Bò Bía Recipe (Vietnamese Spring Roll)

Say hello to my ALL-TIME FAVORITE Vietnamese spring roll—Bò Bía. This fresh rainbow spring roll contains Chinese sausage, eggs, dried shrimp, carrots, jicama, and herbs. Pair Bò Bía with a sriracha hoisin dipping sauce and you have got yourself the perfect picnic meal.

Growing up whenever my mom told me we were having bò bía my heart and soul would light up. Mainly because this spring roll contains some of my all-time favorite ingredients—aka Chinese sausage and eggs. Eggs make the world a better place. Packed with herbs and vegetables, this Vietnamese spring roll is perfect as guilt-free meal or snack.

What is Bò Bía?

Bò Bía is one of the many types of Vietnamese spring rolls. Other Vietnamese spring rolls you may be familiar with are the Goi Cuon Spring Roll (pork and shrimp) and the Nem Nuong Spring Roll (grilled lemongrass pork). You can normally find them in local street food stands in Vietnam. Bò Bía contains Chinese sausage, eggs, dried shrimp, carrots, jicama, and a whole lot of herbs. They are simple to make, yet they retain big bold flavors.

Bò Bía stemmed from the Chinese Popiah, a Teochew-style roll wrapped with a wheat flour crepe. Bò Bía differs from Popiah in that it is wrapped with rice paper, dipped in hoisin sauce, and uses different vegetables.

Ingredients for this Recipe

The Vegetables

• Jicama: For the jicama and carrots I recommend a 2:1 ratio of Jicama to carrots. Jicama is a Mexican turnip that is brown and subtly rough on the outside and white on the inside.
• Carrots: the carrots add a pop of color and subtle sweetness to the jicama.
• Lettuce: I like adding lettuce to all my spring rolls but this is optional.
• Thai Basil: Thai basil should not be confused with regular basil. Thai basil brings more savory, spicey anise-like notes than regular basil. It sometimes has a purple tinge around the immature leaves and flower buds at the tip. The leaves are more slender and elongated than regular basil and have a noticeable licorice aroma.
• Green onion: the green onion is used to toss and season the dried shrimp

The Protein

• Chinese Sausage: Chinese sausage is the star of the dish in my opinion. I like to use fresh Chinese sausages from the Asian grocery store.
• Dried Shrimp: the dried shrimp add a subtle crunch and saltiness component to the dish. You can find dried shrimp online here or in your local Asian grocery store.
• Eggs: the eggs are cooked similarly to a crepe cake that is layered and then thinly sliced.

The Sauce

• Hoisin Sauce: the sauce mainly uses a hoisin sauce base. My favorite brand of hoisin sauce is Lee Kum Kee. You can find Hoisin sauce online or at your local Asian grocery store. Sometimes I can find it in the Asian foods aisle in the American supermarkets.
• Cornstarch: the sauce is diluted with water, so the cornstarch slurry helps thicken the sauce back up.
• Garlic: what kind of dipping sauce would it be without garlic?
• Sriracha: in my opinion, everything tastes better with sriracha. But, this is optional and 100% customizable.
• Crushed Peanuts: the peanuts are for topping the dipping sauce it is an optional garnish.
• Rice Paper: Vietnamese rice paper (bánh tráng) is a thin flat rice circular sheet that is made with rice, tapioca flour, salt, and water. You can find rice paper online here or from the local Asian supermarket. My favorite brand is the Three Ladies but any brand will do. They last forever in the pantry.

How to Make This Recipe

1. Peel and julienne the jicama and medium carrots. You want to julienne the jicama and carrots into long skinny sticks. They need to be thicker than if you are using a grater but thin enough to layer. About ½ cm thick and 3 inches long.

2. Steam the jicama and carrots. Place the jicama and carrots in a large pot, add 1 cup hot water and 2 tsp of sugar. Cover the lid and cook on stovetop medium-low heat 20-25 minutes until softened but slightly crunchy. Stir every 5 minutes.

3. Lightly pan fry the Chinese Sausage. Slice the Chinese sausage into thin slices and pan-fry them on medium-high until both sides are slightly crisp.

4. Prepare the shrimp. In a heat-proof bowl, soak the shrimp in boiling water for 10 minutes or until softened, and then drain the water. Season with black pepper. On a frying pan, place 1 tbsp vegetable oil add the diced green onion, shrimp and cook on medium heat for 3 minutes.

5. Make the eggs. In a mixing bowl, whisk all the eggs. In a medium pan or wok on medium heat, pour ¼ cup of egg onto the pan, pick up the pan, and spread evenly like a crepe. Cook for 30 seconds then flip and cook for another 20 seconds. Place the egg flat on the cutting board. Continue and layer the egg crepes until finished. Thinly slice the stacked egg crepes into 1 cm thick strips.

How to Assemble the Spring Roll

1. Dip the rice paper in warm water. In a large bowl or rice paper bowl, pour in warm water around 120 F. Dip the rice paper into the water submerging the entire paper, and then lay it on a plate slightly larger than the rice paper.

2. Add your vegetables. I like to add in my lettuce first then the herbs and jicama and carrots on the edge of the rice paper closest to you leaving about 1-2 inches for you to grab onto.

3. Add in the eggs and shrimp. Then add in your preferred amount of eggs and shrimp.

4. Add in the Chinese sausage. To have the Chinese sausage appear on the outside of the roll, place the Chinese sausage slices in a horizontal line directly on top of the rice paper above the veggies.

5. Begin rolling the rice paper. Lift the rice paper on the edge closest to you and make your first fold.

6. Fold in the left and right edges of the rice paper to seal the ends and prevent the contents from spilling out.

7. Continue tightly rolling the roll upward until no more rice paper remains. Use your hands to tightly roll the spring roll and prevent too much air from entering.

How to Make the Sriracha Hoisin Dipping Sauce

1. Saute the garlic. In a small saucepan, pour in 1 tbsp of olive oil and saute the minced garlic on medium-high until lightly browned and fragrant.
2. Cook the hoisin sauce with water. Pour in the hoisin sauce, ¾ cup water in the saucepan, and stir until combined.
3. Make cornstarch slurry. Mix the 4 tsp of cornstarch with the ¼ cup of water and then add to the saucepan and mix until thickened.
4. Add sriracha and crushed peanuts. The amount of sriracha is totally up to you and how much spice you can handle.

Tips for This Recipe

• Buy fresh vegetables: the flavors of the vegetables taste best when they are fresh.
• Cook the jicama and carrots until they are just softened. The texture of the carrots and jicama plays a big part in the experience of these rolls. Stop cooking the jicama and carrots when they have softened but still remain a subtle crunch. You do not want to overcook the carrots and jicama to the point where it loses its crunch.
• Have all the ingredients laid out around you before you roll. This helps make the process infinitely times easier.
• Use a rice paper bowl for easy dipping. When this plastic half moon rice paper water bowl was invented, it changed my family's life forever. It takes up so much less space than a large bowl and makes dipping the rice paper 100x easier.
• To prevent the rolls from breaking, use a limited amount of filling. Layer the filling ingredients in horizontal lines and add more layers from the bottom up. To roll, wrap up your spring roll similar to a burrito: fold in the left and right sides and fold up the bottom flap, and keep rolling in an upwards motion.
• Roll as you eat or wrap in plastic wrap immediately after. The rice paper will dry out and become hard to eat if the roll is not eaten immediately or wrapped in plastic wrap.

Storage Instructions

You can make Bò Bía in advance and store them by individually wrapping them in plastic wrap and they will last for maybe 24 hours. Over time, the rice paper will dry out and be hard or very chewy. I recommend eating them as soon as you can.

You may also love...