Cơm Tấm Bì Sườn Chả

Cơm Tấm literally means broken rice. This rice is usually serves with a variety of “sides dishes”. Most popular is Cơm Tấm Bì Sườn Chả. However you can also have it with just bì, just chả, etc…. Besides Bì, Sườn, and Chả, other options include Tôm Kho, and trứng chiên (fried egg). So cook up a pot of broken rice and explore your options. Don’t forget the onion oil, sour stuff, and fish sauce!

Thính (Roasted Rice Powder)

Ingredients:
-rice

What to Do:
Roast rice over medium heat until golden. Cool and process in a food processor or a blender and sift. Can be stored in an air tight container for up to 3 months.

Note:
You can also purchase this premade at most asian grocery stores. However, sometimes the stores don’t sell enough to “refresh” their supplies in time, thus you might end up buying….you know. If kept to long the smell will turn from a nutty fragrance (fresh) to a oily odor (too old to use).

Đồ Chua (Sour Stuff)

Đồ Chua is basically just pickled veggies. Literally translated, Đồ Chua means "sour stuff" as đồ basically means stuff and chua is the word or sour. 99% of the time đồ chua is made with either carrots or daikon. Very frequently used as a condiment in many Vietnamese Dishes, this is a must have for any Vietnamese kitchen.

Ingredients:
-2 carrots
-1 small daikon
-4 tbs sugar
-3tbs vinegar
-1/2 tsp salt

What to Do:
Peel, wash and shred or julienne carrots and daikon. Add sugar and mix until sugar is dissolved, mix in vinegar and salt.

Note:
Carrots and daikon can also be carved into flower, butterflies, etc… and be made into do chua. The fancy version is usually added into fish sauce to spice up the sauce’s appearance and gives the diners something to much on to complement their food.

Chả Ăn Cơm Tấm

There are many versions of this dish which is usually served as a part of cơm tấm. Most of the time it is made with pork especially in Vietnamese restaurants. However, you can also make it with crab (Chả Cua), or dried shrimp (Chả Tôm Khô).

Ingredients:
-3 eggs
-1/4lb ground pork, or crab meat, or dried shrimp
-1 medium onion
-1/2 small bundle cellophane noodles
-50g woodear mushrooms
-1/2 tsp salt
-a few pinches of sugar
-1/2 tsp pepper

What to Do:
Separate eggs. Soak and chop mushrooms. Chop onions; cut noodles into shorter pieces. Mix together egg whites, pork, onion, noodles, mushrooms, salt, sugar and pepper. Steam on high heat in a cake or pie pan until center juices are clear. Spread egg yolks on surface to glaze and steam or exactly 30 seconds more.

Note:
Do not over steam; else the egg yolks will not be clear and shiny. If you’re concerned about eating undercooked eggs, than go ahead and steam it long to completely cook the yolks. If using dried shrimp, soak the shrimp in hot water for ½ hour drain and chop before mixing with the other ingredients.

Bì (Shreeded Pork with Roasted Rice Powder)

Ingredients:
-1/2 lb pork tenderloin
-1/2 bulb of garlic
-2 tsp fish sauce
-1 package (1lb) cooked shredded pork skin (bì)
-thính (roasted rice powder)
-1/3 tsp salt
-1 tsp cooking oil
-coconut juice or water

What to Do:
Slice meat into chunks and boil in a frying pan in coconut juice or water and salt. The liquid should come up half way to the top of the meat (doesn’t need to completely cover the meat). Turn meat half way through to make sure it’s cooked evenly. Mince garlic. Wash and cut pork skin into shorter strands. Once all of the water in the pan of meat is almost all evaporated, add in 1 tsp mince garlic and oil, continue stir fry until all of the water is evaporated, then fry until meat is golden and fragrant. Cool meat and slice into matchstick size pieces. Mist together cooked shredded pork, with pork skin and the remaining minced garlic (raw) and the pan dripping. Drizzle in fish sauce and roasted rice powder while tossing until the rice powder covers and dusts the pork and pork skin.

Serve with cơm tấm, or noodles with fresh beans sprout and herbs, or use to make bì cuốn spring rolls.

Note:
If precooked shredded pork skin is not available, you can make it yourself. Just boil pork skin with some vinegar, drain, cool and slice into thin long strands.

Bánh Quai Vạc (Coconut/Mung Bean Puffs)

These pastries can be filled with either coconut or mung beans. Ones filled with mung beans are usually marked with a red dot on top of the pastries. The dough should have a crisp and flaky texture similar to puff pastry.

For the Dough
Water Dough:
-300g all purpose flour
-120g water
-120g oil
-1/2 tsp salt

**Mix everything and knead to form a smooth dough. Rest for ½ hour and divide into 26 portions (or as many as you like).

Oil Dough:
-150g tapioca starch
-75g oil

**Add oil slowly to starch and mix to form a stiff dough. Divide into the same number of portions as the water dough.

Filling
Coconut:
-300g grated coconut
-100g sugar (adjust to taste)
-50g koh fun (cooked glutinous rice flour)

**Mix everything together and divide into the same number of portions as the water dough.

Mung Beans:
-200g mung beans (peeled and split)
-150g sugar
-2 tbs oil

**Wash, soak, cook, and mash beans. Add sugar and oil. Stir fry over medium heat until thickened. Cool and divide into the same number or portions as the water dough.

What to Do:
Wrap a portions of the oil dough in the water dough. Roll flat, and roll dough into a log (like a jelly roll), roll again and fold dough into thirds. Roll flat, a filling in the middle and fold dough over filling. Use a round biscuit/cookie cutter to trim off the excess dough. Bake at 375’F for 15-20mins. Take care not to over bake; the pastries should be whitish with only a tint of yellow.