The History of Vietnamese Rolls
Spring rolls are a popular food in Asia, including Vietnam. They originated from China. According to history, at the beginning of spring day, Chinese people always used wonton shells for rolling meat and vegetables.
The Chinese ate this food and prayed for good health, and spring rolls contain spring in the real meaning.
After that, spring rolls became the daily meals, which were gradually popular in many other countries.
For example, the names of spring rolls are different in every country, such as Dim sum in Chinese, chungwon in Korea, harumaki in Japan, and Lumpia in Indonesia. And Vietnamese roll is one kind of that and has lots of recipes that are proudly made in Vietnam.
There are two main types of '' banh cuon'' in Vietnam: fresh noodle soup and dry, clear noodle soup. Besides, Vietnamese spring rolls can be used directly with prepared ingredients or can be fried with ingredients.
When you come to Vietnam, you will find this dish sold all over the street and even in luxury restaurants, banh cuon are modified in a very unique way. This is a nutritious dish, many different price points.
How is Vietnamese rolls in the North?
In the North of Vietnam, there are not too many types of VietNam rolls. Towards the North, you cannot ignore some typical Vietnamese dishes such as fried spring rolls, pho cuon or spring rolls. Most of the ingredients for making Vietnamese rolls are nutritious and simple
Nem ran (Fried spring rolls)
The most traditional and common spring roll is nem ran. You will have to prepare the banh da, pork, and vegetables such as carrots, and beansprouts,… to complete the delicious Vietnamese rolls.
In addition, these spring rolls can be fried with a medium oil and don’t need to have a full of the oil pan. The size of spring rolls in northern Vietnam is quite large, with around more than 2 fingers.
And, the quantity of vegetables is more than the meat, which makes the roll sweet from the vegetables and not satiated even when customers eat too much.
Moreover, the fried spring rolls can be both the main food or a side food. On the one hand, the main food is bun nem, which are made of rice noodles and nem ran.
There is also a light fish sauce with garlic, chili, pepper, and sugar, that make the combination even more perfect. On the other hand, during the Tet festival in spring, nir ran is a side food and plays an important role in the meal.
You will have a buffet with other food like boiled chicken, bamboo shoot soup, sticky rice cake,… and spring rolls.
With the nutrients of each roll, spring rolls are sometimes added to other kinds of noodles. For example, bun cha is usually served with spring rolls made with crabs.
Pho Cuon
If you’re similar to Pho, you will be surprised by the kind of dried pho. The cover of each pho cuon is rice noodle sheets. The flat and thin rice sheet can be hard for you to make a roll: the ingredient should be just enough to not tear the sheet.
However, with the support of the big spinach leave, the sheet will not easily be torn. The main special ingredient of this food is stir-fried beef and beansprouts, sometimes there will have fresh shrimp.
Dipping pho cuon into a light sauce, pho cuon has a balanced and unforgettable flavor. We are sure that you will enjoy more than 10 rolls per time.
Goi Cuon (Fresh Vietnamese roll)
The first impression of diners with this dish is the beauty because each delicious and attractive meat and shrimp salad roll, looking want to eat. The clear rice paper wraps shrimp and meat with raw vegetables, lettuce, green chives, and some fresh vermicelli,…
Can be combined with black sauce, fish sauce, chili garlic fish sauce, peanut butter, or fish sauce,… this spring roll is easy to eat and depends on the individual taste.
How is Vietnamese rolls in the Central ?
If you are traveling in Central Vietnam, this is a great opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of Vietnamese banh cuon. Vietnamese banh cuon in the central region is rich in dipping sauces made from fish sauce and other Vietnamese soy sauces.
Banh Trang Cuon Thit Heo – Pork Vietnamese rolls
The famous pork Vietnamese rolls are the specialty in Danang. The dish looks simple but the processing is quite sophisticated: The clear rice paper is dried to keep the aroma of the rice, and not too hard. Pork can be boiled or roasted but must have enough lean fat to be greasy, crispy, and fragrant… Especially, the combination of more than 10 herbs makes this dish so attractive in both taste and look, such as pineapple, cucumber, carrot, and basils,…
Nem nuong Nha Trang – Nha Trang grilled pork Vietnamese rolls
This is the specialty in Nha Trang – one of the best beach tourism cities in Vietnam. However, the specialty is also famous across the country. The grilled pork is like a sausage and packed into some bar of meat.
When being served, each bar will be divided into many small slices to easily roll. Besides, the other attractive part of this food is the sauce, which is called “Mam nem” and is made of more than 20 spices.
Along with that, Vietnamese grilled spring rolls are combined with a variety of raw vegetables such as lettuce, cucumbers, and carrots, adding the sweet and sour taste of mango, star fruit, acrid bananas, salted onions,… and the crunchy fried clear paper rice noodles.
Nem Lui
Nem Lui is made from grilled pork and is also used with clear rice noodles. This is the specialty in Hue – the rich history city in Vietnam.
The way to make nem lui is quite the same as nem nuong Nha Trang. However, the grilled pork is not packed into bars but rolled around the lemongrass tubers.
Therefore, the dish is flavored with the grilled lemongrass tuber, and its fragrance will make you mouthwatering.
Besides, the sauce is also impressive, which is made from pork liver and minced peanuts.
Banh xeo in Central (Vietnamese pancakes)
Banh xeo is a specialty in Binh Dinh. This Vietnamese food is special because of the crispy cake.
Inside each cake are stir-fried beansprouts, pork, and shrimp. When eating, you roll the cake with vegetables and the clear rice paper noodle, therefore, you can taste all the flavor in just one bite!
The crunchy cake, the fresh and bitter green cabbage leaves, the sour pickled radish, the mild sweet pork and shrimp, and a little salty sauce, everything is so delicious and attractive.
How is Vietnamese rolls in the Southern ?
Compared to the North & Central, there are many types of Vietnamese rolls with various processing methods such as steaming, frying,...
In contrast, the South Vietnamese rolls use rice paper to make the outer shell and filling. Inside is mainly meat or seafood, vegetables, ... boiled. Southern Vietnamese banh cuon is extremely good for everyone and those who are on a diet.
Banh Trang Cuon ( Rice paper rolled Vietnam )
Originating from Saigon, the clear rice noodle rolls gradually become a familiar snack for both young and old people across the country.
The reason for its name is because this dish has the same basic ingredients as normal rice noodle paper but is rolled into rolls and cut into bite-sized pieces.
The interesting combination between the salty taste of dried squid, the sweet and sour taste of green mango, the characteristic aroma of laksa leaves and spices, and especially the avocado sauce, greasy tamarind fish sauce…
All create their mouthwatering flavor. On the contrary, the sweet bo bia is one of the familiar delicious dishes because it is considered a childhood dish in many people’s memories.
This dish is delicious with simple ingredients. The sweet malt, the fatty aroma of coconut, and the flesh of black sesame,… all form an enchanting taste. You can find bo bia in some eatery on bicycles at many of the school gates.
Bo Bia
The salty bo bia and the sweet bo bia are two kinds of this interesting food. Bo bia has the word “bo”, which means “beef”, but it doesn’t have any beef! Originally made in Saigon, this type of food has the same name but has different ingredients.
The salty bo bi is made from sausages, eggs, carrots, lettuce, cassava roots, dried shrimp, herbs… The ingredients are finely chopped and put into a layer of soft, fragrant rice paper and cleverly wrapped.
This dish with dipping sauce is quite easy to make, but not as sophisticated as other rolls. Only with chili sauce mixed with crushed roasted peanuts and fried in cooking oil with dried onions, do we have a proper dipping sauce.
How to make and eat Vietnamese rolls ?
Actually, Vietnamese rolls are easy to make. Moreover, the process of making these rolls is fun! Let’s discover the most basic Vietnamese rolls – Fried Vietnamese rolls (Nem ran)
Step 1 – Preparing
First, you should choose the kind of rice noodles. With nem ran, the rolls will be made from clear rice noodle sheets.
Secondly, you should prepare the inside ingredients. They are minced pork, egg, beansprouts, carrot, fungus,…
Next, you have to mince the pork and cut vegetables into small pieces, and mix them with salt and pepper appropriately.
Then, prepare the sauce with the ingredients such as fish sauce, sugar, chili, garlic, and pepper.
Finally, you should decide what the side food is. The most delicious food with fried Vietnamese rolls is vermicelli and some vegetables are spinach, basil, and mint,…
Step 2 – Rolling
After bringing all the ingredients to your kitchen, you’ll have to make a roll. Rolling is the process of requesting a skillful hand and the patience of the cook.
You will have the flat dish, then put the rice paper as the first layer, then put a small quantity of the mixture of the inside ingredients on the lower half of the rice paper.
Then, gradually roll from the bottom to the middle of the layer, then move 2 edges to the middle, then roll to the top.
Step 3 – Frying
Frying is another careful process, that you should wait for the surface of the roll to be yellow, then flip it to another surface.
After the Vietnamese rolls are well done, you should let the rolls out of oil with an oil-prevented paper to keep the cover of the roll always crunchy.
Step 4 – Making the dipping sauce
As you know, the dipping sauce is the key element to complete the dish. The delicious sauce depends on your taste.
So just keep pouring the ingredients gradually into a bowl, and slowly taste sip, and feel it.
Step 5 – Setting up the table
So now just prepare the dish, the plate of Vietnamese spring rolls, the vermicelli, the vegetables, and the sauce.
You should use your bowl of sauce to dip the rolls and other food. Moreover, using a pair of chopsticks is a must to help you eat this food comfortably.
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Final Thought
Vietnamese rolls are not only representative of the traditional food of Vietnam cuisine, but also show the meticulousness of Vietnamese people. The combination of Vietnamese rolls and other food is balanced, fresh, and will surely satisfy your stomach.
Besides, you should grab yourself the delicious Vietnamese rolls by trying to make them at home or join a cooking class for professional training.
If you have a chance to Vietnam, you should not miss an opportunity to taste and make Vietnamese rolls.
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