These hand rolls are a simple and healthful do-it-yourself meal: you assemble the ingredients and invite guests to do the rest. It is a relaxing experience, with everyone making their own hand rolls, eating, sipping cold beverages, and chatting. In Vietnam, freshwater ca loc (snakehead fish) is often used for this dish, encased in clay and roasted in rice straw, wrapped in banana leaf and grilled over charcoal, or just placed directly on the grill. I prefer the simplicity of the last approach. Trout is the perfect substitute for ca loc, as its sweet flesh stands up well to grilling. The skin crisps wonderfully, too.

　　

Ingredients

serves 4 as a light lunch or dinner

　　2 whole trout, 1 pound each, cleaned with head and tail intact

　　Canola or other neutral oil

　　Salt and black pepper

　　

Accompaniments

2/3 pound dried small round rice noodles, cooked in boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes, drained, and flushed with cold water

　　About 24 rice paper rounds, 8 1/2 inches in diameter

　　Vegetable Garnish Plate (page 313)

　　1 1/2 cups Tamarind-Ginger Dipping Sauce (page 312) or Basic Dipping Sauce (page 308)

　　1/2 cup Scallion Oil Garnish (page 314)

　　

Step 1

Rinse the trout well, removing any membranes and blood that the fishmonger may have overlooked. Pat dry with paper towels. Lay the trout flat on your work surface and, with a sharp knife, score each fish crosswise at 3 or 4 places, about 1 1/4 inches apart. (For scoring tips, see the Note on page 124.) To enrich the fish and to help it more easily release from the grill rack, rub it with a little oil, inside and out. Season the cavity and then the skin with salt and pepper. Set aside.

　　

Step 2

Arrange the noodles on 2 plates in 2-inch mounds for easy serving. Set the noodles out on the table with the rice paper rounds and water bowls for dipping them, the vegetable garnish plate, and the dipping sauce. Set each place with a dinner plate. Have the scallion oil garnish ready.

　　

Step 3

To cook the trout, prepare a medium charcoal fire (you can hold your hand over the rack for only 4 to 5 seconds) or preheat a gas grill to medium. Grill the trout, turning once, for 5 to 6 minutes on each side, or until the skin is crisp and lightly browned. The trout is ready when the meat is opaque. Peek inside the cavity; there should be no sign of blood. Use 2 spatulas to transfer the fish to a platter. Scatter 2 tablespoons of the scallion oil garnish on top of each fish and bring the rest of the garnish to the table.

　　

Step 4

Explain to any diners new to this dish how to make their rolls. First soften a rice paper round in the water bowl and place it on a plate. (See page 331 for tips on working with rice paper.) When the rice paper is pliable and tacky, layer the ingredients on top in the following order: a lettuce leaf, some torn herb leaves, a few cucumber slices, some noodles, a little scallion oil garnish, a piece of fish, and a drizzle of sauce. Wrap up and enjoy.

　　Reprinted with permission from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors by Andrea Nguyen. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Copyright © 2006.  Photographs by Leigh Beisch. Buy the full book from Amazon or Bookshop.