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:
- St. Paul sandwich (egg foo yung sandwich) – Quite good, like a fried egg banh mi!
- Crab Rangoon (fried wontons filled with cream cheese and crab) – I’m not quite sure what western dish this was supposed to be, but it has become an American classic. Also consider the Sriracha and crab Rangoon too.
- Grilled pizza with Vietnamese beef jerky – Need I say more? It's picture at the top.
- Serving a lamb shank version of bo kho (Viet stew with star anise, lemongrass, and tomato) atop polenta or risotto for a twist on osso buco
- Butterflied roast chicken with curry leaf - A divine use of Indian curry leaf.
- Spicy umami ketchup made with mam tom shrimp sauce – This is really good. I recently added Indonesian sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) to umami ketchup for an instant bbq sauce.
Since I've answered Jack's question, I'm very curious about your western ways with Asian food and ingredients. Don’t be bashful.
Jamina says
We had some leftover bahn mi ingredients and put them in some leftover tortillas from tacos from before.
ThaiCurious says
I 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).
Madeline says
Oh! 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.
Sophie Ta says
I 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.
leah says
Hi Sophie, wow! I also put fish sauce in spaghetti sauce. And, I thought I was weird!
Mary says
I 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.
Andrea Nguyen says
Hey -- 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.
Mike says
This 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 辣豆瓣酱 (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.
Rosa says
I 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
CocoJ says
Too 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!
Thu G. N. says
I love adding Sriracha when eating spaghetti in tomato sauce. It gives it a nice kick.
Jonathan Gibbs says
i 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.
Harmony says
I 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).
Andrea Nguyen says
Mike -- Your Indonesian ice cream sounds divine. Methinks you can sell that -- kecap manis + vanilla ice cream + dried coconut. Yowza.
Rosa -- You continue to be a creative cook! Love your freewheeling spirit with using fish sauce.
Harmony -- Thank you for reporting on your foray into using Korean sweet potatoes. It never hurts to experiment with food. If you have booboos, you eat them up and move on!
The theme that we're all speaking to here is that we're cooking by instinct. Of course, that takes an initial understanding of an ingredient or food -- its flavors, textures, and effects on other ingredients.
I just had lunch but am suddenly hungry again!
Linh-Dang says
The first Viet people who came here, before Little Saigon and so on, used canned anchovies to make mam nem: http://www.rauom.com/blog/?p=249 and and spaghetti squash to make green papaya salad.
I came here much later, but I'm finding I like the immigrants' way more than the original recipe, at least in the above cases. The spaghetti squash has the advantage of being already julienned, too!
dee says
I use soy sauce and nuoc man in almost every meal. My mum always cooks with soy sauce so I'm just doing the same.
Nuoc man is My ingredient. Like Rosa, I can't live without it.
Since my teens I use nuoc mam cham as Pasta sauce and top my pasta with ground roasted rice and cheese. Weird but i love it.
Rosely says
Hi andrea. A bit off topic. I had recently visited a new sandwich shop and stumbled upon banh cay. If you don't know what I'm talking about they're sort of like little bready chili poppers. I never had it before and thought they were so addicting! There's not much about them online so I immediately thought of your blog. Are these popular or is it just me?
Christian louboutin slingback says
Derry Watkins is one of those quintessential British plantswomen that are endlessly impressive - I'd love to channel her brain, let alone plunder her garden! At least it's possible to get on her mailing list for seed unlike any you've seen before. Watkins sells fresh collected seeds of herbaceous perennials, tender perennials, annuals, biennials, grasses, umbels and almost every sort of plant apart from trees and aquatics. Many are her own new introductions.
Christian Louboutin Slingback says
Derry Watkins is one of those quintessential British plantswomen that are endlessly impressive - I'd love to channel her brain, let alone plunder her garden! At least it's possible to get on her mailing list for seed unlike any you've seen before. Watkins sells fresh collected seeds of herbaceous perennials, tender perennials, annuals, biennials, grasses, umbels and almost every sort of plant apart from trees and aquatics. Many are her own new introductions.
HOA Insurance says
such a great Asian food it is with the western ways.You have prepared it with an awesome ideas.You have added the information about Pizza and Sandwich also.Thank you for sharing.
Umami Madrid says
Dear Andrea, i tend to cook using both Asian and European ingredients. Check the link to this posts for two examples:
Pao buns turned into hamburguers with a hollandaise made with Spanish Ibérico Ham fat and olive oil. Linked Google translate link and the link to my post in Spanish just in case it doesn't work (doesn't seem to be working right now):
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Finigoaguirre.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F23%2Ftallarines-calientes-de-caldo-goma-gellan-y-huevo-a-62%25C2%25BA-c%2F
http://inigoaguirre.wordpress.com/2011/03/21/mini-hamburguesa-de-bollito-pao-%E2%80%93-pan-chino-al-vapor-holandesa-de-grasa-de-jamon-y-aove/
Warm Pho noodles made with stock and Gellan gum (to gellify at high temperatures, much higher that with agar)(same as before)
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Finigoaguirre.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F23%2Ftallarines-calientes-de-caldo-goma-gellan-y-huevo-a-62%25C2%25BA-c%2F
http://inigoaguirre.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/tallarines-calientes-de-caldo-goma-gellan-y-huevo-a-62%C2%BA-c/
Hope you like it. Best,
Umami Madrid
Lili says
Another one for the confessional: while at a summer cottage, on holidays, my friends noticed I had to reach for nuoc cham or another anchovy-based sauce with my lunch or dinner.
When I make egg salad sandwiches, my standard recipe includes green onions, a bit of mayo and a generous amount of garlic chili sauce. It smells pretty pungent but it tastes delicious. Definitely banishes the bland egg salad that are often on the menu at take out places.
Discount Canada Goose says
One false move may lose the game.
seo service says
She's absolutely right. People who eat spicy and highly-seasoned foods gradually lose the ability to taste subtler flavors. This is a well-known fact. Most people have a grandparent or other older relative who complains that food is tasteless unless they smother it in mustard or some other strong seasoning, because their tastebuds are basically "worn out". There are also cases of people who switch to "blander" food, for whatever reason, and find their ability to appreciate subtle flavors gradually returns. Many times you will hear a person from a country with spicy cuisine complain that the cuisine from a less spicy country is "bland", just as Gia did; they have grown up with spicy food and literally cannot taste the subtler distinctions in flavor. On the flip side, people from less spicy places often complain when they eat spicy foreign food that all they can taste is the heat of the spice, as it overwhelms the subtler flavors they're used to.
marlon says
Watkins sells fresh collected seeds of herbaceous perennials, tender perennials, annuals, biennials, grasses, umbels and almost every sort of plant apart from trees and aquatics. Many are her own new introductions.
marlon says
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.