Ingredients
3 ounces dried rice vermicelli
2 1/2 tablespoons juice from 1 lime
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 large carrot , peeled and grated on the large holes of a box grater
1/3 cup coarsely chopped roasted unsalted peanuts
2 fresh Thai chiles , serrano, or jalape
Instructions
1. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Remove the boiling water from the heat, add the rice noodles, and let stand, stirring occasionally, until the noodles are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the noodles and transfer them to a medium bowl.
2. Whisk the lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar together in small bowl until the sugar dissolves. Toss 2 tablespoons of the lime juice mixture with the noodles. In a medium bowl, toss 1 more tablespoon of the lime juice mixture with the carrot, peanuts, and chiles. In small bowl, toss the remaining 1 tablespoon lime juice mixture with the cucumber.
3. Spread a clean, damp kitchen towel on a work surface. Fill a 9-inch pie plate with 1 inch of room temperature water. Working with one rice paper wrapper at a time, immerse each wrapper in water until just pliable, about 2 minutes, then lay the softened wrapper on the towel.
4. Scatter about 6 mint leaves and 6 cilantro leaves over the wrapper. Following the illustrations below, arrange 5 cucumber sticks horizontally on wrapper and top with 1 tablespoon of the carrot mixture, 2 tablespoons of the lettuce, 2 1⁄2 tablespoons of the noodles, and 2 shrimp halves.
5. Wrap the spring roll following the illustrations below, then transfer to a serving platter and cover with a second damp kitchen towel. Repeat with the remaining rice paper wrappers and filling ingredients. (The covered spring rolls can be refrigerated for up to 4 hours.) Serve with the peanut dipping sauce.
