Amazing rolls of the Southwest

Coconut tuber salad rolls

Coconut tubers are the rawest and babies part atop a coconut tree, which tastes crunchy and sweet. In the Southwest, coconut tubers are deployed for a variety of dishes, including mixed salads, soup, braised or steamed… Of these, coconut tuber salad rolls are a favorite treat of visitors here. To make it truly authentic, coconut tubers must be coupled with boiled and peeled prawns, bacon, fermented carrots and laksa leaves.

Bulrush salad rolls

Bulrush salad rolls are one of the amusing treats to visitors at the very first sight. Bulrushes are ubiquitous across submerged fields and swamps of this riverine delta. Crunchy and raw sweet bulrushes have now been adopted to make unique and tasty salad rolls. Key ingredients of the dish are juvenile bulrushes, prawns, bacon and pork ears… To accentuate the salty taste of the rolls, integral parts of the dipping sauce must be lime extract, sugar and fish sauce…

Nimtree salad rolls

Nimtree or Indian lilac is a wild plant species growing ferociously across Southwestern provinces of An Giang and Kien Giang. Despite its mild and bitter taste, its leaves are extensively used to make salad rolls. The distinct taste of nimtree salad rolls is enough to shake to our core. Nimtree gradually loses its bitter taste after being briefly boiled and mixed with tomato, cucumber, mango and sweet sour tamarind sauce. The salad rolls are also kneaded with pork bacon, shredded snakehead fish or shredded sặc fish.

Sesarma crab salad rolls

Sesarma crabs are smalls and most famously the ingredient of the iconic namesake sauce in the Southwest. The rolls’ salty, sour and spicy ensemble of the dish can melt even the most demanding hearts. Sesarma crab sauce, grated green papaya, yardlong bean, tomato, basil, grounded roasted peanut, lime extract or chili… are integral ingredients of the rolls. This dish is best served with steamed rice for cold drizzly days.

Hoa An

(Source: Vietnam Today 10/2021)