Bo Bia – Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Chinese Sausage, Jicama and Egg

Posted: January 7th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Recipe - Savoury | Tags: , , , | 16 Comments »

lạp xưởng lap xuong lap cheong omelette oak lettuce thai holy basil mint spearmint yam bean rice paper water dried shrimp garlic

Please excuse my absence from the blogosphere. I’ve been a busy little bee the last few months. I’ve started a new job and got married! Yes, my partner and I finally got our shit together (My apologies for the swear word but there is no other way to describe it). We organised our wedding in under three months and had so much fun.

Also, in association with iatemywaythrough.com I am now heading tours through my home town of Cabramatta. For those that do not know this wonderful suburb with a dark history, Cabramatta is affectionately known as Little Vietnam. It is the largest Vietnamese community in Australia and is the destination for authentic Vietnamese restaurants. The markets and shops are as chaotic and vibrant as they are in Vietnam itself. I am so proud and excited to be a part of this tour and love showing people around and talking about the food and ingredients that make the Vietnamese cuisine one of the most dynamic in world.

This is when I resolved to start blogging about Vietnamese food. I found it seriously lacking in my native cuisine and promise that there will be more frequent posts of authentic Vietnamese recipes.

lạp xưởng lap xuong lap cheong omelette oak lettuce thai holy basil mint spearmint yam bean rice paper water dried shrimp garlic

Bo Bia is a lesser know variant of the famous Goi Cuon (Vietnamese Summer Roll). It is a similar concept but with different filling. I had never heard of this roll until I mistakenly bought some while I was backpacking through Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). I thought I was ordering Goi Cuon from the street vendor but luckily got a bag of this. In my severely broken Vietnamese I asked the vendor for the ingredients. However, there was one ingredient that I did not understand. It wasn’t until my arrival home and some rifling through cookbooks that I realised it was jicama (yam bean).

This peculiar vegetable is best described as a cross between apple, radish and water chestnut. It can be eaten raw and is prized for its crisp, clean taste. It also remains crisp if cooked. Jicama can be used in spring rolls and salads and frequently appears in vegetarian meals.

lạp xưởng lap xuong lap cheong omelette oak lettuce thai holy basil mint spearmint yam bean rice paper water dried shrimp garlic

Bo Bia – Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Chinese Sausage, Jicama and Egg
½ cup small dried shrimp
2 chinese sausages (lap cheong)
200g jicama (yam bean), sliced into matchsticks
2 free-range eggs
1 garlic clove, minced
a bunch of thai basil
a bunch of vietnamese mint
oak lettuce
15cm (6″) round rice paper wrappers
1 cup hoisin sauce
½ cup coconut milk

Place the dried shrimp in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to soak for 30 minutes.
Place the chinese sausages in a steamer and steam for approximately 10 minutes.
Place the jicama into a small saucepan with two tablespoons of water on low heat for 15 minutes.
Beat the eggs into a small bowl and make one large omelet or two small omelets.
Drain the water from the shrimp. In a small frying pan on medium heat, gently fry the minced garlic and shrimp until golden and fragrant.
Cool the chinese sausages for a few minutes and slice them at an angle and as thin as possible.
Roll up the omelet and slice to matchstick thickness.
Place the hoisin sauce and coconut milk in a small saucepan over low heat. When the mixture starts to bubble turn the heat off and stir the mixture gently. Allow to cool completely.
Arrange the ingredients into a procession-like line along a table with a bowl of hot water at the beginning. Take a rice paper sheet and quickly dip it in the hot water. This shouldn’t take more than a second*. Lay it flat on a plate and place the chinese sausage, jicama, egg, shrimp, basil, vietnamese mint and lettuce a third of the way down. Tightly roll the sheet, when you have reached the half way up the sheet fold over the sides and keep rolling.
Enjoy it dipped in the hoisin sauce**.

*Make one spring roll at a time. The rice paper sheet can get too soggy and fragile if left alone for more than a minute
**You can sprinkle some roasted peanuts and chili onto the hoisin sauce mixture

Australian readers – be sure to watch Once Upon A Time in Cabramatta on SBS beginning January 8. It’s all about the fall and rise of this fascinating suburb.

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16 Comments on “Bo Bia – Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Chinese Sausage, Jicama and Egg”

  1. 1 mycookinghut said at 3:20 am on January 8th, 2012:

    Looks yummy!!

  2. 2 yummychunklet said at 3:36 am on January 8th, 2012:

    Your spring rolls look delicious! Great post!

  3. 3 Sukaina said at 3:44 am on January 8th, 2012:

    Amy- so good to have you back girl! And what a cracking recipe to start with. Look forward to more Vietnamese dishes from you.

  4. 4 Mika said at 3:49 am on January 8th, 2012:

    Congratulations on you wedding and the new job!!! I’m happy you are back and ready to share your vietnamese recipes with us… ^_^

  5. 5 Mellissa @ I breathe therefore I'm hungry said at 11:58 pm on January 8th, 2012:

    Amy, these looks so delicious! I love Vietnamese food! I’ll be a frequent visitor to your blog from now on!

  6. 6 Jo said at 12:15 pm on January 9th, 2012:

    Looks delicious. Would love for you to share your pictures with us over at foodepix.com.

  7. 7 Richard Elliot said at 8:27 pm on January 9th, 2012:

    Great to have you back blogging again! ;-)

  8. 8 thetobykennedy said at 5:17 am on January 10th, 2012:

    AMYYYYY!!!!!!

    I am SO excited to see you’re back – and congrats on all the news! WOW!

    As ever, these look AMAZEballs!

    Looking forward to hearing more from you!

    mmmmmmWAH! x

  9. 9 anh@anhsfoodblog.com said at 9:40 am on January 12th, 2012:

    So glad to have you back!

    And yes I love bo bia! It is a great snack for us school kids when I was in Vietnam.

  10. 10 rebecca said at 10:13 am on January 12th, 2012:

    amazing spring rolls and congrats so happy for you both

  11. 11 Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen said at 7:03 pm on January 12th, 2012:

    Congrats on the big changes this past year! So happy to see you back to blogging.

  12. 12 pickyin@LifeIsGreat said at 6:56 pm on January 13th, 2012:

    Welcome back! Missed your posts. Love the inclusion of Chinese sausage in this spring roll, I’ve never had it.

  13. 13 Bel | Ooh Look said at 8:15 pm on January 14th, 2012:

    Good to have you back. And great news about the tours. I went on the Cabra tour with Iatemywythrough and it was fantastic.

  14. 14 Nami | Just One Cookbook said at 2:00 pm on January 19th, 2012:

    I use the same brand of rice paper! This looks delish. I’ve never wrap Chinese sausages before. I have to give it a try!

  15. 15 Rhonda said at 2:25 pm on January 19th, 2012:

    This reminds me of my mummies cooking!!! lol im eating goi coungh (i cant spell it for the life of me) atm ehehhe

  16. 16 cityhippyfarmgirl said at 1:02 pm on January 24th, 2012:

    Your back!!
    About time young lady… and a big congratulations on getting your shit together too ;-)

    bring on the Vietnamese food.

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