Chợ Lớn Legacy · Jicama Spring Roll
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Despite its name containing the Vietnamese word for 'beef,' the roll has never traditionally held any beef at all — it's a Vietnamese spin on popiah, a wrap the Hokkien call 'lun piah,' the same root that gave the Philippines and Indonesia the word 'lumpia.'
A thin rice-paper wrapper is rolled tightly around julienned jicama, carrot, Chinese sausage, egg strips, and dried shrimp, then sliced into bite-sized pieces and dipped in a sweet hoisin-peanut sauce. Street vendors around Saigon sell them cut and stacked on a plate, a cheap, room-temperature snack that needs no cooking on the spot.
Why it's made this way: The roll is Vietnam's version of popiah, brought by Teochew and other southern Chinese immigrant communities who settled heavily in Saigon's Chợ Lớn district, adapted with rice paper and local ingredients into a dish now considered distinctly Vietnamese.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
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