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Kuong

Cambodian Fresh Spring Rolls with Fish Sauce

4–6
30 min
90 min
Cambodia
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From the kitchen of

Silean Seng and Cannalen Koun

FH Cambodia

Kuong is enjoyed by Khmer people across Cambodia as a lunchtime snack, street-food treat, and party platter favourite—some people even eat it for breakfast!

It's a great way to jazz up leftover meat. Best of all, it's packed with tasty ingredients and is equally delicious and nutritious.

Ingredients

Rolls

  • 500 g pork belly, boiled, sliced
  • 400 g shrimp, de-shelled
  • 100 g vermicelli rice noodles, uncooked
  • 5 cups lettuce, shredded
  • 3 cups mung bean sprouts
  • 2 cucumbers, julienned
  • 18 sheets rice paper
  • 2 cups fresh herb mix: cilantro, mint, celery leaves, rat-ear*

Fish sauce

  • 1 ¾ cups water
  • ½ cup vinegar
  • ½ cup fish or oyster sauce
  • ¾ cup white sugar
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 1 chili pepper, thinly sliced
  • ½ cup peanuts, chopped, roasted

*Rat-ear, also called pepper elder or clearweed, is a tropical herb with a broad leaf and mustard-like scent. Substitute with your choice of bitter herb or leaf, such as arugula.

Prep

  1. Prepare the pork. Cut away any large portions of fat from the pork. Boil pork in salted water for about 60–90 minutes until fork-tender (a fork slides easily in and out of the meat). Or, slow cook the pork for 6 hours on low. Drain and set aside to cool.
  2. Whisk together fish sauce ingredients, minus the peanuts. Set aside to let flavours blend.
  3. Prepare the shrimp and noodles. De-head and de-shell the shrimp if needed and boil in salted water for about 3 minutes until cooked through. Remove tails and cut shrimp in half lengthwise. Place rice noodles in a heatproof dish and cover with boiling water; let stand until soft (3–4 minutes) then drain and set aside.
Prepared Kuong fillings in bowls: shrimp, shredded lettuce, mung bean sprouts, cucumber, and fresh herbs

Rolling and serving

  1. To assemble the rolls, dip one rice paper in warm water to soften. Layer ingredients in the centre of the soft wrap—lettuce, noodles, herbs, mung bean sprouts, cucumbers, pork, and shrimp. Then wrap by pulling two sides up slightly onto the ingredients and roll into a small log.
  2. Serve rolls fresh and cold (or refrigerate for up to 2 days). Pour fish sauce into small individual bowls for dipping and sprinkle in chopped peanuts. Makes 15–18 rolls.
A Kuong spring roll being assembled on softened rice paper with lettuce, noodles, sprouts, pork, and shrimp

Recipes like this come from thriving gardens.

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