“It wasn’t until I was 18 that I was on rolling duty,”  Selena recalled.

Our secretary, Selena, shared a special dish from her Vietnamese culture—chả giò, deep fried spring rolls, a stuffed with prawn filling.

This delicious appetiser is a significant memory in many Vietnamese childhoods. Gathered around the dinner table with family members, the young ones are often left to peeling the wrappers while the adult creates neat little spring rolls. You must get initiated into the rolling responsibility by creating the perfect spring roll.

A Vietnamese mother will say there is an art to it. It shouldn’t be overstuffed with filling, otherwise it will be undercooked when fried. Wrapping it too tightly means it can burst. The edges of the spring roll need to be tucked securely, otherwise they’ll burn while cooking.

Despite this, spring rolls are fun to make because everyone can customise the filling to their taste and how it is rolled to their preference!

At our second workshop, there were returning participants but also some new faces. Everyone had a chance to share their personal tips and stories with the dish, with some returning participants had come out of their shell more to get to know others in the community.

Check out some of the fun that we got up to during this class!

Brian, Kitchen Co-Lab project coordinator, is all laughs during our workshop introduction.

Our new participants, Sarah and Mark, were eager to get to rolling!

Trinity got to cooking efficiently, but had lots of fun too!

Despite our hand blender issues, it was easy for our participants to chop up the mince by hand!

Sean sharing some tips on how to quickly mince the prawns

Selena sharing her personal technique for making the perfect spring roll

All our participants around the table and ready to roll!

Roling requires a lot of focus

Some of the best rolls of the day!

Linda frying up spring rolls, a dish from her childhood!

Given the current coronavirus situation, we have unfortunately had to cancel our face-to-face workshops. These circumstances have enabled us to get creative and think of new, fun and virtual ways to interact with our participants! Our next project will be announced soon.

You can download the recipe at this link. Let us know if you try it!

We have collaborated with Fairfield City Council for Youth Week to engage with young people and explore the theme of breaking stereotypes.