Recipe: Bun Patty Nuong

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I normally don’t do food posts, however this recipe was too good to miss. (And I wanted to keep a record of it for myself in the future!)

Here’s my twist on a classic Vietnamese vermicelli dish that tasted so good, I inhaled most of it before I remembered to take a photo.

Try this heat-laden, kicky, crunchy herbal meal with New World Sauvignon Blanc, Prosecco, or a hoppy India Pale Ale!

Ingredients

  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 large shallots, halved & sliced into tiny, thin strips
  • extra virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil
  • 6 veggie tempura patties (those fish cake-like things with the carrot bits and peas embedded within), cut into strips
  • 1 lb. bean sprouts, washed
  • approx. 250 g or 1/2 package rice vermicelli or Pho noodles (depending on your preference for thin / broad)
  • 2 carrots, julienned
  • 1/2 English long cucumber, julienned
  • 1/2 head Romaine lettuce, chiffonaded
  • 3 scallions, chopped
  • 1/2 cup (loose) cilantro, chopped
  • 1 cup (loose) mint leaves, chiffonaded
  • 1 cup (loose) Thai basil leaves, chiffonaded
  • 1 dried bird’s eye chili, ground into flakes (or 1 tsp. dried chili flakes)
  • 1 heaping tbsp. sugar
  • juice of 2 limes
  • 1/4 cup nam pla (fish sauce)
  • roasted peanuts, unsalted, lightly smashed

Directions

  • Place half of the minced garlic along with the ground dried chili flakes, sugar, limes and nam pla into a bowl. Stir to dissolve sugar, add a generous swirl of oil and set aside.
  • Coat the bottom of a saute pan with oil. Over medium heat, fry the shallots and remaining garlic until browned. Scoop them out into a bowl, reserving the oil in the pan. Briefly saute the tempura patty strips in the oil until heated through. Turn off heat and set aside.
  • Cook the vermicelli or Pho noodles in just-boiled water to the desired softness (note: this shouldn’t take long). Drain the noodles into a sieve or colander and run cold water over the noodles to decrease the heat and prevent them from sticking together in a giant clump. Save about 1/2 cup of the noodle water.
  • Add noodle water gradually into the nam pla mixture to dilute to taste. Sort of like chemistry, this step helps the sharp acids, sugar and salt of the mixture come into balance.
  • You are now ready to assemble your meal! In either a large, wide serving dish or individual dishes, layer the ingredients upward as follows: carrots, cucumber and romaine; bean sprouts and noodles; tempura strips; chopped herbs; fried garlic/shallot mixture; and finally the crumbled peanut topping.
  • Add spoonfuls of the nam pla sauce to taste. Mix together and enjoy!
  • Serves 4 – 6. Tastes great with extra dried chili oil.

Rhyme and Rieslin’

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A total butchering of this grape’s name…

Surely I know it sounds a little lame!

Well I’m cramming for my Unit Two

WSET Diploma exam, what can I do

But to slam some words out quick? Pressed for time,

My first instinct was to compose a rhyme

About this fantastic Riesling wine.

(A proper note’s on Wine Align.)

Faller Alsace Grand Cru Geisberg Riesling 2007

$20.95 at LCBO (Vintages)

 

Pale straw in colour, with a subtle nose

Of gingery spice, apple, mineral and honey nut Cheerios.

Showing just the slightest hint of maturity,

This 2007′s got at least 10 more years of life, assuredly.

The palate was balanced; subdued, yet concentrated and long;

I should have bought more, but that would be wrong,

For this lovely wine comes from the LCBO:

On paper, a big cross-provincial border no-no.

As for food pairings, my suggestion for this Geisberg Grand Cru:

Something along the lines of bread and apples in Gruyère fondue.

Another dish that’d taste great with this Alsatian,

Needless to say – a big, fat, juicy crustacean!

[Ed.: In tribute to Fezzik, the rhyming giant in The Princess Bride.]

Bonus Links

Click for more info about the Geisberg Grand Cru vineyard site; info on producer Faller; and a Globe and Mail review of this wine here.

Dr. Loosen Urziger Wurtzgarten Spatlese Riesling 2005

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I’d always been interested in experimenting with the aging and development of white wines, although my observations as a consumer inform me that there just aren’t too many examples of ageable whites available in my local market, at least not ones that can be found without some deep digging around liquor store shelves (and your wallet).

Fortunately, one can always count on cool-climate, quality appellation Riesling to offer some type of cellaring potential. Its abdundant phenolics (flavour compounds) and high natural acidity almost ensure that a good quality Riesling wine will continue to show plenty of deliciousness and refreshing qualities, not to mention added complexity, with a bit of maturity. Some prestige Rieslings have even been known to drink well decades following the vintage!

Some places where top-notch Rieslings come from include the Mosel, Rheingau, Rheinhessen and Nahe areas of Germany; Australia’s Clare and Eden Valleys; the Kamptal region of Austria; Marlborough, New Zealand; the famous area of Alsace, France; and the Finger Lakes region of New York.

Here’s two quick tasting notes on this Dr. Loosen Riesling from the Mosel, of which I had purchased two bottles five or six years ago at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival.

I opened the first one two Mother’s Days ago (2009), when I had Mom over for a simple but exquisite dinner of boiled lobsters with lemon tarragon dipping butter. (Mmmm…)

Bright yellow in colour, the nose was a zesty bouquet of lemon, grapefruit, lime, honey and chalky mineral. The slightly off-dry palate had a searing line of acidity which cut through the rich flavours of our dinner perfectly, albeit the wine was a bit fruity for the relatively neutral taste of delicately sweet lobster in butter.

I reckoned that there was still some time for this wine to develop, so I waited for another occasion to open the next bottle.

The second, I shared with my family at a Mother’s Day dinner I prepared last month with an armload of goodies from Granville Island Public Market – the highlights being a pot of Quadra Island scallops in coconut basil lemongrass broth and boiled BC spot prawns with a dip of bird’s eye chilis, cilantro, garlic and green onion in lemon juice.

This time, the aromatic wine was an even bigger success paired with the equally flavourful ingredients of my seafood dishes.

This is an image of the bottle opened May 2011 - the other one was downed far too quickly for me to remember my camera!

With two more years in storage, my wine had become more developed on the nose, with riper fruit notes and more honey and apricot scents; and the freshness of the mineral and lime aromas turned to a smokier smell of heated rocks and hints of spice.

In the mouth, the new scents echoed on the palate with a silkier mouthfeel – my mouth no longer puckered after each sip as it did with the first bottle. The off-dry character remained, yet tasted more integrated with these riper, verging on tropical fruit flavours and more balanced acidity.

Tasting both examples over the course of two years was a great experience I’ll be looking to try on another series of white wines again in the future. Stay tuned!