| 1 | The book notes that true buddhist vegetarians would not use garlic or fish sauce and would limit the dips to plain soy or plum sauce. |
| 2 | Unless you are in this category, peanut sauce (nuoc leo) and nuoc cham are great dips as well. |
| 3 | Prepare the vegetable platter, noodles and dipping sauce. |
| 4 | Set aside. |
| 5 | Soak the noodles in warm water and the mushrooms in hot water for 30 minutes; drain. |
| 6 | Cut the noodles into ?inch lengths. |
| 7 | Remove and discard the stems from the mushrooms; squeeze to extract most of the soaking liquid. |
| 8 | Mince all of the mushrooms. |
| 9 | Combine all of the filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl; blend well with your hands. |
| 10 | Set aside. |
| 11 | Assemble the rolls: fill a large bowl with 4 cups of warm water and dissolve the sugar in it. |
| 12 | Rice paper is quite fragile. |
| 13 | Work with only 4 sheets at a time, keeping the remaining sheets covered with a barely damp cloth to prevent curling. |
| 14 | Immerse the rice paper, one sheet at a time, into the sweetened warm water. |
| 15 | Quickly withdraw it and lay it flat on a dry towel. |
| 16 | Do this with 4 sheets without letting them touch each other. |
| 17 | The rice paper will become pliable within seconds. |
| 18 | Fold over the bottom third of each round. |
| 19 | Put 1 generous teaspoon of filling in the center of the folded-over portion. |
| 20 | Press it into a compact rectangle. |
| 21 | Fold one side of the paper over the mixture, then the other side. |
| 22 | Roll from the bottom to the top to completely enclose the filling. |
| 23 | Continue until all of the mixture is used. |
| 24 | (the rolls can be prepared 1 day in advance. |
| 25 | Wrap and refrigerate). |
| 26 | Fry the rolls: if possible use 2 skillets. |
| 27 | Pour 1 to 1 ?inches of oil into each skillet and heat to 325°F. |
| 28 | Working in batches, add some of the rolls without letting them touch, or they will stick together. |
| 29 | Fry for 10 to 12 minutes, turning often, until golden and crisp. |
| 30 | Remove the rolls from the oil with tongs and drain on paper towels. |
| 31 | Keep warm in a low oven until all of th rolls are cooked. |
| 32 | To serve, each diner wraps a roll in a lettuce leaf along with some noodles and selected items from the vegetable platter and dips the package in the dipping sauce. |
| 33 | Note: the fried rolls can be frozen, then thawed and reheated in a 350f oven just to crisp and heat through. |
| 34 | Yield: 40 rolls |
