Viet World Kitchen

Banh Mi Mayonnaise Recipe for Burgers?

Last week on the Viet World Kitchen Facebook page, Jeff Brennan challenged me to create a mayonnaise that contained the flavors of Vietnamese banh mi sandwich. It should be good enough to use for a grilled burger, he wrote. I keep a running list of recipe requests and get to them as my schedule permits. Scott’s seemed doable and quick. Plus, I had some grass-fed hamburger leftover in the fridge. So I tackled the Vietnamese-American burger over the weekend.

Oyster Spring Rolls Recipe

There are innumerable options for stuffing fried spring rolls. I managed to squeeze in several classics in Asian Dumplings but have always wanted to try this one featuring plump oysters and ground pork. It’s a surf-and-turf combination that captures the subtle sweet brininess of the oysters. Oddly enough, the white pepper plays an important role in coaxing out the flavors and lending an earthy depth.

You’d think that the raw oysters are simply added to the filling but they’re actually first blanched to slightly firm them up and remove some of their fishiness. It’s an approach that Chinese cooks prefer. Otherwise, the oysters can overcook or lose their distinctiveness. 

Some cooks blanch the oysters as is, but I tried seasoning them and coating them with cornstarch to seal them up. The technique came from a Fujian cookbook that Chris Tan just sent me from Singapore. It seems to work quite well.

Vegetarian Fish Sauce Dipping Sauce Recipe (Nuoc Cham Chay)

After making the Japanese vegan soy sauce concentrate from Elizabeth Andoh’s new Kansha cookbook, I tried using it to concoct a vegetarian version of the basic Vietnamese fish sauce dipping sauce. Right off the bat, I realized that I could just dilute the vegan soy concentrate to make a vegetarian fish sauce. It was dull tasting, like the bottled veggie nuoc mam that I discussed a while back.

I had to doctor up the soy concentrate to best utilize its umami-ness without letting its soy sauce flavor become too pronounced. Given that, I aimed for a fish sauce-less alternative to nuoc cham, the ubiquitous dipping sauce served with rice paper rolls (goi cuon), bun rice noodle bowls, etc.

What I came up with looked like a dark version of the basic nuoc cham dipping sauce but wasn’t as punchy. That is just fine because Vietnamese vegetarian food has a light flavor profile. I’ve had similar dipping sauces that were much lighter in flavor and color.

To test the vegetarian fish sauce dipping sauce out, I dipped a few raw herb leaves into it and tasted. It was quite serviceable. Then I tried out the sauce on my skeptical husband, Rory.

Japanese Stealth Ingredient: Vegan Soy Sauce Concentrate

One of the questions that renowned Japanese food expert and author Elizabeth Andoh asked me when I visited her in Tokyo last month was this: “Have you ever made my soy sauce concentrate? Come on, tell me the truth.”

Yikes, talk about putting someone on the spot. And there I was, a guest in her home. I truthfully responded that I’d never made it from her earlier book, award-winning Washoku, though I had studied the recipe several times. Elizabeth, the consummate teacher and provocateur, pulled out a couple of small bottles of inky, slightly syrupy sauces from her fridge. One contained dried fish and the other was vegan, she explained.

She had me taste both. Wow. I was sold. The soy concentrates, brewed at home, were savory sweet and delectable. I wanted to lick the spoon but stopped short of acting improperly.

The concentrates were addictively good, thanks to a fair amount of umami in the liquid. Japanese cuisine is much about laying an umami foundation. For the concentrates, glutamate-rich ingredients such as dried kelp, fish, and shiitake mushroom are used. They’re rehydrated and then simmered with soy sauce and other ingredients to create flavor bomb.

I like both versions that Elizabeth had me taste in Tokyo, but the vegan version published her new cookbook, Kansha, is easy to prepare from ingredients available at specialty markets or health food stores. I now keep the seasoned soy concentrate in my fridge to add instant flavor boosts to marinades or cook foods. You can use it as a finishing or dipping sauce.

Fiery Hmong Chile, Cilantro, and Tomato Salsa Recipe

“Whatever I eat, I have to have a little chile with it,” the Hmong farmer’s son told me last Saturday at my local farmer’s market. “Especially with grilled meat, a little chile is so nice.” His sisters standing nearby all nodded in agreement.

I was picking through their pile of hot Thai chiles looking for nice red ones when we started the conversation. Summer is the peak season for Southeast Asian produce and Hmong farmers from California’s Central Valley flush our markets with super fresh leafy greens, all kinds of eggplant, several types of basil, lemongrass, and lots of chiles. I grow my own chiles but they aren’t ripe yet so I lay in a supply grown by the Hmong farmers. (Chiles freeze well so go crazy!)

“What do you do with the chiles?” I asked, thinking of a little something I could serve with our July 4 surf-and-turf grilled dinner. He obliged by describing this recipe, which is essentially like Hmong kua txob tuav xyaw dos (chile mashed with scallion). I know a tad about Hmong cooking this because I researched and wrote a 2007 Saveur article on Hmong farmers and Hmong home cooking. Don’t even try to figure out how to pronounce the Hmong name! Find a Hmong-speaking person to ask.

This is a relish – often described as a salsa by Hmong Americans – and you can serve it along with grilled pork, beef, chicken, shrimp, etc. I particularly like it with Vietnamese grilled lemongrass pork (thit heo nuong xa). If you like, dip a little sticky rice into this fiery masth, or stir it into food. You can just pound the chiles, salt, scallion and cilantro together if you don’t have tomato around. It’s quick and simple everyday Hmong condiment that’s dynamite. Feel free to vary the amount of chiles according to your tolerance for heat.

Makes about 1 cup

18 small or 9 medium Thai chiles, stemmed and chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons fish sauce
1/2 cup chopped scallion, green part only
1/2 lightly packed cup chopped cilantro
1 cup quartered ripe cherry tomato
Lime juice

1. Put the chiles, salt, and fish sauce into a mortar. With a circular motion of the pestle, crush the ingredients against the sides of the mortar into a rough mixture.

2. Add the scallion and cilantro, and switch to an up and down pounding motion with the pestle to combine the flavors well and reduce the mixture to a damp, rough mixture. Add the cherry tomatoes and lightly pound to combine. Taste and add lime juice as needed for a tart bite. Transfer to a small dish and serve.