spring rolls.

Each roll begins with a square of thin Vietnamese rice paper, which is dipped in hot water for a few seconds to soften.

Then the rice paper is positioned on a plate (plastic or china plates work best because the rice paper sticks to paper plates.) Participants then went from bowl to bowl, heaping ingredients onto their rice paper — a few pieces of shrimp, greens, cucumbers, peanuts and noodles.

For best results, place all these ingredients about one-fourth of the way from one corner of the rice paper. Then pull that corner up and over the ingredients, sticking it down and smoothing it into place.  Then fold in each of the sides and roll  everything to the top to complete the roll.

Some of the rolls were fat and others thin — not all professional efforts, but still very tasty.

Participants sampled their creations by dipping them into the warm hoisin-tamarind sauce, adding a dollop of Vietnamese hot chili sauce, or a little of both.  The chili sauce really is hot, but most participants said they liked it, even as it brought tears to some eyes.

 “I learned how to make spring rolls from my grandparents and my mom, and when I was a child I did it all the time,” Nguyen said. He   stressed he doesn’t follow a set recipe, but that ingredients can be combined in whatever proportions you prefer. “In every region (of Vietnam) they do a different style,” he added.

“Which means there is no wrong way, so we’ll be all right no matter what we do,” one of the participants said.

Last month, in observance of Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, the Asian Center also offered an egg roll demonstration. Volunteer Teresa Nguyen used traditional Chinese egg roll skins and a filling of cooked vegetables and slivered pork.

She did not specify amounts of each ingredient, but noted that the filling consists of a combination of thinly sliced carrots, cabbage and black mushrooms, stir-fried in a wok, plus some boiled mung bean noodles. Onions, pork, shrimp or green peppers or a few bits of hotter peppers may be added, depending on preference, she said.

She folded the egg roll the same way as a spring roll, placing the ingredients about one-fourth of the distance from one end and folding it up like an envelope. She used a small amount of egg yolk to seal the edges.

“Don’t put in too much filling,” she said. “We’re not making burritos; we’re making egg rolls.”

Then she placed them in a deep pan filled with hot oil. “They should sizzle when you put them in,” she said. She cooked them five to seven minutes, until they turned golden brown and crispy, using a  wire basket to lift them out.

To keep them from getting soggy, she puts the finished egg rolls in a straight-sided bowl lined with paper towels, standing them on end to drain off the excess oil.

As with spring rolls, she gives no specific proportions — emphasizing the individualized nature of Asian home cooking. “Just use as much as you want of whatever you want,” she said.  “Everybody makes them a little differently.”

Reach Bob Reeves at 473-7212 or breeves@journalstar.com.

What you need to make Vietnamese spring rolls:

rice paper

rice noodles or thin wheat noodles

jumbo shrimp

raw peanuts

cucumbers

fresh herbs, such as coriander, basil and mint

hoisin sauce

tamarind soup base

What you need to make egg rolls:

egg roll skins

carrots

cabbage

black mushrooms

mung bean noodles

(onions or green or hot peppers, optional)

egg yolk

hot oil