Let's Roll Your Gastronomical Boat to Vietnam!

What are you eating tonight?

By Chef Si@ChefSarawak

Let's roll your gastronomical boat with me tonight to Vietnam! 

Vietnam is one of the gourmet food havens in S.E. Asia.  Many Vietnamese speak French very well, this is all about Vietnamese history, it was once a colony of France. Thanks to that, these days you can enjoy some interesting fine Vietnamese cuisines or even street food with a touch of French chef's influence here and there.

Many people told me the best place to eat Vietnamese food is in Australia but not in New Zealand, however, you can taste some best Vietnamese food in the States as well, it's all about history again, the Vietnamese top chefs left their country during communist era, started all over their lives again in western countries which kept them as refugees. 

Then again, once the country opened up, it spent so much money to get westerners to train their young chefs again, that's what happened, and the Vietnamese Western fusion cuisines movement rolls on.

Spring in New Zealand is the world best haven to prepare Vietnamese food. Don't miss your spring day to enjoy some simple Vietnamese meal with your family and friends.

My friends told me they don't know how to prepare the Vietnamese dipping sauce, let me show you the following way to prepare Vietnamese food according to our New Zealand local produce and available resources, you can prepare a yummiest simple but healthy version of Vietnamese meal yourself.

Recipe: Vietnamese style Deep-fried Springroll

1. Vegetable and herbs

Ingredients: 1 Lettuce (Cos or Romaine), 1 cucumber, 10g Cilantro, 10g mint, 1 Carrot (Optional)

Method: Keep the whole lettuce leaf, wash and drain, cut cucumber and carrot into baton size, wash and drain the herbs. Chill the greens in the fridge.

2. Dipping Sauce

Ingredients: 1 Orange/Grapefruit/Pineapple(half), 1 tbsp Sweet chili sauce/Peri Peri sauce/Tabasco sauce, 1 tbsp Fish sauce, 1 big clove of garlic, TT Lemon

Method: Crush garlic, mash it with a pinch of salt. Add to a bowl, squeeze in the orange, pineapple or grapefruit juice  (or mixture of all juices), mix in chili sauce, fish sauce, check the seasoning with lemon juice.

3. Spring Roll

Ingredients: 1 pack of Vietnamese style spring roll  wrap (50 small size sheets, buy from Asian mini-mart or supermarket), 500g Minced pork, 1/2 Onion/Shallot (Brunoise), 3 Cloves Garlic (Minced), 2 big handfuls Vietnamese mint leaves (After getting rid of stems, chiffonade), 2 tbsp Fish sauce, 1/2 tsp Black pepper powder, 1 handful blanched Mung Bean Vermicelli (Cut), 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 handful Julienne White Cabbage, 1/2 tsp Salt, 1 tsp Sugar (Optional), 1 tsp Vinegar, 1 Egg yolk (Whisk), 1 egg white (Egg wash), Oil for deep frying, Potato starch for dusting.

Method: 

*Prepare the spring roll filling by mixing minced pork, Onion or Shallot, Garlic,  Vietnamese mint leaves, 2 tbsp Fish sauce, 1/2 tsp Black pepper powder, Mung Bean Vermicelli,  Soy sauce, White Cabbage, Salt, Sugar (Optional), Vinegar and  Egg yolk.

*On the spring roll sheet, place a tablespoon of filling at a corner of a sheet, carefully roll the filling with the wrap overlapped to the center, fold in both sides, use the egg white to seal and glue the end. These ingredients will make 50 small Vietnamese style spring rolls.

*Dust with potato starch before deep frying evenly to ensure a very crispy result. Note that normally, Vietnamese chef would dip the spring roll into sugar syrup before deep frying to ensure caramelized color. Deep fry at 175 degree Celsius until golden brown.

4. How to Serve

Place cilantro, mint, cucumber,  carrot and a spring roll on top of a lettuce leaf, roll the leaf.

After rolling, dip into the sauce before eating. For the wine pairing, I would suggest you the Riesling or any Sparkling white wine or even Champagne.  Bon Appetite! 

Note: Remind you American spoon is bigger than British spoon! Please adjust your seasoning.