First time back to the ethnic markets on Hameentie in over 3 months! I bought some rice paper and veggies and decided to make some wraps. I'm making these fresh, summery wraps mid-January in celebration of my and my and A's new year's commitment to eat more healthy. You may even blanch the vegetables a bit to warm them up and make this a warm dish. However, Vietnamese cuisine is known for its use of healthy and fresh ingredients, and a range of spices such as lemongrass, mint, coriander and basil. And because of the Buddhist influence, there are many vegetarian Vietnamese recipes!
To make it a meal, I'll make some shrimp soup, or Sup Tom Xao Lan to accompany it with something warm and hearty. Shrimp can be substituted with tofu, naturally, without compromising anything of the taste.
Sup Tom Xao Lan Soup
1 liter boiling water
4 tbs Nuoc Cham sauce (recipe follows)
raw or frozen shrimp
three stalks lemongrass or half tsp lemongrass powder
one can of mushrooms, straw mushrooms preferrably or whatever is avaiable
1 scallion or small onion
the juice of 3 limes
3 keffir lime leaves, or a scant pinch of keffir lime leaf powder
salt and pepper
fresh coriander (optional)
Prepare or thaw the shrimp. Cut the tops off the lemongrass, if you're using fresh, then add them to the water, with shrimp shells if you have, and the keffir lime leaves or powder to make a stock. Bring to a boil, strain, then return the water to the pot. With pestle and morter, grind lemongrass stalks, before adding them to the pot of soup. Then add the remaining ingredients exept for the shrimp, and simmer for 10 minutes. If adding tofu, this is the time to do that as well. Save the shrimp for last, so that they don't become overcooked- they can tend to get rubbery.
The recipe calls for Nuoc Cham sauce, which is simply a mixture of the following ingredients, according to regional and personal preferences:
garlic
sugar
lime juice
fish sauce
red pepper flakes
water
The name of this recipe makes me wanna have a friend named Tom Xao Lan, so I can see him on the street and shout ''Sup Tom Xao Lan!?. Let's wrap and roll!'
Rice Paper Wraps with Vegetables
as many rice papers as you intend to serve (2-3 per serving)
an asorment of julienned vegetables: red and yellow peppers, snow peas, bean sprouts, carrot, mushrooms, and possibly strips of firm tofu, raw or pan seared in some of the dressing sauce
other herbs: cilantro and/or basil
buckwheat or soba noodles seasoned with rice vinegar and sesame oil
Soak rice papers one at a time for approximately 30 seconds in warm water to re-hydrate. Roll each wrap one at a time. Soaking more than one rice paper at a time will likely end up with papers stuck together, impossible to separate, and spoiling the aesthetics and logistics of making a wrap.
Roll portions of vegetable mixture, noodles, and some sauce to the middle of the rice paper, fold in sides, roll to the end. Not as easy as it sounds, but with a little practice I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.... the dipping sauce is the easy part.
Dipping Sauce
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tbs sugar
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs lime juice
1 tbs sesame oil
salt
chili flakes
1 tsp balsalmic vinegar
Mix the ingredients to taste, trying to mix the yin and the yang. In Vietnamese cooking as well as lifestyle, it is important to have a balance of the elements. Spicy with sweet, salty with sour, salty and sweet....all great combinations. Way to celebrate the funny way opposites attract, and why chocolate covered pretzels and salt and vinegar chips both rock.
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