Vietnamese Fresh Spring Roll

I have always been a fan and enthusiast of Vietnamese food.  I used to work in an office where most of us regale to each other the ethnic cuisine we've enjoyed, the unique restaurants that we've tried, from fat German sausages in a red light district to spicy Indian curries at the corner of the busiest street in the business area.  

I've always liked leafy vegetables (Vitamin A - good for the eyes and a feast to the eyes too) and the Vietnamese cuisine's right mixture of  leafy greens intrigue me.  I will never get tired of eating mint leaves, basil, coriander and the way they are mixed and matched with different ingredients makes me salivate.

While on tour outside Ho Chi Min, our bus stopped at roadside restaurant for lunch.  I checked their menu and was a little disappointed by the limited number of dishes.  I settled for boiled pork and baked rice.  I was thinking, this is just like a Filipino dish. I was surprised when the waitress  placed on the table different kinds of leaves.  I confirmed to her my order was boiled pork only.  She did not speak much English but I got the impression that she knew what she was doing.  I am not one to complain of too much leaves on my plate, ha, not me. 

Next, the waitress placed a plate with stack of thin white plastic-looking squares beside it.  I examined it.  Is this a coaster or a place mat?

Next came my order of boiled pork in a mat of  lettuce topped with crispy thin slices of garlic. I started eating.  My hubby tasted it too and remarked, "For a boiled pork this is so tasty."  He does not like leaves, except for the lettuce.  I wondered where my baked rice is, so I asked the waitress.  She did not understand what I was babbling about so she called a young girl who is obviously a student with her school uniform.   The student (who turned out to be the daughter of the restaurant owner)  demonstrated how to eat my dish.  The above  square plastic-looking stuff is actually the baked rice roll.   Hmmmn, just add the word  'roll' in your 'baked rice'  and that would straighten out an ignoramus like me when reading the menu, I'd like to advise her.... but never mind, the girl was so charming.

She dipped the ends with water (so that explains the bowl of water which I thought was for washing my hands......Good thing I did not wash my hands on it). She then lined it with some leaves and put boiled pork on top of it.

She rolled it nicely and secured it with another dip of water at the end.  You could dip it in spicy vinegar. For the above picture which is far from the perfect roll that the student made, I take the credit, that's the first roll that I made, the second roll that I ate.

Try making them, bon appetit!