Do you know, besides, coconut candy, what is the other specialty in Ben Tre? That is rice paper. But it’s not a kind of rice paper that is thin and used for making spring rolls. It’s a kind of rice paper that is thicker, crunchier, and not as transparent; has a sweet, fatty taste; and you have to grill it to eat. It has a name that every Vietnamese knows, that is ‘Bánh Tráng Mỹ Lồng’ (My Long Rice Paper). Have you heard of it? If you haven’t, we show you how they make this rice paper. Let’s start!
To make My Long rice paper, everything must be carefully done from top to bottom.
What to prepare
- Ingredients: minced rice powder, coconut milk, sesame seeds (any kind of sesame will do), salt, pandan leaves.
- Tools:
- A specialized oven and rice paper cooking pot.
- Coconut shell ladle.
- Rice paper drying racks: woven from water coconut leaves.
- 2 smooth wooden tubes or sticks: used to bring hot rice paper from the pot to the drying racks.
How to make My Long Rice Paper
This is a traditional profession and its secrets are handed down from generation to generation. So, these steps below are just briefly mentioned and we’ll not talk too much about the techniques in every step.
- Step 1: Prepare rice paper cooking oven and pot.
- We use dried coconut leaves, coconut shells, and coconut husks to make a fire for the oven, then pour water into a pot.
- After the pot in the oven is heated, add pandan leaves to create the aroma.
- Wrap and stretch the cloth evenly on top of the pot.
- Step 2: Mixing the rice paper flour.
- The minced rice powder, you can buy at the market, or you can make it by the rice mill stone grinder.
- When grinding rice, make sure to soak the rice in water for 1-2 days first (doing this helps the flour to be finer). After that, pour the rice into the millstone and mince it real good.
- Whisk the flour with coconut milk to a smooth batter, adding a little bit of salt to balance out the sweetness. You can sprinkle sesame inside the flour mixture.
- Step 3: Make the rice paper.
- Use around half a ladleful of batter per rice paper. Slightly pour the flour mixture on the pot’s cloth, and spread it evenly. The rice paper must not be too thin (or else it’s hard to take it out of the pot), or too thick (or else the rice paper will be cooked unevenly).
- After that, cover the pot, until you see smoke coming out of the oven, use the tube or wooden stick to take it out to the drying rack.
Fun fact: You can eat the rice paper in wet form (just made). It will be soft, chewy, fragrant with pandan leaves, and has a sweet taste of coconut milk. Give it a try because the taste will be different when it is grilled.
- Step 4: Dry the rice paper.
- Leave the drying racks with the freshly made rice paper in the sun for about 1 day.
- After drying, the rice papers will harden; but not too hard and crispy.
- Step 5: Grill the rice paper
- While grilling the rice paper, you could follow these tips to have the most delicious pieces ever:
- Start grilling from around the edge of the rice paper first. Then, gradually move towards the center of it. This helps the rice paper to be grilled evenly and not burn.
- Continue the process until the piece is slightly puffed up, lightly golden, and gives off a sweet and fragrant aroma.
- While grilling the rice paper, you could follow these tips to have the most delicious pieces ever:
How to make the best batch of rice paper
Here are some secrets to making the best batch of rice paper handed down from generation to generation.
- Rice flour: Choose a special rice variety in Tra Vinh, Vietnam. This type of rice can withstand the harshness of dry weather. Rice paper made from this rice shrinks evenly and will not break when dried in the sun.
- Sesame and coconut: Choose the type of sesame with firm seeds. The coconut must be old, with thick flesh to get the sweetest, most fatty coconut milk.
Where to go to see My Long Rice Paper
There is a 100-year-old My Long rice paper village, 10km from Ben Tre city. When you have the opportunity to visit Ben Tre, you can go there to explore.
Address: My Long Market, My Thanh Commune, Giong Trom District, Ben Tre Province.
Besides, you can follow us on tour to see how to make My Long rice paper, try to make it yourself, and taste the fatty, crispy rice paper for free. If you’re interested, you can consider and book a half-day tour with us at the link below!
Alright, that’s all for a blog today. See you in the next posts!
Written by Jade Huynh