Trảng Bàng dew-wetted rice paper

Trảng Bàng dew-wetted rice paper (Vietnamese language: Bánh tráng phơi sương Trảng Bàng) is a speciality of Lộc Du, Trảng Bàng District, Tây Ninh Province, Vietnam. This is a flexible two layer- rice paper. There is a saying:

Ai về xứ ấy Trảng Bàng, Whoever comes to that land, Trảng Bàng,

Mua giúp một tràng bánh tráng phơi sương. Please buy for us a bundle of dew- wetted rice paper.

Process of production

There are seven steps in making the dish: steeping the rice, husking the rice, mixing the flour, spreading the flour, drying the rice paper in the sun, grilling the rice paper and wetting the paper by dew in the night. Commonly used rice strains are Bằng Cóc rice, So Miên rice or Nàng Miên rice. Rice is soaked in water equal to the volume of rice. If it is soaked too long, the rice will lose its fragrance. The soaked rice is mixed with salt and grilled, spread over a flat pan in a very thin round shape. When spreading, the water temperature must be kept constant. The next piece is spread over the pan just as the last piece is removed, and skilled workers time the rice paper cooking process by smelling the smoke. Next, the rice paper is spread over a bamboo grid and left to dry in the sun, and wind. If the rice paper is left to dry too long, it will be brittle, but if not left to dry long enough, it will be tough. The rice paper is then grilled over a fire of peanut shells, and the cooks turn the rice paper over regularly to prevent it from being burned or smoke-stained. When night dews begin to drop, the rice paper is left outside to be wetted by the dew; the length of time it's left outside depends on the amount of dew which falls that day.

Trảng Bàng dew-wetted rice paper summer roll

People wrap rice paper around a range of ingredients: pork simmered in coconut water, and a variety of vegetables, such as cucumber, coriander, Thai basil, spearmint, houttuynia cordata, peppermint or perilla. People serve it with sweet and sour fish sauce.