I love really retro desserts, particularly those that involve ice-creams, custards and jelly. This dessert is a throwback to ones I used to regularly enjoy at an all-Australian family’s house, involving tinned fruits, custards and a healthy splash of Cointreau. This dessert is all at once cold and warming, with its creaminess offset by the macerated strawberries. Best attempted when strawberries are in season. Do use good-quality pepper as it will make a difference. I have used red pepper from Phú Quốc, famed for its riper and fruitier notes.
Kem tiêu vâ dâu tây
Pepper ice-cream & strawberries
Makes 1 litre (4 cups)
• 15g red peppercorns, to taste
• 660ml full-cream milk
• 110ml thickened (whipping) cream
• 65g (2¼ oz) egg yolks
• 155g caster sugar
• An ice bath
Macerated strawberries
• 500g strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced
• 80ml Grand Marnier (or Cointreau; see note)
• 1 tsp caster sugar
Method
Make the ice-cream
Toast the peppercorns in a dry frying pan over medium-high heat for about 1 minute, until fragrant. Remove from the pan and leave to cool for 5 minutes, then finely grind using a spice grinder or mortar and pestle.
Place the ground peppercorns in a saucepan, add the milk and cream and bring to a simmer.
Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl for about 1 minute, until pale. Whisking continuously, gradually add the warm milk mixture.
Return the mixture to the pan and stir continuously over a low heat until the mixture reaches 82°C on a sugar thermometer and just coats the spoon; this can take 10-15 minutes.
Pour into a bowl placed over the ice bath – you can strain the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve if you would prefer no peppercorns to remain – and stir occasionally until chilled, 1-1½ hours.
Churn in an ice-cream machine, following the manufacturer’s instructions, and freeze until required. (This ice-cream is best served on the day it’s made.)
Macerate the strawberries
Combine the strawberries, liqueur and sugar in a bowl, then leave to stand for 15-20 minutes for the strawberries to macerate and release their juices.
Serve the strawberries with a scoop of the pepper ice-cream.
Note
If you are using Cointreau rather than Grand Marnier, reduce the amount of sugar slightly, as Cointreau is substantially sweeter than Grand Marnier.
Cha cá lã vong
Turmeric + dill fish
We often cook this on a camper cooktop, so we can keep it warm while eating, but feel free to do the same on your stove.
The fish needs to marinate overnight.
Serves 4
• 500g rockling fillets or other white fish, diced into large pieces
• 1½ tbsp vegetable oil, for frying
• 100g dill stems and fronds, chopped into 4cm lengths
• spring onion (scallion) batons, to garnish
Marinade
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 25g côm mè (fermented rice – see below)
• 10g mâm tôm bâc (fermented shrimp paste)
• 10g lemongrass, minced
• 9g fresh turmeric, peeled and minced
• 3-4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp raw sugar
• 1 tsp fish sauce
To Serve
• 250g fresh rice vermicelli noodles (or 150g dried noodles, prepared according to the packet instructions)
• ½ bunch perilla (an Asian green also known as shiso or Zi Su), leaves picked
• ½ bunch spearmint, leaves picked
• ½ bunch lemon balm, leaves picked
• crushed peanuts
• ½ head lettuce, leaves separated
• 30ml mâm tôm bâc (fermented shrimp paste), per person
• 2 wedges calamansi to taste
Fermented rice
In warm weather this process takes 6-7 days, in winter, 12-14 days
• 200g jasmine rice
• 1 litre (4 cups) water
Method
Place rice in a large bowl filled with water and gently stir. Rinse three times, discarding the water each time.
Place rice in a clean saucepan and add the litre of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. It’s preferable to slightly overcook it. Drain off excess water, reserving for later.
Resume cooking until all the water is evaporated and transfer to a bowl to cool.
Transfer rice and reserved water to a large sterilised glass jar to a ratio of one part rice to two parts water. Cover with muslin and put in a cool, dark place. Stir the mixture twice a day for a week until the rice becomes creamy with a sour aroma.
At this point start feeding the ferment every 3-4 days with 50ml of cooled cooked rice, stirring thoroughly.
You can start using it at this stage. Like a sourdough starter it will keep for years if you don’t let it die.
Marinate the fish overnight
Combine all the marinade ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add the fish and gently mix until the pieces are well and evenly coated with the marinade. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight.
Fry the fish
Bring the fish to room temperature for cooking. Meanwhile, have all your accompaniments ready.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over high heat.
Place the marinated fish in the pan with half of the dill and fry until it starts to sear, then turn the heat down to medium until cooked.
Garnish with the remaining dill and spring onion batons.
To serve
Arrange the noodles, herbs, nuts, lettuce and mâm tôm bâc around the fish, so that people can serve themselves.
Toss the mix in your bowls before eating, and add a squeeze of calamansi to taste.
Bánh phong tôm
Prawn crackers
Makes approximately 750g (1 lb 10 oz)
• 500g prawn heads (you can use frozen ones – just thaw before using)
• 2 litres (8 cups) water
• 400g sago
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 2 tsp sea salt
Method
This recipe was developed to make use of the prawn heads obtained from making prawn and papaya gỏi. Also, prawn crackers are one of my all-time favourite snacks, although this recipe does not yield the same smooth consistency that one might be more typically familiar with. The difference in texture is informed by the sago pearls (small, fine, the size of bean-bag fillers), not to be confused by the substantially larger tapioca pearls that one would find in bubble tea.
This recipe calls for a dehydrator, though you can bake the crackers at a low temperature in an oven. Alternatively, time it for the height of summer when you can take advantage of the sun – lie your prawn crackers under the full heat of the summer sun for a day or two, taking care to flip the crackers at the halfway point.
Simmer the prawn heads
Place the prawn heads in a saucepan, pour in the water and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the prawn heads have changed colour.
Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly, then coarsely blend the entire mixture using a stick blender.
Simmer the sago
Place the pan back over low heat and add the sago balls to the prawn mixture. Cook until they turn translucent, stirring frequently to ensure the mixture does not stick to the base of the pan.
The cooking time may vary depending on the brand of sago balls you are using, but will usually take about 30-40 minutes. You are looking for a mixture that is thick and sticky, where the sago balls are still maintaining their shape – thick enough that the mixture does not run, but pliable enough that it can still be shaped and spread.
Add the sugar and salt, adjusting to your taste.
Dry the crackers
Spread the mixture evenly across several pieces of baking paper and dehydrate for 12 hours at 50°C. A thicker spread will take longer to dry, but will yield a more satisfying crunch and stand up better when served with wetter ingredients. When dried sufficiently, the crackers should not stick to the baking paper – but you do not want them to be so brittle that they break. If you do not have a dehydrator, you can dry the crackers in the sun, checking them regularly and moving them indoors when the sun has set. The Vietnamese go by the arbitrary measure of one sun or two suns – on a hot day, one day’s worth of sun is sufficient, otherwise go for two days’ worth of sun.
The crackers will keep for up to three weeks in an airtight container in a cool dark place. Try to keep the sheets whole so you can break them down later for different purposes, such as eating with the prawn and papaya gỏi.
An edited extract from Viet Kieu: Recipes remembered from Vietnam by Thi Le with Jia-Yen Lee (Murdoch Books, RRP $59.99).
