Bo Bia (Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Chinese Sausage, Dried Shrimp, Eggs, and Jicama) and Hoisin Dipping Sauce with Chili and Crushed Peanuts
Bo bia are the Vietnamese spring rolls version of popiah, a Hokkien-style spring roll popular in Singapore and Malaysia. (If you sound out bò bía with the proper Vietnamese accent marks, they both sound similar. This is not to be confused with bò (beef) and bia (beer) with no accent mark.) The fillings are slightly different and the Vietnamese version uses rice paper wrappers instead of wheat, but in both versions, the spring rolls are stuffed with shrimp and jicama. Hokkien cuisine hails from the Fujian province of China, and I can only assume that immigrants must have brought the recipe with them and then adapted it when they dispersed to Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam. I also remember eating a Thai version once long ago, and am assuming that's courtesy of the Fujianese again. Bo bia are a common street snack in Saigon, where many Fujianese immigrants settled. Noodlepie has pictures of a Saigon bo bia streetseller. I found a bo bia recipe from Playing with My Food. I did a little tweaking with the recipe and came up with this version. Read my previous discussion of banh trang (rice paper) -- how to wet it, roll it, and preserve it. This recipe also gave me an opportunity to use the very scraggly potted basil plants I have in my kitchen window. I saved the flowered tops and put them in a vinegar bottle to make basil-flavored vinegar.
Spring rolls should not be made more than one hour before you intend to eat them as the rice paper will revert back to its hardened state. You can also prepare all the ingredients and let your guests make their own bo bia spring rolls at the table.
Bo Bia (Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Chinese Sausage, Dried Shrimp, Eggs, and Jicama) with Hoisin Dipping Sauce with Chili and Crushed Peanuts Adapted from Playing with My Food To make roughly 8 bo bia spring rolls, you'll need: 2 Chinese sausage (I used the large fresh kind from Quang Tran, Inc., which gives me 4 slices per sausage. You may need more if the kind you use is smaller.) 1 small jicama, roughly 3 inches in diameter 2 tblsp dried shrimp 2 eggs 8 rice paper wrappers small bunch of fresh basil leaves hoisin sauce fish sauce crushed fresh chilies, or chili paste crushed peanuts
Take a small handful of dried shrimp and place in a bowl, filling with water until just covered. (The following steps don't necessarily have to be performed in this order but I try to dirty as few pans as possible when cooking for less cleanup afterward.) While the shrimp is soaking, finely shred or julienne jicama and set aside. You can also do this with carrots for additional flavor and color. I would have but I didn't have any in my fridge. Then beat 2 eggs with a dash of fish sauce and make a thin egg omelet. Slice into lengths and set aside. Slice Chinese sausage lengthwise and saute in pan until slightly crisp. Drain fat. Saute jicama (and carrots if any) until softened. Set aside and save any juices. Saute soaked dried shrimp, saving the soaking water. When shrimp is slightly softened and warm, set aside. I just left everything on my cutting board as shown below. If you're serving this to guests, just arrange everything on a large platter, or separate smaller plates.
Add the water from the soaked shrimp and the juices from the jicama into the pan. Add the hoisin sauce and chili sauce and stir until thoroughly mixed. If there's not enough liquid, add more water so that you achieve a dipping sauce consistency. Pour into bowls, swirl some more chili sauce in the center, topped with crushed peanuts.
Now as for wrapping, this is purely for my sense of aesthetics. Wet your rice paper, arrange small row of the shrimp, with the Chinese sausage and egg omelet (pretty yellow side facing out) on opposing sides as shown here.
Enjoy! My other Vietnamese spring rolls recipes: Goi Cuon (Vietnamese Salad/Spring/Summer Rolls) Nem Nuong and Nem Nuong Cuon (Vietnamese Grilled Pork Patty and Vietnamese Grilled Pork Patty Salad Rolls) Who else made bo bia? Miss.Adventure @Home has a similar version.
Read more: http://wanderingchopsticks.blogspot.com
Monday, December 17, 2012
Be Thui (Beef with Roasted Rice Powder and Fermented Bean Curd)
A funny thing has happened since I've started this little ol' food blog. Among the emails I receive, there's always bound to be one naming some dish I've never heard of before. And it usually goes something like this: "Kirk, have you ever tried xxxxxx? I don't eat it myself, but my (fill in the blank - Father, Mother, Uncle, Grandfather) just loves the stuff." I guess it's just a sign of old age, I'm getting lumped in with what "Dad" eats. However, this one came from a good "FOY" (friend of yoso!!!), TammyC. The basic gist of the email was that her Dad loves what she called "almost raw baby cow meat dip" from Cho Ben Thanh Market in Westminster. Not quite the most appetizing of descriptions, but TammyC knows my "tastes" pretty well, and recommended I try it out. I understood that I was a bit out of my depth here, and perhaps needed a bit of help. This, of course, was a job for the man we simply call "Beach"! Of course he knew exactly what I was describing. Always generous with his time, Beach agreed to meet me, and in fact took me on a whirlwind little tour of some of Little Saigon's little shops and eateries. It was a wonderful 2 hours, and will be the subject of a future post.
Our fourth (yes fourth) stop on the tour was Cho Ben Thanh Market.....and a plastic vat of pinkish meat covered with a powdery substance..... Be Thui. Beach explained that this version is roasted veal, dusted with rice powder, and is eaten with a ginger based dipping sauce and basil. The market itself is fairly busy, and the shoppers (mostly women) are pretty aggressive.
You haven't lived until you've seen an anxious group of women with tongs (not thongs) attack a steaming vat of intestines. The gentleman manning the register seemed to grow 2 extra pairs of arms as he deftly handled all of the transactions coming at him. Beach made sure I got what I came for, the gentleman covered his hand with a plastic bag, grabbed a handful of the meat, folded the bag over, and that was it. I paid, and fearful of what damage ladies with tongs could do, beat a hasty retreat.
After I arrived home, I opened up my little package and checked out my Be Thui.
Slices of very pink meat along with fat and skin, coated in rice powder and sesame seeds. I tried some straight out of the bag, and the meat had a chewy texture almost like that of cured meat. Being veal, the flavor was very mild, and though the fragrance had a bit of a "metallic" edge to it, it was not reflected in the meat, as the rice powder had absorbed much of the moisture of the meat, and provided a bit of a nutty flavor to the whole thing. The pieces of skin were on the crunchy side.
The real star of the show was the dipping sauce, made with what Beach said was Tuong Cu Da, a fermented bean sauce. According to Wikipedia the sauce is made in a town in the Hà Tây Province, which as of 2008 is now a part of Hanoi. It was the ginger in the fairly salty sauce that really shown through. Though the Missus wouldn't touch the Be Thui, she kept tasting the sauce. The combination of the dipping sauce and the basil gave the dish a very clean and refreshing flavor.
As Beach pointed out, this would be pretty good with a "cold one". Should you want to brave the "women with tongs" you can get Be Thui, and a whole range of Offal at Cho Ben Thanh Market.
Cho Ben Thanh Market
9172 Bolsa Avenue
Westminster, CA 92683
I'd never had thought to try this without that wonderful email from TammyC, and Beach's(who should do food tours of Little Saigon) help. So thanks again to both of you!
Food Festival opens in HCM City
50 leading hotels and restaurants in 25 countries and territories are taking part in the 7th Food Festival in Ho Chi Minh City from December 12-16.
The highlight of the festival will be famous chef Martin Yan’s “Yan Can Cook” demonstration of food preparation and introduction of unique international gastronomy.
In addition, 100 watermelon lanterns will be created by professional cooks for Vietnamese Guinness recognition.
Other activities include making Vietnamese dishes from cooked rice paper, preparing Korean food and serving drinks with the participation of five-star hotel chefs.
Visitors to the festival can also enjoy art performances, folk games, fashion shows, traditional and rock music, dance sport, aerobic and Thai Muay.
The annual event, jointly held by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Tourism Association of the city, provides a good opportunity for the public to learn more about the cultural values of culinary arts from different nations, prestigious hotels in the world, restaurants and trustful addresses to serve foreign and local tourists in Vietnam.
(Source: VNA)
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