Me So steamed rice rolls are not as sophisticated and thin as other steam rice rolls, but guests will find an exclusive feeling of simplicity and bucolic as enjoying this special dish of Hung Yen. From Hanoi, guests can drive cross Thanh Tri bridge, along the Red river embankment which is 20 kms long, or take a tour on Red River in 15 minutes to get here. According to the book "Van Giang Region" published by the Ethnic Minorities' Culture Publishing House, the name of Steamed Rice Rolls origins ...
As other steamed rice rolls, Me So steamed rice rolls are made of rice which is the high flavor Tam Xoan rice, round and equal in size in order to get the best quality of crepes. After soaking in 2 – 3 hours, rice is set aside to drain any water, and then ground in the mortar with some additives and water by hand until it becomes whipped. Some places grind the flour by machine, the crepes are not delicious because the flour is half cooked and half raw. The devices for making rice rolls seem to be simple but complex indeed. The cup scooping the flour must be the bamboo tube, the stick for lifting off the crepes must be bamboo also; the pot surface is covered by a cotton fabric. The lid must meet two technical requirements: absorbing water and keeping heat inside in order to make crepes cooked fast.
The steamed rice rolls here are different from those from anywhere else. The difference between Me So steamed rice rolls and those of Thanh Tri (Hanoi), Hai Duong, Nam Dinh, Cao Bang, Thanh Hoa is the crepes. The crepes of Me So steamed rice rolls are thick, like the crepes of Stuffed pancake, white as the egg whites after being steamed. The crepes are thick but not stiff; they are soft and flexible. Me So residents call the thin crepes with an oil layer ( likes Thanh Tri steamed rice rolls) the girdle-cake, not the steamed rice rolls. To them, “steamed rice rolls” is the word indicating their specialty; the rice rolls are made with 2 layers to get the thick but soft, smooth and intact crepes. Another difference is that the crepes are not as light as other places’ ones because the steamed rice rolls here are not brushed on a layer of cooking oil. Due to this, Me So steamed rice rolls are favored by tourists because they are not too fat.
Making steamed rice rolls requires the sense of the cook. This distinguishes between an ordinary cook and an experienced one. An old cook said: making the batter and steaming the crepes are the two most difficult steps. Making the batter should be careful to prevent the crepes from being broken, too thick or stiff. However, the ratio for making the batter is not fixed. It depends on the type of rice and the weather when steaming the crepes. Thus, an amateur must take years to obtain their own experiences.
In addition, only Me So steamed rice rolls are made upon customers’ requests in store. The cook coup each spoon of filling into the steamed crepes and roll up like making spring rolls. The smooth white rice rolls, wrapping the ground meat with fried onions look appetizing. Steamed rice rolls here are not added a little meat with fried wood ear mushrooms or fried onions on top (two indispensable ingredients for this dish) but still keep the delicious tastes.
The filling of this dish is different. The main ingredient is the pork meat which is not so lean to make the filling dry but not so fat to make customers loose appetite. Thus, the pork top round is the best choice. The meat is sliced and ground by hand and then marinated before cooking. In a pan, add a small bit of cooking oil on a high heat and fry the onions. Smell of fried onions induce the sense of taste of customers. As the fried onions smell fragrant, add the ground meat and stir well. As the meat is cooked, set it aside. The dipping sauce includes fish sauce, seasoning, chili and vinegar and a little diced meat makes it much more appetizing.
Unlike steamed rice rolls of Thanh Tri (Hanoi), Hai Duong, Cao Bang, Thanh Hoa whose crepes are made in the big oven and upon customers’ orders, Me So steamed rice rolls are made in a different way. From 2-3 am., fire burns in the ovens of households. The woman is sitting in front of the oven with the nearby batter basin, promptly pouring each spoon of batter on the cloth, evenly spreading, putting the lid on and after some seconds, the cooked crepes are ready. The cloth mold is carefully made by 2 bamboo sticks which are roundly trim with the radius of 16 cms and outfitting the cloth. The boiled water pot is spiraling and then subsiding as a layer of batter is poured on the cloth. Making batter is a difficult step. If it is not processed well, the crepes might be stiff or wet. It takes around 3 second to get a crepe cooked, softly use the bamboo stick to lift off the delicate rice crepe and put it on a tray covered with banana leaves. The hot crepe is paper thin, spiraling and attractively white. Accordingly, Me So woman stacks layers on top of one another. Although the crepes and fillings are prepared from home, they are still soft and full of flavors for a whole day. Rice crepes are covered by banana leaves or lotus leaves. Everyday, 600-700 steamed rice rolls are made. This work is hard and processed late at night; residents said they only sleep 4-5 hours a day. They have to expose to heat and toxic smell of the oven, especially in the summer.
The way to enjoy Me So steamed rice rolls is unique. With thin steamed rice rolls of Thanh Tri, Hai Duong, Phu Ly, customers have to separate each crepe and use chopsticks to dip it in the dipping sauce with Ca Cuong or eat with Vietnamese ham. Cao Bang steamed rice rolls are steamed with chicken eggs, then rolled up, and put into the hot bowl of sauce with minced lean pork meat, scallion and cilantro. Me So steamed rice rolls are served by hand. While Thanh Tri’s steamed rice rolls are not filled, just brushed on some cooking oil and fried onions, which is called wet crepes by the Southern citizens, Me So steamed rice rolls are authentic rice rolls. As serving, each crepe is separated, added filling in the center, spread it out thinly and then folded over the sides. Taking the white crepe and dipping it into a pure shiny dipping sauce made from savory fish sauce with red from chili, black and spicy taste from ground pepper, fresh acidity from lime, fresh carrot and kohlrabi salad never loose customers’ appetite.
It is said that “ Leave daughter-in-law, leave son-in-law, but no one leaves Me market on the 5th). Me market is open on Jan. 5th on the Lunar calendar, Steamed rice rolls are sold everywhere. From 4:30 am, the village becomes busy with calls of thrilled residents to one another to go to market. The store selling steamed rice rolls is not complex; there are a table, 10 stools and a sitting place to steam the crepes. Skillful hands of sellers swiftly roll the crepes.
From a small village in Hung Yen, now Me So steamed rice rolls have become reputable in restaurants and hotels in Hanoi, Hai Duong, Hai Phong. Tourists from the neighborhoods also make orders of rice rolls and bring them home as a gift after their trip.
Not colorful and sophisticated in flavors, Me So steamed rice rolls still attract the unpleasant customers due to its simplicity and distinction. Please take a visit to this village to enjoy this special dish. Tourists definitely remember its appetizing flavor of delicate white crepes and the fragrant filling of meat with fried minced onions and balanced dipping sauce.
