Family Meal Plan: Creative Fruit Salad Spring Rolls + Honey Vanilla Mint Dipping Sauce

Creative Fruit Salad Spring Rolls + Honey Vanilla Mint Dipping Sauce

Happy & Healthy Cooking,

Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills

• dice :

  to cut foods into small pieces of equal size so that the food is cooked evenly or looks uniform and pleasant when used in the recipe.

• juice :

  to extract or squeeze out the juice of a fruit or vegetable, like a lemon, orange, or carrot, often cutting open or peeling the fruit or veggie first to access its flesh.

• knife skills :

  Bear Claw (growl), Pinch, Plank, and Bridge (look out for trolls). 

• peel :

  to remove the skin or rind from something using your hands or a metal tool.

• roll :

  to use a rolling pin to flatten dough; use your hands to form a roll or ball shape; or move a round food, like a grape or a meatball, through another food, like sugar or breadcrumbs, to coat it.

What are Rice Paper Wrappers and Spring Rolls?

• Rice paper wrappers originated in Vietnam, where they are called "bánh tráng" (pronounced "baan trahn"). They are thin, almost translucent, and made with rice flour, tapioca flour or starch, water, and salt. They are traditionally dried using sunlight.
• The wrappers have almost no taste or smell, so they become the silent support to the tasty ingredients inside. These typically include pork, shrimp, and vegetables. 
• In southern Vietnam, they use the wrappers for "gỏi cuốn" (pronounced "goy koon"), also called spring rolls, salad rolls, or summer rolls. These rolls are served fresh, not fried.
• When shopping for rice paper wrappers, the name on the package may be spring roll wrappers; however, if the ingredients include wheat, they aren't proper rice paper wrappers.
• Spring rolls are a filled, rolled appetizer or small dish found in East and Southeast Asia countries. Depending on the region, the rolls may be fresh or fried, use different wrappers, contain assorted meat and vegetable fillings, and go by various names. For example, in Indonesia and the Philippines, spring rolls are called "lumpia," and in Vietnam, fried rolls are called "chả giò" (pronounced "tshah zheeyoh") and, as we learned above, fresh rolls are called "gỏi cuốn."

Let's Learn About Vietnam!

• The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is in Southeast Asia. Its government is a Unitary Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist republic. China is on Vietnam's northern border, Cambodia and Laos border it to the west, the Gulf of Thailand is southwest, and the South China Sea borders it on the south and east. The country is long, narrow, and shaped like an "S." At its most narrow point, it is only 30 miles wide.
• Vietnam's total area is 331,699, and the population in 2019 was over 96 million. Hanoi is the capital city, and Ho Chi Minh City is the largest. 
• The national language is Vietnamese, and French is spoken as a second language by many older, educated residents of former South Vietnam due to French colonial rule. Minority groups may speak different languages in various parts of the country. English is also frequently taught in schools.
• The Vietnamese language has six different tones. The meaning of a word will change with a change in tone. This makes their language somewhat challenging to learn.
• Vietnam has been under the rule of other countries throughout its history, first under China from 111 BCE until 939 CE, when an independent dynasty appeared. The French colonized Vietnam in 1887. Then, in 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared independence from France. However, France claimed power again during the First Indochina War, but Vietnam was victorious in 1954. The Vietnam War began soon after, and the country was divided into communist North Vietnam and anti-communist South Vietnam. After the war, which the North won in 1975, the country was reunified as a socialist state.
• Vietnam exports the most black pepper and cashews in the world and is the second-largest exporter of rice and coffee.
• There are several floating fishing villages in Halong Bay on the northeastern coast of Vietnam. Boats and houseboats are tied together, where people live, work, shop, and go to school, so inhabitants rarely have to put their feet on land.  
• Due to the narrow streets and expensive cars and taxes, Vietnam has about 50 million motorbikes on the roads every day. Some people have two motorbikes, one for work and one for pleasure. 
• Popular sports are football (soccer), table tennis (ping-pong), volleyball, badminton, and martial arts. 
• Vietnamese cuisine consists of five basic tastes (elements): bitter (fire), salty (water), sour (wood), spicy (metal), and sweet (earth). It is known for its fresh, healthy ingredients, and rice is a staple, as it is in many Asian countries. Spring rolls, "pho" ("fuh"), a dish with noodles, broth, herbs, and meat, and "banh mi," a sandwich on a baguette filled with meat, cucumber, cilantro, and pickled veggies, are three well-known Vietnamese dishes found in the United States.

What's It Like to Be a Kid in Vietnam?

• Family is very important in Vietnam, and children may live with their parents and grandparents, and maybe even aunts and uncles. 
• Since children make up almost a quarter of the population, schools are overcrowded, and the school day may be either a morning or afternoon shift six days a week. School uniforms are required. Primary school is required from ages six to eleven, and after exams, it is determined whether a student will go on to a secondary school or a vocational school. 
• Kids who live in rural parts of the country may need to help with crops or livestock, and you might see them leading or riding domesticated animals, like water buffalo. 
• Sports they participate in include soccer, badminton, tennis, karate, swimming, and cycling. In addition, kids may play group games like Cat and Mouse or Dragon and Snake or board games like "O an quan."
• Kids may eat similar things for breakfast and lunch, such as pho, spring rolls, or banh mi, although they may eat oatmeal or pastries for breakfast in the cities.