Fresh or fried: How do you do Vietnamese rolls?

Whether you like your cigar-shaped snacks crispy or delightfully fresh, Vietnam’s spring paper and rice paper rolls are always on point. Here are seven of the best.

Source: Chris Chen

1. Fried: Hanoi rooftop spring rolls (nem rán)

If your relationship with spring rolls is on tenterhooks thanks to the so-so suburban takeaway shop nearby, kindly rest assured: this Vietnamese version of the deep-fried dish will restore your faith in the humanity. Filled with a mixture of pork, herbs and dried mushrooms, these rolls are known as nem rán in the North of Vietnam, a term literally meaning ‘fried sausage’. Served on the rooftops and in restaurants of Hanoi, it’s custom to eat these meaty rolls with a chilli vinegar and nước mắm pha dipping sauce.

Source: Nicolas Petit

2. Fresh: Soft rice paper rolls with prawns and pork

A classic combination across South-East Asia, prawns and pork unite here for a fresh and herbaceous rendezvous. Mint and perilla leaves combine with daggy-but-delicious iceberg lettuce to give the meaty mixture fragrance and crunch.

Source: Luke Nguyen

3. Fried: Grilled pork and spring roll noodle salad (bun cha)

Transform your spring rolls from snack to satisfying salad with this noodle-y number. Aside from having a phonetically fun-sounding name, bun cha is packed with flavours, textures, freshness and a knock-out sweet-spicy sauce.  Here, pork and prawn spring rolls party with vermicelli noodles, bean sprouts, lettuce, herbs and lemongrass-spiked pork patties.

Grilled pork & spring roll noodle salad Source: Chris Chen

4. Fresh: Roast duck and rice paper rolls

Don’t limit lychees to desserts and cocktails; these juicy balls of goodness impart a wonderful sweetness and fleshiness to many a savoury meal. In these rockin’ rice paper rolls, O Tama Carey marries roast duck with wombok, mint leaves and lychees. The result is phenomenal.

Roast duck and rice paper rolls Source: Benito Martin

5. Fried: Southern Vietnamese spring rolls (cha gio)

Faster to make than the Northern nem rán, these thin cigars are the perfect pre-dinner treat. An unexpected sprinkling of chicken stock powder brings life to the pork, prawn, taro and carrot filling.

6. Fresh: Rice paper rolls with prawns and green mango (banh hoi tom nuong)

Ticking fresh, fruity and crispy boxes, this Luke Nguyen recipe sees whole-grilled prawns cooked and eaten the traditional way – head, shell and all. Peel the prawns if you prefer, just make sure to pair them with green mango, green banana, lettuce and garlicky vermicelli noodles when wrapping up your rolls. Oh and don’t forget the nước mắm cham for dipping.

"It's all about texture and crunch," says Luke Nguyen Source: Luke Nguyen's Vietnam S1

7. Thank you, Series 1...

For the wrapping and rolling contestants on Series 1 of The Chefs’ Line, a fresh-is-best approach took out the trophy. Home cook Thanh’s pork and king prawn lettuce wraps had judge Melissa Leong’s tastebuds a-tingling. Far from a simple starter, Thanh’s rolls featured many an interesting twist. There was the finger lime-infused dipping sauce; the fresh ’n’ fragrant casing of iceberg lettuce with perilla leaves; and the more-ish filling of pork belly, king prawns, ginger and goji berries. Unconventional – yet awesomely tasty – these ‘rice paper rolls’ are one for the history books.

Pork and king prawn lettuce wrap Source: China Squirrel

Have we got your attention and your tastebuds? The Chefs’ Line airs every weeknight at 6pm on SBS followed by an encore screening at 9.30pm on SBS Food Network. Episodes will be available after broadcast via SBS On Demand. Join the conversation #TheChefsLine on Instagram @sbsfood, Facebook @SBSFood and Twitter @SBS_Food. Check out sbs.com.au/thechefsline for episode guides, cuisine lowdowns, recipes and more!