HAI PHONG – Onion roll is a specialty dish that has the effect of relieving the boredom of people in Trinh Xa traditional vermicelli village, Thuy Nguyen district, Hai Phong.
Hai Phong has many famous delicacies, in which, each locality also has its own specialties, sticking with many generations. In addition to Thuy Duong’s popular banh chung, every New Year’s Eve comes, Thuy Nguyen district, about 10 km from Hai Phong city, also has an onion roll with an effective appetite suppressant effect.
The dish was created by the people of the traditional vermicelli village, Trinh Xa, in Thien Huong commune, and is often referred to as the shrimp vermicelli roll or Thuy Nguyen roll to distinguish it from the rolls in other places.
Diners coming to Hai Phong can easily find this dish in large markets such as Trinh Xa market (Thien Huong commune), the central market of Nui Deo town in Thuy Nguyen district. To save time and facilitate the schedule, visitors can also visit Ba Lan restaurant, the only place selling onion rolls in Co Dao market to enjoy.
Lan’s shop is located at 55 Tran Nhat Duat, Hai Phong City, open for more than 10 years. The attraction of the restaurant is the stall displaying beautifully arranged trays of onion rolls. There are two types of onion rolls of Mrs. Lan’s restaurant. The original type uses boiled onion leaves to pack the raw materials together, costing 5,000 VND per unit. The type of rolls made of thin, long pho rolls like regular pho rolls costs 13,000 VND a piece.
Ms. Lan said that although a roll is simple, it has all 10 ingredients including lettuce, coriander, laksa leaves, green onions, bacon, eggs, fried beans, shrimp, spring rolls, and vermicelli. Each material has its own criteria for selection. Vermicelli must use the type of vermicelli with harrow teeth, long, straight and smooth fibers; green onions must be fresh and big; shrimp are copper shrimp, the same size; Lettuce is just right, not too big or crushed. Then comes the preliminary processing steps such as frying shrimp, beans, eggs, boiling onions, washing vegetables, slicing spring rolls, fried eggs.
The standard roll ensures a full spectrum of colors, including the white of the vermicelli, the yellow of the fried egg, the green of the vegetables, the red of the shrimp. The lettuce leaves are not completely wrapped, but wide enough to “show off” all the ingredients. The way it looks is simple, but only those who are familiar with it can create a beautiful book. Roll tightly so that the ingredients do not loosen and fall off, but do not squeeze too tightly to avoid breaking the scallions. Knot the middle of the roll so that it is not too exposed and creates a curve.
Onion rolls served with sweet and sour dipping sauce at Nui Deo market, Thuy Nguyen district. Photo: Quynh Mai.
Lan’s onion roll shop is at 55 Tran Nhat Duat. Photo: Quang Hung.
The stalls display beautiful onion dishes. Photo: Quynh Mai.
Noodle soup with the same ingredients as onion rolls costs 13,000 VND a piece. Photo: Quynh Mai.
Onion rolls served with sweet and sour dipping sauce at Nui Deo market, Thuy Nguyen district. Photo: Quynh Mai.
Lan’s onion roll shop is at 55 Tran Nhat Duat. Photo: Quang Hung.
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In addition to fresh and clean ingredients, dipping sauce is the main factor to create the flavor of the dish. The original onion rolls sold at Nui Deo market (Thuy Nguyen) are served with dipping sauce made from fish sauce. The sauce has the salty taste of fish sauce, the sweetness of sugar, the sourness of lemon, the aroma of garlic and the spiciness of chili, adding the crispiness of chopped carrots and onions.
In addition to sweet and sour dipping sauce, Mrs. Lan also sells a sudden vinegar dipping sauce to create a new flavor for the spring onion dish. From tomatoes, garlic, chili, glutinous rice wine, cassava flour, Ms. Lan seasoned with spices to create a slightly dark orange-yellow sauce. The vinegar dipping sauce suddenly has a thicker consistency than fish sauce, still has a sour and sweet taste but no longer has the smell of fish sauce and the aroma of sticky wine. This dipping sauce is suitable for those who do not like fish sauce or want to try new flavors.
Pick up a roll of onions, dip the bowl of dipping sauce and enjoy, the first taste diners feel is the coolness of the outer layer of salad and vermicelli. Chewing more carefully will gradually see the fat of the meat, the greasy, fleshy taste of eggs and sausages. The shell of the shrimp is crispy and the meat inside is tough, mixed with the aroma of coriander and laksa leaves. Although just simple and familiar ingredients, when combined, they compensate for each other. Eggs and beans are fried and fried with oil, but even if you eat a lot, you will not feel sick because there are vegetables, vermicelli and onions to help neutralize the taste.
Thuy Trang (20 years old, Hanoi) returned to Hai Phong on August 6, when a restaurant owner in Co Dao market introduced Ms. Lan’s onion roll shop to “relieve boredom”. She did not know this was a long-standing specialty because it “looks quite modern” and resembles pho rolls. But the “beautiful, non-greasy look” of the onion roll attracted her after enjoying many fried and fried dishes.
“The first piece is not eaten, I feel a bit pale but I can feel the sweetness and crispiness. Dot it with sweet and sour sauce is the right taste, but I personally prefer to eat with vinegar because of the viscosity”, Trang said.
Nguyen Tham (25 years old, Thuy Nguyen district) said that the onion book is associated with her childhood. “When I was a child, every time I followed my mother to Nui Deo market, I bought a few books to eat because it was cheap. At that time, the family was still in difficulty, so this dish brought back many memories,” Tham shared.
As a snack, onion rolls are usually sold in the afternoon from 14:00 to 18:00 every day. Coming to Ba Lan’s shop, visitors should avoid going during hot weather or rush hour (16 – 17h) because the shop is just a sidewalk in front of the house with an area of about 5 m2, no fan and spacious parking space. Ms. Lan noted that diners come early on weekends because foreign visitors to Co Dao market are more crowded.
Arriving in Hai Phong, after enjoying famous specialties, diners can go to Co Dao market to quench their thirst with Thuy Nguyen onion rolls, complete a food tour in the port city.
($1=24,000 VND)
Photo: Internet (Vinlove.net)