INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

1993    
The "tuong" referred to below is a Vietnamese soybean preparation++a
kind of thin, salty paste.  If you can't find it, you might get away
with substituting Chinese bean sauce, mashed and thinned a bit with
water, or possibly a dark Japanese miso. Although you can make this  in
a food processor or blender, it's best to pound it in a mortar  with a
pestle to achieve that certain crunchiness which is a most  desirable
quality of much Vietnamese food.  Bach started using a  mortar and
pestle when she was thirteen years old, working with a  pestle that was
about a yard long and 5 inches in diameter.  Although  her family hand
many servants, her mother, a great cook, wanted Bach  to learn to use
this tool properly. And Bach, who loved to cook as  much then as she
does now, was a willing and eager student. In  Vietnam, where this is a
very important dish, both the sugar cane and  shrimp, fresh from the
sea, are brought to the door by the country  people.  If you cannot
obtain sugar cane, you can prepare this dish  with crab claws instead.
In the West, we have been making this in the  oven. Originally it was
barbecued over charcoal, and if you with you  can do the same.  Just
cook it for 10 minutes on each side and this  attractive dish will be
reproduced exactly as it is in Vietnam. Shell  and devein the shrimp,
them rinse.  Dry thoroughly in paper towels,  blotting many times. Mash
the garlic in a mortar, then add the  shrimp, a few at a time and mash
to a paste.  If the mortar is not  large enough, it will be necessary
to remove the already prepared  shrimp paste to make room for the
additional shrimp to be pounded.  After all the shrimp is reduced to a
smooth paste, pound the sugar  into the shrimp, then add the egg white
and pound with the pestle  until well blended. Finally add the roasted
rice powder, black  pepper, and pork fat, combining all the
ingredients. Peel the sugar  cane. Cut into 4-inch lengths and then
split lengthwise into  quarters. Pour about 1/4 cup of oil into a bowl.
Dip your fingers  into the oil and pick up about 2 tablespoons of
shrimp paste.  Mold  it into an oval, around and halfway down the sugar
cane, leaving half  of the sugar cane exposed to serve as a handle.
Proceed until you  have used up all the shrimp paste. Preheat the oven
to 350F.  Put the  shrimp on sugar cane on a baking sheet, then bake
for 30 minutes or  until brown.  Serve with the vegetable platter,
dried rice papers,  and nuoc leo with tamarind, as follows: Each person
is given a dried  rice paper, and, dipping his finger in water, he
moistens the entire  surface of the paper, which soon becomes soft and
flexible. He then  helps himself, from the vegetable platter, to some
lettuce, cucumber,  coriander, and mint, if available. Then he takes a
sugar cane stick,  removes the shrimp patty, breaks it in half
lengthwise, and places it  on top of the vegetables, all in a cylinder,
at one end of the rice  paper. Then he folds over each side to enclose
the filling and rolls  it up. Holding it in his hand, he then dips it
in his own small bowl  of sauce. While you eat the shrimp in rice
paper, you can also chew  on the sugar cane.  Makes 6 servings. NUOC
LEO WITH TAMARIND: Soak  the tamarind paste in the 3 tablespoons water.
Heat the oil and add  the chopped garlic; cook briefly.  Add the water
from the tamarind to  the saucepan, discarding the remaining tamarind
paste and seeds. Stir  and add the tuong, 1/2 cup water, sugar, peanut
butter. Mix well and  boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Sprinkle
the nuts on top of  the sauce and pour into individual bowls for
serving. ROASTED RICE  (THINH): Roasted rice is used quite frequently
in Vietnamese cooking.  We generally prepare a quantity of it and keep
it in a jar to have on  hand when needed. 1 cup rice Heat a small, dry
frying pan over high  heat and add the rice. Toast, stirring
constantly, until rice is  brown.  Transfer to a blender and grind into
a powder. Store as  suggested above. From "The Classic Cuisine of
Vietnam", Bach Ngo and  Gloria Zimmerman, Barron's, 1979. Posted by
Stephen Ceideberg; May 24  File
ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/food/mealmaster/recipes/cberg2.zip

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Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 84
Calories From Fat: 66
Total Fat: 7.6g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 63.4mg
Potassium: 52.5mg
Carbohydrates: 3.1g
Fiber: <1g
Sugar: 1.5g
Protein: 1.7g