Nem

Nem (Vietnamese: món nem) is a Vietnamese sausage. Depending on the locality, nem may refer to a rolled sausage in rice paper called nem cuon or nem ran (fresh and fried rolls, respectively), barbecued sausage called nem nướng or cured sausage called nem chua.

Types

Banh Trang Rolls

Nem cuon, fresh nem rolls

Nem ran, crispy nem rolls

Nem chua is a sweet, sour, salty and spicy fermented pork or beef sausage, usually served with a thin slice of garlic, bird's eye chili and Vietnamese coriander

Nem used to refer to banh trang rolls (fresh and fried) is more commonly used in Northern Vietnam.

• Nem rán (crispy rolls), or more commonly known as Vietnamese Imperial rolls, are made of either minced pork or prawns, wrapped in banh trang and deep fried. In southern Vietnam, it is referred to as chả giò.

• Nem rán rế is a similar dish as nem rán; however, it is wrapped in woven banh trang.

• Nem cuốn (Goi cuon in South Vietnam), nem rolls, salad rolls, or summer rolls, is a Vietnamese dish traditionally consisting of pork, prawns, vegetables, bún (rice vermicelli), fresh herbs and other ingredients wrapped in Vietnamese bánh tráng. In southern Vietnam, it is referred to as gỏi cuốn.

• Cá cuốn is a fish of some sort wrapped in banh trang and then dipped into a sweet, sour, salty and spicy sauce.

Barbecued

• Nem nướng are Vietnamese barbecued pork meatballs typically eaten wrapped in banh trang with fresh herbs, bún (rice vermicelli) and dipped in some sort of sauce.

• Bò lá lốt is a Vietnamese special beef dish consisting of beef in lolot leaves, or sometimes called betel leaves. Beef fillet is minced and mixed with spice and two types of orange or green cam sành and a sweeter cam mật. The leaves smell spicy but have a medicinal taste.^[1] The dish is often served or sold at barbecues. ^[2]

Cured/Fermented

Nem chua is a Vietnamese fermented pork dish, usually rolled or cut in bite sizes. The meat is sweet, sour, salty and spicy. It is often served with bird's eye chili, garlic and Vietnamese coriander.

See also

• Cuisine of Vietnam
• Món cuốn
• Banh trang
• Naem

References

1. Vietnam economic times Volume 152 "Thit bo la lot is a special grilled beef dish. Beef fillet is minced and mixed with spices then there are two types of oranges: green (Cam sành) is for juicing and yellow cam mat, which is much sweeter, for eating."
2. Pauline Nguyen, Luke Nguyen, Mark Jensen - Secrets of the Red Lantern: Stories and Vietnamese Recipes 2008 -Page 126 "Our barbecues offered beef wrapped in betel leaf,"