Family Traditions: Making Vietnamese Salad Rolls with Mom
Our Lead Explorer Amanda recently made Vietnamese Salad Rolls with her mom. We love the connection these two shared as mom passed down her tried and true family favorite and how Amanda introduced a new idea to level up on tradition.
One of the first things my mom taught me how to make was Vietnamese salad rolls.
We often have big family dinners and my mom spends an entire day cooking in the kitchen. One summer, she decided to pre-make a big batch of salad rolls in the morning. They’re easy to make, can use up any vegetables and greens you have on hand, and are easy to graze on throughout the meal.
We used her favourite Vietnamese salad roll ingredients: soft rice noodles, fresh prawns for protein, cucumber, carrots, and bean sprouts for crunch, and cilantro for that signature salad roll flavor.
When I asked my mom how we should store the salad rolls so they didn’t dry out for later that night, she turned around and showed me her salad roll storage setup:
A few tupperware containers with damp cloths.
At the time, it made sense: containers to keep the salad rolls organized and the damp cloth to keep them from drying out. This was before I knew about the power of Abeego and what it can do beyond keeping my fresh produce alive.
For years I’ve been making and storing salad rolls just like my mom, because mom’s always right.
As Abeego’s Lead Explorer heading up our test kitchen, I had a suspicion that Abeego could change my salad roll prep routine. I didn’t know for sure, and had no idea what to expect, but I had a good feeling about my next test.
My hypothesis: Abeego is breathable and protects food at the same time. It helps retain moisture, without allowing moisture to build up and cause food spoilage. Theoretically, the vegetables inside should also keep.
I made my salad rolls for supper as usual. Then I:
- Lined a glass container with my Large Abeego wrap to keep them from sticking to the bottom
- Placed a few salad rolls inside and then covered with the excess wrap
- Stored the Vietnamese salad rolls in the fridge
The next day I took my salad rolls in Abeego to the office, popped them into the fridge, and eagerly waited for 12pm to dive in and see the results.
It’s 11:59 and I couldn’t wait any longer. I grab my container and unwrap my lunch.
The verdict: my salad rolls were as if I had just made them. Not slimy and also not dried out. The cilantro on the inside even looked crisp! In that moment, all my coworkers looked at me like I had won a million dollars.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I wanted to show my mom my discovery and level up her salad roll routine. We got together one Sunday morning and before I could let her reach for her damp cloth and container, I pulled out my Abeego wrap.
My mom is still new to Abeego, and has started out by using her wraps to cover bowls and wrap the ends of cucumbers. As our Lead Explorer, I’ve tested all sorts of foods like leafy greens, cheese, slow the ripening of peaches, accidentally fermented bananas (that’s a story for another time), and see the food-saving power of Abeego first hand. She loves that it’s reusable and keeps her cucumbers from getting slimy. Now she was about to graduate to the next level.
I reached for my Giant Abeego, placed it on top of a platter and placed my salad rolls on the plate, then folded over my Abeego to cover the first row, place a second set of rolls, and then folded the wrap back over to cover and close.
I said to my mom, “now there’s no need for a damp cloth. You have Abeego!”
She couldn’t believe it and I know she was still skeptical. “They’re not going to stick to the Abeego and dry out?”
To prove my test, we wrapped up 2 salad rolls in a Large Abeego for her to take home and unwrap the next day to see what happens. She had a better folding technique than I did!
You can guess what happened the next day. The salad rolls were perfect and ready for her work lunch.
Traditionally, before Google and the proliferation of foodie bloggers, food wisdom was passed down from generation to generation. And applying new ideas to tradition lead to innovation. Learn those ancestral recipes and put your stamp on it—it’s how your own food wisdom will deepen, ready to be passed down to the next generation.
It is with deep respect and gratitude that we create, build and operate our business in the communities of Southern Vancouver Island, which as a business we acknowledge is located within the ancestral and unceded territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) (Esquimalt and Songhees), Malahat, Pacheedaht, Scia'new, T’Sou-ke and W̱SÁNEĆ (Pauquachin, Tsartlip, Tsawout, Tseycum) peoples.
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