Bánh Cuốn - Pork and Jicama Rice Rolls

It's time to GIVE BIG! To support Helping Link’s fundraising efforts, I did a live cooking demo of making Bánh Cuốn. If you weren’t able to join, you can check out the video on their website.

Helping Link/Một Dấu Nối is a Seattle based nonprofit that offers programs to assist Vietnamese immigrants in their effort to settle in their new country, strengthen the Vietnamese community and promote cultural harmony. They work with diverse groups of individuals including adults, seniors, students, recent graduates, and young professionals living in the greater Seattle area. The success of Helping Link’s programs is due solely to the efforts of volunteers, the financial support of exceptional individuals, and the community’s participation in these programs.

Give big is an annual fundraising event for nonprofits that takes place in the first week of May. This year, their event has been extended to May 15th, 2020. There’s still time give!

Bánh Cuốn is a traditional dish from Northern Vietnam. It is composed of a thin rice cake made from rice batter that is steamed over sheet of muslin then filled with pork and jicama. Most modern recipes will cook the cake batter in a nonstick pan, much like making a crêpe. I find that the traditional method creates a smoother, more delicate rice cake.

To make this recipe, you will need a tradition bánh cuốn steamer (pictured in the upper right-hand corner). They are available at most Vietnamese grocery stores…channel your inner MacGyver. A bánh cuốn steamer is essentially a pot of water with a piece of muslin stretched over the top.

Bánh Cuốn - Pork and Jicama Rice Rolls

Serves 4

Batter: 1 ¾ cups rice flour ¼ cup tapioca or potato starch 2 - 2 ¼ cups water ½ teaspoon salt ¼ cup fried shallots, for garnishing Mix everything together to create a smooth batter, set aside for at least ½ hour before

steaming. Meanwhile, make the pork filling and dipping sauce.

Steam approximately ¼ cup of batter at a time over high heat. The rice cake will puff up from the muslin surface of the steamer when cooked all the way through, about 1 minute. Using a thin spatula, carefully transfer the rice cake to a clean and lightly oiled surface.

Place 2 tablespoons of filling horizontally in the center of each rice cake then wrap the rice cake around the filling to form a roll. Garnish the rolls with fried shallots. Serve hot with blanched beansprouts, cilantro, Vietnamese ham (chả lụa), meat floss (thịt chà bông), and dipping sauce.

Pork and Jicama Filling: 2 teaspoons cooking oil 6 ounces ground pork 4 ounces jicama, diced 4 dried wood ear mushrooms, reconstituted and chopped ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon sugar ½ teaspoon pepper

Preheat an empty skillet over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the oil, when the oil begins to shimmer, add the pork. Cook the pork for about 2 minutes then add the rest of the ingredients. Continue to cook for 3-5 more minutes or until the pork is cook all the way through.

Nước Mắm Chua Ngọt – Dipping Sauce:

2 cloves garlic, minced 1-2 Thai chilies, minced (optional) 2 tablespoons lime juice, (approximately 1 small lime) 3 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons fish sauce 2 tablespoons water

Place the ingredients into a bowl and whisk or stir until the sugar dissolves. This sauce holds very well in the refrigerator, up to two weeks.

Lights, Camera and Action!

How do you dim sum? I had a blast making Crab Shu Mais with Margret Larsen on New Day Northwest - check out this video if you missed it. Recipe below for some those of us who like to get our hands dirty. Let me know how it goes or better yet...join me for a hands on dim sum class at Whisk in Bellevue.

Dungeness Crab and Pork Shu Mai

Yield: 12 dumplings

Ingredients:

8 ounces minced pork

6 shitake mushrooms, minced

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon white pepper

½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon potato starch

8 ounces Dungeness crab meat

12 shu mai/dumpling wrappers

2 tablespoon minced carrots, for garnishing

Method:

In a medium bowl, combine the pork, shitake mushrooms and salt. Mix to until the filling becomes sticky then add the sugar, pepper, sesame oil and potato starch. Add the crab meat last and mix gently to combine.

Place 2 tbs of filling in the center of each wrapper. Lift and crimp the sides of the wrapper around the filling leaving the top open. The dumplings should look like little flowerpots. Garnish by arranging ¼ teaspoon of minced carrots in the center shu mai. Place dumplings onto a lined steamer basket. Steam over high heat for 6 to 8 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165’F.

Kale and Pear Salad with Seared Prawns

Now is the perfect time to clean out the garden and suit up for spring planting. With the mild winter that we had in Seattle, my kale is going crazy and starting to set flowers. What does that mean for me? A nice kale salad and later, flower heads for sautéing...maybe with some spring onions and mushrooms. In the meantime, enjoy this recipe.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Salad:

½ pound prawns, peeled and deveined

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon sriracha (optional)

1 tablespoon rice bran oil

½ small red onion, thinly sliced

4 cups chopped kale

1 firm pear or apple, julienned (jicama works well too)

1 carrot, julienned

¼ cup roughly chopped mint leaves

¼ cup toasted peanuts, lightly crushed (optional, for garnishing)

Place the prawns, fish sauce, sriracha, and canola in a bowl, toss to combine. Set aside to marinate while making the salad and dressing.

To cook the prawns, preheat a cast iron skillet over high heat for approximately 2-3 minutes. Carefully arrange the prawns into the pan and leave them alone for 2 minutes. Give the prawns a quick flip then turn the burner off. Continue to cook with residual heat for another 2-3 minutes.

Toss the broiled prawns with the salad ingredients and dressing. Garnish with peanuts before serving.

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Dressing:

2 tablespoons rice bran oil

1 small shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

½” ginger root, minced

1-2 Thai chilies, minced (optional) 2 tablespoons lime juice, (approximately 1 small lime)

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon fish sauce

Place the oil and shallot in a small saucepan and cook over medium high heat until the shallots begin to take on some color and smell sweet/caramelized. Turn off the heat and continue to stir for a few minutes more. **Carryover heat will continue to cook the shallots and they will turn a golden-brown color.** Place all of the ingredients into a bowl and whisk or stir until the sugar dissolves. Set aside. This dressing holds very well in the refrigerator, up to two weeks.