Le Thi Thu Hang at a cooking class for foreigners at KOTO

Chi: Welcome back to VOV24/7’s Food Delight. I’m…

In our shows, we often meet chefs who bring to us some unusual and delicious recipes. With me today is Le Thi Thu Hang who is in charge of cooking classes for foreigners at KOTO, a non-profit social enterprise that provides vocational training to disadvantaged youths.

KOTO promotes Vietnamese cuisine through a restaurant in Hanoi and cooking classes held regularly for foreigners visiting Vietnam who want a special culinary experience. Le Thi Thu Hang will share with us a dish typical of Hanoi: Fresh rice paper rolls with stir-fried beef and herbs.

Hang: Rice paper is very popular in Hanoi.

Herbs are also popular. Any kind of herb - coriander, spearmint, mint, basil – you can put in your spring roll. But you should choose herbs that complement the main ingredient.

Chi: Now, in the summer, we have many kinds of herbs. What should we choose for this dish?

Hang: Today, we are using beef. For herbs, we just use coriander, spearmint, and lettuce. Lettuce is important to put in spring rolls because when you put lettuce inside, the lettuce covers the filling and the rice paper won’t break when you roll it. Another ingredient is carrot. Carrot is very crunchy. The last ingredient we should put in the spring roll is shallot. You can fry the shallot.

Chi: The main ingredient for the spring roll is beef. Can you suggest spices to marinate the beef?

Hang: We use beef fillet, sliced onion, bean sprouts, garlic, vegetable oil, pepper, and oyster sauce. Oyster sauce is rich and gives the beef more flavor.

First, we need to marinate the beef with the garlic, oil, pepper, and oyster sauce. After that, stir fry it with sliced onion. When you are nearly finished stir frying the beef, and the bean spouts.

Chi: It doesn’t take too long to prepare the beef. Remember not to cook the beef too long because it will get tough.

The beef and the herbs are ready. Let’s make some spring rolls.

Hang:  We just take one sheet of fresh rice paper, put some lettuce on the rice paper, but remember the lettuce should be spread to cover the rice paper to ensure the fillings will not drop out and break the rice paper when we roll it.

All the coriander and spearmint but make sure you use only the leaves. Don’t use the stems, because the stems will break the rice paper. Put the carrot in the middle for color. Just sprinkle the shallot on the top. We finish with the beef on the top, then roll it.

Chi: Make sure the spring roll is rolled tight. If it’s not tight, when you cut it, the filling will fall out. That’s a small tip you should remember.

Fresh rice paper spring rolls with stir-fried beef and herbs is incomplete without dipping sauce. We use different kinds of dipping sauce for different dishes in Vietnam. Hang will tell us what dipping sauce is best with this spring roll.

“Pho cuon” - Fresh rice paper rolls with stir fried beef and herbs

Hang: For fresh rice paper rolls with stir-fried beef and herbs, we use a dipping sauce made from sugar, rice vinegar, fish sauce and some spices like chilli and garlic. My recipe calls for 3 spoons of sugar, and two and a half spoons of rice vinegar. Stir it until the sugar dissolves, then add one and a half spoons of fish sauce and finish with garlic and chilli but the garlic and chilli need to be finely chopped.

Cut the spring rolls in half and put them on a plate. Put the dipping sauce in a small bowl and place it on the plate.

Chi: Oh, my mouth is watering. If you are having a party at home, put all the separate ingredients on a big plate, put the dipping sauce in the middle, and let people roll their own spring rolls.

During these hot summer days, why don’t you try some fresh rice paper spring rolls with stir fried beef and herbs. I’m sure the dish will delight your children, who will have fun rolling their own. Now, we must say good bye.