One of the staples of Vietnamese cuisine is bánh tráng or rice paper. It is used to make numerous dishes from spring rolls to Bò lá lốt, and it is an essential ingredient throughout the country. Not far from the famed Cái Răng floating market outside of Cần Thơ in the Mekong Delta, this family has been making rice paper for generations. True to the traditional style of making rice paper for hundreds of years, the pictures below show the process of making the rice paper from its beginning as pulverized rice batter to the paper or noodles they become after they are dried.
After the rice and water are mixed together to make a batter, it is poured onto a stretched cloth that is set above a pot of boiling water.
A lid is placed over the batter as it steams. It is then turned and steamed again on the other side.
After steaming briefly on both sides, the steamed batter is moved to drying racks.
Once the drying racks are full, the steamed batter and racks are taken outside to dry in the sun. The iconic criss cross pattern on rice paper is made from the texture of the woven racks that the rice paper is dried on.
The finished rice paper is stacked and packaged. In addition to the ubiquitous rice paper that is standard in Vietnam, there are less common speciality papers like the green ones below that are flavored with pandan leaves. Pandan is a flower that is used in Southeast Asian cuisine that is similar to a grassy vanilla. It is used to make a sweeter rice paper.
Some sheets are then rolled through a noodle slicer to make thin noodles. The width and type of noodle varies by dish. For a more detailed examination of Vietnamese noodles, check out Phở or Phố, Bún or Bùn - Sauce or Soup?
Tip:
The best method I was taught in Vietnam to prepare spring rolls was not the typical method of dipping the dry rice paper in water to rehydrate the paper. Rather, take a wet cloth towel and wipe it three times on one side, flip the paper, and wipe the other side three times. Let the water soak in for thirty seconds and then make the roll. It will hydrate the paper to a point where it is pliable, but not soggy.
