In an earlier life I was working as adult ed consultant at a school that
was teaching German to Vietnamese boat people - and as a direct result I
got invited to quite a lot of Vietnamese banquets. Which I really
enjoyed, and I got quite a few hints and tips on how to prepare some of
the dishes.

There are a couple of issues, however, where my memory fails. One thing
is the [pastry] for lack of a better word. A lot of dishes were similar
to spring rolls, but they were things bundled in a white
pastry/pasta/whatever and then boiled or steamed rather than deep fried.
Grab with chopsticks, dunk in fish sauce and eat. Delicious. But I
cannot for the life of me remember how to make that coating. Rice flour
and hot water is what has stuck but I am at a loss as to method ?!?

The other thing I am wondering about is the fish sauce. I remember it as
quite different from Thai fish sauce which is the only I have been able
to obtain here in NZ so far. Are they really different, or is my memory
playing tricks on me?

If anyone has a good link on how-tos I'd appreciate it. I think I can
remember well enough what it should taste like to be able to experiment
successfully with a few memory refreshers.

cheers, -Peter

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