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Grandparents live to spoil their grandchildren with hugs, kisses and food! I've watched my parents lavish my eleven (11!) nieces and nephews with love and attention. One of the greatest gifts that a grandparent may give is the traditional flavors of their heritage. These special dishes leave a lasting impression on the mouths and minds of the younger generation.

This was the case for one visitor, who after tasting a traditional Vietnamese hot pot (lau) dish that used an anchovy-pineapple dipping sauce (mam nem) prepared by her grandparents, she wanted to make it herself! Take a read of the email transcript below and try the recipes out.

Question 1:

I am loving your site!

Very helpful and the pictures are great!

I went out of town to visit my grandparents, they prepared this dish where, its a big bowl of soup and you put in your shrimp and squid and beef to cook in the water (water had beer and vinegar in it), and once its cooked you wrap it with the spring roll rice paper, the sauce we used had mam ruoc and pineapples in it, I am looking for that recipe, do you know what I am talking about?

Please help!

Thanks.

Answer 1:

That's what grandparents are for -- fun and delicious food. What they served you was a Viet hot pot called "lau" with a mam nem dipping sauce. (You're sure it was mam ruoc, which is made of shrimp? Mam nem is made of fish and is usually made in to the sauce with pineapple).

The biggest obstacle is getting the set up for the communal dipping at the table. You can use an electric burner on which you set a low, wide-mouth pot. (I bought one for about $15 at Sears!) Or, there's the butane sort of burner sold at Asian markets. You can also use an electric skillet.

After you have the cooking implement, get together the following:

1) What you're going to dip. Things should be thinly sliced and arranged on platters ahead of time. Cover them with plastic and keep refrigerated. Take them out about 15 minutes before you're going to serve so that things come to room temp.

2) Your rice paper, lettuce leaves (red/green leaf or butter lettuce), and fresh herbs (mint, cilantro, and any other Viet herbs you can get your hands on!). Like the stuff you want to dip, these items should be prepped ahead too. It's a little hard with the banh trang because ideally, you'd be dipping them as you go along. Some people dip them ahead of time and arrange them in an overlapping fashion on a plate. They may stick and tear but they're already softened!

3) Your dipping sauce. In general, put some bottled mam nem in a small saucepan and to it, add water, sugar and some chopped sweet pineapple; fresh pineapple is best, though in a pinch you can use canned (drain and discard the liquid). Mam nem is sold in slender small bottles at Southeast Asian markets. Let's say you're preparing for four people. Try 1 cup of water, 2 tablespoons of mam nem, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1/2 cup chopped pineapple. Bring it to a simmer and taste. Adjust the flavors so that the sauce is a little fishy, pungent and sweet. Let it cool before serving. When serving, add a few slices of chilies if you want heat.

I'm not familiar with this kind of dipping sauce made with mam ruoc. If you like that, ask your grandparents what they did to prepare it.

3) The poaching liquid can be just a light stock; make your own or open a can of Swanson's and thin it out with water (1 canned stock: 2 parts water). Maybe your grandparents used beer, vinegar, water some salt? It doesn't have to be a major/complex thing because the stuff that you put in there will add their flavors to create a tasty broth. If you like what they prepared, ask them for their version. It varies from cook to cook.

For example, traditionally, vinegar is used for thit bo nhung dam (which is basically a lau devoted to beef; the same banh trang, rau song/rau thom [herbs], mam nem deal applies). I imagine that your grandparents added some light beer because they were thinking of the perfumes and flavor of a rice wine in the stock. I'm actually very curious about this -- as well as the use of mam ruoc for the dipping sauce. When you find out, let me know!

So, that's basically it. Once you get these things in order, set up the table with your heated pot and pour in your stock. Get it to a simmer and settle down to dip, wrap and eat.

This is the kind of meal that takes lots of organization at the front end. Once you have things ready, diners cook their meal themselves. Makes me hungry...

Let me know if you have any other questions,

Andrea

Final Comment:

Thank you very much!

The information that you supplied is very helpful.

You may be right, the only reason why I guessed mam rouc was because that was the only thing I know that is gray. I will have to organize my friends over so that we may have this delicious meal.

Thanks.