A Taste of Vietnam

I taught the first of 4 classes this week at the Williams-Sonoma store in Albuquerque, NM. Tonight's class was "A Taste of Vietnam", and we went over the basics of the cuisine, making nuoc cham nem sauce, a traditional Vietnamese accompaniment to almost any dish, and a dipping sauce for the next dish, which was summer rolls.

I showed the people in attendance (an intimate group of 13, who all got some hands-on cooking experience, how to handle the banh trang, or rice paper wrappers, and we use a variety of fillings, including rice noodles, cucumbers, carrots, shrimp, and a mix of herbs, such as mint, cilantro, thai basil, and spearmint.

We also make a grilled pork which was marinated in fish sauce, lime juice, cilantro root and sugar, and used it in the rolls.

We finished the class making a Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken with a Lemon Caramel Sauce.

food summer rolls lemongrass Vietnamese food personal chef ReMARKable Palate