The Little Saigon Cookbook: Vietnamese Cuisine and Culture in Southern California's Little Saigon
Page 7
[SERVES 4]
Restaurants outside the Little Saigon community are about 50 to 75 percent more expensive than those in Little Saigon. Many wonder how long Little Saigon’s low prices can last. As the Vietnamese people have prospered, they can afford to pay more, but they certainly do not want to. Such issues remain in debate, as the Vietnamese community questions how to approach tourism and build business for the future.
TRADITIONAL VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLLS WITH PORK, SHRIMP, AND MINT LEAVES
Gói Cuôn
Vietnamese spring rolls seem to be hot items in restaurants right now. It’s just too bad that people feel they have to go out and pay several dollars for each spring roll when they can easily make them at home for much less. This recipe is for the traditional spring roll—lettuce. herbs wrapped around pork, and shrimp. Once you get the idea, you can make it your own with chicken, shrimp, tofu—whatever suits you. Though a simple dish, its allure comes from the use of rice paper, or banh trang. Not only is rice paper a pliable vehicle for holding ingredients, but it also has a chewy texture and pleasant but subtle salt taste. The great thing about these spring rolls is that they can be made hours ahead of time and kept fresh in the fridge by being wrapped in a damp paper towel. Spring rolls look intricate, but they are easy to assemble. Just remember to keep pressing firmly as you make them.
½ pound pork loin with fat and
rind, or lean pork meat
3 tablespoons salt
½ pound medium fresh shrimp
1 large cucumber
1 head iceberg lettuce
¾ cup fresh mung bean sprouts
1 cup fresh mint leaves
4 scallions or Chinese chives
1½ cups cooked rice vermicelli
(bun)
8 rice paper sheets (the 2 extras
are for practice or if a sheet
tears)
Peanut Sauce (see recipe in
Basics)
1. Pour enough water in a large pot to cover the entire piece of pork. Add the pork and 2 tablespoons of the salt. Cook the pork until it is entirely done (it should not be pink), about 15 minutes, on high heat. Remove the pork from the pot and let it cool.
2. In another saucepan, boil the shrimp with the remaining tablespoon of salt in enough water to cover them. When the shrimp are done, peel and devein them, then slice them lengthwise. Set the shrimp on a plate or in a bowl.
3. When the pork has cooled, slice it against the grain into thin pieces, each roughly 2 by 1 inches in size. Each thin slice should have a piece of lean meat, fat, and rind. Place the pork on a plate or in a bowl.
4. Wash and peel the cucumber, remove the core, and julienne it into 3-inch lengths. Wash the lettuce and shred it with a mandoline or slice it into fine shreds. Measure 1½ cups of shredded lettuce. Wash the bean sprouts and mint leaves. Wash the scallions or chives and trim the ends so that the stalks are about 5 inches in length. Set each of these ingredients aside on separate plates or in bowls.
5. Cut the cooked vermicelli into 3½-inch lengths. Set aside.
6. To begin assembling the spring rolls, you should have all the ingredients close at hand on plates or in bowls.
7. Fill a large bowl with lukewarm water. Submerge a piece of rice paper for about 2 seconds, just enough to make it soft and pliable. If it’s too dry, it will easily crack. If it’s too wet, it will be too delicate and will tear. When the rice paper is the right consistency, place it in front of you on a wooden board or any flat, nonstick surface.
8. The idea is to build a log of food to be wrapped tightly. Think of dividing all the items into six servings, so begin by placing a sixth of the noodles in a log shape across the bottom third of the rice paper circle. Then add the lettuce, bean sprouts, and mint leaves. On top of this, place the sliced pork and then the shrimp. Finally, add 2 scallions or chive stems. To wrap, begin by folding in the left and right sides tightly. Next, fold up the bottom third, and roll tightly into an egg roll shape. The diameter of the spring roll should be about 1 to 1½ inches, depending how much you decided to pile on, or how tight you’ve rolled the spring roll. Set aside the prepared spring roll on a plate and repeat the process with the other spring rolls.
9. Serve cold or at room temperature with a salad platter, wrapping the herbs around the spring roll and dipping it into the peanut dipping sauce before taking each bite.
[SERVES 6]
FRIED SPRING ROLLS WITH GROUND PORK, FRESH CRAB, AND TREE EAR MUSHROOMS
Chá Giò
Vietnamese fried spring rolls are different from those of other Asian cultures because of their filling (lean pork, crab, shrimp, and mushrooms): the crisper and thinner rice paper used instead of the Asian egg roll wrapper; and the light frying method instead of the deep-frying used for Asian egg rolls. In addition, they are distinctive because they should be eaten with a handful of lettuce and fresh herbs wrapped around them, and they are dipped into nuoc cham (dipping sauce) before each bite. The crunch of the egg rolls and lettuce and the chewiness of the tree ear mushrooms make for an interesting textural contrast. Sometimes we like to wrap cool rice vermicelli (bun) around these crispy fried spring rolls. You can prepare the spring rolls ahead and fry them right before serving.
FILLING:
1 cup (2-inch-long) cooked cellophane
noodles (mien)
¾ pound ground pork butt
1 large yellow onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons finely chopped tree
ear mushrooms
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, finely chopped
½ cup fresh crabmeat, preferably
from the crab body
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fish sauce
12 sheets rice paper
2 cups oil, either olive oil for
health and neutral flavoring, or
peanut oil for crispness
1. In a large bowl, combine the filling ingredients in no particular order. Make sure the ingredients are blended thoroughly.
2. Fill a large bowl with lukewarm water. Soak each piece of rice paper for about 10 seconds, just enough to make it soft and pliable. If it’s too dry, it will crack easily. If it’s too wet, It will be too delicate and will tear. When the rice paper is the right consistency, place it in front of you on a wooden board or any flat. nonstick surface.
3. Fold the round rice paper in half, so that the diameter of the semicircle is horizontally toward you. Put about 2 tablespoons of filling on the bottom third of the semicircle, and mold the filling into a cylindrical shape horizontally. Then fold in the left and right sides up to the edges of the filling. Securing tightly, begin to roll from the bottom up (like a burrito). Avoid trapping any air or space, as this will cause the spring roll to fall apart once fried. Make sure you firmly press together the wrapper to seal the filling inside.
4. Continue with the rest of the wrappers and filling until everything has been used. Set aside on a plate until ready to fry.
5. To fry: Pour just half of the oil into a wok or a deep skillet. The spring rolls do not need to be deep-fried, just lightly fried in a thin layer of oil. Heat the oil to 370 degrees. Test the heat of the oil by dropping in a piece of rice paper or onion; it should bubble and fry immediately.
6. Place the spring rolls into the hot oil just a few at a time, depending on the size of the skillet or wok Do not overcrowd the spring rolls, as you will need to flip them over. Fry until golden brown, approximately 5 to 8 minutes total. Remove and drain on paper towels. Add more oil to the skillet as needed to fry the remaining spring rolls.
7. Serve spring rolls hot with a salad platter and nuoc cham.
[SERVES 4]
SWEET-AND-SOUR CATFISH SOUP IN PINEAPPLE BROTH
Canh Chua Cá
Canh chua is the quintessential dish representing the south of Vietnam, specifically the Mekong Delta. Fish would be caught in the delta and then brought home to make various main dishes. The carcass would n
ot go to waste; the fish head, tail, and bones would make a stock. Canh chua usually contains chunks of fish. but the fish needs to have a tough, chewy texture, as catfish and monkfish do. It is traditional to serve the soup with the fish bones, tail, and head, but if you think that will be unappealing to your diners, simply remove these parts before serving. My great-aunt tells me that the best way to make this stock is with unsweetened pineapple juice to counter and balance the strong smell of the fish. A vegetarian version of this soup is canh chua chay (see recipe in the Vegetarian Dishes chapter), but it won’t have the same brininess and umami as a fish stock made from scratch.
5 cups unsweetened pineapple juice
3 cups water
1 whole catfish carcass (what was once a
1½ - to 2-pound fish)
11-inch cross-sectional slice catfish, with
skin and bones intact
½ tablespoon ground black pepper
1 cup taro stem, sliced into ½-inch pieces
¼ cup fish sauce
1 fresh Thai bird chile, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, each cut into 6 pieces
cup (½-inch-sliced) fresh okra
cup diced fresh or canned pineapple
1 cup fresh mung bean sprouts
Fresh cilantro leaves
3 scallions, chopped into rings
1. In a large stockpot, combine the pineapple juice and water and bring to a boil.
2. Clean the catfish carcass, then put it into the pot.
3. Add the slice of fish, black pepper, taro stem, fish sauce, and chopped chile. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Stir in the tomatoes, okra, pineapple, and bean sprouts. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes.
5. Garnish with fresh cilantro and scallions. Serve with steamed rice or noodles.
[SERVES 4]
SHRIMP BROCHETTES
Bánh Mì Tom Chiên
Lightly fried, the combination of shrimp with the fresh ingredients turns out a nice, full-flavored teaser before your real meal begins. Fresh shrimp is naturally sweet; when it is blended with fragrant onions, garlic, and shallots, it becomes a complex dish that’s made even richer when deep-fried. Shrimp brochettes are not as popular as they should be, but I’m seeing more of them in the restaurants in Little Saigon. For a bit of an Americanized twist, these brochettes are now being made with cheese, which I have decided to do here. A stale baguette is the perfect bread to use.
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots
¼ onion, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons fish sauce
cup plus 1 tablespoon oil
½ pound fresh shrimp or prawns,
peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 scallion, finely chopped
½ tablespoon rice flour
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
¼ cup finely grated mild white
cheese (any kind; optional)
1 baguette
1. Put the garlic, shallots, and onion in a large food processor. Pulse until minced. Add the fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of oil, and the shrimp and continue pulsing until a paste is formed. Transfer the shrimp paste to a medium bowl.
2. To the bowl, add the sugar, black pepper, scallion, rice flour, and eggs. Mix until thoroughly blended. Add the optional grated cheese and mix. Set aside.
3. Slice the baguette into 1-inch slices. Put the slices on one or more baking sheets.
4. Spread a thin layer of the shrimp paste over one side of each baguette slice. The paste should cover the bread slice completely—approximately 1 tablespoon per slice of a standard, narrow baguette.
5. In a large skillet, heat about half of the remaining oil until hot. Place each brochette into the hot oil with the shrimp paste-side down; avoid overcrowding the pan. Cook for about 1 to 3 minutes or until the shrimp side is a golden, pinkish brown. Check by gently lifting and looking at the underside of the brochette while it is frying. Flip the brochette over and fry the other side. Remove the brochettes from the skillet and drain on paper towels. Repeat until all the brochettes have been fried.
6. Serve hot with nuoc cham.
[SERVES 8 AS AN APPETIZER]
STEAMED AND GRILLED SHRIMP PASTE WITH SUGARCANE SKEWERS
Chao Tom
Shrimp skewers are a simple treat that have become a Vietnamese family standard. There are many different variations, however, which have evolved through the generations of each family. Here’s my family’s version. The shrimp paste is irresistible when wrapped in lettuce and herbs and dipped into nuoc cham. The sugarcane skewers are deliciously flavored by the shrimp and seasonings and are great for chomping after you’ve consumed the shrimp paste.
5 tablespoons melted pork or
bacon fat (or vegetable shortening
such as Crisco)
8 cloves garlic
1 small shallot
1 pound fresh shrimp, peeled
and deveined
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons rice flour
¼ cup oil
8 pieces fresh sugarcane
1. In a skillet over high heat, melt the pork or bacon fat. If you have to use salted bacon, omit the salt from the shrimp paste. Set the fat aside to cool before adding it to the shrimp paste. (If you’re using vegetable shortening, you can skip this step.)
2. In a food processor, mince the garlic and shallots. Set aside in a large bowl.
3. In the same processor, grind the shrimp with the fish sauce until it is completely processed into a paste. Add the shrimp paste to the garlic and shallots. Add the black pepper, sugar, salt, and rice flour. Blend together with a wooden spoon.
4. Add the cooled, softened solid pork fat (or vegetable shortening) to the fish paste and blend in completely. Refrigerate for a half hour so the paste cools and stiffens. The addition of the fat will make the shrimp paste congeal and hold its shape around the skewers.
5. Cut the sugarcane pieces into 5-inch lengths. They should be approximately ½ inch wide, the girth of five or six standard stick skewers.
6. Wipe or spray a large baking sheet with vegetable or olive oil. The sheet should be well oiled so the shrimp paste does not stick.
7. Once the shrimp paste has cooled, wash and dry your hands. Scoop about 6 tablespoons of the paste into your hands and wrap the paste around a skewer in an oblong, rough shape, leaving about ¾ inch uncovered on each end. Place the skewer on the oiled baking sheet. Continue shaping the paste around the skewers until all the paste is used.
8. To cook the shrimp, begin by preparing a steamer. Make sure the bottom of the steamer is well oiled so the shrimp paste does not stick. Place the skewers in the steamer, providing some space between them. Do not pile them on top of one another. Steam the skewers for about 5 minutes, or until the shrimp paste turns pink. Remove the skewers and set aside. If you wish, you can freeze the shrimp skewers at this point. They will need to be defrosted before you grill them.
9. When you’re ready to eat, grill the shrimp skewers until they are slightly charred. Or you can slightly fry the shrimp skewers in light oil in a hot skillet.
10. Serve as a meal over bun or steamed rice, a salad platter. and nuoc cham. As an appetizer, serve with just nuoc cham.
[SERVES 4 AS AN ENTREE OR 8 AS AN APPETIZER]
VERMICELLI SQUARES WITH SCALLION OIL
Bánh Hói
Banh hoi vermicelli is specifically used for these squares (which are also known simply as banh hoi). You can substitute them for bun, the herb noodle salad. Wrap the squares with fresh herbs from the salad platter around grilled meats and seafood. They are delicious when they are dipped in fish sauce.
½ pound thin rice vermicelli
½ cup scallion oil (see recipe in
Basics)
cup fried shallots or fried g
arlic
(see recipe in Basics)
1. Soak the rice vermicelli in warm water for 10 minutes.
2. Drain the noodles. Arrange them into a thin (approximately ½ inch thick) flat layer over a cheesecloth or well-oiled plate and place it in a steamer. Cover and steam for about 5 to 10 minutes over medium heat, or until the noodles are stuck together.
3. Remove the noodles from the steamer, keeping them stuck together in one layer. Set aside to cool to room temperature, then cut into approximately 3x3-inch squares. They can also be 3x6-inch squares, folded in half.
4. Drizzle each square with the scallion oil. Stack the squares on a serving plate and top with the fried shallots or fried garlic. Serve with the salad platter. in lieu of an herb noodle salad.
Noodle Soups