Banh uot cha lua ( Vietnamese steam rice flour rolls with Vietnamese ham )

Banh uot is made from a mixture of rice flour, tapioca starch and water. You can easily make your own but I usually opt for the convenience of store brought ones. This is a delicious and very quick dish to prepare, no cooking at all. All you need is some fresh herb mix (mint, basil and perilla), cucumber, bean sprouts and Cha lau ( Vietnamese ham ). In addition I like to have mine with 'Nem chua' (Vietnamese cured pork). Plus a generous splash Nuoc Cham and finish of with some beautiful and crispy fried eshallot. Btw, you should always have this in your pantry. It's not an option, it's a must. That is it, dead simple and super delicious.


Recipe

Ingredients

1 tray of banh uot
1 cup bean sprout
1 cup of mix herbs (mint, perilla and basil)
1/2 cucumber
1 roll of cha lau
1 nem chua

Nuoc cham
Crispy eshallots

Method

1. Place a cup bean sprout on a serving plate, then cut about 1 cup of rice flour rolls into bite size and place on top. Microwave for 1 minute to soften bean sprout and warm up rice flour rolls, then set aside.
2. Roughly chop up the herbs and Julianne the cucumber and scatter around the rice flour rolls.
3. Cut the cha lau and nem chua and place on top.
4. Serve with crispy eshallots and nuoc cham.

Banh Xeo ( Vietnamese crispy crepe with shrimp and pork )

Banh xeo is a popular Vietnamese street side snack and one of my favourite dish. It has two of my favourite things, fresh herbs and nouc Cham. These two elements are a prominent and very popular part of Vietnamese cuisine. Banh xeo literally translates "sizzling cake", made by the sound of the batter hitting the hot oil. It is a delicate savoury crepe made from a combination of rice flour, turmeric and coconut milk. Stuffed with finely sliced slivers of pork, shrimps and bean sprouts. It's usually served with mustard greens, assortments of fresh herbs (perilla, mint, basil and Vietnamese mint)and wrapped in lettuce or rice paper. Dipped in of course, nouc Cham. This dish typifies Vietnamese obsession with fresh herbs, fresh produce and texture. Each region in Vietnam has slight variations, in the southern region it is usually larger and yellow in colour with the addition of turmeric powder. In the central region it is slightly smaller and pale in colour, without the turmeric powder. The difference between a good and great banh xeo is the thinness and crispiness of the crepes. Banh xeo is at it's best and should be eaten as soon as it slide off the wok. If you haven't had banh xeo before, do yourself a favour, go out and try it soon. I promise you, you'll be back for more.

Recipe

Batter

1 bag of premixed banh xeo flour
1/2 cup tempura flour
1 eggs
1 can coconut milk
2 cup water
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp white pepper
1 cup chopped shallots

1• Whisk all together and let rest in fridge for an hour or until needed.

Filling

500g shrimp
500 mince pork
2 onion
1 bag bean sprout
2 tbsp oil

1• Saute shrimp with 1tbsp of oil and set aside.
2• Saute mince pork with rest of oil and set aside.

Salads and condiments

Herb mix (mints, basil, Vietnamese mint and perilla)
Cucumber
Ice berg lettuce
Mustard leaves
Nuoc cham


Method

1• Add a tbsp of oil to wok and heat up on med high.
2• Add small handful of onion to wok, followed by a ladle of batter. Pour batter around from top of wok and swirl batter around and fill up any gaps.
3• Add a spoonful shrimp, pork and handful of bean sprouts.
4• Turn wok on it's side and add little oil and cook until it peels of the side and turn wok 90 degrees and cook until all sides are crispy.
5• Fold it in half and serve with herbs, salad and nouc Cham.
6.To eat, just wrap it with a lettuce leaf or mustard leaf, add cucumber and herbs. Then dip in nuoc cham.