Rice paper rolls, Soldiers

 

To start, we watched Bao's mum do a live demo on how to make rice-paper rolls. Dip the round rice paper in a bowl of hot water and roll in the meat, vermicelli and salad, typically cucumber, coriander and spring onion. Sounds simple, but beware: first-world problems can arise when the rice paper is over-soaked or there’s too much filling and the roll breaks…poor little roll. Out came a tray of Rolld Soldiers to share, all freshly made and delightful. I particularly liked the soft-shell crab and avocado for the creamy freshness of the avo mixed with the crunchy texture of the crab. Dip these in sauce for additional sweet-sour-salty touch, you can’t go wrong with Nuoc Mam (essentially made of fish-sauce). They were great healthy starters. Wai’s only concern was the meat-to-vermicelli ratio. He’s a true carnivore so for him, the more meat the better, always.

 

Spring rolls and Cup of Pho

 

Just as tasty and with a lot more crunch and oil were the homemade pork spring rolls. Minced meat in fried pastry and often served as finger-food, these suckers also make great buddies in vermicelli salad such as The B. or Classique Vietnamese Salad on the Rolld menu. Next was Pho in a Cup - what a fabulous invention. Pronounced “fuh”, this is usually served in a large bowl as a main meal but the Roll’d family have innovated by coming up with a smaller-sized portion served in a cup. All the guests were given a Cup of Pho each, and it was served like an entrée or side. Brilliant. Sticking to tradition, it featured rice noodles, sliced meat, bean sprouts and onion immersed in a broth. It’s hard to describe the flavour of pho, other than aromatic and meaty, bone-flavour?! With pho, it’s all about the broth. It’s a family’s secret herbs and spices that make each pho unique. The pho was full of flavour, although less fragrant than other phos we’ve had, but we could be bias being used to eating the pho in Springvale and all it’s added MSG.

 

Roll’d Fried Chicken

 

Next on the food-walk were the main courses and cue for the meat to enter the stage. Wai’s mouth was salivating. The fried, golden-brown chicken spare ribs were absolutely addictive with its crispy salty skin. I wonder if the Roll’d family have figured out the Colonel’s recipe? Marinated in more secret herbs and spices, these chicken ribs had its own tasty touch of a spicy tang. I’m guessing one of the ingredients would be five-spiced powder.

 

Beef and Skewers

 

There was more meat to come as the bo luc lac - "shaking" beef - and street-side skewers were served along with jasmine rice. Lightly marinated, the grilled beef skewers were great on its own or dipped in sauce. Then came the fried stuffed crab-claw. One word. Delicious. They were the ones that get served at big Asian weddings with 8 or more courses. Generous seafood stuffing with a garlic salt crumble encasing made it simply irresistible.

 

Vietnamese Crepes / Pancakes / Tacos 

 

Leading up to the grand finale of this dinner extravaganza was the Banh Xeo. “Xeo” is the sizzling noise that these savoury crepe or pancakes make when cooked. Behind the counter was another insightful demonstration on how they are cooked. A mixture of cornflower, turmeric, coconut milk, rice flour and other ingredients went in the flat pan. Served to share, they were presented like taco shells filled with meat, bean sprouts and corriander. There were two types of filling: pork with crackling skin and BBQ chicken. Traditionally, the Vietnamese wrap a portion of the banh xeo in lettuce and dip them in nouc mam. It was filling, crispy and palatable, our second favourite dish of the night to the chicken spare ribs.

 

Sinh To, Smoothie

 

Desserts were mixed-fruit smoothies, including a avocado and rasberry with lychee. Resembling a sweet, rich creamy thick shake, the blended avocado with condensed milk is actually a Vietnamese drink. I remember Dad making this drink - Sinh To Bo - when I was a child and, of course, back then I thought it looked too green, healthy, and gross; only to now realise it's indulgently delish.

 

See you again soon

 

Some of these items are yet to be officially added to their menus and will be “rolld” out soon. Thank-you Rolld for putting on a tasty grandeur and taking Foodful back down Vietnamese food memory lane.  I might see what Mum and Dad are doing for dinner...