Delving Into The Debated History Of The Vietnamese Spring Roll

The Vietnamese spring roll is a dish that the Vietnamese take pride in. And why shouldn’t they? Today, this delectable roll has travelled to the plates of people far and wide and has come to be one of the most popular types of spring rolls that foodies enjoy. The Vietnamese spring roll or Gỏi cuốn is a rice paper roll that has fillings such as pork, prawn, vegetables and rice vermicelli.  It is served at room temperature and is one of the most recognised dishes of the Vietnamese cuisine, along side Pho. 

The debated versions of the origin of the Vietnamese spring roll 

History is said to be influenced by narratives and therefore, there always exists two versions of the same event. This is true in the case of the Vietnamese spring roll too. While some food writers maintain that the origin of the Vietnamese spring roll has to be credited to the culinary influence of the Chinese spring roll, Vietnamese food writers oppose this. The latter say that the Vietnamese spring roll is nothing like the Chinese spring roll. It has its own identity. For starters, unlike the Chinese spring roll, Gỏi cuốn is wrapped in Vietnamese rice paper called Bánh tráng - which was created by the Vietnamese. In fact, the Vietnamese have legend stories about how this delectable rice roll originated on their land. 

The story of the legend of the Gỏi Cuốn goes like this: There was once a king who dreamt of making Vietnam a super power. His name was Nguyen Hue Quang Trung. One day, during a battle that he was fighting, he had an idea. He told his soldiers, ‘Make use of the time you are travelling in, to rest. Some of you carry the other soldiers in hammocks, so that they can rest, while we keep moving towards the battle territory. Take turns and keep switching the hammocks, so all of you get a chance to sleep. This way, you will be able to get rest even while we will be moving on our foot.’ This strategy of being on-the-go at all times, made the soldiers hungry and they realised that they won’t have time to spare to cook up a feast. This is why they needed instant or mobile meals that were easy to carry in their hand while they marched forward. These mobile treats needed to be filling at the same time. This lead to the soldiers inventing the Vietnamese spring roll. The roll could be relished at room temperature (even today Vietnamese rolls are eaten at room temperature), the ingredients including the wrappers were light to carry, and the roll could be eaten quickly, on the go - thus fulfilling the requirements of the soldiers in the story. This interesting story is held dear by the Vietnamese and they clearly state that their spring roll originated from their land and not from the land of others. 

Some food writers stick to the version of the Chinese immigrants bringing the spring roll to Vietnam during their first immigration around the second century. This view espouses that even though there are some differences in the recipes of the Chinese and the Vietnamese spring roll, like the wrapper, a lot of their ingredients are the same. The opposing view further says that a lot many threads of the cuisine of Vietnam have the cultural influence of the Chinese cuisine. The Chinese occupation of Vietnam brought with it the culinary heritage of China to Vietnam including an introduction of noodles, steamed buns, roast meats etc. The opposing view however, concedes to the fact that only the 'rice paper' wrapper (and not the entire dish) that the Vietnamese spring roll is wrapped in, originated and was developed by the people of Vietnam.