Andrea Nguyen
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Asian Dumplings
(Ten Speed Press, 2009)
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(Ten Speed Press, 2006)
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« Refrigerator Gold: Leftovers Panfried Noodles |Main
March 10, 2011Mail Call: Western Ways with Asian Food?
Jack Vu emailed last week wanting to ask VWK reader to weigh in on this question: How do you incorporate Vietnamese food and ingredients into other non-Asian dishes?
As an example, Jack dips corn bread in nuoc cham dipping sauce instead of spreading it with butter. “Didn’t think I would like it but it turned out pretty good,” he wrote. Another thing that Jack does is combine lap xuong Chinese sausage with Italian sausage for topping pizza. I think he mentioned making banh mi pizza with his nephews too.
I’ve been simmering on how to answer Jack’s provocative question. Asian cooks have learned to adapt and even appropriate Western ingredients for Asian dishes. A good example is how canned cream corn is used for a popular southern Chinese and Vietnamese soup. Another example is the Viet use of canned asparagus for the classic crab and asparagus soup. The banh mi sandwich embodies the use of a Western food for not just a Vietnamese dish but to create something completely new.
But what about using Asian foods or ingredients in Western ways? On the February 9, 2011 episode of Top Chef All-Stars, pho fondue was the winning dish. Not everything works, though. For example, I recently tried replacing anchovies with fish sauce in a Caesar dressing and it wasn’t great.
On the other hand, when Asian foods or ingredients are used as part of Western fare, some great things can emerge. Here are ideas from or based on past VWK posts:
Since I've answered Jack's question, I'm very curious about your western ways with Asian food and ingredients. Don’t be bashful.
Posted in Asian Ingredients, From Cookbook Users | PermalinkReblog (0) | | Digg This | | Comments
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We had some leftover bahn mi ingredients and put them in some leftover tortillas from tacos from before.
Posted by:Jamina |March 11, 2011 at 06:12 AMI use fish sauce with a little squeeze of lime as salad dressing (sometimes with a few fried shallots on top). I just like the way it tastes, but my wife does it because she's calorie-conscious: one tablespoon of most American salad dressings has more calories than the salad!
Also, many Asian ingredients can be substituted into American cooking. I often swap in luffa squash for zucchini, and I almost exclusively use Chinese celery when cooking American soups and stews because of the more intense flavor (the toughness of the celery is of course not an issue in a long-simmered soup).
Posted by:ThaiCurious |March 11, 2011 at 06:26 AMOh! I like this topic! I made chili last weekend but seasoned it with korean hot pepper paste, and it turned out well.
I can think of more incorporation of western ingredients into Asian dishes than vice versa. Hmmm...interesting.
Posted by:Madeline |March 11, 2011 at 07:15 AMI use a fish sauce in a lot of Western dishes! For example, it adds great flavor to spaghetti sauces - takes away a bit of the tartness and makes it more savory! I also add it to meat balls and other things like meatloaf.
Posted by:Sophie Ta |March 11, 2011 at 07:16 AMHi Sophie, wow! I also put fish sauce in spaghetti sauce. And, I thought I was weird!
Posted by:leah |March 11, 2011 at 07:38 AMI made yellow tomato soup last summer and it was too sweet! So I added a bit of fish sauce and a drop of sriracha. I froze the results and we've been enjoying it all winter.
Posted by:Mary |March 11, 2011 at 08:49 AMHey -- I feel like this is turning out to be a confessional! LOVE that you are using fish sauce in spaghetti for that umami depth. It's not like we drink the stuff straight very often. It's a seasoning agent.
Posted by:Andrea Nguyen |March 11, 2011 at 10:05 AMThis is a great topic. I don't see any reason not to use any ingredient, Asian or otherwise, if it tastes good and you think it would work with a recipe. Sometimes it doesn't work out in the end, but it doesn't hurt to try.
Now, as far as strictly Asian ingredients are concerned…
* I add soy sauce to any number of dishes when I think they need a salt and umami boost. I've not yet acquired a taste for fish sauce, so I haven't worked up to using it for the same purpose.
* I add sambal oelek (Huy Fong brand) to so many things, either when they're cooking for a rounded chile flavor and an even heat level, or to my plate for a spicier, fresh chile taste. I absolutely love this stuff.
* I'll admit I'm a bit surprised to see that someone else used gochujang in chili. I'm glad I gave it a try, that's for sure. My chili also includes soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sambal in addition to more traditional chili ingredients (tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder, etc.). All these make for a deep, spicy, savory chili which goes great with hot dogs and hamburgers.
* Gochujang goes in a few other dishes I make, including "Southwest casserole" which consists mostly of rice, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, Ro-Tel, chicken, and cheese. I also add a couple drops of ???? (là dòubànjiàng, hot bean paste) to it. I say "drops" because it has an intense flavor and I've overdone it a couple of times. This version is so different from the original recipe that it's not even funny, but it's so tasty that I don't really want to go back.
* I've made what I call "Indonesian ice cream" by putting sweetened dessicated coconut on vanilla ice cream and drizzling it with a little bit of kecap manis. The salty, smokey caramel flavor of the kecap goes great with coconut and vanilla, and its texture is like that of a caramel sauce. You have to be careful not to use too much, though, as it can easily become too salty. If you like the combination of sweet and salty, I'd highly recommend giving this a try. I haven't tried it yet, but you could probably use coconut ice cream or sorbet, or toast the shredded coconut until golden brown, or serve tropical fruit in or with the ice cream.
Posted by:Mike |March 11, 2011 at 02:38 PMI use fish sauce on a regular basis (a few times a week). For extra umami taste, I flavor my food with fish sauce (stews, Bolognese or tomato sauce, ratatouille, tartare, omelets, etc...). That is one ingredient I cannot live without (the same goes for oyster sauce, sweet chili sauce and soy sauce). Otherwise I love accompanying my omelets with sweet chili sauce and add a few pinches five spice powder to my ratatouille
By the way, the Italians have something very similar to Nuoc Mam or Nam Pla. It is called Colatura. They spice up their pasta (spaghetti) with it...
Cheers,
Rosa
Posted by:Rosa |March 11, 2011 at 03:57 PMToo funny to find this topic. I just sat down at the computer to browse while I munched on 3 tacos. I previously posted on the carrots and daikon entry that I bumblingly mistakenly marinated carrots and daikon in the nuoc cham ingredients. Sigh. Okay, nevertheless, the veggies were quite good ... just different. I wanted some tonight but didn't see anything to eat with it. Then I spied the pkg of corn tortillas. Ah, there it was: my dinner. I lightly grilled 3 corn tortillas in butter (yep, butter), and heaped my nuoc-cham-marinated carrots & daikon atop each. Viet tacos. Enjoyed every bite.
Granted, this may not be the best example of Viet food crossing the border, but it tasted fine and filled my tummy. I will probably make it again and maybe add some corn and black beans to the mix!
Posted by:CocoJ |March 11, 2011 at 07:27 PMI love adding Sriracha when eating spaghetti in tomato sauce. It gives it a nice kick.
Posted by:Thu G. N. |March 11, 2011 at 08:30 PMi love eating Asian food, i've been in thailand last week and i had been tasted different kind of asian food just like what you are showing on your blog now. I am planning to do a blog like this, good thing i found your blog. Thanks for the tips.
Posted by:Jonathan Gibbs |March 11, 2011 at 10:20 PMI made sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving one year with Korean sweet potatoes (which have white flesh). It tasted great, but the color was a bit of sickening gray.
I've put sriracha on my husband's turkey sandwiches before, when we didn't have any mayonnaise. He always adds hot sauce to his sandwiches anyway, so this actually worked really well.
And going the other way, when I make kimbap I use kosher dill pickles instead of the yellow pickled radish (my Korean husband OK'ed this because we couldn't find danmuji without saccharine).
Posted by:Harmony |March 12, 2011 at 06:23 AM Verify your Comment Previewing your CommentPosted by: |This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.
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