Every Vietnamese table has something on it that is fried, something that is grilled, something in a broth, and then one plate that is none of those: a row of translucent white cylinders with green herbs and pink shrimp showing through the wrapper.<\/p>\n
That is goi cuon, and it is the lightest thing in Vietnamese cooking. Nothing in it is cooked at the moment of assembly. Rice paper, cold vermicelli, poached pork, boiled shrimp, lettuce and a handful of herbs, rolled tight and eaten at room temperature with a sauce that does all the heavy lifting.<\/p>\n
It is also the dish most consistently mistranslated on English menus, where it appears as fresh spring rolls, summer rolls, salad rolls and occasionally just spring rolls, which is how people end up ordering the fried ones by accident.<\/p>\n
This guide covers what goi cuon actually is, how it differs from the fried version, the whole family of southern Vietnamese rolls that most visitors never meet, which sauce belongs with which, and where to eat them in Saigon.<\/p>\n