Chef Duyen's Hanoi Cooking Class
Chef Duyen's Vietnamese class in Hanoi brings the dishes of the Vietnam countryside to the big city. The caramel pork with coconut and fried quail egg is the star of the show - mixing savory and rich pork with sweet and tangy caramel to create the perfect main course. Next comes the banana flower salad with chicken, the perfect side dish to any Vietnamese meal. Lastly, no Vietnamese dinner would be complete without a plate of crispy spring rolls with dipping sauce!
Ingredients
Caramel Pork
- 500 g Pork belly Cut into pieces
- 2 tbsp Fish sauce
- 1/3 tsp Salt
- 3 Shallots Finely diced
- 2 Garlic cloves Finely chopped
- 10 Quail eggs OR 5 chicken eggs Boiled for 5 min and peeled
- 1 tbsp Sugar
Banana Flower Salad with Chicken
- 2 petals Banana flower
- 2 tsp Rice vinegar
- 1/3 C Bean shoots
- 1/2 small Carrot Peeled and cut into thin strips
- 1 bunch Coriander Roughly chopped
- 1 Lime leaf Finely sliced
- 5 tbsp Peanuts Roasted and crushed
- 1 small Chicken breast Poached and sliced
Salad Dressing
- 3 tbsp Sugar
- 2.5 tbsp Lime juice
- 1.5 tbsp Fish sauce
- 2 Garlic cloves Finely chopped
- 1 long Red chili Deseeded and thinly sliced
Fried Spring Rolls
- 2 dried Wood ear mushrooms Soaked in warm water for 15 min
- 2 dried Brown mushrooms Soaked in warm water for 15 min
- 200 g Pork shoulder Minced
- 1 small Carrot Peeled and finely sliced
- 1/3 C Bean shoots
- 1 Spring onion Cut into fine rings
- 3 Shallots Diced
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 40 g Vermicelli noodles Soaked in warm water for 10 minutes, drained and cut into manageable pieces
- 2 Eggss Lightly beaten
- 10 Rice paper wrappers
Spring Roll Dipping Sauce
- 3 tbsp Sugar
- 3 tbsp Rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp Fish sauce
- 125 ml Water
- 2 Garlic cloves Finely chopped
- 1 long Red chili Deseeded and thinly sliced
- 1/2 small Carrot Thinly sliced
- Equal amount Green papaya Thinly sliced
Instructions
Caramel Pork
- Place the pork belly in a bowl with the fish sauce, salt, shallot and garlic.
- Set the pork aside for 10 minutes to marinate.
- Heat oil in wok for frying the quail eggs. Once hot, add the eggs and fry until golden. Remove from oil and drain well.
- Heat a little bit of oil in a pan and add the sugar. Cook until it melts and turns golden brown. Add the pork and cook 2 minutes until the pork is coated in caramel sauce.
- Pour in a little water, until the meat is just covered, and cook over a very low heat until tender - approximately 35 minutes.
- Add the fried eggs and cook for 3 minutes.
- Serve with sticky rice and vermicelli noodles!
Banana Flower Salad with Chicken
- Thinly slice the banana flower and cover with water in a bowl. Add the rice vinegar and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
- In a separate bowl place the bean shoots, carrot, coriander, lime leaf, peanuts and chicken.
- Remove the banana flower from water and squeeze out extra moisture. Add to bowl with the other ingredients.
- For dressing: combine sugar and lime juice in a small bowl and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.
- Add remaining ingredients and whisk the dressing.
- Pour dressing onto the salad and gently toss. Enjoy!
Fried Spring Rolls
- Drain the wood ear mushrooms and squeeze out excess moisture. Thinly slice the rehydrated mushrooms and add to mixing bowl.
- Add the pork, carrot, bean shoots, spring onion, shallots, pepper, noodles and egg to the bowl and mix well to combine.
- Place a rice paper wrapper on a flat surface and wet your fingers with water. Drop a spoonful of filling on the bottom third of the wrapper and carefully fold it over to cover the filling. Turn the sides in, taking care to squeeze out any air (this will prevent them breaking open when fried).
- Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
- Heat oil in wok and fry the spring rolls in batches.
- For dressing: place the sugar and rice vinegar in a small bowl and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix together.