The loempia in the Netherlands

Loempia’s are well-known snacks in the Netherlands, and they can be found in multiple sizes. In Dutch supermarkets, for instance, when we look into the freezer section we can find small ones that are called mini loempias. These are often also found in restaurants to serve as a starter or a snack. The middle-sized loempias are often sold as Vietnamese loempias, whereas the large ones that we know from Chinese-Indonesian restaurants are sold as loempia, with a brief mention of its filling.

Famous in the Netherlands are the Vietnamese stands, which sell loempia’s as well. The Vietnamese stands sell their variation of the spring rolls, which are originally called cha gio or nem ran. The Vietnamese spring rolls are slightly different from the Chinese-Indonesian loempia, the most notable differences can be found in the wrappers, the size, and the filling. Vietnamese style spring rolls tend to be filled with a raw filling, while the Chinese-Indonesian restaurant loempia is often filled with pre-cooked ingredients.Traditionally the Vietnamese loempia is made of rice paper, but since it was not widely available the Vietnamese street vendors used spring roll wrappers that were available.[Piscaer 2017] It is remarkable that Vietnamese spring rolls are sold as a snack solely in the Netherlands. The Vietnamese spring roll fit perfectly into the Dutch culture of street snacks.

The Chinese-Indonesian restaurant loempia and the Vietnamese loempia thus show many similarities nowadays, and both are incredibly popular.[Hayes 2017] In fact, the loempia is so popular, that there are new forms being developed presently.For instance, there are also variations on the loempia in the Dutch snack world, like the kroepia, a spring roll filled with fried rice, and the loempidel, a cross between the loempia and the Dutch snack frikandel.[Hollander 2019]