Unlike most cultural food where I goo-goo-ga-ga and salivate over, Vietnamese dishes is a love-hate relationship for me. Ever so appealing and fresh to the eye but putrid in scent. How can something look so damn good, taste amazing but stinks like.........sorry, I couldn't come up with a comparison. That's how much I hate the scent of fish sauce.
It's only been the last few years have I been convinced, regardless of the scent, fish sauce is delicious good. In many parts of Southeast Asia, this amber liquid stored and sold in glass jars is like soy sauce to the Japanese and Chinese. The intensity of fermented fish liquid packs a heavy punch to the scent sensory, the first initial taste on its own......is putrid and salty. But when diluted or cooked off in dishes, its changes to a melody of robust flavour. I must state, while I absolutely hate the smell of fish sauce, there are others I know, who loveeeee the scent of it. So don't let my opinion persuade you.
Besides the oh-so-popular, "Pho" beef (+ other unknown animal parts) noodle soup that everyone loves, this "Bun Thit Nu'ong" which, as per Wikipedia means "grilled meat on rice noodles" is surprisingly my favorite. It's a bed of vermicelli rice noodle, topped with an array of fresh mint, Thai basil, sprouts, lettuce, lime, crushed toasted peanuts, pickled radish & carrots, spring roll and your choice of meat. Just before you dig in, spoonfuls of chili, garlic flavoured fish sauce solution is poured into the bowl and mixed. This is when magic happens. All 5 flavours; sweet, sour, salty, bitter & spicy come together with this dish. The perfect balance in every bite. Suddenly, my aversion to the putrid scent of this sauce is replaced by a new found appreciation. For those who have never had this dish before and are not familiar with fish sauce, it may take some getting use to but I guarantee, once you can get pass the scent, your tummy will be rewarded handsomely.
As someone who rarely consume meat, I am completely in love with all the herbs and vegetables required for this dish. We all eat with our eyes before any morsel enter into our mouth. It further adds to the experience of food tasting. For myself, the variety of fresh ingredients heightens my taste palette, immediately satisfying my eyes and tummy.
This dish is as simple as it looks but how you can mess up is with the fish sauce solution; the golden sauce. The perfect balance to this solution is a smooth, balance blend of acidity, tangy, salty, sweet and spicy. One flavour should not overpower the other but rather, enhance the "umami" to the dish.
A friend gave me the single advice that helped heighten the sauce. If he didn't mention this tip, my sauce would have been a total failure. Mortar and pestle. There is something about smashing the shit out of fresh ingredients together in a mortar that a knife cannot do. The juices from each ingredient is unreal as the pestle hits the mortar, to the beat of a fast, steady drum.
So let's make the Fish sauce solution:
Ingredients:
3 cups water
1/4 cup fish sauce x 3 (3/4 cup) I used the 1:3 ratio measurement
3 tbsp sugar
1 lime
6-7 cloves of garlic
3 thai chili
Directions:
1. In the mortar, add garlic, chili and the zest of one lime.
2. Smash the shit out of it. Squeeze the juice of half a lime to the mortar and thrown in a wedge. Continue smashing, releasing the wonderful aromatic flavours. :) It will smell wonderful. Take out the wedge of lime and set aside.
3. In a medium size sauce pan, at medium low heat, add in water and sugar. Stir. Once the sugar is dissolved, add in your fish sauce. Don't turn the heat any higher. You should slowly allow the solution to heat up, without the lid. Once you start to see small bubbles at the bottom of the sauce pan, turn off the heat.
4. You will need some sort of glass jar with a lid to hold the solution. I used 2 - 500ml mason jars, divided the "meat" from the mortar into the 2 jars. Pour the fish sauce solution, evenly distributing the solution between the 2 jars. Allow to cool without the lid. Cover only when it is completely cooled. The longer you allow the solution to marinade with the smashed garlic, chili and lime, the tastier it will get. - Solution can last up to 2 weeks.
With the solution completed, let's prepare the noodles and its toppings. At any asian grocer, you will find in the dried noodle section, a huge variety of rice noodles by different brands and countries. I'm a firm believer in quality so, purchase the rice vermicelli - Rose brand.
Directions to cook noodle:
1. In a big pot, fill 3/4 with warm water. Return to stove on low - medium heat. Completely soak the rice vermicelli and allow the water to slowly warm up. Do not force the heat. Simply allow the noodles to soften on its own, slowly. Do not cover. If you force the noodles to cook faster, you will be left with a pile of broken mush noodles. We don't want that. Once you start to see steam from the water, turn off the heat and simply allow the noodles soak until completely soften and pliable. Immediately drain off the water and rinse with cold water several times. Set aside.
Let's prepare the toppings:
Ingredients:
-bouquet of mint, thai basil
-sprouts
-lettuce
-green onion
-pineapple (in replacement of the typical pickled carrots and radish)
-your choice of grilled meat (I used my favorite Viet sausage Nem Nu'ong - honey garlic pork sausage)
-lime
- in a pan, on high heat, "grill" the pineapple and meat until golden brown.
As an extra treat, I had chosen to add tiger shrimp. :) So I simply marinated the shrimp with a blend of olive oil, lime, salt, white pepper, 2 crushed Thai chili, 2 crushed & smashed garlic cloves and 1 and a bit tbsp soy sauce. Pan fried on high heat for 1 and 1/2 minute on each side with the lid covered. The smoke from the pan will further create a nice smoky flavour to the shrimp.
It's time to plate!! Rinse herbs and vegetables and pat dry. In a medium size noodle bowl, line with lettuce and rice noodle. Arrange all sprouts, mint, thai basil, green onion, grilled pineapple, shrimp and meat. Once ready to eat, pour a desired amount of the fish sauce solution (I usually use a little less than 1/2 cup). Mix. Toss and enjoy!!!
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