Vietnamese Fish Sauce [Nuoc Cham]

Versions of this Thai and Vietnamese popular dipping sauce are a balance of sweet, tart, salty and spicy. Variations are as many as the homes that prepare it. There is no absolute recipe. Ginger might compliment garlic and sweetness is balanced with acidity from limes and or vinegar. Fish sauce provides the saltiness. Before you taste straight fish sauce and decide, its use might be better suited to cat food, understand that Worcestershire sauce, one of the world’s best selling condiment derives its unique flavor from anchovies. Fish sauce has a strong flavor. Add it last, a little at a time, tasting as you go.

1/2 Cup sugar dissolved in a cup hot water
1/4 Cup good fish sauce or less (Tiparos is a popular choice)
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
Juice from one or more limes (include some pulp if you like)
3 cloves of minced garlic
1-2 Teaspoons crushed red pepper (see note 1)
Chopped cilantro

Garnish

¼ cup finely shredded carrot

Few sprigs of cilantro

Lime slices

This sauce is great for Thai or Vietnamese spring rolls.

http://www.chinagreensource.com

Note:

1. Crushed red pepper flakes are mildly hot (4 on a scale of ten), Thai peppers are a lot hotter but are more often used for this sauce.

Sonoran Enchiladas Chatas (Flat Enchiladas)

San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico

Corn Tortillas are just corn, water, sea salt, and lime so one wonders why different brands are so different from each other. Freshness has to be a major factor. I find smelling the package is a good tell. If the aroma smells wonderful, it will taste wonderful. If making any dish where the tortilla figures prominently like enchiladas or tacos, getting a perfect result must start with a perfect tortilla. I bought masa and a metal press with the thought that I would make my own. Fortunately, I discovered a “Mercado” that makes them daily for sale.

Flat enchiladas are very popular in Sonoran Mexico, Arizona and New Mexico where they are also called enchiladas montadasor (mounted) and may be topped with one or more fried egg.  In this recipe, there is A great sauce will make a great enchilada. The sauce can be made a day, week, or months ahead of time and kept frozen until needed.

You may assemble these with no frying, then the enchiladas would be quicker to prepare and have fewer calories. That being said, dipping the tortillas in the sauce and frying them briefly (20 seconds) in oil on each side not only locks in a better flavor but makes them taste richer. This practice of coating the tortillas in sauce first before frying is most common in Mexico. To be frank, it is easier to fry the tortillas first in oil, and stack them until needed, then in sauce first, keeping them handy until they are needed. It is also less messy

Ingredients for one serving:
            4 Tablespoons Enchiladas Sauce II, warmed (see below)

3 White corn tortillas

2 tablespoons chopped Vidalia onions, sauted in butter until just clear

4 Tablespoons white melting cheese such as Queso Fresco or Monterey Jack


Once assembly is complete, cook in a 350 F oven until bubbly hot. (Use a potholder to handle the hot plate.)
 

Garnish

Chopped iceberg lettuce with tomatoes slices, tossed in a vinaigrette
Roasted Mexican onions

Chopped green onions
Slices of fanned avacado

Chopped cilantro

Fried eggs (sunny side up) if desired.

Assemble the enchiladas: Place 1 tablespoon of enchilada sauce on a microwave/oven safe plate and top with a fried tortilla. Spoon over tablespoon of enchilada sauce. Sprinkle with cheese, sauted onions and add next tortilla, add more sauce and cheese. Top with last tortilla, follow by another tablespoon of enchilada sauce then follow with more cheese. Prepare several servings and bake in 350 F oven until cheese well melted. Usually 20~30 minutes.)

Let rest one minute, then garnish plate with Chili toreados, roasted Mexican onions, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado slices, scallions, chopped cilantro, and optionally, one or more fried eggs.

Enchiladas Sauce II (Chile Rojo)

To control the amount of heat, use more mild New Mexico powder than other varieties. To make a hotter variety, mix both hot and mild New Mexico chile powder. This recipe makes for a sweeter result than starting with whole dried peppers and is faster to prepare.

1 Teaspoon Ancho powder

1 Teaspoon Aji Amarillo powder

1 Teaspoon Guajillo powder

1 Teaspoon sweet paprika (or smoked pimenton)

1 Teaspoon of mild or hot New Mexico ground chile pow­der

2 Cups homemade rich chicken bone stock

2 Cloves minced garlic

5 Tablespoons lard (rendered pork fat) (Manteca rendered from good pork fat)

5 Tablespoons white all-purpose flour
2 Bay leaf

Pinch Mexican oregano(Lippia berlandieri)

1/2 Cup sour cream or more, as needed

Salt

Optional, pinch or two of sugar as required - see text
Optional, 1~2 teaspoon powdered quality beef bouillon (to taste)

Melt lard, then make a roux by blending the pork fat and flour, and cook it on low until it is a pale brown color. Remove from heat. Whisk in chili powders, garlic and oregano over very low heat, add chicken stock, and garlic. Simmer for 1 hours with a couple of optional bay leaves, adding more chicken stock as needed. Taste the sauce for hotness, and if not spicy enough, add more ground HOT chili powder. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. Add beef bouillon to taste. Correct salt and add a smidge of sugar and sourcream as required. The amount of sugar should NOT be per­ceptible and is used to just take any bitter edge off. Salt will also help moderate the biter undertones. The sourcream serves to mellow the sauce. The key is taste, correct the seasonings as a last touch. Remove bay leaves when sauce has finished simmering.

Garnish using Mexican onions, Grilled Jalapenos (toreados), avocado

Notes:
1. The Guajillo is one of the most common and popular chiles grown and used in Mexico. It is mild to moderately hot, and has dark, reddish brown, leathery skin. The peppers range from 3-5 inches in length and are 1 inch wide. They are said to have either a green-tea flavor or fruity flavor, with hints of berries.
2. An ancho is a dried poblano chile. It has a mild to medium heat with a sweet fruity flavor with hints of cherry, prune, and fig.
3. “Amarillo” is the Spanish word for yellow, and “Ají” is the term for chile in South America, this pepper is also appropriately known as the “yellow chile.” The Ají Amarillo is grown in all areas of Peru. Used by the Incas, it is still the most common and popular chile in that country. It may be said that is it possibly the most important ingredient in Peruvian cooking. It grows to about 4-5 inches in length, and despite its name, it actually matures to a deep orange. Like other chiles from this area, the Amarillo has a fruity, berry-like flavor.
4. If freezing sauce, do not add sourcream.

5. Other varieties of Chile’s may add flavor
.

.

The Jasmine Rice of Thailand (Thai Hom Mali)

Jasmine rice is Thailand’s top exported rice. While China, by its sheer size, is the world’s largest producer of rice; Thailand has led the world as the largest rice exporter since the 1960′s, owing much to jasmine rice. With continued Thai government support, stringent quality control, all rice destined for export passes the government stamp of approval. The active involvement of the government in the promotion of Thai rice abroad has placed jasmine rice in the spotlight on the world stage. Among discerning Asians in many countries, jasmine rice is considered the best-tasting rice in the world. Archeological evidence supports that in northeastern Thailand rice cultivation dates back at least 5,400 years The Golden Phoenix² label consistently markets top-grade jasmine rice from the premium northeast region. Besides where the rice is grown, the fragrance, texture and flavor can differ depending on the age of the rice. Jasmine rice is softest and most fragrant when newly harvested.

The rice is naturally fragrant with an aroma similar to that of “pandan” leaves. When the native jasmine rice was first isolated in 1950 it immediately became the accepted standard of best tasting rice.

In my mind, a fresh bowl of steamed perfectly cooked jasmine rice has the essence of perfection. I may cook a pot and top a rice serving with a spicy chili sauce having garlic and ginger.

This cooking method is the least fastidious, and never burns the bottom of the rice. The problem with cooking rice on the stove top is that, as the rice absorbs all the water in the last throws of cooking, the single source of heat cannot be properly spread away from the bottom of the pan without the water. The bottom becomes too hot, and the rice in contact with the bottom of the pan then burns. The stove top formula was 5 minutes on high, 5 minutes on low, five minutes off which meant you had to be diligent about the timing. This method, however, is non critical. A little extra time will not reduce the rice to mush as long as the water content is on the lien side. This recipe may be scaled as required.

2+ Cups of premium jasmine rice (+ means heaping 2 cups)

3 ½ Cups of water

Bring water to a full boil using an oven safe pot. Add rice without stirring, cover with a tight fitting lid. Heat to a boil. When boiling, place covered pot in preheated 350 F oven for 40 minutes. Remove lid, allowing steam to escape. Wait 5 minutes to serve.

 

Notes:

1.        Pandan Leaf (Screwpine Leaf) The leaf is used in curries of Sri Lanka and in Malaysian, Balinese, and Thai cooking. It is commonly used as a flavoring and coloring in Malaysian and Singaporean

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandanus_amaryllifolius

cooking, especially in Malay dishes. The screw-pine or pandan leaves are tied in a knot and placed in soups or stews that are being cooked. The leaf is also bruised or raked with the tines of a fork to release its aroma, pounded to release its aromatic juice, or even boiled to obtain its flavor. Pandan leaves are used as wrappers in Southeast Asian cooking to provide a distinct flavor to the foods. They are wrapped around chicken, pork, glutinous rice, fish, and desserts before grilling, roasting, barbecuing, or steaming. Pandan leaves also enhance the flavor of seasoned rices, puddings, beverages, and curries.

2.        Chia Meng Group has started exporting rice to Hong Kong since 1955 under the brand name of “Golden Phoenix”