A: Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of VOV 24/7’s“Food delight”. We’re very happy to be on the air with you. 

B: During this scorching summer, it’s quite uncomfortable to cook over a hot stove. But you still deserve to eat well, right? To that end, we're here to save your dinner with “Boiled pork wrapped in rice paper”, a delicious and inspiring no-cook summer dinner recipe. 

A: The main ingredients for this dish include pork meat, Vietnamese herbs, rice paper, and fermented anchovy dipping sauce. The dish, one of the most special and must-try dishes of Danang, is a good choice whether you're dining solo or eating with friends and family.   

A:  To make the roll correctly, the pork chosen must have a balance between meat and fat. It is then boiled until it reaches a certain degree of softness.  Let’s meet Chef Pham Tuan Anh, for some tips on how to prepare the dish. “You should choose pork butt or the shoulder portion only. Clean well, then, boil it with salt, sugar, and seasoning powder to impart good flavor into the pork. You should carefully pay attention to the heat and cooking time. After 15 minutes of boiling, remember to turn the heat to medium low and gently simmer it for 25 to 35 minutes to make moist, juicy meat and tender skin”.       

A: “Boiled pork wrapped in rice paper” is considered to be a nutritious food with fresh ingredients – pieces of boiled pork and a variety of fresh vegetables and herbs. Each roll consists of an array of about 10 types of crunchy vegetables and herbs.

B: I’m a huge fan of vegetables and herbs as they make the dish more flavorful and prevent customers from being full too quickly.  But do you know which kind of herbs are normally served with this dish?

A: I know some, but Tuan Anh will finish the list. 

“The essential vegetables for this dish are lettuce, sawtooth herb, cilantro, mint herb, perrila leaves, Vietnamese balm, chive, Giang leaves, and so on. Giang leave, which has a gentle sour flavor, is not easy to find. This kind of leaf is only popular in Vietnam’s southern region, so you can use Jew plum leaves, or green mango instead as they have a similar flavor,” said Tuan Anh. 

"Boiled pork wrapped in rice paper” is considered to be a nutritious food with fresh ingredients – pieces of boiled pork and a variety of fresh vegetables and herbs. (Photo: danang.huongnghiepaau.com)

A: Vietnamese fermented anchovy dipping sauce, which can hardly be replaced by any other kind of sauce, is the highlight of the dish. Tuan Anh now describes how to prepare the sauce. 

 “The secret of the dish is the sauce, which is called “mam nem”- made of fermented fish. For this dish, the original sauce is mixed with sugar, pineapple juice, passion fruit juice, and chopped garlic for extra flavor. I use the pineapple flesh to thicken the sauce without making it lumpy. A good sauce must be fragrant and taste both sweet and salty.”, Tuan Anh elaborates. 

A: So, in each roll, you can find: the saltly taste of sauce, the sweet and sour taste of pineapple, the spicy taste of chilli or ginger, and the bitterness of the vegetables. All the ingredients are blended and balanced to make a nutritious and healthy meal.  

B: To best enjoy the dish, spread a sheet of rice paper on your palm and add in the vegetables, afterwards adding some slices of boiled pork. Roll it up and dip it into the sauce before eating.

A: Tasting is believing! If you make this dish, share your photo on Facebook and tag us at VOV5 English Service, hashtag VOV#FOODDELIGHT#ICANCOOK#. We’d love to see what you come up with. Cheers, friends!