Putting on a Vietnamese spread

The hardest thing about putting on a Vietnamese spread for some friends last week, was picking what to make- I ended up with 5 dishes- after Rusty insisted I cull a couple- given the tightness of timing on the day, I have to say it was a good call, and I don't think anyone was hungry...

Most are from the Red Lantern cook book, the calamari is an adaptation of something we made at the Red Bridge cooking school in Hoi an and the desert is an old Gourmet Traveller favourite, with Red Lantern ice cream...

So the menu:

Entree

Mussels with Lemongrass, chilli and garlic

and Lemongrass Calamari

Main

Braised Duck with ginger and spring onions

and Chargrilled Sirloin on a green pawpaw salad

Desert

Banana Split with homemade coconut and banana icecream

And my new favourite apperitif- Cosmopolitan Champagne Cocktail

So it was a pretty hectic day- after getting back from the Footscray markets, I spent most of the morning making the chicken stock, the icecream and getting the beef, duck and calamari into marinades. Had a break in the afternoon and then got on to cleaning the mussels and doing the other prep. I got so confused about when what how, I scribbled down a running sheet - which Rusty found highly amusing- but it got me through...

Now, the recipes:

Cosmopolitan Champagne Cocktail (makes 6)

Boil 250 ml cranberry juice uncovered for 10 minutes. Cool. Combine with 2tbsp of cointreau and 2 tbsp lime juice in a jug.

Take 6 glasses, each with a sugar cube + 1/6 of the cranberry concoction and fill with bubbly.

Lemongrass Calamari

1 kg calamari

4 lemongrass stalks

4 shallots

2 clove garlic

1 chilli

tsp pepper

tsp salt

tsp sugar

2 tsp vegetable oil

Peel lemongrass and cut finely. Chop the shallots and garlc and chilli. Put all ingredients in a mortar and grind to a paste.

Clean calamari and score.

Smear the paste over the calamari and place in a container and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Place on the barbecue and grill till golden brown.

Serve with lime dipping sauce and fish dipping sauce

Lime: tsp salt, tsp pepper, tsp sugar + juice of one lime mixed together

Fish: Fish Dipping sauce.
Combine 3tbsp fish sauce, 3 tbsp rice vinegar and 125 ml water and 2 tbsp sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir well and cook until just below boiling point, then allow to cool. To serve, finely chop 2 cloves of garlic and 1 birds eye chilli and stir through with 2 tbsp lime juice (makes 250 ml.)

Mussels with Lemongrass, chilli and garlic

500g mussels
250 ml chicken stock
2 tbsp oil
2 lemon grass stems, white only finely chopped
½ onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
Birds eye chilli, sliced
Tbsp oyster sauce
Tbsp fish sauce
Tsp corn flour
2 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
Handful fresh coriander
½ lemon

Scrub and debeard mussels, then set aside. In a wok, over high heat, add the chicken stock and mussels, cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the mussels open (discard any that don’t open). Strain the mussels, but keep the liquid for later.
Put the wok back on medium heat, add the oil and gently fry the lemon grass, onion, garlic and chilli. Once golden, add the mussels and increase the heat. Toss through the oyster sauce and fish sauce, then add 125 ml of the reserved cooking liquid.

Mix the cornflour with tbsp of water and toss it through the mussels to thicken up the sauce. Season with salt, pepper and sugar and serve, garnished with coriander and lemon.

Chargrilled Beef on pawpaw salad

2 x 250 g sirloin steaks
2 handfuls shredded green pawpaw
Small handful mixed Vietnamese herbs (perilla, Vietnamese mint and basil)
Tbsp fried Asian shallots
Tbsp dried shrimp, soaked in hot water for 5 minutes and drained
3 tbsp Fish Dipping Sauce

Marinade
2 tsp pickled chilli
2 crushed garlic cloves
2cm piece of ginger, minced
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 tsp vegetable oil
Pinch salt

Mix all the marinade ingredients together until the sugar dissolves.
Add the steaks and marinade a minimum of 2 hours in the fridge.
Chargrill the steaks over medium high heat to your preference, then rest the steaks for 5 minutes. Reheat the steaks on the chargrill, then cut into thin slices.
Serve with a salad of green pawpaw, mixed herbs, shallots, shrimp and dressed with dipping sauce.

Braised Duck with Ginger and Spring Onion (Vit Tiem Gung Hanh)

I was a bit sceptical about this recipe- boiled duck?! But the sauce reduces down to a gooey deliciousness that is brilliant served with jasmine rice.

6 duck leg quarters
6 spring onions – white part bashed, green part finely sliced
3 garlic cloves
3 tbsp. minced ginger
125 ml fish sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp caster sugar
Litre of vegetable oil
2 litres of chicken stock

Wash duck leg, pat dry with paper towel. Trim and discard excess fat. Add the white part of the spring onion, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar to a large bowl and mix well to dissolve sugar.
Cut the legs in half through the knee joint and marinate for a minimum of 2 hours.
Remove from the marinade (keep the marinade for later) and dry the duck with a paper towel.
Heat the oil in a wok and deep fry the duck pieces for 3 – 5 minutes or until golden. Remove from oil, place in a single layer in a saucepan. Add the reserved marinade and cover with stock by 2cm.
Bring to the boil, skim off impurities and excess oil, then reduce heat to a slow simmer.
Cook for 1 hour.
Garnish with sliced spring onion greens and serve with jasmine rice.

Chicken Stock
Crush 6 garlic cloves in a mortor. Clean a whole chicken under water- place chicken in saucepan with 6 litres of water and bring to the boil. Skim for 10 minutes to remove impurities, then add garlic + 8 spring onions and a 4cm piece of ginger sliced up. Cook for 2 hours.

Each individual recipe is really easy to make- typical Vietnamese- just simple fresh ingredients- it lets the food speak for itself- so go ahead and try.

Enjoy!