I have been noticeably absent from the food blogging world for a few days, but I can explain! I have been feverishly preparing for my entry to Foodbuzz's 24, 24, 24 contest regarding my Mardi Gras celebration!
New Orleans is one of the most diverse "melting pot" regions of America, with heavy Native American, African, and French influences in its cuisine. As seen by novel New Orleans foods such as the muffaletta, the impact of many other cultures is also uniquely apparent in New Orleans cuisine. (The muffaletta is a part of "Creole-Italian" cuisine, which started when Sicilians began immigrating to New Orleans in the 1880s.)
After the end of the Vietnam War, a huge influx of Vietnamese immigrants came into the New Orleans area because of the presence of the Catholic church in Vietnam and the population of Catholic church sponsors in Louisiana. Therefore, recently, Vietnamese culture and cuisine has slowly been influencing the already diverse and historically rich culture in New Orleans. For this year's Mardi Gras, I wanted to celebrate all of New Orleans' cultures, with a particular focus on Vietnamese food. I believe that it is more important than ever to preserve the wonderful culture of New Orleans. Furthermore, although I just moved from New Orleans to San Francisco a few months ago, New Orleans is still in my heart and home.
Mardi Gras is a huge holiday in Catholic communities and the South (and it goes without saying, in New Orleans). Furthermore, although the cuisines of New Orleans and Vietnam are distinguishable, they are also surprisingly similar. Both have (1) a prominent focus on fresh, seasonal, and locally available ingredients, such as the seafood catch of the day and both cuisines have (2) an underlying and strong French influence. Vietnamese cuisine has inherited cooking styles and traditions from the Chinese during the Chinese occupation of Vietnam, and from the French during the French colonial occupation of Vietnam. New Orleans and Vietnamese cuisines have adapted and evolved throughout time, and will continue to do so. My unique approach to my Mardi Gras celebration is to honor tradition, and also celebrate diversity. Therefore, my ultimate Mardi Gras meal is a fusion of the two cuisines.
This year, in addition to serving the classic "N'Awlins" fare for a group of my friends, I also tried my hand at making some innovative Vietnamese fusion items. The foods on the menu for my party (and the links to the associated recipes and step-by-step pictures) are as follows:
MENU
Several of these recipes call for extensive use of peeled and cooked shrimp. Thus, here is a little primer, or "shrimpy" orientation on how I peel shrimp.
First, I like to purchase shrimp with the "head-on." I was taught that head-on shrimp stay fresher longer and retain more shrimp flavor. With large prawns (see upper pictures) and smaller shrimp (see lower pictures), the removal is the same. Just use your thumb and forefinger and carefully pinch off the head.
Next, starting with the underside of the shrimp (where the legs are and the shell is "open"), grab a hold of and peel off the shrimp's calcified armor. Use your pinched fingers to pry open the shell from the shrimp meat. The legs will fall off with the shell. You could also remove the legs first, with a pinching and pulling motion, and then remove the shell.
Finally, score a slight vertical line on the back of the shrimp, where the natural line of symmetry is located. Delicately open the incision and using a paring knife and a paper towel, remove the black intestinal vein from the shrimp. Don't worry about cutting the vein, but don't cut too deeply into the shrimp. And don't throw away those shells! You can use them for making shrimp stock later!
And now that we've peeled the shrimp, here is my first recipe for my Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 post, for Creole-Spiced Shrimp.
Creole-Spiced Shrimp
6 medium-sized peeled and deveined shrimp
1 tbsp of butter
1/4 cup of water
1/2 tsp of Creole seasoning
tabasco sauce, to taste
Heat the butter in a non-stick pan on medium-high, until melted. Add the shrimp, the Creole seasoning, water, and the tabasco sauce and cook until the shrimp is fully pink and firm and springy to the touch.
Please check out the other recipes (which are linked to above) that I wrote up for this Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 post. Just to recap, here are the links again:
Happy Mardi Gras and get to cooking! (Also, I just wanted to make a special shout-out to Wandering Chopsticks, for always inspiring me to get in touch with my roots and with her great Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 post on her Asian Fusion Thanksgiving!)
Here is another recipe as a part of my "Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Celebrating Mardi Gras, with Vietnamese Flair" post!
Hearty Gumbo with Shrimp, Andouille Sausage, and Okra
1 1/2 lbs of medium shrimp, peeled
1 container of cooked and shelled crawfish meat, or cooked and shelled crab meat (8 oz)
2 quarts of shrimp stock, at room temperature
1 small bottle of clam juice (8 fl oz)
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of flour
2 large yellow onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, cored, deseeded, and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 lb okra pods, with stems removed and roughly sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
5 large garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp of Creole seasoning
1/4 tsp of California red pepper powder
2 bay leaves
1 1 lb pkg of andouille sausage
parsley, to garnish
scallions, to garnish
In an enameled cast iron dutch oven, heat the vegetable oil on high heat until shimmering and slightly smoking. Carefully stir in the flour, being careful of the splattering and sizzling oil. Stir the flour constantly, until the roux deepens into a chocolately brown color. Do not leave the roux unattended and make sure that the flour does not stick or burn in the corners of the pot.
Carefully add the "holy trinity" of New Orleans cooking (onions, bell pepper, celery) and the garlic, thyme, California pepper powder, and Creole seasoning until the vegetables begin to soften, wilt, and glisten.
Then, add the room temperature shrimp in a steady stream while again, stirring methodically. After incorporating the ingredients, add the bay leaves, sausage, and okra and simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes, until the gumbo has thickened and the vegetables are soft and supple to the bite. Add the shrimp, and cook until the shrimp has cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add the crawfish tails (or crab meat pieces) and stir it in the gumbo to warm. Serve the gumbo with chopped parsley and scallions, over a bowl of cooked long-grain white rice.
I hope you enjoy this New Orleans recipe, perfect for Mardi Gras celebrations!
Here is another recipe as a part of my "Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Celebrating Mardi Gras, with Vietnamese Flair" post!
Savory Vietnamese Turmeric Crepes (Banh Xeo) with Creole Shrimp
1 1/2 cups of long-grain rice flour (not glutinous rice flour and can use 1 to 1 1/4 cups only, for a lighter, less dense, and more translucent and glassy crepe)
1 can of unsweetened coconut milk (13.5 fl oz)
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
3 green onion sprigs, chopped finely (with whites and greens)
cooking oil, for frying
12 cooked Creole shrimp
1/2 lb of cooked pork, cut into bite-sized slivers
1/4 lb of mung bean sprouts
1 head of tender lettuce, such as red leaf lettuce
1 bundle of fresh mint
nuoc cham dressing, for serving
Whisk the rice flour, coconut milk, and tumeric powder together until it reaches the consistency of pancake batter. Add the flour into the milk, slowly, making sure the batter is not too thick. Meanwhile, heat approximately 1 tbsp of cooking oil in a non-stick pan on high heat. Swirl the oil around evenly. When the oil begins to shimmer, pour the crepe mixture onto the pan, spreading the mixture on the surface of the oiled pan with a heat-resistant spatula. Sprinkle green onions on the surface of the uncooked crepe. Flip when the crepe when it is crisp and browned on the pan-side. The crepe is finished when both sides are crisp and lightly browned--just like a well-done omelet.
Plate the crepe, and fill it with the shrimp, pork, mung bean sprouts, lettuce, and mint, and fold the crepe over the filling like an omelet. Serve with a small bowl of nuoc cham.
I hope you enjoy this traditional Vietnamese recipe, with a New Orleans-style addition!
Here is another recipe as a part of my "Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Celebrating Mardi Gras, with Vietnamese Flair" post!
Vietnamese Tamarind Soup with Catfish, Pineapple, and Okra (Canh Chua Cá)
3 quarts of fish or shrimp stock
1 yellow onion, sliced
3-inch piece of ginger, bruised and scored
2 stalks of lemongrass, cut into 2 inch segments
5 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 lb boneless and skinless catfish filets, cut into 1 inch squares
1 can of pineapple chunks, with juice
2 large tomatoes, cored and segmented into wedges
3 stalks of celery, sliced on a bias
1/2 lb okra pods, with stems removed and roughly sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1/4 lb of bean sprouts
1/2 cup of tamarind concentrate
1 tbsp of fish sauce
1/4 cup of sugar
salt, to taste
In a large stock pot, bring the stock, onion, ginger, lemongrass, and garlic to a boil. Skim off any foam or residue and simmer until the stock is reduced to approximately to half. Then, add the tamarind concentrate, fish sauce, sugar, pineapple and the reserved pineapple juice from the can, tomatoes, celery, and okra.
Bring the soup to a boil on a low simmer. Add the catfish and bring to a boil again. Add the bean sprouts just before serving.
I hope you enjoy this traditional Vietnamese recipe!
Here is another recipe as a part of my "Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Celebrating Mardi Gras, with Vietnamese Flair" post!
Summer Rolls (Goi Cuon)
1 pkg of 15 to 20 rice paper wrappers
1 head of tender lettuce, such as red leaf lettuce
1 lb of mung bean sprouts
1 lb of cooked Creole shrimp (or 20 shrimp)
1 bundle of Chinese flat-leaf chives (these are not the traditional chives you see in the regular markets)
1 bundle of mint
1 bundle of basil
warm water
nuoc cham dressing, for serving
Just as a note, this ingredients list is based on my family's preference! You can add traditional Vietnamese herbs such as rau ram, and other vegetables and proteins, such as julienned carrots, tofu, boiled eggs, pickled daikon, baked fish, thinly sliced meat, and slivers of cucumber. Also, many people like to add vermicelli rice noodles too, but I don't really because I feel that there is enough carb substance in the wrapper. But really, the sky is the limit! Also, I use nuoc cham (a fish sauce salad dressing) as the dipping sauce, but you can use a mixture of hoisin sauce, peanut butter, crushed peanuts, and a bit of hot water for a delicious peanut dipping sauce.
Now, onto the assembly! First, you want to briefly dip the thin rice paper in warm water. Then, put it on a plate and wait for it to moisten. It helps to have several "holding" plates to hold the rice paper as it becomes pliable. Then, when the brittle paper has become malleable, in the middle to lower region of the wrapper, place the shrimp face down first. (Some people like to cut their shrimp in half, lengthwise, so put the outer shrimp portion facing the wrapper.) You want the shrimp to show through the thin and translucent rice paper wrapper, so the shrimp placement is key. Next, add your other ingredients, being careful not to overfill the wrapper and leaving the sides bare. Don't fill too closely to the sides, because you want to fold the sides over, like a burrito. Add a little bit of each ingredient.
When you have filled the rolls to your heart's delight, then fold the sides inward (like the picture), similar to a burrito. If you so desire, add a long chive stem (that will protrude through the summer roll), for decorative effect. Then, begin rolling tightly, using your fingers to firmly squeeze the filling and using the skin of the summer roll to adhere to itself.
You should get something beautiful, that looks like this:
And if you don't succeed at first, don't fret! You can combine the carnage from the "mistake rolls" as a delicious salad for later. Practice makes perfect!
I hope you enjoy this traditional Vietnamese recipe, with a New Orleans-style addition!
Here is another recipe as a part of my "Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Celebrating Mardi Gras, with Vietnamese flair" post!
Mini, Individual-Sized King Cakes
1 can of refrigerated cinnamon roll dough, with glaze
unflavored green sugar crystals (not lime-flavored)
unflavored purple sugar crystals (not grape-flavored)
unflavored sugar crystals (not lemon-flavored)
Pop open the canister containing the cinnamon roll dough. Separate the dough portions, and unravel each cinnamon bun. Then, taking the length of the unraveled cinnamon dough, bring together both ends, folding the dough in half lengthwise, and twist the dough loop and pull into a braided rope. Then, bring the ends of the twist together, to form a round, braided O-shaped bread, which should be about the size of your palm.
Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, and follow the instructions on the package to cook the small cakes.
Then, glaze the finished cakes and sprinkle the cakes with alternating colors of green, purple, and yellow sprinkles.
If you have a King Cake baby, slip it inside one of the finished King Cakes (we do not want the plastic to melt) and cover it up discreetly and patch it up with frosting.
I hope you enjoy this New Orleans recipe, perfect for Mardi Gras celebrations!
