Vietnam Spring Rolls delight holiday guests
- Dec 16, 2015
- 2 min read
Ball State University senior Minh-Thu Dang has a passion for food and staying connected to her Vietnamese roots.
“We make everyday foods but presented in an eastern culture type of way,” said Dang, whose parents were born in Vietnam and came to the U.S. when they were young.
Dang’s family regularly serves Vietnamese soups, salads and foods that are rice based. Her family will often cook a “hot pot,” a simmering stew that can contain meat, vegetables, dumplings and seafood, or Bnh Xo which is similar to a crepe.
Dang likes preparing Rice Paper Spring Rolls which she said can be made several different ways, but she uses rice paper stuffed with rice noodles, shrimp, cucumber and lettuce. The rolls are served with a dipping sauce made of water, fish sauce, sugar and vinegar.
Some of Dang’s fondest memories growing up included preparing meals with her younger brother and sister.
“As we were younger we would each have little jobs,” said Dang, who grew up in Kokomo. “Some of us would clean or cut vegetables, set the table, or the funny one which was getting the water. The rice paper you have to dip in water because the rice paper is stiff. To do this we would need a big bowl of water and as kids we would sometimes spill the water. Once in awhile either us, or our parents would slip.”
Despite these minor incidents, Dang’s family’s dishes are often a hit at family gatherings. She said there have been times when her mother actually had to stop their guests from eating too much.
Dang, who majors in dietetics, hopes to learn as much as possible when it comes to different diets to help people have a long and healthy lifespan.
“I would like to be able to travel to the other parts of the world and learn about their diets that benefit a healthy life and bring all of that information back to the U.S. and work on providing those foods into Americans' diet,” said Dang.
Dang also hopes to work with children and teach them the importance of eating nutritional foods.
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