I’m currently in Vietnam and we’re travelling around on a junk (cruise boat) in the Halong Bay after spending a couple of days in Hanoi (best city ever. So crazy!). It’s beautiful and I’m loving every minute of it. The food is incredible. I’m in food heaven for sure.

Last night we went on a motorbike tour that took us around a few different food stalls. There’s a few things that I’ve learned here that really stick out to me about Vietnamese food.

1. It’s so fresh and amazing. The flavour combination of sweet, sour and salty is incredible.
2. Their food philosphy. They really believe in nose to tail eating and don’t waste anything. This is a philosphy I plan to take home with me and I’ll try cooking with more offal.
3. The most amazing places look so plain from the outside. On our tour last night we stopped outside this small hole in the wall. We went inside and then continued up two flights of stairs to another room. Apparently what happens is that these places start out really small in the owners’ homes and as they become more and more popular they start to use more of the house. The restaurant we were at last night transforms back into their home once they close up.

On the junk we were shown how to make Vietnamese spring rolls and it was way too good not to share.

Ingredients

• 150g grated carrot
• 150 white onion
• 150 soaked vermicelli
• 150g rehydrated mushrooms
• 150g pork mince
• 50g spring onion
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp of half and half sugar and salt
• 12 pieces of rice paper (rectangle shape)

Dipping sauce

• 200ml fish sauce
• 200ml water
• 1 tbsp chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp chopped chilli
• 1 tbsp lemon or lime juice
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp sugar

Method

1. Mix all ingredients of the dipping sauce – the longer it sits the more the flavour will develop.
2. Mix all ingredients for the spring rolls except for the eggs and rice paper in a bowl.
3. Separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs and add the yolks to the mixture. Set aside the whites for later.
4. Soak a tea towel in cold water and place on your work bench.
5. Start by placing the rice paper on the wet towel and patting it so the water soaks into the rice paper.
6. Now place about 1.5 TBSP of the mixture onto the end of the rice paper closest to you.
7. Roll over a couple of times away from you and then fold in each side of the rice paper.
8. Continue rolling until you reach near the end. Then place the egg whites on to seal.
9. Continue with the remainder of your rice paper and mixture.
10. Once they’re all made heat up some vegetable oil in a shallow pan. Wait under a medium temperature and place the spring rolls in. Cook at this temperature for around five minutes (just keep an eye on them so they don’t burn) and then turn the heat up to create a lovely crispy outside. When you notice they have browned nicely take them out and place on paper towel to drain some of the oil.
11. You can place these in a lettuce leaf with some mint and coriander and then dip in the sauce or have them by themselves. Up to you!

Next stop on our trip is Hoi An so I hope to try out more delicious Vietnamese cuisine I can share with you!