Blueberry-Watermelon Gazpacho and the History of Soup

 The garnishes for the Blueberry-Watermelon Gazpacho, minus the avocado, which I forgot to cut!

Blueberry-Watermelon Gazpacho and Some History of Soup!

by Victoria Challancin

I did it.  I caved in.  I knuckled.  I just gave up.  I tried to stop being a food snob, and I almost succeeded.  Remember when I whinged about people calling just any purée of vegetables a "hummus"?  Even if it didn't have chickpeas, which are actually the word for "hummus" in Arabic, in the dish...Well, I confess to feeling the same way about "gazpacho."  Gazpacho isn't just any old cold soup with chopped ingredients in it.  Gazpacho is special.  It is quintessentially Spanish.  It is heavenly in hot weather.  It is a peasant dish.  It is not chopped watermelon and blueberries.  Now that I have vented sufficiently on that subject, I want to tell you that whatever you call this soup, it is wonderful!  Don't let the name throw you--you will want to make this delightful soup a regular on your summer table.  (Apologies to all my dear readers from the Southern Hemisphere--I just ask that you tag it for your warm weather and promise you won't be disappointed!).

I wrote a lot about the history of soup in general, and gazpacho specifically here, where I made a two-tone soup with tomato gazpacho and tzatziki, one of my favorite yogurt dishes.  At the risk of committing one of the cardinal rules of blogging, never repeat a post, I am going to repeat what I said about soup and gazpacho just because if you missed it, you might find it interesting.  Or am I projecting?  I always find food history interesting.

Soup:  A Bit of History

Tracing the history of soup is probably impossible since cooking meats or vegetables in water or broth has been around for about 8000 years, or as long as man has cooked in waterproof vessels.  Cold soups, are obviously newer, but equally difficult to pinpoint on a culinary timeline.  We do know that many countries have had examples of cold soups that have been around for a very long time and are considered national classics:  In Scandinavia, cold fruit soups are popular; in Russia cold borscht is perhaps even more popular cold than hot; the Danes love versions of buttermilk-based cold soups; the cold version of gazpacho is loved in many forms throughout Spain (thought it was born in Andalucia, as is shown by the Arabic roots of the word "Gazpacho"); Greeks positively shine with their chilled avgolemono soup, bright with the flavor of lemons; and let us never forget that sultry French bowl o cold potato and leek lusciousness, vichyssoise.

Looking at the etymology of the word "soup," we see that it based on a post-classical Latin verb suppare, which means "to soak," which was borrowed in turn from a German root sup-.  From these words grew the Old French soupe, which originally referred to either a piece of bread soaked in liquid or a broth poured onto bread.  In the 17th century, the word entered English where it referred to a broth or pottage.  It wasn't until the 18th century that the idea of soup as a first course to be served with the meat or vegetable dish really came into being.  Today we accept that soup can be a first course entry to a meal or a meal in itself.  Sweet, savory, hot, cold, thick, thin, however we choose to enjoy it, soup is an indispensable part of our global culinary world.

As all recipe ideas grow and change, so do those for soup.  Specifically, cold soups can be sweet or savory and can be used as a starter or even as a dessert.

Gazpacho, traditionally served cold, is basically a tomato-based, raw vegetable soup, rather like a liquid salad.  White gazpacho, on the other hand, usually contains grapes, garlic, and almonds.  Although there are numerous regional versions of gazpacho in Spain, most food historians agree that it has been around in the Iberian Peninsula since at least Roman times.  Based on tomatoes, bread, water, vinegar, oil, and salt, gazpacho was sustenance to the peasants, particularly shepherds, in the south of Spain.  Variations abound.  But they might not include this Blueberry-Watermelon version.  ;-)

The Gazpacho in three different serving vessels

The bright colors in full sunlight

Cook's Notes:  Because the acid seemed too strong, I added an extra cup of watermelonto balance the flavors, which worked perfectly.  I would start with 2 tablespoons of vinegar (I used red wine vinegar), adding more as required.  I used cilantro simply because I let my Mexican students choose the herb they wanted; although we had all three, of course they chose cilantro, which worked beautifully, as would basil or mint.  And although I did have a ripe avocado ready to chop, because I waited for the last minute to chop it to avoid browning, I completely forgot it!  But it would make a nice addition to the already beautiful garnishes.

Recipe:  Blueberry-Watermelon Gazpacho

(Adapted very slightly from a Recipe by Ingrid Hoffmann from the Huffington Post)

6 cups watermelon, 5 cups in chunks without seeds, 1 cup cut into 1/4-inch dice

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries, 1 cup lightly chopped, 1/2 cup left whole

1 medium cucumber peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch dice

1 tablespoons to 1/3 cup red wine or fruit-infused vinegar

1/2 cup cilantro, basil, or mint leaves, chopped

1 small jalapeño, seeded and minced

1/2 medium red onion, chopped

1/2 medium yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 ripe Hass avocado, peeled and cut into slivers

Set aside a cup of diced watermelon, a cup of blueberries (some whole, some chopped), half of the cucumber, the red onion, cilantro, jalapeño, and yellow bell pepper for garnish.

Purée 5 cups of watermelon, the remaining blueberries and cucumber with the vinegar in a blender or food processor.

Pour the blended mixture into a bowl.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and refrigerate until well-chilled, at least 2 hours and up to 5 hours.  Ladle into bowls and serve with the garnishes, allowing each guest to create his or her own dish.

Note:  The original recipe calls for blending all but one cup of the watermelon, half of the blueberries, and half of the cucumber, adding the remainder to the soup.  In this version, only the cilantro, onion, yellow pepper, jalapeño, and avocado are used as a garnish.  It's basically the same thing, I just like looking at all the lovely colors on the garnish plate!

You might like some of these cold soups I have posted in the past:

Pineapple Gazpacho (tangy, fast, delightful)

Moroccan Gazpacho (cool, easy, exotic, and soooo delicious)

Tomatillo Gazpoacho with Feta-Olive Relish (unusual, snappy)

Chilled Gazpacho and Tzatziki Soups (a two-toned beauty)

Chilled Melon, Cucubmer, and Coconut Milk Soup (a nice variation with coconut milk)

Chilled Roasted Yellow Pepper-Mango Soup (proof that you can never use too many mangoes)

Chilled Zucchini Soup with Purslane (a little different--and so lovely)

Okroshka:  Russian Cold Yogut Soup (probably my favorite!)

Parting Shot:  Essaouira, Morocco

Cats...always comfortable

©Victoria Challancin.  All Rights Reserved.

Like life and love, recipes are meant to be shared, but please ask permission before using photos and text.  Thanks!

Quanto Basta and Italian Chicken with Pine Nut Gremolata on a Bed of Peperonata

 Italian Chicken with Pine Nut Gremolata on a Bed of Peperonata

Quanto Basta and Italian Chicken with Pine Nut Gremolata on a Bed of Peperonata

by Victoria Challancin

In Spanish we say "al gusto," in French it is "au goût," but in Italian, it just rolls off the tongue with a rippling "quanto basta,"  or "qb" for short.  Basically, it just means "to taste," or more poetically, "as much as is needed."  Once you are confident using your ingredients, then you simply add whatever is needed in whatever quantity works for you.  How simple is that?  And that probably sums up the way most of us cook, unless we are baking perhaps.  

When I teach my classes designed to teach Mexican cooks who mainly work for foreigners to cook international food, I can't just say to them the equivalent of "qb."  I have to provide a recipe with exact quantities, which I often find online simply because it is so easy to do so.  Once they understand the ingredients, then they can add their own "toque mágico," or magic touch.  Recently for just such a class I chose an Italian Chicken with Pine Nut Gremolata which I paired with Peperonata.  The basic preparation of the chicken in this dish comes from betterrecipes.com, but the peperonata comes from my heart.  QB.

What exactly is peperonata?  It is a simple, rustic dish probably of Sicilian origin, eaten with bread as a way to use local, readily available ingredients.  Call it a stew, a side dish, a pasta sauce, or whatever you like, it remains a staple in Italian cooking.  Its versatility knows no bounds as you can add or subtract to it endless.  QB.  I chose it as a base for a simply prepared chicken which is topped with gremolata, the lively traditional condiment which always accompanies osso bucco.  Gremolata is another of those "qb" recipes which adds a fillip of flavor to practically anything.  For example, I used it in the following:

• Osso Bucco-Style Chicken
• Grapefruit Gremolata
• Corn Fritters with Chile-Infused Honey and Gremolata

Gremolata is extremely versatile and can be made with different types of citrus.  Just make sure you add some raw garlic, zest, and a chopped fresh herb such as parsley, basil, or mint.  The pungency of the garlic lightened with the brightness of the citrus and rounded out with the freshness of the herb combine to make a condiment which enlivens anything from chicken to fish to vegetables of all sorts.  And it is easy to make.  QB, of course.

 Italian Chicken with Pine Nut Gremolata on a Bed of Peperonata

Cook's Notes:  While the original recipe placed the chickens atop tapenade, I decided to make a peperonata using the beautiful local bell peppers that are so abundant here in San Miguel.  It worked beautifully, but so would have the tapenade!  This pretty dish was simple to prepare, full of flavor and Mediterranean bounty.

Recipe:  Italian Chicken with Pine Nut Gremolata on a bed of Peperonata
(Recipe adapted from betterrecipes.com)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts halves

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (Italian herb mix--or use a bit each of dried oregano, marjoram, thyme, and rosemary)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Peperonata (see the following recipe)

2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

Juice and grated zest of 1 fresh lemon

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1/2 cup julienned fresh basil, divided

1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

Optional garnishes:  Additional basil, green onions, tomato and lemon slices

Brush chicken with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, sprinkle with the dried herbs, salt, and pepper, coating all sides evenly.  Add remaining olive oil to a large skillet placed over medium heat.  When hot, add the chicken and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through, turning to brown both sides evenly.  Remove chicken from pan, keeping warm.

In the same skillet (do not wash skillet) add the prepared peperonata and stir occasionally over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.  

Toss together pine nuts, lemon zest and basil in a separate bowl, then reserve.  Slice each chicken breast crosswise into thick slices.  Arrange attractively on serving platter or individual plates atop the peperonata.  Sprinkle with the pine nut mixture and serve immediately.  May be garnished with additional fresh basil, green onions, tomato and lemon slices, if desired--but it could be gilding the lily!

Peperonata

Cook's Notes:  This is such a flexible recipe that you can change it easily to suit your taste--I doubt I ever make it the same way, but because I had to write a proper recipe for the cooks, I wrote down one way I like to prepare this dish.   Basically, you use these simple ingredients in the amounts you want--quanto basta, in Italian--as much as is necessary.  Dry?  Add more oil.  Bland?  Add more garlic (my answer to everything).  Extra kick required?  Add more chile flakes and more black olives.  Other ingredients you might consider adding:  chopped dried figs, potatoes (Marcela Hazan does this!), extra dried oregano or rosemary,  bay leaves, parsley,  use all fresh herbs instead of dried, mushrooms, eggplant (very common), capers, sliced fennel bulb, However you serve it, do serve it room temperature!

Other Uses for Peperonata

• Put it atop crostini with or without cheese
• Use it as a vegetable side or vegetarian main dish with a creamy polenta
• Add it to an omelet
• Mix it with other cooked vegetables such as green beans, potatoes, cauliflower, asparragus
• Use it as a filling for crepes with cheese
• Use it as a pasta sauce
• Top it with cheese and coarse bread crumbs, bake it, and call it a "casserole!"
• Serve it simply with just some good crusty bread, as Italians often do
• Put it on a green salad
• Mascarpone or crème fraîche make a nice addition if using it as a pasta sauce
• Add it to cooked Italian sausages
• Make a sandwich using peperonata and whatever other ingredients you want:  tuna, salami, basil, cheese, sliced turkey, bacon
• Serve it with steak
• Of course, peperonata goes perfectly on any antipasto plate
• Serve it with grilled or baked fish
• Mix it into a bowl of cooked white beans
• Use it to stuff crimini or portobello mushrooms topped with melted cheese
• My friend Oscar places it in foil with a piece of fish on top and bakes it, which sounds lovely to me!

Recipe:  Peperonata

(Recipe by Victoria Challancin)

Serves 6 to 8

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 red onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

5 to 6 bell peppers, mixed colors, in strips or 1/2-inch cubes

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 can cubed tomatoes with juice (of course you can use fresh if they are nice!)

Large pinch of chile flakes (optional)

1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs, crumbled

1/4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and cut in half

alsamic or red wine vinegar to taste, 1 to 2 tablespoons

1/4 cup raisins (optional)

3 tablespoons chopped parsley or basil in chiffonade, or a combination of both

Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat.  Add onions; cook stirring for 7 to 8 minutes or until soft.  Add garlic, stir, and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the peppers, salt, and pepper.  Stir, cover, and cook until soft, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

Add tomatoes, chile flakes, dried herbs, olives, raisins, and 1 tablespoon vinegar.  Cook for 2 to 3  minutes.  Chef for seasoning, adding more vinegar if necessary.  Garnish with parsley and/or basil.  Serve room temperature--or slightly warm.

Parting Shot:  Berber Spices, Marrakech:

©Victoria Challancin.  All Rights Reserved.

Like life and love, recipes are meant to be shared, but please ask permission before using text or photos.  Thanks!

Fish Sauce and Two Easy Southeast Asian Salads

Burmese Melon Salad with Sesame-Ginger Vinaigrette--and fish sauce!

Note to my dear readers:  After the collapse of Google's Feedburner, I switched to MailChimp as my delivery service.  I hope the transition is smooth.  If you have any problems receiving or reading my posts, please let me know.  Thanks!

Fish Sauce and Two Easy Southeast Asian Salads

By Victoria Challancin

Stinky?  It's true. In your face?  Definitely.  Indispensable?  Absolutely.  Malodorous, but essential to Southeast Asian cooking, fish sauce is an ingredient we all, vegetarians excepted, need to learn to love. Often served in its pure form as a dipping sauce enhanced with chiles, garlic, and/or herbs, it can also be used in smaller amounts to provide a soupçon of flavor to a wide variety of dishes, as in the fruit salad below.  When used judiciously in this way, it seems to practically disappear in a prepared dish, yet managing to impart a je ne sais quoi touch of authenticity that makes certain dishes positively sing.

Fish Sauce

Most Asian fish sauces or extracts are made from raw fish or dried fish, mainly from a single species.  Others are produced from a melange of whole fish and even shellfish--basically whatever is hauled up in the net.  Still others are prepared from only the blood or viscera of fish.  Typically, fish sauces contain only fish and salt, but a few add herbs and spices as well.  The brief fermentation process used to make them yields a pronounced fishy, salty taste.  If fermented for a longer time, the final product has a rich, nutty flavor.

In Southeast Asia, fish sauce is often made from anchovies, salt, and water, which are placed in wooden boxes to ferment.  Slow pressing of the mixture yields a salty, fishy liquid beloved all over the region.  Though often used as a cooking sauce, many table condiments for dipping can also be found made up of fish sauce.

While we often associate fish sauces with Asia, and rightly so, the ancient Greeks made a somewhat less salty fish sauce as early as 4th- and 3rd- century BC.  And we know that the fish sauce called garum, a precursor of modern Worcestershire sauce,  was absolutely ubiqutous in the cooking of Classical Rome.

Southeast Asian Fish Sauces

Versions of fish-based sauces abound in Asia, though it is considered a staple specifically in the cuisines of Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia:

• nuoc mam is popular in Vietnam where it often used a light, salty-sweet or -sour condiment dipping sauce; mam is another popular food item which is made like fish sauce, except that both the fish and the liquid extract are used after a shorter fermentation period
• Similar condiments called nam pla and ngan bya yyay are found in Thailand and Burma
• In Lao/Isan, a chunkier more aromatic version called nam pa is used
• bplaa raa (literally "rotten fish) is used in northern Thailand more frequently than regular fish sauce
• In Cambodia, a variety of fish-based sauces are used (example:  teuk trei) 
• nam prik or nam phrik (literally translated as "chile water" or "fluid chile"), is a generic term for  the spicy chile-based hot sauces of Thailand that often contain some kind of fish or shrimp paste, though the term can also designate certain Thai curry pastes
• Patis, which is often cooked before eating, is a version of fish sauce found in the Philippines--often on the table as a condiment in lieu of table salt
• A semi--solid fish paste called terasi is popular in Indonesia; similar fish pastes such as Cambodian prahok, Malay belacan (from fermented krill) or budu (from liquid anchovies) are also found in their respective countries
• The ethnic Chinese of Hokkien and Teochew also use fish sauce for cooking
• In the Noto Peninsula of Japan, ishiru is made from sardines and squid, while other types of fish-based sauces can be found elsewhere in the country
• Korean cooks consider aekjeot or jeotgal to be a crucial ingredient in certain types of kimchi preparation

Burmese Melon Salad with Sesame-Ginger Vinaigrette

Here in Mexico, while fish sauce isn't used in cooking, various dishes contain pounded dried shrimp, an ingredient popular during Lent.  Most of the Mexican cooking students in my classes are unfamiliar with Asian fish sauce, and invariably wrinkle their noses in disgust when I pass it around.  Yet once they try a dish prepared with it, they embrace it.

Here is a delightful salad we prepared in our cooking class on Southeast Asian food on Wednesday.  The fish sauce is virtually undetectable in the final dish, except for giving it that special je ne sais quoi I mentioned before.  This was light, refreshing, and interesting, with multiple layers of flavors.  Everyone loved it, including my students who thought the fish sauce was evil-smelling!

Cook's Notes:  I used sweetened coconut, which though it was fine in this dish, I would have used unsweetened if I had had it on hand.  Do check out the link to the recipe as the presentation is particularly nice.

Recipe:  Burmese Melon Salad with Sesame-Ginger Vinaigrette

(Recipe created by Susan Feniger for The Oprah Magazine)

Serves 4

2 tablespoons unsweetened finely shredded coconut

2 tablespoons white sesame seeds

1/2 cup peanut oil, divided

1/4 cup finely chopped ginger (from a 4-inch piece)

1/4 cup lime juice

1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons flour

Kosher salt to taste

3 cups melon (cantaloupe, honeydew, and/watermelon), peeled, seeded, and cut into cubes or rectangles

1/3 cup chopped peanuts, toasted

1/4 cup mixture of chopped basil, cilantro, and mint

Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add coconut and toast it, stirring often, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove and set aside.

To make dressing:  Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add sesame seeds to skillet and toast, stirring constantly, until golden, about 2 minutes.  Add 1/4 cup peanut oil and ginger; cook, stirrin often, until very fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Transfer to a large, heatproof bowl and whisk in the lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar; set aside.

In a medium bowl, toss shallots with flour; shake off excess flour.  Heat remaining 1/4 cup peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, about 30 seconds, Add shallots and cook, stirring often, until deep golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes.  Line a plate with paper towels.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer shallots to plate and season with salt to taste; set aside to cool.  

To make salad:  Combine dressing melon, peanuts, herbs, coconut, and shallots; salt to taste.  Toss well; serve immediately.

Lao Mixed Salad with Peanuts and Fried Shallots

This is another light and refreshing salad, perfect as an accompaniment to a Southeast Asian meal or with grilled chicken, fish, shrimp, or pork.

Cook's Notes:  I didn't intend for the egg whites to just be plunked atop the salad, but I discovered I had forgotten to add them after the salad was assembled.  Oops!  We scored the cucumber with a fork, which was a nice visual touch.  I particularly liked this dressing made with egg yolk--a bit different and interesting.

                             Recipe:  Lao Mixed Salad with Peanuts 

                                      and Fried Shallots

                                            (Recipe from Food and Wine Magazine)

                                                                   Serves 4

1 large hard-cooked egg, peeled and halved

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, plus more for frying

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large shallot, thinly sliced and separated into rings

2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 medium tomatoes, sliced

1 medium cucumber, peeled, and sliced

4 packed cups mesclun salad (4 ounces)

1 bunch watercress (6 ounces), thick stems discarded

2 tablespoons chopped salted peanuts

Separate the egg yolk from the white.  Thinly slice the white.  Put the egg yolk in a blender, add the vinegar and honey and blend until smooth.  With the blender on, slowly pour in the 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of oil.  Season the dressing with salt and pepper.

In a medium skillet, heat 1/4 inch of oil.  Add the shallot rings and fry over moderate heat, stirring a few times, until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes.  With a slotted spoon, transfer the shallot rings to paper towels to drain.  Add the garlic to the hot oil and fry, stirring a few times, until golden, about 1 minute.  Transfer the garlic to the paper towels.

In a large bowl, drizzle the tomato and cucumber slices with 1 tablespoon of the dressing and toss gently.  Arrange the slices around a platter.  Add the mesclun, watercress and sliced egg white to the bowl, top with the remaining dressing and toss well.  Mound the salad on the platter, garnish wit6h the peanuts and the fried shallot and garlic and serve.

Make ahead:  The dressing can be refrigerated overnight.  The fried shallot and garlic can be kept overnight at room temperature.

Lao Mixed Salad with Peanuts and Fried Shallots

Parting Shot:  Moroccan Thistle

©Victoria Challancin.  All Rights Reserved.

Please ask permission before using text or photos.  Thanks!

Fish Sauce and Two Easy Southeast Asian Salads

Burmese Melon Salad with Sesame-Ginger Vinaigrette--and fish sauce!

Note to my dear readers:  After the collapse of Google's Feedburner, I switched to MailChimp as my delivery service.  I hope the transition is smooth.  If you have any problems receiving or reading my posts, please let me know.  Thanks!

Fish Sauce and Two Easy Southeast Asian Salads

By Victoria Challancin

Stinky?  It's true. In your face?  Definitely.  Indispensable?  Absolutely.  Maloderous, but essential to Southeast Asian cooking, fish sauce is an ingredient we all, vegetarians excepted, need to learn to love. Often served in its pure form as a dipping sauce enhanced with chiles, garlic, and/or herbs, it can also be used in smaller amounts to provide a soupçon of flavor to a wide variety of dishes, as in the fruit salad below.  When used judiciously in this way, it seems to practically disappear in a prepared dish, yet managing to impart a je ne sais quoi touch of authenticity that makes certain dishes positively sing.

Fish Sauce

Most Asian fish sauces or extracts are made from raw fish or dried fish, mainly from a single species.  Others are produced from a melange of whole fish and even shellfish--basically whatever is hauled up in the net.  Still others are prepared from only the blood or viscera of fish.  Typically, fish sauces contain only fish and salt, but a few add herbs and spices as well.  The brief fermentation process used to make them yields a pronounced fishy, salty taste.  If fermented for a longer time, the final product has a rich, nutty flavor.

In Southeast Asia, fish sauce is often made from anchovies, salt, and water, which are placed in wooden boxes to ferment.  Slow pressing of the mixture yields a salty, fishy liquid beloved all over the region.  Though often used as a cooking sauce, many table condiments for dipping can also be found made up of fish sauce.

While we often associate fish sauces with Asia, and rightly so, the ancient Greeks made a somewhat less salty fish sauce as early as 4th- and 3rd- century BC.  And we know that the fish sauce called garum, a precursor of modern Worcestershire sauce,  was absolutely ubiqutous in the cooking of Classical Rome.

Southeast Asian Fish Sauces

Versions of fish-based sauces abound in Asia, though it is considered a staple specifically in the cuisines of Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia:

• nuoc mam is popular in Vietnam where it often used a light, salty-sweet or -sour condiment dipping sauce; mam is another popular food item which is made like fish sauce, except that both the fish and the liquid extract are used after a shorter fermentation period
• Similar condiments called nam pla and ngan bya yyay are found in Thailand and Burma
• In Lao/Isan, a chunkier more aromatic version called nam pa is used
• bplaa raa (literally "rotten fish) is used in northern Thailand more frequently than regular fish sauce
• In Cambodia, a variety of fish-based sauces are used (example:  teuk trei) 
• nam prik or nam phrik (literally translated as "chile water" or "fluid chile"), is a generic term for  the spicy chile-based hot sauces of Thailand that often contain some kind of fish or shrimp paste, though the term can also designate certain Thai curry pastes
• Patis, which is often cooked before eating, is a version of fish sauce found in the Philippines--often on the table as a condiment in lieu of table salt
• A semi--solid fish paste called terasi is popular in Indonesia; similar fish pastes such as Cambodian prahok, Malay belacan (from fermented krill) or budu (from liquid anchovies) are also found in their respective countries
• The ethnic Chinese of Hokkien and Teochew also use fish sauce for cooking
• In the Noto Peninsula of Japan, ishiru is made from sardines and squid, while other types of fish-based sauces can be found elsewhere in the country
• Korean cooks consider aekjeot or jeotgal to be a crucial ingredient in certain types of kimchi preparation

Burmese Melon Salad with Sesame-Ginger Vinaigrette

Here in Mexico, while fish sauce isn't used in cooking, various dishes contain pounded dried shrimp, an ingredient popular during Lent.  Most of the Mexican cooking students in my classes are unfamiliar with Asian fish sauce, and invariably wrinkle their noses in disgust when I pass it around.  Yet once they try a dish prepared with it, they embrace it.

Here is a delightful salad we prepared in our cooking class on Southeast Asian food on Wednesday.  The fish sauce is virtually undetectable in the final dish, except for giving it that special je ne sais quoi I mentioned before.  This was light, refreshing, and interesting, with multiple layers of flavors.  Everyone loved it, including my students who thought the fish sauce was evil-smelling!

Cook's Notes:  I used sweetened coconut, which though it was fine in this dish, I would have used unsweetened if I had had it on hand.  Do check out the link to the recipe as the presentation is particularly nice.

Recipe:  Burmese Melon Salad with Sesame-Ginger Vinaigrette

(Recipe created by Susan Feniger for The Oprah Magazine)

Serves 4

2 tablespoons unsweetened finely shredded coconut

2 tablespoons white sesame seeds

1/2 cup peanut oil, divided

1/4 cup finely chopped ginger (from a 4-inch piece)

1/4 cup lime juice

1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons flour

Kosher salt to taste

3 cups melon (cantaloupe, honeydew, and/watermelon), peeled, seeded, and cut into cubes or rectangles

1/3 cup chopped peanuts, toasted

1/4 cup mixture of chopped basil, cilantro, and mint

Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add coconut and toast it, stirring often, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove and set aside.

To make dressing:  Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add sesame seeds to skillet and toast, stirring constantly, until golden, about 2 minutes.  Add 1/4 cup peanut oil and ginger; cook, stirrin often, until very fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Transfer to a large, heatproof bowl and whisk in the lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar; set aside.

In a medium bowl, toss shallots with flour; shake off excess flour.  Heat remaining 1/4 cup peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, about 30 seconds, Add shallots and cook, stirring often, until deep golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes.  Line a plate with paper towels.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer shallots to plate and season with salt to taste; set aside to cool.  

To make salad:  Combine dressing melon, peanuts, herbs, coconut, and shallots; salt to taste.  Toss well; serve immediately.

Lao Mixed Salad with Peanuts and Fried Shallots

This is another light and refreshing salad, perfect as an accompaniment to a Southeast Asian meal or with grilled chicken, fish, shrimp, or pork.

Cook's Notes:  I didn't intend for the egg whites to just be plunked atop the salad, but I discovered I had forgotten to add them after the salad was assembled.  Oops!  We scored the cucumber with a fork, which was a nice visual touch.  I particularly liked this dressing made with egg yolk--a bit different and interesting.

                             Recipe:  Lao Mixed Salad with Peanuts 

                                      and Fried Shallots

                                            (Recipe from Food and Wine Magazine)

                                                                   Serves 4

1 large hard-cooked egg, peeled and halved

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, plus more for frying

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large shallot, thinly sliced and separated into rings

2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 medium tomatoes, sliced

1 medium cucumber, peeled, and sliced

4 packed cups mesclun salad (4 ounces)

1 bunch watercress (6 ounces), thick stems discarded

2 tablespoons chopped salted peanuts

Separate the egg yolk from the white.  Thinly slice the white.  Put the egg yolk in a blender, add the vinegar and honey and blend until smooth.  With the blender on, slowly pour in the 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of oil.  Season the dressing with salt and pepper.

In a medium skillet, heat 1/4 inch of oil.  Add the shallot rings and fry over moderate heat, stirring a few times, until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes.  With a slotted spoon, transfer the shallot rings to paper towels to drain.  Add the garlic to the hot oil and fry, stirring a few times, until golden, about 1 minute.  Transfer the garlic to the paper towels.

In a large bowl, drizzle the tomato and cucumber slices with 1 tablespoon of the dressing and toss gently.  Arrange the slices around a platter.  Add the mesclun, watercress and sliced egg white to the bowl, top with the remaining dressing and toss well.  Mound the salad on the platter, garnish wit6h the peanuts and the fried shallot and garlic and serve.

Make ahead:  The dressing can be refrigerated overnight.  The fried shallot and garlic can be kept overnight at room temperature.

Lao Mixed Salad with Peanuts and Fried Shallots

Parting Shot:  Moroccan Thistle

©Victoria Challancin.  All Rights Reserved.

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