SAUCE
In a small saucepan over medium-high, heat together sugar, water, salt, and vinegar. Wait until the liquid boils, add fish sauce. Lower the heat to simmer for a few minutes. Remove from heat, add red chilies. Add crushed peanuts only to the portion that you serve.

RICE PAPER

1. Heat water in a wok or a medium sauce pot. The water does not have to be boiling hot all the time. Leaving it to simmer while working is sufficient.
2. Arrange a work place by spreading out a damp kitchen towel on a small cutting board, and have one more handy. Rice papers are delicate wrappers to work with. If they have holes, throw them away because they are impossible to work with.
3. Using a strainer with a handle or a slotted spoon, dip a stack of 2-3 pieces of rice paper at a time in the hot water for about 30 seconds or until the rice paper is pliable. Drain and put on the damp kitchen towel. Spread the rice paper out. This should be done quickly because the rice papers stick together once they get dry. If that happens, dip them in hot water one more time to separate them.

THE TRICK: At the restaurant, if I have too many distractions when I work with the rolls, I keep a bowl of cold water on the side to put the rice paper in after taking them out of the hot water, which is easier because you can pick up the rice paper one at a time from the cold water .Use the second damp towel to absorb water from the rice paper.

ANOTHER TRICK: The way to keep salad rolls nice and soft until serving time is to cover the finished rolls with damp towels and cover with plastic wrap. The rolls will keep fresh for a few hours without drying out.

ROLLS

1. Cook prawns, and slice lengthwise. Tear romaine leaves into pieces large enough to roll in the rice paper. DO NOT use any hard part. In a small saucepan, add water to cook the rice vermicelli, bring to a boil. Add dry rice vermicelli to cook for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes. Drain well. Arrange on a cookie sheet with lining; prepare romaine lettuce, rice vermicelli, mint, basil, bean sprouts, and cooked prawns.
2. Start with a piece of romaine lettuce in the middle of the cooked paper. Then add basil, mint, prawn, rice vermicelli, and, finally, bean sprouts. The way to roll salad rolls is to make sure that all the ingredients are dry. Roll them from the bottom up to cover the ingredients. Fold in both sides and roll upward to finish the roll.
3. Serve rolls with Light Sweet Peanut sauce.