Bo bia is straightforward as long as the filling is prepared with care. The pleasure is in juicy jicama, chewy strands of egg and lightly salted dried shrimp floss.
The difficulty is wet greens, which soften the rice paper and make every roll fall apart. The jicama is stir fried until dry and cooled completely before rolling. The eggs are cooked into very thin sheets, cooled, stacked and only then cut into strands.
This batch weighs about 2.5kg, at roughly 142 calories per 100g.
Method
Pick over the lettuce and Thai basil, rinse them several times and drain them completely so the rice paper does not go soggy.
Peel the jicama, rinse it and cut it into fine strands about 5 to 6cm long for easy rolling. Peel and mince the shallot.
Crack 5 eggs into a bowl, season with 1 teaspoon fish sauce and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, beat well, then cook into very thin sheets in a nonstick pan. Once cool, stack the sheets and cut them into fine strands.
Fry the minced shallot until fragrant, add the jicama and stir fry over medium heat, season with 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon seasoning powder and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, then cook another 2 to 3 minutes until dry and leave to cool.
Boil the Chinese sausage for about 10 minutes, cool it and slice thin. A quick 5 minute pan fry adds color and aroma.
Lay out a sheet of soft rice paper and add lettuce, stir fried jicama, egg strands, Chinese sausage and dried shrimp floss in turn. Fold in both sides and roll firmly, keeping the filling modest.
Make the dipping sauce by blending 200g tuong hot with 50g roasted peanut, 1/2 teaspoon tapioca starch and 100ml water until smooth.
Pour the mixture into a pot, rinse the blender with the remaining 200ml water and add that too, then stir in 1/2 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder and 1.5 tablespoons kOBE Monk Fruit Blend. Simmer over low heat until it comes to a rolling boil, turn off the heat and let it cool completely.
Tips
The jicama is naturally sweet, so the stir fry needs no sweetener at all.
A splash of mai que lo (Chinese rose wine) while frying the Chinese sausage makes it far more fragrant.
Stir the tapioca starch into the dipping sauce over low heat without stopping, which thickens it smoothly and free of lumps.
Any water left on the greens soaks into the rice paper and opens the rolls, so drain them thoroughly.
Thinner egg sheets give chewier strands, and the pan has to be evenly hot before the egg goes in.
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The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.