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Since arriving in Australia in the 1980s, Vietnamese meat rolls – now often referred to as 'pork rolls' or 'banh mi' – have quickly become popular, and can be found in every capital city. Like a panini is to Italian food and gyros is to Greek food, this dish has become synonymous with Vietnamese cuisine. However, like many dishes from different cultures that have taken off in the diaspora, it can mean different things.
Here's an exchange I recently heard from behind the counter at my Vietnamese eatery, :
Person A: Mate, 'pork roll'?
Person B: One hundred percent. I'll get this one, what are you after?
Person A: The chicken one
Person B: Easy!
So how did we get here?
Bread in Vietnam is linked to its colonial history; it was introduced during the French occupation in the 19th Century. The locals named it bánh mì (which literally translates to flour cake) and in true Vietnamese form, adapted it to their own palate with a variation called bánh mì ổ (Vietnamese bread roll) – a crispy roll that is lighter and fluffier than its predecessor.
VIETNAM'S FOOD HISTORY
How the French have influenced Vietnamese cuisine
These bánh mì ổ were filled with meat or mock meat to create what's now known as bánh mì thịt (Vietnamese meat roll). There are many varieties of bánh mì thịt, but the most well-known and traditional variation is bánh mì thịt nguội (Vietnamese pork roll).
'Pork roll' has long been known to Vietnamese Australians as a variety of meat roll. It contains sliced Vietnamese cold ham or charcuterie, pickled carrots and daikon, cucumber, spring onion, coriander and a soy sauce concoction, wrapped up in a Vietnamese bread roll that's lined with mayo and pate.
My earliest memories of bánh mì thịt involved getting dropped off outside our family's local Vietnamese bakery. A large 'meat roll' decal was plastered on its window. Mum would keep the car going as I ran inside and shyly asked the shopkeeper: "Chào cô, xin hai ổ bánh mì thịt nguội, không ớt và một ổ cắt ra làm hai?" ("Hello auntie, can I please have two Vietnamese cold meat rolls without chilli, and one roll cut in half"). I'd pass on a roll to mum and my brother and I would share the split roll in the back seat.
Fast-forward three decades at my own Vietnamese eatery, Master Roll Vietnam in South Yarra, it's more common to hear "two pork rolls, please" or "two pork banh mis, please" instead of "two Vietnamese meat rolls, please".
Inside a pork roll, you'll find a symphony of flavours. Source: Duncan Lu
Australians love their Vietnamese pork rolls or bánh mì thịt nguội. Source: Duncan Lu
Additionally, the term 'pork roll' now appears to also reference a roast pork roll - a variety that includes crispy pork belly. For a Vietnamese bánh mì thịt shop in an inner city suburb in Melbourne, an order for a 'pork roll' is now understood as a Vietnamese roast pork roll, not our traditional pork roll.
KNOW YOUR PORK ROLLS
Roast pork banh mi
When chatting to a friend and Vietnamese Australian chef, , recently, he said he agrees that 'pork roll' translates to a traditional bánh mì thịt.
In fact, Hong thinks the term bánh mì thịt has gone full circle. Recently on social media, he saw a post about a roast pork roll (banh mi heo quay) captioned bánh mì thịt.
Even using 'banh mi' as an umbrella term is loose. Banh mi in Vietnamese means bread. "Let's go grab a couple banh mi" has a different meaning when you replace banh mi with the word bread.
So, the next time you're ordering a Vietnamese meat roll, consider what's in the name as it may influence what you find in your roll.
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