Transport yourself to Vietnam with these tasty Nem

By: Michael Groissl

Staff writer/photographer

Nem is an appetizer commonly found in Vietnam, often filled with pork and vegetables as the main filling, however, a wide variety of fillings can be used.

I was taught how to make Nem by a local family living in the northern part of Vietnam in a village called Đồng Văn. The mother and her children helped demonstrate the technique to me. Even though there was a language barrier, food was the common grounds in our communication that day.

Staying a few nights with a local family is something I did a lot while living in Vietnam in the last three years. Staying with a local family is called a homestay. When you stay with a local family they often show you how they live their day to day life. For example, they will show you how they harvest rice in the fields, take care of the animals, how to harvest different types of leafy greens in the wild, fish, how to make almost anything out of bamboo, how to make different dishes and share the homemade wine made from rice after dinner.

I try to stay with local families when I travel throughout Vietnam. You end up having a better travel experience from learning how they live. I am truly humbled to see how happy these families are who have the basics, food, shelter and family to keep them happy. The smiles on their faces always kept me coming back and experiencing more homestays.

It was a great experience making Nem by a local family in the mountains of northern Vietnam and I highly recommend trying it if you ever get the chance to travel to Vietnam.

Makes: 15 spring rolls

Calories per roll (without sauce): 150

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes per roll

Total price: $18.24

Price per roll: $1.22

Ingredients:

Rice paper for the spring rolls (35 calories/sheet) ($2.68 for package)

500 grams ground pork (1315 kcal) ($7.00)

½ head of cabbage (109 kcal) ($0.62/lb)

2 large carrots (50 kcal) ($0.24/cup)

4 large bella mushrooms (20 kcal) ($0.56/cup)

1 white onion (46 kcal) ($1.05/lb)

300 grams of vermicelli noodles (471 kcal) ($2.89 for package)

2 eggs (156 kcal) ($0.27)

Fresh ground pepper

Salt

Fish sauce (for sauce and for filling)

Vinegar

Brown sugar

Vegetable oil (for frying) ($2.98 for 48 fl oz) (not included in total price)

1. In a large bowl add ground pork (can substitute pork with other vegetables if you are vegetarian), eggs and 1 tablespoon of salt, pepper and fish oil (add more or less to your liking).
2. Heat a small pot of water to a boil and shut off the heat. Add vermicelli noodles to the water and let it sit for 5 minutes. Cut the vermicelli noodle to about 2 inches strands and add them to the large bowl.
3. Grate the onion, carrots and cabbage. Add the ingredients to the large bowl.
4. Mix everything together.
5. Damp the rice paper with water to soften the paper. You can dip your fingers into the water and gently soften the paper with your fingers.
6. Add 2 tablespoons of the mixture onto the rice paper.
7. Fold the two ends in and roll the mixture in the paper.
8. In a medium saucepan heat the vegetable oil. The oil will be ready when you place a chopstick in the oil and small bubbles form around it.
9. Cook each side of the roll for about 2 ½ minutes.
10. Place the rolls on a paper towel to drain the excess oil.
11. In a separate sauce tray, mix 2 part fish oil and 1 part vinegar, with brown sugar to taste.  

Enjoy!