Shrimp on Sugar Cane (Chao Tom)

Title:
Shrimp on Sugar Cane (Chao Tom)

Yield:
8 Servings

Categories:
Vietnamese,
Seafood




Ingredients:





     1 lb Raw shrimp in shell


     4    Cloves garlic


     1 ts Rock sugar, pounded to a


          -powder, or 1 teaspoon


          -granulated sugar


     2    Egg whites, beaten until


          -slightly frothy


     1 tb Roasted Rice Powder


          Sprinkling of freshly


          -ground black pepper


     2 tb Pork fat, boiled for 10


          -minutes and diced very


          -small


     1    Twelve-inch section sugar


          -cane


   1/4 c  Vegetable oil, approximately


          Basic Vegetable Platter


          -[see below]


    12    Dried rice papers (banh


          -trang)





---------------------------NUOC
LEO WITH TAMARIND---------------------------


     1 tb Tamarind paste


   1/2 c  Plus 3 tablespoons water


     1 tb Vegetable oil


     2    Cloves garlic, chopped


   1/3 c  Tuong


     1 ts Granulated sugar


     2 tb Peanut butter


     2 tb Roasted Peanuts





 The "tuong" referred to below is a Vietnamese soybean preparation++a


 kind of thin, salty paste.  If you can't find it, you *might* get


 away with substituting Chinese bean sauce, mashed and thinned a bit


 with water, or possibly a dark Japanese miso. Although you can make


 this in a food processor or blender, it's best to pound it in a


 mortar with a pestle to achieve that certain crunchiness which is a


 most desirable quality of much Vietnamese food.  Bach started using a


 mortar and pestle when she was thirteen years old, working with a


 pestle that was about a yard long and 5 inches in diameter.  Although


 her family hand many servants, her mother, a great cook, wanted Bach


 to learn to use this tool properly. And Bach, who loved to cook as


 much then as she does now, was a willing and eager student. In


 Vietnam, where this is a very important dish, both the sugar cane and


 shrimp, fresh from the sea, are brought to the door by the country


 people.  If you cannot obtain sugar cane, you can prepare this dish


 with crab claws instead. In the West, we have been making this in the


 oven. Originally it was barbecued over charcoal, and if you with you


 can do the same.  Just cook it for 10 minutes on each side and this


 attractive dish will be reproduced exactly as it is in Vietnam. Shell


 and devein the shrimp, them rinse.  Dry thoroughly in paper towels,


 blotting many times. Mash the garlic in a mortar, then add the


 shrimp, a few at a time and mash to a paste.  If the mortar is not


 large enough, it will be necessary to remove the already prepared


 shrimp paste to make room for the additional shrimp to be pounded.


 After all the shrimp is reduced to a smooth paste, pound the sugar


 into the shrimp, then add the egg white and pound with the pestle


 until well blended.  Finally add the roasted rice powder, black


 pepper, and pork fat, combining all the ingredients. Peel the sugar


 cane. Cut into 4-inch lengths and then split lengthwise into


 quarters. Pour about 1/4 cup of oil into a bowl.  Dip your fingers


 into the oil and pick up about 2 tablespoons of shrimp paste.  Mold


 it into an oval, around and halfway down the sugar cane, leaving half


 of the sugar cane exposed to serve as a handle.  Proceed until you


 have used up all the shrimp paste. Preheat the oven to 350F.  Put the


 shrimp on sugar cane on a baking sheet, then bake for 30 minutes or


 until brown.  Serve with the vegetable platter, dried rice papers,


 and nuoc leo with tamarind, as follows: Each person is given a dried


 rice paper, and, dipping his finger in water, he moistens the entire


 surface of the paper, which soon becomes soft and flexible. He then


 helps himself, from the vegetable platter, to some lettuce, cucumber,


 coriander, and mint, if available.  Then he takes a sugar cane stick,


 removes the shrimp patty, breaks it in half lengthwise, and places it


 on top of the vegetables, all in a cylinder, at one end of the rice


 paper. Then he folds over each side to enclose the filling and rolls


 it up. Holding it in his hand, he then dips it in his own small bowl


 of sauce. While you eat the shrimp in rice paper, you can also chew


 on the sugar cane.  Makes 6 servings. NUOC LEO WITH TAMARIND: Soak


 the tamarind paste in the 3 tablespoons water. Heat the oil and add


 the chopped garlic; cook briefly.  Add the water from the tamarind to


 the saucepan, discarding the remaining tamarind paste and seeds. Stir


 and add the tuong, 1/2 cup water, sugar, peanut butter. Mix well and


 boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Sprinkle the nuts on top of


 the sauce and pour into individual bowls for serving. ROASTED RICE


 (THINH): Roasted rice is used quite frequently in Vietnamese cooking.


 We generally prepare a quantity of it and keep it in a jar to have on


 hand when needed. 1 cup rice Heat a small, dry frying pan over high


 heat and add the rice. Toast, stirring constantly, until rice is


 brown.  Transfer to a blender and grind into a powder. Store as


 suggested above. From "The Classic Cuisine of Vietnam", Bach Ngo and


 Gloria Zimmerman, Barron's, 1979. Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; May 24


 1993.


 


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