Expanding My Herbal Repertoire

On Vietnam's Independence Day last week, I met some new friends.

Botannical ones.

And I'm hoping to become better acquainted. I already know their names in Vietnamese and who they like to roll with. They have tons of better known mates, from the humble salat (lettuce) to húng quế (Asian basil), kinh giới (lemon balm) and ngò gai (sword-leaf coriander). This country's cuisine is of course rich and green in aromatic herbs, perhaps moreso in the south at the table (where phở comes with a generous side of herbs) but equally so in the market-places in the north.

The new ones I've alluded to just now are not common in Hanoi unless you are seated in a restaurant with a big southern spread before you, a dish from the Trảng Bàng district of Tây Ninh province. Thinly sliced boiled pork, fresh vermicelli noodles, strips of cucumber, pineapple, young banana, bean sprouts and a pickle of crinkle cut daikon and carrot are delivered to table in traditional receptacles, some on banana leaves, others on Bát Tràng pottery.

And garlands of herbal foliage are proferred on one knee by the rather sombre waitress.

All is gathered in the incredible dew-wetted rice paper from Tây Ninh, the most roller-friendly of its type, not prone to cracking nor needing water to moisten it before use. Malleable and resilient, it can be handled by the most inept hands to produce a tightly wound white pipe clogged with a superb mix of textures and tastes, finished off nicely with a dip in nước chấm.

But I must reveal all I know (not much) about these green leaves which are indeed flown in every two days from the south. Rau quế vị (pictured above right middle, a broad almost ovular leaf) is kind of aniseedy in flavour but I do not have an English translation. Rau nhái is a spindly small leafed herb with little detectable taste. Rau cóc reminded me of Australia's eucalypts to look at but is in fact from the ambarella tree, the leaves an excitingly tangy experience for the mouth. (see a picture of the latter two herbs here)

For me it's comforting to find herbs in Vietnam that I've never encountered before, to be reminded that there is so much of this country's cuisine to still be discovered. Region by region, it seems. Bit by bit.

Even herb by herb.

The Bill

One serve trảng bàng rice paper rolls (serves two) - 100,000VND (USD$5.10, AUD$5.45)

Banh Trang Trang Banh
70 Pho Duc Chinh
Hanoi

(Gourmet's 'Diary of A Foodie' did a show on Vietnam a couple of year's ago where they visited Tây Ninh to see the rice paper made - see the episode here.)

Comments

[TNB]

The most striking part about this post for me, was where you mentioned the fresh herbs are flown in from the south every two days. Which is where this type of roll is best enjoyed; especially in the rural areas, where the variety of greens accompanied it are fresh and often available for picking within arm's reach.
This maybe an oddity for your Western readers, but it's the herbs&veggie basket which is the center piece of this dish, not the cuts of pork. The variety of accompanying "herbage" can get really wild in the southern part of Vietnam: with mango shoots, ginger shoots, and water hyacinth shoots being ones I could think of.

[Footscrayfoodblog.blogspot.com]

Oh, how delicious. The fresh herbs are what we must miss out on most, eating foreign cuisines. While rice paper, noodles, sauces and the like can be imported, the herbs cannot be replicated, especially here in Australia with strict quarantine laws.

Here in Melbourne, iceberg lettuce, spearmint, and laksa leaf predominate herb platters. Occasionally you get lucky with mustard greens, rice paddy herb, and perilla leaf.

[Sticky]

TNB - thanks for your insight...glad that I can enjoy some southern dishes in Hanoi. I actually saw a Hanoi branch of the famous Nha Trang nem nuong restaurant - yet to check it out.

FootscrayFB - annoying, those quarantine laws. Thought there might've been more variety of herbs in Melbourne these days?