This time, it's a specialty from Hanoi known as Banh Tom. They're essentially deep fried prawn and sweet potato fritters and are served with nuoc mam fish sauce. For those familiar with Southeast Asian food, it's a bit of a cross between the Japanese tempura and the Singaporean Ngoh Hiang fried prawn fritters. They're exceptionally crispy and fragrant when served hot off the wok and are best eaten with a refreshing beer or limeade!
Back again with another Vietnamese dish LOL.
This time, it's a specialty from Hanoi known as Banh Tom. They're essentially deep fried prawn and sweet potato fritters and are served with nuoc mam fish sauce. For those familiar with Southeast Asian food, it's a bit of a cross between the Japanese tempura and the Singaporean Ngoh Hiang fried prawn fritters. They're exceptionally crispy and fragrant when served hot off the wok and are best eaten with a refreshing beer or limeade! Looks like I'll have to take back what I said in the previous post about that being the last Vietnamese dish I'll make for awhile, because here's another one heheh. For some unknown reason, I have no idea why I am so besotted with Vietnamese food...perhaps it's the addictive flavours that just keeps one coming back for more!
Because the Vietnamese literally use fish sauce in most, if not all of their dishes, Bo Kho, also known as Vietnamese Beef Stew, has a savoury tinge to it, as compared to the French version, Beef Bourguignon. Though I reckon the Vietnamese must have taken a leaf from the French classic and adapted it to their own since it used to be a French colony? Third and final Vietnamese recipe for awhile. Decided to make this after 2 straight weeks of binging and figured the stomach needed to detox for a bit!
The funny thing is, I've never been a big vegetable fan until I started eating Vietnamese food about a decade back. I still love my meats, but perhaps a little less these days as I find myself getting indigestion when I consume a bit too much of it. Or perhaps it's just a sign of getting older?! I could never imagine myself liking these spring rolls when I saw the amount of greens in it but I guess part of what makes one of Vietnam's most known-for foods so special is the accompanying condiment. I've always preferred dunking it in nuoc mam (fish) sauce but today, I've decided to make it with hoisin peanut sauce instead. Most Vietnamese restaurants actually serve it with this sauce anyway! Ok, we're on a roll here for Vietnamese food!
Unlike the Indian, Thai and local counterparts, Ca Ri Ga otherwise known as Vietnamese Chicken Curry is sweeter and more savoury mainly because its ingredients include fish sauce, sweet potatoes and carrots, ingredients you don't usually find in the other curries. Unlike the stronger and more explosive Indian curries, Vietnamese curries draw you in with its subtler and sweeter flavours and you don't really realize that you're capable of finishing an entire bowl of curry on its own because it really is that addictive! My experience with Vietnamese curry was a totally random one when I was on holiday a few years ago in Ho Chi Minh . I first ate it at a cafe located in World Square in District 1 and that's where I really fell in love with it! They served it with French baguettes of course. The curry gravy was extremely fragrant and tasty, yet underlying it was a complex mixture of spices that remained a mystery to me for many years. I figured I just had to crack the code on my own so I don't have to fly to HCM city to cure my cravings! This one's gonna be a long entry, mainly because this is one of my most favourite dishes to eat in the entire world!
Bun thit nuong, otherwise known as Vietnamese Grilled Pork with Vermicelli is a classic Southern Vietnamese dish that is best enjoyed with a generous sloshing of Nuoc Mam sauce, lots of vegetables, and if you like as an addition, fried spring rolls (cha gio) sprinkled with fried shallots/garlic and crushed peanuts. |
Archives
July 2017
Categories
All
|