Andrea Nguyen
Author & Teacher
Send a message
My Books + App
Book trailer, info on ebook w/ video, sample content
BUY NOW @ Amazon, B&N, iBooks, IndieBound, J. Biscuit & local bookstores
* * *
Details on eBooklet, how & where to buy
* * *
BUY NOW @ Amazon, B&N, iBooks, IndieBound, J. Biscuit & local bookstores
* * *
Info on e-book w/ videos!
BUY NOW @ Amazon, B&N, iBooks, IndieBound, J. Biscuit & local bookstores
* * *
The mobile app is here!
BUY NOW @ iTunes store
« Cooking and Life Lessons from Our Moms |Main| Blasted Broccoli with Fish Sauce Recipe »
May 09, 2013Viet Scrambled Eggs with Fish Sauce RecipeIt was not so much nostalgia as a yearning for somethingdeliciously Vietnamese that led me to whip up these scrambled eggs today. Mymom taught me how to make scrambled eggs – after she let me prepare rice for the family. We’dhave the eggs for lunch with bread. At the time, I didn’t realize how genius itwas.
There were just a handful of ingredients involved: shallotor yellow onion, tomato, eggs, fish sauce, and black pepper. If things gotfancy, green onion was added for color. Making the Viet scrambled eggs got methinking about the brilliance of simple cooking.
For example, gently sauteing shallot turns it fragrantlysweet. Rush it and it can be harsh and hard. Go too far and it can dry up andcaramelize, which is good for some dishes but not others. My mom mostly usedyellow onion because it was cheaper in the U.S. than shallot. In Vietnam,shallots the size of boiling onions are the workhorse of the kitchen; yellow onionsare their pricey kin. I go back and forth between onion and shallot.
Tomato lends color, umami savory flavor, and a vegetablecomponent to make the scrambled eggs a somewhat complete meal. We always seededthe tomato to reduce its moisture content but we never peeled them. In general,Vietnamese people are not tomato peelers; maybe they sensed that the skin was asuper source of lycopene? These days, I use Roma tomatoes, letting them ripe atroom temperature before using them, skin on.
Combining eggs, black pepper, and fish sauce is a nifty wayto mimic the briny richness of crab tomalley (fat) — the yellow-green stuff youscrape out of the shell when you pickcrab. My friend Celia Sack, owner of OmnivoreBooks in San Francisco, recently reminded me of the culinary magic of thattrifecta of ingredients. She picked up on the idea after making the mien xao cua crab and cellophane noodlestir-fry recipe from Into the VietnameseKitchen. In the recipe, there’s a workaround for the tomalley that involveseggs, pepper, and nuoc mam. Like a good cookbook reader, Celia read between thelines. She’s been employing the eggy sauce in other noodle dishes whenever shewants that rich briny effect.
The key to maintaining eggy richness is to gently cook itover medium-low heat. Some people like dry scrambled eggs but my mother taughtme to enjoy them soft.
In fact, and here’s the real brilliance: After pouring thebeaten eggs into the pan, my mom kept the bowl near the stove. When the eggswere done, she took the skillet off heat and poured the residual raw egg overthe cooked scrambled eggs to finish them with a bit of richness. Maybe thattechnique developed from a desire to use up every bit of egg (protein hasalways been precious in Vietnam) but Viet scrambled eggs with fish sauce wasalways and still is a fine little meal to have.
Are you an egg andfish sauce lover? Or got a scrambled egg secret to share? Do tell!
RECIPE
Scrambled Eggs,Tomato and Fish Sauce
Yields 2 servings
Ingredients
3 large or extra-large eggs3 healthy shots of fish sauce1/8 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground preferred1 small green onion, green part only, cut into thin rings(optional)1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil1 medium shallot or 1/2 small yellow onion, chopped1 ripe Roma tomato, seeded and cut into thumbnail-sizepiecesInstructions
In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, fish sauce, andpepper. You should be able to smell the brininess of the fish sauce. Otherwise,add a little more. Add the scallion and set aside near the stove.Heat the oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat.Add the shallot and gently saute for 4 to 5 minutes, until soft and fragrant.Add the tomato and cook, stirring, until heated through and slightly softened,about 2 minutes.Lower the heat to medium-low, pour in the egg mixture. Keepthe bowl nearby. Gently stir and fold to scramble the ingredients. When done,remove from the heat and drizzle on the egg leftover in the bowl. Dividebetween two plates and serve with baguette.Related posts:
Cooking and Life Lessons from Our MomsPremium Fish Sauces to Try: Red Boat, Megachef, IHAEgg Foo Yung Recipe (flash from the past!)North Indian Egg Curry (another brilliant way to treat eggs, tomatoes and onions) Posted in Asian Food Culture, Recipes: All, Recipes: Fast and Easy, Recipes: Gluten-Free , Recipes: Poultry and Eggs, Vietnamese Culture, Vietnamese Family Stories | Permalink | |
| TrackBackTrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341ef22f53ef017eeafdc686970d
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Viet Scrambled Eggs with Fish Sauce Recipe:
Comments Viet Scrambled Eggs with Fish Sauce RecipeIt was not so much nostalgia as a yearning for somethingdeliciously Vietnamese that led me to whip up these scrambled eggs today. Mymom taught me how to make scrambled eggs – after she let me prepare rice for the family. We’dhave the eggs for lunch with bread. At the time, I didn’t realize how genius itwas.
There were just a handful of ingredients involved: shallotor yellow onion, tomato, eggs, fish sauce, and black pepper. If things gotfancy, green onion was added for color. Making the Viet scrambled eggs got methinking about the brilliance of simple cooking.
Stay Connected
Asian Tofu in the News"A whole cookbook devoted to tofu? Yes, please."— Kate Williams, Serious Eats 2012 Favorite Cookbooks
"Cooking with Tofu (Are You Serious?!)"
— Michael Rulhman on his tofu conversion
"This book should be a priority for anyone with the slightest interest in Asian cuisines."
— Anne Mendelson, Taste & Travel
"The most gratifying part about cooking from Asian Tofu is that all the recipes work the way they’re written."
— T. Susan Chang, Boston Globe
Book info, reviews, radio & TV . . .Classes & Events1/2 day @Cakebreadwines, Rutherford
Sat, May 18, 9:30am-early afternoon: Viet Spring Celebration (cooking class, winery tour & luncheon)
Dumpling Demo & Signing, Loaves & Fishes, Bridgehampton, NY:Sat, July 13, 3-5pm
Dumpling Demo & Signing, Menlo Park, CA
Sat, Aug 3, 11am
5-hrs @SFCooking, San Francisco
Sat, Aug 17, 11am-4pm: Asian Dumplings (waitlist)
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js'%3E%3C/script%3E"));COMSCORE.beacon({ c1: 2, c2: "6035669", c3: "", c4: "http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2013/05/viet-scrambled-eggs-fish-sauce-recipe.html", c5: "", c6: "", c15: ""});
No comments:
Post a Comment