Khmer Rice Roll

Khmer Rice Roll at SAN restaurant

So what is Khmer rice roll? Now most people out there would ask, ‘isn’t it the same as the Vietnamese roll?’ The answer to that is it’s similar but not the same.

Here’s what Khmer rice roll is in a nutshell. It’s rice paper (cooked of course because the uncooked one is dry and hard, and you wouldn’t be able to roll it) wrapped around various fresh ingredients such as lettuces, cucumber, bean sprouts, vermicelli, Asian herbs and chicken or prawn, or if you like, both. Basically you put in what ever takes your fancy. I say the more the merrier. These fresh ingredients could have a party in there if they want and that’s cool.

Here at San restaurant we put in fresh green salad (cos it’s damn healthy), julienne cucumber and carrot, bean sprout, rice vermicelli and either chicken or prawn, depending on which you want. Yes, that’s it. Nothing more and nothing less. Sounds a bit like sushi, don’t you think? Hmm, may be it’ll be the next sushi.

Khmer Rice Roll with SAN sauce

Now the dipping sauce.

You can eat the rice roll as it is or you can dip it in various sauces such as Thai sweet chilly sauce, fish and sour sauce, and many other different Asian sauces out there that are in existence today, or you can make your own and be creative. Here in our restaurant we use SAN sauce, a Cambodian home made dipping sauce that we (I mean mum) formulated specifically to accompany the lovely rice roll. We have many customers raving about it. Secretly I feel my chest puff up with pride. And sorry we can’t tell you how to make it because it’s top secret.

SAN sauce

To make it more exciting when you eat this delicate and fresh food, you should add lots of crushed, roasted peanut and chilly flakes. Yes, lots and lots of chilly flakes. The combination of fresh vegetables in the roll when dipped into the sauce will explode in your mouth, giving you that tangy sweetness with heat. But of course if you don’t like hot food then just go without the chilly flakes, which is still damn delicious.

SAN sauce with chilly flakes

So if next time you happen to come into SAN restaurant here at 2 Dowling Street in Dunedin, why not ask for Khmer rice rolls as your entrée, or even better yet, as a main – that’s if you want something light and healthy to eat.

Cheer ^_^