I picked up this Nem Viet rice paper rolls kit on a supermarket trip a couple of months ago and I’ve been looking forward to trying it. It reminded me of the Vietnamese cafes we used to live near in Surrey Quays – we loved eating there.

The kit contains the rice paper rolls, some vermicelli rice noodles and a sweet chilli dipping sauce, so you need to buy the filling to go inside them. I chose carrot, spring onion, mint and king prawns. I shredded the vegetables and sliced the prawns in half lengthways. To cook the noodles, you cover them with boiling water in a dish for a few minutes then drain them.

With the fillings prepped, on to the rolls. Each roll has to be dipped in warm water to soften, then placed on a dry plate, so they need to be done one at a time. I put some of each of the fillings on a small pile in the middle of the roll, with a line of prawns on the top. Rolling them up is fiddly, but the rice rolls are stronger than I expected, so they were fairly forgiving for a beginner! I pulled in the sides and then rolled from top to bottom, trying to keep all the ingredients in place, but with mixed success!

I was quite pleased with how they turned out, although I’ll try to find a YouTube video for some tips before I try them again. I’m sure there’s a knack to it.

The rolls tasted great, especially with the mint – I love that flavour in them. And the dipping sauce was nice and thick.

The pack contains 8 rolls, so enough for a starter for four people, but we made six (I ran out of fillings) and we had three each as part of our main course. I’ll definitely get them again.

Nem Viet also sell a Pho kit which unfortunately isn’t gluten free, and bottles of the dipping sauce. You can buy the kits from various supermarkets or online – see their website.