Of course, I was very excited about the idea of travelling to Vietnam for the first time to discover the Mekong Delta. However, I must admit that one of the main reasons for my excitement was that I really love Vietnamese spring and summer rolls. It's impossible for me to go to a Vietnamese restaurant without ordering them.
So, during our 5-day stay in Vietnam, I basically had some every day. I didn't take a picture every time, but here are some of the more beautiful ones.
These are the fried vegetable rolls with fried courgette flowers we had in Cai Be, at Mr Kiet's Historic House. Fried fiori di zucca are typical in southern Italy and I was surprised to see that they are popular in Vietnam too!
The veg fried rolls from Le Longanier restaurant in Cai Be win the prize for the most creative presentation!
I actually also love fresh rolls. The ones we had on the sampan were filled with tofu and green salad. Great sauces too!
And these ones from Victoria Nui Sam restaurant in Chau Doc were definitely the greenest!
Technically speaking, these weren't spring rolls, but rather fried veg wonton served with a vegetables and noodles soup. We had them at the restaurant of Victoria Nui Sam in Chau Doc and we found them so good that we ordered them for two meals in a row (which is rare for us). For travellers that spend some time in Chau Doc, going to Nui Sam hill can be a nice excursion. The views from Victoria Nui Sam are wonderful.
During our trip we also learned how rice paper is made. The batter is cooked on a hot plate like a crèpe. The big difference is that rice paper is much thinner so you need to have quick and nimble hands to be able to remove them from the hot plate at the right moment (this lady had clearly mastered the technique!).
First, the rice paper is placed on a cooling rack.
And then it's dried in the sun.
