What started as a cheap after school snack for Vietnamese students has become a popular street food that attracts many tourists.
Vietnamese rice paper salad (Banh Trang Tron) is what Andrew Zimmern describes as “Vietnam in a bag.” This street food is what I like to call a hodge-podge salad.
It’s a popular street food in Southern Vietnam, particularly Ho Chi Minh City.
It consists of leftover ingredients and condiments to transform unwanted broken rice paper into an unorthodox salad of amazing textures and flavors.
You can get Banh Trang Tron with beef jerky, dried squid, dried shrimp, fresh Vietnamese coriander, unripe julienned green mango, chili oil, scallion oil, tamarind sauce, toasted peanuts, hard-boiled quail eggs, fried shallots and so many more.
Everything is made to order and tossed together in a bowl.
What you end up is a rice paper salad with an explosion of sweet, spicy, sour and savory flavors – all the essence of Vietnamese and southeast Asian cuisine.
If you are eating at a street stall, you will be served Banh Trang Tron in a plastic bag along with a pair of chopsticks. It may not look so glamorous when eating out of a bag, but it is guaranteed refreshing and delicious.
Vietnamese Rice Paper Salad (Bánh Tráng Trộn)
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
What Andrew Zimmern describes as “Vietnam in a bag.” This street food is what I like to call a hodge-podge salad. It includes leftover ingredients and condiments to transform unwanted broken rice paper into an unorthodox salad of amazing textures and flavors.
Ingredients
Tamarind Sauce
- 100g tamarind pulp or 30g tamarind concentrate
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 6 garlic cloves (peel and finely mince)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon MSG (optional)
- 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Dried Proteins
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 200g dried squid
- 100g dried shrimp
- 100g beef jerky
Rice Paper & Other Condiments
- 6 oz dried rice paper (cut into thin strips)
- Vietnamese chili oil (sate)
- Vietnamese scallion oil (mo hanh)
- 1 green mango (peel and cut into thin strips)
- 10 hard boiled quail eggs
- Fried shallots (hanh phi)
- 1/4 cup unsalted roasted peanuts (coarsely chopped)
- 2 cups Vietnamese coriander leaves (rau ram)
Instructions
- Make the tamarind sauce. If using tamarind pulp, soak in 2 cups hot water for 15 minutes then strain through a fine sieve; discard pulp. In a small sauce pan, heat oil on medium high. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant (about 15 seconds). Add tamarind, fish sauce, sugar, MSG and red pepper flakes. Mix until combined. Cook on low simmer for 1 minutes. Pour into a small bowl and set aside.
- Prepare the dried proteins. To a medium skillet, add vegetable oil and heat on medium high. Add the squid to the hot oil and fry for 30 seconds. It will curl up so use chopsticks or a wooden spoon to push down the sides to prevent curling and even frying. Flip and quickly fry the other side for another 30 seconds. Remove from oil. Once cooled, hand shred the squid into long strips and set aside. In the same oil, add the remaining dried salted shrimp. Pan fry for about 1 minute. Remove from oil and set aside. For the beef jerky, hand shred into thin strips and set aside.
- Assemble: Place rice paper in a large bowl. Add tamarind sauce, chili oil and scallion oil. Toss rice paper evenly so the rice paper soaks up all the sauces. It will appear dry at first, but it will soften. Add proteins (beef jerky, dried squid, and dried shrimp), green mango, and hard boiled eggs. Give it a quick mix. Garnish with fried shallots, peanuts and Vietnamese coriander.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: side dish, appetizer
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: asian, vietnamese
