Banh trang cuon with boiled meat has long become a favorite dish of people in Quang Ngai, Da Nang... A simple, not fussy dish, but when you go far away, you remember, remember the rustic but rich taste like the love of the people of Quang land.
According to the experience of many people, to have a delicious rice paper roll with boiled meat, you must choose pork belly with both lean meat and fat, the fat layer is clear, and the meat is fresh. Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces, wash it with salt water and put it in the pot to boil. The heat must be just enough, so that the meat is cooked thoroughly, not tough and not mushy, and retains its natural sweetness.
The soul of the dish lies in the dipping sauce bowl. Each house has its own way of mixing, but Quang Ngai people often grind Ly Son garlic with chili, add a little sugar, squeeze a little lemon juice, pour in boiling water to soften it, and then add fish sauce. The salty, sweet, sour, and spicy flavors blend together, giving off a very unique aroma, just smelling it makes your stomach churn.
In addition to fish sauce, many people also like to eat it with fermented fish sauce - the familiar "main fermented fish sauce" of this land. Well-mixed fermented fish sauce will have a rich, spicy, and fragrant taste. Eating with it is a basket of lush green country vegetables: lettuce, young mustard greens, chives, coriander, cucumbers, green mangoes, thinly sliced sweet bananas, tan o, young ambarella leaves... Each thing has a unique flavor, contributing to the complete deliciousness.
The way of eating is also no less sophisticated. Spreading out the rice paper, placing a slice of meat, adding a little vegetable, wrapping it neatly and then dipping it in a bowl of thick fermented fish sauce. Putting it in your mouth, the sweetness of the meat, the pungent aroma of the vegetables, the spiciness of chili and the rich flavor of the fish sauce seem to blend together, spreading gradually on the tip of your tongue.
Perhaps that's why this dish has become a "signature" of Quang Ngai people. The fatty taste of pork belly, the rich spicy and salty taste of fish sauce, the fresh crispness of vegetables... all combined, simple but unforgettable. Just one book is enough to evoke a whole region of memories, making anyone who has eaten it always remember, always remember the taste of the homeland.
