Vietnamese Recipes to Try This Week!
- Valentina Sapia
- Aug 23, 2021
- 6 min read
Banh Mi
Ingredients
4 long bread rolls
6 tbsp pork or chicken pate
6 tbsp mayonnaise
4 - 8 slices Thi Nguoi ("pink ham") or brawn
4 - 8 slices Cha Lua Vietnamese pork loaf or chicken loaf
4 - 8 slices roast or grilled pork cold cuts
1 ½ cups fresh coriander/cilantro sprigs
2 cucumbers, finely sliced lengthwise into long strips
4 green onion stems, cut into the length of the rolls
2 red chillies, sliced
2 tsp Maggi Seasoning, for drizzling
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut
1 ½ cups (375ml) hot water, boiled
½ cup (100g) white sugar
4 tsp salt
¾ cup (185ml) rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
Other Filling Options
Pork meatballs
Shredded rotisserie
Poached chicken
Steps
Split rolls down the center of the top
Spread 1 ½ tbsp pate on one side, then 1 ½ tbsp mayonnaise on top.
Layer in the hams, cucumber slices, and green onion.
Stuff in plenty of carrots and coriander sprigs.
Sprinkle with fresh chili (to liking)
Drizzle with Maggi Seasoning (about ½ tbsp per roll).
Close the sandwich together
Variations
Banh Mi pork meatballs - for each Banh Mi, use 3 meatballs. Shake off excess sauce, split warm meatballs in half then stuff into Banh Mi in place of the ham.
Shredded cooked chicken - you can use a bought rotisserie chicken.
Pickled Carrots
Dissolve salt and sugar in the hot water, then add rice vinegar.
Add carrot, then let stand for at least 1 hour - carrot should be a bit tangy, a bit floppy but still with a soft crunch.
Drain and use per recipe.
Pho
Ingredients
Aromatics
2 large onions
150g ginger
Spices
10-star anise
4 cinnamon quills
4 cardamom pods
3 cloves
1 ½ tbsp coriander seeds
Beef bones
1 ½ kg beef brisket
1kg meaty beef bones
1kg marrow bones
3 ½ liters water (15 cups)
Seasoning
2 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp salt
40 ml fish sauce
Noodle soup
50g dried rice sticks
30g beef tenderloin, raw, very thinly sliced
3 - 5 brisket slices (used for broth)
Toppings
Beansprouts, handful
Thai basil, 3 - 5 sprigs
Coriander/cilantro, 3 - 5 sprigs (or more basil)
Lime wedges
Steps
Aromatics
Heat a heavy-based skillet over high heat (no oil) until smoking.
Place onion and ginger in a pan cut side down. Cook for a few minutes until it's charred, then turn. Remove and set aside.
Toast Spices lightly in a dry skillet over medium-high heat for 3 minutes.
Removing impurities
Rinse bones and brisket then cover with water in a large stockpot.
Boil for 5 minutes, then drain.
Rinse each bone and brisket under tap water.
Broth
Wipe the pot clean, bring 3 ½ liters of water to boil.
Add the bones and brisket, onion, ginger, spices, sugar, and salt (water should barely cover everything)
Cover with lid, simmer for 3 hours.
Remove brisket (should fall-apart tender), cool then refrigerate for later.
Simmer the remaining soup uncovered for 40 minutes.
Strain broth into another pot, discard bones and spices. Should be about 2 ½ liters (10 cups), if loads more, reduce.
Add fish sauce, adjust salt and sugar if needed. The broth should be beefy, fragrant with spices, savory, and barely sweet.
Assembly
Prepare rice noodles per packet, just prior to serving.
Place noodles in a bowl. Top with raw beef and brisket.
Ladle over the hot broth and it will cook beef to medium-rare.
Serve with Toppings on the side
Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Ingredients
2 ounces rice vermicelli
8 rice wrappers (8.5-inch diameter)
8 large cooked shrimp - peeled, deveined, and cut in half
1 ⅓ tablespoons chopped fresh Thai basil
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 leaves lettuce, chopped
4 teaspoons fish sauce
¼ cup water
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons white sugar
½ teaspoon garlic chili sauce
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon finely chopped peanuts
Steps
Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Boil rice vermicelli 3 to 5 minutes, or until al dente, and drain.
Fill a large bowl with warm water. Dip one wrapper into the hot water for 1 second to soften. Lay wrapper flat.
In a row on the center, place 2 shrimp halves, a handful of vermicelli, basil, mint, cilantro and lettuce, leaving about 2 inches uncovered on each side. Fold uncovered sides inward, then tightly roll the wrapper, beginning at the end with the lettuce. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
In a small bowl, mix the fish sauce, water, lime juice, garlic, sugar and chili sauce.
In another small bowl, mix the hoisin sauce and peanuts
Serve rolled spring rolls with the fish sauce and hoisin sauce mixtures.
Pandan Waffles
Ingredients
2 drops artificial pandan extract
½ cup water
285g tapioca starch
73g rice flour
75g all purpose flour
200g sugar
10g baking powder
¼ tsp salt
3 large eggs
13 ½ oz coconut cream
1 tbsp neutral cooking oil
Steps
Add the artificial extract drops to the water and mix. Set aside for later.
In a medium mixing bowl, add the tapioca starch, rice flour, all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
In another large mixing bowl, beat the eggs together. Then, add the coconut cream, pandan extract, and oil.
Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients mixing bowl and fold carefully to prevent from over mixing the batter. Your batter should be slightly thick and have lumps left over. If you're using artificial pandan extract, and want the batter to be more green at this point you can add 1-2 more drops and mix the batter again.
Let the batter rest for at least one hour. If you're only resting one hour, leaving it on the counter is fine, but you can rest it in the fridge in an air-tight container for up to a week and the batter will still be good.
When ready to cook, mix the batter a little bit and heat up your waffle iron. Do this before making each waffle since the batter can separate and settle.
Drop three to four scoops onto the waffle iron and cook. When your waffle is finished, it should be nice and golden brown with specks of green on the outside.
Remove your waffle and serve. If you find your waffle is on the softer side, let it rest for about one minute and it should get crispier.
Honeycomb Cake
Ingredients
½ tsp canola oil (for greasing the tin)
1 cup coconut cream
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp pandan extract or vanilla extract
150g white caster sugar or brown sugar
1 tbsp canola oil (for the cake mixture)
5 large eggs, at room temperature
160g tapioca starch
10 gm rice flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp bicarb soda
Steps
Preheat the oven to 180 C fan-forced.
Grease the bottom of a 20 cm round cake tin with ½ tsp of oil and leave it in the oven to heat up.
In a bowl, add the coconut cream and salt.
If making the pandan version then add pandan extract and white caster sugar to the mixture. If making the brown sugar version then add the vanilla extract and brown sugar to the mixture.
Put into the microwave for 1 minute, then mix until combined. Add the tbsp of canola oil and set aside.
In another bowl, crack the eggs. With a pair of scissors, cut the egg yolks into small pieces. Add the eggs into the bowl with the coconut mixture.
Sift half of the tapioca starch and rice flour into the egg mixture and gently whisk while keeping the whisk touching the bottom of the bowl at all times. After about a minute, add the remaining tapioca starch and flour and continue whisking for another minute.
Sift the cream of tartar and bicarb soda into the mixture. Mix for roughly 30 seconds.
Take the cake tin out of the oven and press the cake mixture through a sieve and into the tin. Grab your oven mitts, and drop the cake tin from a height of roughly 2 cm onto your work surface a few times to get the air bubbles out.
Put the cake into the oven and bake for 40 minutes.
Set up a cooling station by placing a cooling rack on a couple of mugs, or something else that will give the cooling rack some height. See picture above to see what I mean. This is to allow plenty of air to circulate under the cake to reduce any condensation as it cools upside down.
After 40 minutes, take the cake out of the oven and immediately rest it upside down on the cooling station.
After about 45 minutes of cooling, or once the cake feels lukewarm, remove from the tin and serve.
Bibliography
Allrecipes Member (n.d.) Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls. Allrecipes. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/24239/vietnamese-fresh-spring-rolls/
Franklin, E. (n.d.) Vietnamese beef pho. [Photograph] Sainsbury's Magazine. https://www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/mains/vietnamese-beef-pho
Hlavac Green, E. (2020, February 27) Classic Banh Mi. [Photograph] Delish. https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a30781614/banh-mi-recipe/
"Jeanette" (2021, March 1) Coconut Pandan Waffles (Báng Kep) [Photograph] Wok & Kin. https://www.wokandkin.com/pandan-waffles-banh-kep/
Lin, L. (n.d.) Fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls (With Video). [Photograph] Healthy Nibbles. https://healthynibblesandbits.com/fresh-vietnamese-spring-rolls-with-video/
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"Nagi" (2020, January 19) Vietnamese Pho recipe. RecipeTinEats. https://www.recipetineats.com/vietnamese-pho-recipe/
Pahm, V. (2019, August 22) Vietnamese Coconut Pandan Waffles (Banh Kep La Dua). [Photograph] Vietnamese Home Cooking Recipes. https://www.vickypham.com/blog/vietnamese-pandan-waffles-banh-kep-la-dua
RunAwayRice (2018, March 25) Honeycomb Cake - Eggless / Vegetarian Recipe (Banh Bo Nuong Chay). [Photograph] YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dtv3MEUvxV0
"Scruff" (n.d.) Vietnamese Honeycomb Cake (Banh Bo Nuong). Scruff & Steph. https://scruffandsteph.com/2018/07/17/vietnamese-honeycomb-cake-banh-bo-nuong/
Taylor, K. (n.d.) Fresh Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce. [Photograph] Cookie + Kate. https://cookieandkate.com/fresh-spring-rolls-recipe/
Vu, H. (n.d.) Pandan Waffle Recipe (Bánh Kep Lá Dua). Hungry Huy. https://www.hungryhuy.com/pandan-waffle-recipe/
Yen, D. (2021, February 3) Instant Pot Beef Pho. [Photograph] https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/instant-pot-beef-pho
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