The Cookbook Challenge ~ Week 17 Vietnamese

Theme:  Vietnamese

Cookbook: Secrets of the Red Lantern by Pauline Nguyen

When I go out for Vietnamese, I never have just one dish.  I don’t think anyone does.  So, for this week’s theme, the only logical thing (to my warped way of thinking) was to not make one dish, but to make what I would order if I was eating out.

And so began a cooking marathon.  Five dishes plus two dipping sauces.

My parents were coming over for dinner so I knew I would have an appreciative audience – and I wouldn’t be doing all the hard work for just the two if us.

When I have some more time I will update this with a timeline, so you know what order to do everything if you wanted to pull it all off.

I really enjoyed making all of these dishes.  Secrets of the Red Lantern is more than a collection of recipes, it is a beautiful book, wonderful to read.

I can only hope that hope I did the dishes justice.  When I was writing the names of each dish, I tried to include all the right accents and symbols on the letters, but whilst it worked in my draft, once I put them in WordPress they went a bit weird, so apologies for not representing them properly.

Recipe #1

BÒ LÁ LOT
beef and lemongrass wrapped in betel leaf

750g minced beef
100g pork fat
3 lemongrass stems, white part only, finely chopped
8 spring onions, white part only, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed and finely chopped
3 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons fine white pepper
2 bunches betel leaves

Combine all the ingredients except the betel leaves in a bowl and mix well.  Allow the flavours to infuse for 15 minutes.  I think mine were left for more than half an hour.  Meanwhile pick the individual betel leaves and wash in cold water.  Lay the leaves flat on a cloth to dry.

To form the rolls, lay a large betel leaf (or 2 smaller ones), shiny side down, on a board with the stem pointing towards you.  Spoon approximately 1 tablespoon of the beef mixture onto the bottom edge of the leaf and work it into a sausage shape.  I found this much easier to do in the palm of my hand before I put in on the leaf.  Then roll the leaf from bottom to top and place the seam flat on your bench to stop it unrolling.  Repeat this process until you have used all the beef.  Easier said than done this part!  I resorted to toothpicks to hold mine together.

The recipe says it should make about 40 rolls, but this will depend on the size of your betel leaves.  Cook the parcels, seam first, on a chargrill or barbecue hotplate over medium heat, turning to colour all over, for about 5 minutes, or until done.

Recipe #2

GOI CUON
soft rice paper rolls with prawns and pork

80g dried rice vermicelli
18 sheets of 22cm rice paper
18 cooked small prawns, peeled and sliced in half
120g cooked pork neck, finely sliced  (I used a pork fillet)
80g shredded iceberg lettuce
1 bunch perilla (could not find any despite traipsing through nearly every grocer on Victoria St in Richmond)
1 bunch mint (I used Vietnamese mint)
1 bunch garlic chives (I forgot these!)
hoisin dipping sauce to serve

Add the noodles to boiling water and bring back to the boil.  Cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the noodles to stand int he water for a further 5 minutes.  Strain and rinse under cold water, the leave to dry.  The recipe suggests letting them drain and dry for at least half an hour so they stick together.

To assemble the rolls there is what is probably a very clever suggestion about cutting some sheets in half and using them to reinforce the others so that filling doesn’t break through.  I ignored all of this.  Since I was tackling 5 dishes, I needed to make some elements easier rather than harder.  Dip a sheet of rice paper in the water until it softens.  In the middle of the rice paper, place three pieces of prawn in a horizontal line.  Below the prawns add some pork, lettuce, perilla leaves (if you find them!), mint and vermicelli.

To form the goi cuon, first fold the sides into the centre over the filling, then the bottom of the paper up and over.  Roll from bottom to top to form a tight roll.  It may take a couple of goes to get this right.  Just before you complete the roll add two pieces of garlic chives (if you remembered to get them) so that a little bit sticks out the end.

Recipe #3

NUOC TUONG NGOT
hoisin dipping sauce

Despite having made lot of rice paper rolls over the years, this is the first time I have actually made the proper dipping sauce.  Silly really when you realise how simple it is.  It was exceptionally well received at dinner.

125ml hoisin sauce
1½ tablespoons rice vinegar
125ml milk
3 teaspoons roasted peanuts (there was another recipe for this, but I made it up to save time)
1 red bird’s eye chilli

In a saucepan combine the hoisin sauce and the rice vinegar, put over medium heat and stir through the milk.  Continue to stir just before boiling point is reached, then allow to cool.  To serve, chop the roasted peanuts and finely slice the chilli to garnish the sauce.

The sauce will keep for up to a week in the fridge, or hopefully to the end of dinner if you have hungry guests!

Recipe #4

TÔM NUONG
soy and honey barbecued prawns

18 large raw prawns
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 bird’s eye chilled, minced in a mortar
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
½ teaspoon salt

The recipe serves this dish on bamboo skewers, but I decided not to (and not because I had forgotten to get any!).  If you decide to use them, soak them in water first.

The worst part of prawn dish in my opinion is peeling and de-veining the prawns.  For this one you need to leave the tail shells on.  I always leave only the tail, not the first section of shell because too many people leave the beautiful prawn meat in that last section.  What a waste!

Combine all the ingredients and add the prawns, leaving them to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Thread onto skewers if you are so inclined and chargrill over high heat for about 2 minutes or until cooked, turning once.

Recipe #5

GOI GÀ
master stock chicken, shredded cabbage and vietnamese mint salad

½ master stock chicken  (I used a chicken breast that I poached in my master stock.  Its been serving me well since 2007 and smells amazing)
2 cups finely sliced white cabbage
12 finely sliced white onion rings
10 perilla leaves (yes, them again!)
10 mints leaves
1 handful Vietnamese mint leaves
½ teaspoon roasted rice powder
1 teaspoon fried garlic
2 teaspoons garlic oil
3-4 tablespoons dipping fish sauce (yet another recipe within recipe)
1 tablespoon roasted peanuts
1 tablespoon fried red asian shallots
1 red bird’s eye chilli, chopped

Remove the skin from the chicken and shred the meat.  I have found the only effective way to do this is with your hands.  Mix all of the ingredients except the dipping fish sauce, peanuts, shallots and a chilli in a bowl and turn out onto a serving platter.  Dress the salad with the dipping sauce and garnish with the roasted peanuts, fried shallots and chilli.

and because I wanted a little bit more…

I made another dish too.  Just because I like them.  No recipe here though, I just made them up:  Pork and Vegetable spring rolls.  I served them with lettuce, Vietnamese mint, bean shoots and dipping sauce.