I have some foreign friends, after their trip to Vietnam, the most popular thing that they buy as a present is rice paper – an indispensable ingredient to make Hanoi spring rolls. Maybe just eating this food in Vietnam is not enough. They might try to prepare this food to eat more or to share with their family and friends when they come back to their countries.
Hanoi spring rolls – one of the most Vietnamese popular foods
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Nem ran is a popular food that is indispensable at every traditional occasion and appears on most Hanoi restaurants’ menu. Hanoians often have this dish on their daily meals. There are quite a few different recipes for fried spring rolls. But normally, the ingredients are minced pork, egg, onion, grass vermicelli, carrot, mushroom, etc. After mixing these ingredients with some spices, the mixture will be rolled in a rice paper then fried until the rolls look lightly browned and crispy. Nem ran can be eaten by itself, wrapped in lettuce, dipped into fish sauce mixed with sour, sweet and spicy sauce or served with Bun (rice noodle).
The taste of this dish might be different depending on the fillings, but the quality of rice paper has a huge effect on the crispness and the flavor. If the rice paper is too hard and dry that will make it difficult to roll. Because preparing for this food takes quite long, I often make it at weekend or at special occasions. It’s more fun when you cook with someone else, one will make the rolls and the other will fry them.
Because you can eat spring rolls the same way you eat Bun cha, most food shops which serve Bun cha have Nem ran, also. However, you might find the places with “Bun nem” or “Nem Hanoi” on their menus for sure.