sorry about typos, too late to edit
I used regular garden peas. It was not difficult at all. I soaked a layer of them between paper towels in the tray. Once they started sprouting, I removed the top layer and sprinkled soil to cover them. When they get tall enough, it’s time to harvest.
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One of my all time favorite Vietnamese dishes*: Banh cuon - rice crepes rolled around a pork/wood ear fungus/onion filling. The best versions are super thin and cooked by steaming the batter on a silk cloth. The crispy fried shallots are a delicious garnish.
*I did not cook this. I just wanted to share one of my favorites from this cuisine of the quarter.
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For weeks, I’ve been promising myself that I really must get to grips with making summer rolls. I’ve tried before but they end up looking like the dog’s breakfast, rather than the neat parcels you get in Viet restaurants and cafes (OK, my experience of the professionally made is limited - I only know of one Viet owned cafe in the metro area).
But, I’m now looking for an easy main course to follow the rolls. One that could be regarded as properly Vietnamese in essence, if not fully traditional. And, more to the point, I don’t want to be having to go out to buy loads of specialist ingredients that I may not use again. I do have a reasonably good selection of Chinese ingredients (mainly bottled sauces) and some limited selection of other east asian stuff (like kecap manis, fish sauce, etc) - the sort of stuff you can get from a decent supermarket.
Any suggestions of what I might cook with those limitations.
If you want to try spring rolls, here is a step-by-step:
Don’t worry, mine still looks like dog’s breakfast now (I cheated it with camera angle, they were not closing properly!) because I always put too many ingredients. Try to put less in the beginning, and they will be easier to fold. At the end of the day, even if they aren’t pretty to look at, they are good to eat.
If you have fish sauce, lime and coriander, mint and ginger you can cook most dishes…if you have bean sprouts, lemongrass, chili, it’s even better. I use basil instead of Thai basil.
How about this pork ribs, you need Chinese 5 spices and lemongrass… I used the lemongrass powder. The dish was good, meat was tender and full of favours. Scallions, I substituted with shallots.
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I love this too, I have never made this yet. But only ate in restaurants or bought them frozen from the Asian stores.
Harters, you are not the only one lousy at rolling. I just can’t roll anything, even with practice.
Regarding your Vietnamese main course, what kind of meat or seafood are you using?
I’m looking at this Australian book and I think it might have something that meets your criteria. The index is 1 1/2 pages. I can make a photo of it so you know what sort of dishes are listed.
I plan on prawns in the rolls so, for a main course, probably pork or chicken.
naf - thanks for the herb suggestions. I should be OK on all of that - not least as I replaced the mint I grow in the garden last month and the new stuff is growing really well. Good to know I can substitute ordinary basil for Thai basil (which I’d struggle to find easily).
I have never made anything from the book, having just had a quick scan the ingredient list is not complicated/exotic.
- Chicken with pineapple and cashews
- Spiced caramel pork
If you have (minced) lemongrass you could easily make several dishes with it as the seasoning is nearly identical (fish sauce, pinch of sugar, garlic, lemongrass etc). For instance, stir-fry chicken with lemongrass and chilies is a very common dish made with the ingredients I have just mentioned.
Just saw this recipe that looks easy. Braised Chicken with Ginger - Gà Xào Gùng
I seldom followed only 1 recipe but like to read many and have my version:
I think it should be more or less the same concept as spiced caramel pork proposed by Presunto
Thanks, both.
I’ve not come across caramel sauce before, at least not in a savoury dish, so I think we’ll go with either of your suggestions that use it.
I copied this recipe from the New York Times, apparently 11 years ago, but I have never made it. The large amount of sugar puts me off.
January 25, 2006
Recipe: Vietnamese Caramelized Pork (Thit kho to)
Adapted from Michael and Thao Huynh
Time: About 45 minutes
1½ cups sugar
2½ pounds pork belly or butt, sliced into thin, inch-long strips
1 tablespoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup fish sauce
2 heaping teaspoons minced garlic
1 dash sesame oil
1 medium Vidalia onion, sliced
4 scallions, sliced, green part only
Rice for serving.
- Cover bottom of a large, heavy skillet with one cup sugar and place over medium low heat. As soon as it melts and turns golden, add pork, raise heat to medium, and stir until coated. (Sugar will become sticky and may harden, but it will re-melt as it cooks, forming a sauce.)
- Stir in remaining sugar, salt, pepper and fish sauce. Cover and cook 2 minutes. Uncover, stir in garlic and oil and lower to simmer to reduce sauce for about 20 minutes.
- Stir in Vidalia onions and cook until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Pork should be caramelized; if not, raise heat and sauté while sauce further reduces. Transfer to serving bowl, and sprinkle with scallion greens.
Yield: 4 servings.
To me, “caramel sauce” is kind of a misnomer (although it is caramelized sugar) since caramel is often thought of as a rich sweet dessert topping or candy. In Vietnamese cooking, it is plainly called “coloring liquid” (at least in the South). So I guess it’s more akin to caramel coloring. It adds a faintly sweet but complex bitterness to long braised dishes. Other cuisines may use “Kitchen Bouquet”, molasses, or even worcestershire to similar effect. In a pinch, you could use kecap manis for a Vietnamese braised dish. Traditionally, “caramel sauce” is made with coconut sugar or palm sugar.
Here’s Andrea Nguyen on the subject if you’re interested:
Haha… that’s more like it!
The caramel sauce is mostly for colouring but it does impart a taste, though not sickly sweet at all (I hate sweet). As mentioned above, it’s made with coconut or palm sugar. I have a bottle, can’t find the photo now.
First meal in Vietnam right after entering from Cambodia. Took forever to get to Chau Doc with the boat. Horrible. Everyone stayed the night in Chau Doc and left for Can Tho or HCMC the next morning. We stayed 2 or 3 days. This is the deep south of VN where most tourists never come or stay. Great for us! One of the real Vietnamese experiences back in 2004.
Gonna make this again.
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Fermented shrimp pastes for various Vietnamese recipes.
http://i.imgur.com/G3R1hKo.jpg
Components for grilled meat with noodles. Recipes are easily found, look up “bun thit nuong”.
Usually made with beef or pork but I used goat’s leg meat here.
http://i.imgur.com/ixjhpej.jpg
Tamarind, fish sauce, sugar, and garlic are in the sauce.
I prefer fresh turmeric in this dish. Marinate at least 30 mins.
Fish is skate wings.
Such a simple dish and is not much known outside a coastal town in southern Vietnam. The salt pops madly and when it stops the crabs are done. Dipping sauce is lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Street food sold wrapped in banana leaf.
http://i.imgur.com/71GxPE1.jpg
Store-bought deep fried shallots. Often used in salads.
http://i.imgur.com/9gynTWf.jpg
A typical stir-fried dish. Fermented shrimp paste is sometimes added for a change.
Only squid heads, tiny squid heads.
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Well, dinner worked OK
The summer rolls got rolled. Well, except for the first attempt. I wasnt quite sure how long to leave it to soak and it just turned into gloop. They were still not the prettiest summer rolls you’d have ever seen but packed with prawn, soft lettuce, beansprouts noodles, Thai basil and coriander they tasted pretty good. I made a dipping sauce of fish sauce, lime juice, ginger, sugar and chilli.
Main course of caramelised pork with rice. I was a bit worried that this was just going to be too sweet. And, yes, it is pretty sweet but its tempered with fish sauce and the chilli wakes things up. I’m not sure I’m going to be a lifelong fan of this dish but it was good to do.
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My caramel sauce comes in a bottle like on this site (but not the same brand). Click on the link to read it in English, I have ran it through google translate. The article explains how the caramel sauce is made. Click on the word “translating” at the top of page to load translation.
Tasted it yesterday, it’s not sweet at all.
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