Thơm Orange om vịt với đu đủ Salad – Fragrant Orange Braised Duck with Papaya Salad

Posted on July 8, 2014 by julianrolfe

No apologies for taking you back to Vietnam this post, the fresh vibrant and light punchy flavours seem to work during the hot and steamy weather we are experiencing at the moment. If you have been following, and trying the far eastern posts you should have most of the ingredients for this recipe to hand.

On the cookery course I attended in France recently we made Crepe Suzette, which was delicious, we also had, and did lots with Duck. I remember Duck a l’orange in the 70’s and thought that there must be a way to combine the memories into something a bit more vibrant. In Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey there is a recipe similar to this, but this is my interpretation of Vietnamese flavours with some decent heat, its just great!

You will need the following ingredients to make this sing for 2 people!

Dressing

5 Tbls Fish Sauce
1 Tbls Rice Wine Vinegar
2 Limes (Juiced)
2 Tbls Water
2 Tbls Palm Sugar
1 – 2 Red Chilli (finely sliced)
1 Clove Garlic (finely minced)
4 – 5 Drops Sesame Oil

Braised Duck

4 Duck Legs
1 Litre Orange Juice
3 Cloves garlic
4 Red Thai Chilli’s (whole)
1 Red Thai Chilli’s (finely sliced)
2 Shallots (finely sliced)
1 Lemongrass Stalk (roughly chopped)
4 Star Anise
4cm Length Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Tamarind
1 Tsp Shrimp paste
1 1/2 Inches Galangal (sliced)
10 Black Peppercorns
4 Spring Onions (roughly sliced)
Maldon Sea Salt for seasoning

Papaya Salad

1 Papaya (sknned and cut into 1 c.m. cubed)
2 Spring Onions, Sliced
1 Red pepper (Julienned)
1 Handful Green Beans (blanched and cut into 1 inch lengths)
1 Handful Bean Sprouts
1 Handful Cashew Nuts (Freshly Toasted & Salted)
5 – 10 Mint Leaves (Chiffonade)
5 – 10 Holy Basil Leaves (Chiffonade)
Bunch Coriander, chopped

First thing to do is render some of the fat of the Duck Legs, take a Dutch Oven and place on a COLD hob, season the Duck and place in the pan, turning the heat to medium. This stage takes about 15 – 20 minutes depending on their size. Once you have done one side, repeat and you should have a reasonable amount of fat in the pan. Put the legs to one side and drain most of the fat off to use for roasties or whatever takes your fancy! Watch the Duck as mine had a tendency to stick to the pan. Stick your oven on about 150 degrees (fan) 160 deg (convection).

Next, take all the spices for the braising liquor and fry in the remaining Duck fat until they release their aroma, then add the Orange Juice and shrimp paste and then the Duck Legs, making sure they are covered in the liquor. The whole lot goes covered, in the oven for about 1.5 – 2.0 hours.

As with many of the recent posts, a lot of the tasks in hand are more assembly than cooking, in this case, whilst the Duck is slowly braising you can prepare some of the other ingredients.

For the salad there are a few things to do, roast the Cashews in a frying pan, and lightly season with Maldon Sea Salt whilst they are still hot. Blanch the Green Beans in boiling water for 3 -4 minutes (removing the squeaky nature!), and refresh in cold water. Make the dressing, I usually start with the Fish Sauce and Water, add the Palm Sugar and stick in the microwave oven on full for 30 seconds or so. This helps the Palm Sugar dissolve. Grate in the Garlic and add the Lime Juice, and chopped Thai Chilli. The Sesame Oil is very strong so only use a few drops and then taste, it should be a background flavor.

We are nearly done. next stage is to remove the Duck Legs carefully from the pan, and reduce the remaining sauce until ‘gloopy’ and thick enough to stick to, and coat the back of a spoon. Its worth passing the sauce through a sieve first, but retain the pieces of Spring Onion as they can go onto the dish with the sauce. The Salad can be prepared whilst the sauce is reducing, but don’t add the dressing until the last minute. When the sauce has thickened pour boiling water over the noodles as per the instructions (mine needed 3 minutes) to cook.

Drain your Noodles and place them on the plate, lay the Duck legs on top and add the sauce with cooked Spring Onion, its deep, rich and comforting (with some heat!). The Salad adds a cold, but HOT element from a spicing perspective, the Cashews add crunch and there is some bitter as well so back to the old Yin Yang so beloved of Vietnam.

This is a cracking dish, the Duck is meltingly soft, the Orange sauce, Tangy, Spicy and inviting, the contrast with the Salad which is even hotter, but with Sweet elements from the Papaya with Salt and crunch from the Cashew Nuts.

I may drift around the world next time and see what I can find that’s new and different to cook.

Till next time……………………….L8ers…………….

Gà nướng sả, Gỏi đu đủ & nước chấm – Lemongrass Chicken, Papaya Salad and an awesome dressing!

Posted on June 29, 2014 by julianrolfe

So the conversation went, “Hun”, yep, “I fancy a Salad”, ok, “not ANY old Salad though”, uh huh, what sort of Salad, “One of your punchy, spicy, healthy ones”, OK………

In the car and of to my favourite Oriental Store to buy the ingredients, I had spent some time researching recipes and flavour combinations and come up with a couple of interesting dishes. I have covered Yin & Yang in previous posts so won’t repeat again suffice to say this was going to be spicy, sweet etc. There are some ‘specialist’ ingredients in this recipe including Green Papaya (NOT the orange flesh version in supermarkets), Dried Shrimp, Thai Sweet Basil and Galangal. The Papaya is Long, rather than round. You will also need 1 Chicken Breast per person, 1 serving of Vermicelli Rice Noodles per person, Shallots, Lime, Lemongrass, Garlic, Thai Red Chilli, Beansprouts, Carrot, Cucumber, Palm Sugar, Thai Fish Sauce, Coriander Seeds, fresh Coriander and Mint, Salt and Pepper.

There are loads of recipes on the internet for Vietnamese Cuisine, click to the left you can find details about popular recipes, then just pick one, stick the name in your favourite search engine and away you go! I decided to try and take the best bits of a number of ideas and incorporate them in the final dish. You will need some shallots, they need shallow frying until crisp, DON’T throw away the oil, as its going to be used once you have also THINLY sliced some Garlic, and also fried until crisp. Drain both on kitchen paper and set aside. The remaining Oil is jam packed with flavour which we will use with the following marinade, (this element doesn’t appear in the recipes I found whilst researching but it would be a shame not to include such a flavour enhancement!).

For two people I used 2 stalks of Lemongrass thinly sliced, 2 cloves of Garlic, 3 Red Thai Chilli’s, some slices of Galangal and a tablespoon of freshly roasted Coriander Seeds (Steenbergs are my favourite), season with Salt and Pepper. You can pound with a pestle and mortar or use a grinder/blender to blitz as finely as possible, which is a lot quicker. Add some of the oil you used to fry the Shallots and Garlic to loosen the marinade, which should end up looking something like this.

The Chicken Breasts need marinating for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, I went for about 2 hours. The nước chấm sauce is served with many Vietnamese dishes and adds punch and depth of flavour.

The general rule of thumb is 1 part Fish Sauce (Nam Pla), 1 part Sugar (Palm Sugar is preferred), 2 parts Water and Lime Juice (I used 1 whole Lime). You can then add some extra flavours to enhance, in my case 1 thinly sliced Red Thai Chilli, 4 Slices of Galangal, 1 sliced Garlic Clove, and 1 tablespoon of Tamarind concentrate. You can put the fish sauce and palm sugar in the microwave for a few seconds to help it dissolve. Set aside in the fridge once made to enable the flavours to develop. Before you serve it run it through a strainer to remove the bits.

The Green Papaya Salad is mainly a construction job, the Papaya is quite long, you can just see it at the top of the post, on the top left hand side of the picture, its not the same as many of the Papaya you get in supermarkets that have orange flesh. I used one for two people along with a 5 inch length of Cucumber, seeds removed and julienned, 1/2 a carrot, a handful of Beansprouts, 3 thinly sliced Shallots, a couple of Spring Onions, again thinly sliced, and about 10 cherry tomatoes, halved. Herbs were chiffonade of Mint, Thai Sweet Basil and Coriander, a good handful of each. Using a mandolin with Julienne setting speeds up the chopping!

I Baked the Chicken in the oven for 30 Minutes, and rested for 5 minutes. Whilst the Chicken is resting, take two servings of Vermicelli Rice Noodles, place in a bowl and cover with boiling water, follow the instructions on the packet, mine said 3 minutes. Slice the Chicken, place the Noodles on the plate, and the sliced Chicken on top, sprinkle some more chiffonade of Thai Sweet Basil on top. Take your prepared salad and GENTLY bruise with a rolling pin, releasing some of the tomato juices, add some of the nước chấm dressing and sprinkle some crispy Shallots, Garlic, Roasted Peanuts and if you can get them, some Dried Shrimp that has been fried and crushed.

Delicious; understatement, the boss was well chuffed (as was I). The Chicken (proper from our local supplier Casey Fields), was so juicy and tender, and punchy flavours of Lemongrass, Chilli and Garlic, the Salad refreshing, crunchy and stunning. You can add some more nước chấm dressing to lift it even more.

This dish took a while to prepare, but done in stages its easy. Fry the Shallots and Garlic first as using the Oil in the Marinade adds more flavour. The Salad can be made in advance, but crush and add the dressing at the LAST minute.

Have a go at this one, it will leave you feeling fantastic.

Till next time…………….L8ers…

Rượu táo om má thịt lợn phong cách Việt – Cider Braised Pork Cheeks Vietnamese Style

Posted on May 7, 2014 by julianrolfe

Back to to the Far East and a new recipe that evolved as I was driving back from Casey Fields farm Shop! This one is most definitely my own and came about as I was looking for a different spin on braised Pork Cheeks, read on to find out about a new addition to my repertoire.The last time I cooked Pork Cheeks I prepared Carrilleras Estofadas, a Spanish Braised dish, rich with Red Wine, Beef Stock, Tomatoes and Carrots, ideal for Autumn and Winter, but not necessarily a Spring or Summer Dish. Wanting to develop something lighter, I looked to the Far East for further inspiration and thought about what goes with Pork…………CIDER!

For this little beauty you will need the following ingredients, as with the last couple of recipes, you will need to adjust some of the flavours by taste, to get the right balance.

Cider braised pork cheeks Vietnamese Style (for 2 people)

4-6 Pork Cheeks
2 Inch length of Galangal, sliced
1 Lemongrass stalk, bashed with a rolling pin and cut in half widthways
1 Tbls Coriander Seeds
2 Cloves Garlic chopped roughly
3 Kaffir Lime leaves
2 Red Thai Chillis (Leave Whole)
1 Green Thai Chilli (Leave Whole)
3 – 4 Shallots, roughly chopped
4 Star Anise
1 Tbls Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Tbls Nam Pla (Fish Sauce)
1 Tbls Light Soy Sauce
1 1/2 Tbls Palm Sugar
500 ml Chicken Stock
300 ml Tutts Clump Special Reserve Cider (if you can’t get Tutts Clump, then a DECENT dry – medium cider)
2 Servings Plain White Rice
1 Bunch Coriander
2 Pak Choi (quartered)
1 Tbls Sesame Seeds
8 – 10 Drops Sesame Oil
Plain Flour, Sea Salt & Pepper to Coat Cheeks/Season
Cornflour/Water (Slurry)

The first step is to put some flour and liberal amounts of Maldon Sea Salt and Pepper in a dish, and coat your Pork Cheeks, then fry them off in some Ground Nut or Vegetable Oil until brown and sealed, set aside on a plate whilst you make the braising liquor. Set your oven to 140 deg (fan) 160 deg (convection) next, this baby is going to slow cook for at least 2 1/2 hours.

Put some Oil into a Dutch Oven or suitable casserole and gentle fry the Shallots, Galangal, Chillis, Garlic, Star Anise, Lemongrass and Coriander Seed until the aromas start filling the kitchen, then place the Pork Cheeks on top, and add the Chicken Stock, Cider, Rice Wine Vinegar, Nam Pla, Palm Sugar and Kaffir Lime Leaves and gentle stir to dissolve the Palm Sugar. You then need to make a CARTOUCHE, a scrunched up piece of greaseproof paper that you put on top of the meat/liquor pressing down gently so it touches the surface of the liquid, acting like a close fitting lid. Put the lid on top and place into the oven and set the timer for 2 1/2 hours.

Fingers crossed, when the timer pings, you should have something that looks like the above, the brown line around the surface of the liquid is where the cartouche was sitting during the cooking process. Remove the Pork Cheeks gently from the liquor, they should be very tender and could fall apart, put them in a dish, cover with foil and put back into the oven, turning the temperature down to under 100 degs, you just want to keep them warm. Strain the liquor into a saucepan and put onto a high heat to reduce for 5 minutes, in the meantime make a Slurry from 50/50 Corn Flour and Water about 2 Tsps worth and add, stirring continuously until the liquor starts to thicken, it should stick to the back of a spoon.

Turn the temperature down to low, we are nearly ready to finish the dish. For speed, I used quick cook Rice, which only takes 90 seconds in the Microwave (Gasp, oh no, surely not….Its quick!). The Pork Cheeks are to be served with Plain Rice, that has chopped Coriander mixed through it, and Pak Choy, with Sesame Seeds & Sesame Oil, really easy to do.

Take a frying pan with a lid, add some Oil on a medium heat and put in your Sesame Seeds to cook for 30 seconds, add the Pak Choy which has been quartered, add a little water to create some steam and put the lid on quickly. I cooked mine for about 2 minutes maximum, remove the lid and CAREFULLY add about 10 drops of Sesame Oil all over the Pak Choy and gentle turn to mix, that’s it done!

So all there is to do now is plate up, nappe the thickened sauce over the Pork Cheeks and serve with the Rice and Coriander mix. The great thing about this dish is the fact that it is very light, very fragrant, and does not have the fiery kick of other dishes I have recently posted, so suitable for younger mouths if you want to introduce them to unusual cuisines.

If you want it spicier, then rather than adding whole Thai Chillis, chop them up to release the heat, you can play with the balance of Sour, Bitter, Sweet, Spicy & Salty, the Ying and Yang of Vietnamese cuisine by adjusting the quantities of Fish Sauce, Soy & Rice Wine Vinegar, the Pak Choy adds a slightly bitter iron dimension and some crunchy texture if you don’t over cook it.

Hope you have a go, it was great fun thinking this one up, cooking it, and finding another way to enjoy my local Tutts Clump Cider.

Until next time,

L8ers……………………………..

Thơm cay salad gà Với Mì – Vietnamese Fragrant Spicy Chicken Salad with Noodles

Posted on May 4, 2014 by julianrolfe

Another mind trip to the Far East, in this case Vietnam has inspired me to look for some more healthy, fresh and taste bud exploding food. Trawling through Rick Steins ‘French Odyssey’, and Uyen Luu’s ‘My Vietnamese Kitchen’ produced a couple of interesting recipes, this is my adaption and interpretation of them both. France had a massive influence on Vietnam, it was a part of the French Colonial Empire until 1954, when Viet Minh (league for the independence of Vietnam) won a decisive victory against French forces at the gruelling Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

For this lip smacking recipe you are going to need a few ingredients, there are 3 stages to make this work. Buy THE BEST chicken you can afford, I chose two supremes from our local awesome farm shop Casey Fields, its not injected with anything so has great TEXTURE, unlike the stuff in supermarkets, its makes a difference in this dish, due to the very texture.

Poaching Liquor

1 1/2 inches of Galangal or Ginger if you can’t get it
1 Stalk Lemongrass, bashed with a rolling pin and halved widthways
3 Star Anise
4 Kaffir Lime Leaves
1 Shallot, quartered
1 Red Thai Chilli
1 Green Thai Chilli
1 Garlic Clove, quartered
1 1/2 Litres water

Chuck all the poaching ingredients and water into a saucepan, bring to a boil and place the Chicken in the liquor, allowing to simmer gentle for 8 – 10 minutes lid on, then take off the heat and let cool right down which can take 2 – 3 hours. This ensures the Chicken is cooked, but remains moist and soaks up the flavours. You are going to use the liquor again, so DON’T throw it away!!

The next stage is to prepare the sauce, this imparts the Sour, Bitter, Sweet, Spicy, Salty which is typical of Vietnamese Cuisine, this is the balance of 5 elements, spicy (metal), sour (wood), bitter (fire), salty (water) and sweet (Earth), corresponding to: five organs the gall bladder, small intestine, large intestine, stomach, and urinary bladder. Its all about the Yin Yang balance and you can find more about is HERE.

THE Sauce

4 Tbls Fish Sauce (Nam Pla)
2 Tbls Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Fresh Lime (juiced)
2 Tbls Palm Sugar
1/2 – 1 Garlic Clove very finely sliced
2 Finely Sliced Thai Red Chilli’s
1 Slivered Thai Green Chilli (add when finished as a colour balance)
1 Halved and Sliced Shallot
1/2 – 1 Tsp Corn Flour mixed with a little water

ALL +/- to taste.

Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan except the Corn Flour and heat until the Palm Sugar has melted into the sauce, then TASTE TASTE TASTE, you are looking to strike a balance between each of the elements, your palate will tell you what you need to add more off, in my case I needed more Lime Juice and more Palm Sugar, but keep adjusting CAREFULLY until its tastes right for you. When you are happy with the flavour and the sauce is hot (temperature wise!), thicken with some Corn Flour and Water, you are looking for a ‘gloomy’ slightly thickened texture that would coat the back of a spoon and stick. Finally, add the slivered Green Thai Chilli and set aside to cool.

We are almost ready now, and just a couple of stages to go….. Sorry my food is not that often as simple as opening a can of beans!

We need to add some texture elements to the dish, which come in the form of Roasted and Salted Peanuts and Hoe Fun Rice Stick Noodles. I used raw peanuts, removed their skins by rubbing between fingers (a but laborious, but kind of relaxing), and then placing them in a hot frying pan with a SMALL amount of oil and sprinkled with sea salt cooking until they change colour from Pale blond, to light brown.

Hoe Fun Rice Stick Noodles are made from Rice Flour and Water, and readily available, similar to Vermicelli Noodles, just thicker and flat in shape. We are going to cook them two ways, the first requires a handful to be soaked in cold water for 15 minutes, this will soften them, but not noticeable. Remember the poaching liquor for the Chicken, well take the Chicken out and place the Liquor into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Plunge the Noodles in the boiling liquor for no MORE than 1 Minute, then remove, strain and sprinkle 4 – 5 DRIPS of Sesame Seed Oil to lubricate and prevent them from sticking together too much. Be CAUTIOUS with the Sesame Oil, its very pungent and its supposed to be a background flavour in this dish, too much and Yuch, so its no more than about 4 – 5 drops and mix in with the cooked Noodles, you have been warned.For the Salad you will need the following ingredients

THE Salad

1 Chicken Breast/Supreme per person (Poached as above and left to cool)
1 Handfull Roasted Salted Peanuts per person (cooked as above)
1 Half Cucumber, Seeds removed per 2 people (so 1/4 lengthways), thinly sliced
2 Spring Onions per person, cut at the angle
1 Handful Bean Sprouts per person
1 Handful Hoe Fun Rice Stick Noodles (cooked as above)
2 Tbls Sesame Seeds, toasted in a frying pan
5 Mint Leaves Chiffonade per person
1/2 Bunch Coriander thinly chopped per person
1 Handful Hoe Fun Rice Noodles (Deep Fry them at 190 Degrees and they puff up and go crispy, drain on kitchen paper)
10 Muntok White Peppercorns, freshly ground (pestle & mortar if you have one), and sprinkled over at the last minute

You can see most of the Ingredients in the picture above. Firstly take the Chicken, pull it apart into thin strips and place on a plate, drizzle some of the dressing over the Chicken and then add the thinly Sliced Cucumber and Spring Onion. Drizzle some more dressing and then the Chiffonade of Mint, it should look something like this.

Next job is to Spread over the Bean Sprout’s, Coriander, Peanuts, Sesame Seeds and the rest of the Sauce, take the handful of Rice Noodles straight from the packet and put into the fryer, they will cook in seconds, puffing up buzzing. Drain on Kitchen paper, sprinkle with some Sea Salt and place on top of the Salad. The last step is to season with WHITE pepper, I use Muntok Pepper from Steenbergs, freshly ground in a pestle and mortar seconds before serving, its adds another flavour dimension and really adds to the dish, adding a hot slightly Bitter element, so important in Vietnamese Cuisine.

So there you have it, Vietnamese Fragrant Spicy Chicken Salad with Noodles, it is a seriously tasty dish, takes a bit of effort but well worth it. Be warned though, it is quite spicy, not quite as much as the Weeping Tiger Salad I published recently but could still bring tears to your eyes so if you prefer it slightly milder, less Chilli.

My next feature is going to be a braised Pork Cheek dish I have been working on, Far Eastern influences but the main flavour profile is Tutts Clump Cider, should be on the blog later this week.

Enjoy,

L8ers…………..

Julian Rolfe

My Foodie Life

Category Archives: Vietnamese