From: Mr Rufus Faloofus
Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 22:27:12 -0500
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The Mighty Vietnamese Shrimp
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This is probably my signature dish, if there were to be just
one. It always seems to work very well for me, and is perfect
for serving 3-4 people (just increase the amounts if you want
more).
Obviously, you'll want to serve a good wine with this. My
current favorites are:
* Caymus Connundrum -- Expensive, but worth it. If you're
just cooking for 2, this will do fine. Otherwise, you'd
probably do well to pick a less expensive one. A great
rich and complex white.
* Grgich Hills Fume Blanc -- Less expensive, but still nice.
A little perfume; basically a dry sauvignon blanc.
* J Lohr Chardonnay -- Quite reasonably priced, and very
good. Butter, oak, vanilla.
Ok, then... On to the recipie:
I: The Fish Sauce
In a small bowl or pitcher (something that you will
be able to pour from), mix together:
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tbsp Fish Sauce (Tiparos is my brand, but
purists insist you should only buy fish
sauce in glass bottles, and this is in
plastic)
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp chili oil
1/3 cup water
This can be made in advance. Just be sure to stir it
up before you use it.
II: The Noodles
2 8oz packs of rice noodles. No real trick here--
just don't overcook them. If you can find ones that
are made for stir frying, rather than for soups, they
are usually better (a little thicker and stronger, and
they hold together better). Cook them in a fancy pasta
cooker if you have one: as a bonus, they don't leave a
whole bunch of starch in there.
III: The Shrimp
1.5 lb of large shrimp, peeled & deveined
Season shrimp with a combination of the following:
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp chili oil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
1 pinch onion salt
1 pinch Mrs Dash all-purpose seasoning junk
Let shrimp set in marinade while you get the rest ready...
IV: The Rest
6oz oyster mushrooms
6oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 can straw mushrooms (whole)
1 dozen grape tomatoes, quartered
1 big handful bean sprouts
1 bunch scallions, sliced
1 cucumber (peeled, halved lengthwise, and sliced thinly)
1 handful of Thai basil leaves (smaller than regular
basil, with a purple tinge to leaf edges or veins)
1/2 stalk lemon grass, chopped up (use the thick end; optional)
Start the grill. Fire up a big skillet or wok. Put in some
olive oil, the lemon grass, and some flakes of red pepper
(don't go crazy here).
When the pepper starts to brown, drop in the mushrooms and
stir.
Put the shrimp on the grill. If you can put them
directly on the grill, instead of on a tin-foil sheet, you'll
get a nice blackening, which can be very delicious. But that
depends on the size of the slots in your grill.
Ok, meanwhile, put the noodles in the pasta cooker and turn
off the heat under the mushrooms. Stir the scallions into
the mushrooms.
When the noodles are almost done (still ever so slightly
crunchy), take them out of the water, run them under cold
water, and put them in the pasta bowl. Toss them with the
fish sauce.
Mix the mushrooms and scallions in there, and toss the
cucumber on top. Bring in the shrimp and put them onto
the rest of the dish. Add the grape tomatoes. Sprinkle the
bean sprouts over that, and toss on the Thai basil.
Eat the MIGHTY VIETNAMESE SHRIMP!
--Foofus.
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