Vietnamese
ingredients are ever changing and it can be confusing at times. In the
past couple of years, rice paper (banh tranh) has undergone a weird change.
Tapioca starch is being used as an addition or substitute for rice. The
tapioca papers (banh trang deo) are tough to manipulate (people here and
in Vietnam complain) and one visitor wants the scoop on how to best work
with them. This visitor is not Vietnamese but she's been cooking and eating
Viet food since 1967.
Question
1:
greetings,
have you noticed that 'rice' paper is now almost exclusively made from
tapioca flour, not rice flour? And when the label just says 'flour,'
you can bet they mean tapioca flour. It could be because it's less fragile
for shipping or has a better shelf life, but my guess is that tapioca
is just plain cheaper. i also think that rice has a better flavor and
a bit more nutrition. how is it that no one else--even the asian store
owners--seem to have noticed this? what do you think? thanks!
Response
1:
I absolutely
agree with you! The tapioca flour (actually, it's tapioca starch that's
used) is a menace to rice paper. Indeed, tapioca creates a product that's
easier to ship, and they're thinner. The bonus, however, is that tapioca-based
rice papers don't require hot water for softening. If you soak one of
them in hot water (as you would with an old-fashioned rice paper), it
would shrivel up like plastic wrap that's been exposed to a hot flame!
Warm or lukewarm water is best for softening tapioca papers. I've not
been 100% successful with tapioca papers as they tend to easily tear,
even after you've properly soaked them.
As for
their flavor, tapioca papers lack the slight sourness that is the signature
flavor of rice papers. When you're shopping for rice paper, look for
the red rose brand, which has consistently been very good over the years.
Because there are many counterfeiters, check to make sure that the papers
are thickish and somewhat weighty. The tapioca papers are thin and light
by comparison; on their packaging, you'll also see "banh trang
deo" which is roughly translated as chewy rice paper.
For reference,
go to this page on how
to buy rice paper and scroll down to see a photo of a couple of
reliable brands.
You mentioned
the mislabeling on the packaging and that made me laugh. There was a
time when the rice papers ingredients listing indicated "wheat
flour" instead of "rice flour" as the primary component!
How's that for confusing?
Question 2:
andrea,
thanks
so much for your thorough and helpful response to my questions regarding
rice/tapioca paper. i totally agree that Red Rose has always been an
excellent brand. sadly i think they too have fallen into the tapioca
trap. is there anything we as comsumers can do to stop this trend? do
you think real rice paper is still easily available in south east asia,
but less available as an imported product?
the soaking
of rice paper is an interesting topic. i rarely soak it in hot water
any longer because it seems to thicken the paper, and it loses that
lovely tranparency. a few years ago i asked a shop owner why the same
brand of rice paper can be delicate and transparent one time and thick
and tough the next. he said it has to do with how old it is, how long
it has sat in a warehouse. is that possible? Or can one batch be simply
made thicker than another? have you also experimented with water temperature
and soaking times? nowadays i dip mine briefly (3-5 seconds)in fairly
warm water (but not hot), then put is on a damp plain cotton towel and
let is sit for 2-3 minutes. but maybe there is a better method. i've
been playing around with rice paper since 1967 when i became friends
with my vietnamese neighbor. we would all wait patiently for her box
of food supplies to arrive from vietnam then she'd show us a new recipe
and we'd have a feast.
again thanks
so much for your expert advice.
Response
2:
Well, as
for the Red Rose brand (made in Hong Kong, I think), the original version
is still good. Again, there are impostors. Indeed, there are traditional
rice papers in Vietnam. However, the tapioca stuff is coming out of
Vietnam so things are changing there. I heard complaints when I visited
last year.
Asian food
products are notoriously inconsistent. Manufacturing is getting better
so you see greater quality control as people are highly competitive.
I don't think that the age of rice paper reflects the thickness.
As for
the temperature of the water, for traditional rice paper, I use hot
water because it softens them faster. For the tapioca stuff, tepid water
is good. If you haven't had a chance to explore this page on rice paper,
I've posted information on effective
wrapping techniques.
