Menu «made in Vietnam»

Michelin-starred chef Hélène Darroze runs restaurants in Paris, London and Moscow (see her website helenedarroze.com for more details). Every month, she shares her favorite recipes with us and talks about what has been a source of culinary inspiration for her.

“In the summer, I always take my thoughts to Vietnam, because it was in the summer that I went there twice for my daughters, Charlotte and Kitri*. How I would like to relive that feeling of the fullness of being! The strength of this feeling was such that even my culinary preferences changed …

My trips to Vietnam were marked by traditional pho soup, which is eaten here everywhere and always! In Hanoi, while waiting to meet Charlotte, I ate it morning, afternoon and evening at some small restaurant next door. And every time (even within one day!) It seemed that it was some other soup – the recipes were so different! When I returned to Vietnam, now behind Kitri, the restaurant closed. I was very upset then. But then I explained to myself that the unique taste of the soup was associated with happy events in my life …

I suggest you make one of the variations of the classic pho soup that I tried from Ms. Hang: she worked with my girls at the orphanage before I came, and now continues to patronize those who stay there. In this recipe, instead of lobster, which is used in Hanoi, I suggest using fresh beef tenderloin. You will smell the bright smells of cardamom, anise and coriander, and the real Vietnamese taste will give them the “great and terrible” nuoc mam fish sauce. One of his smells is enough to be transported to another world!”

* Helen Darroz adopted two girls from Vietnam.

Pho soup according to Mrs. Hang’s recipe

For 6 people

Prepare: 40 minutes

Preparation: 3 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 large onions
• 70 g fresh ginger root
• 6 star anise (star anise)
• 6 grains of cardamom
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 2 kg oxtails
• Bunch of fresh coriander (cilantro)
• coarse salt
• Nuok mam sauce (available at Japanese grocery stores)
• 300 g rice noodles
• 300 g beef tenderloin (very good quality)
• 2 Lime
• Bunch of green onions
• 1 red hot pepper

Preparation

Start with broth. Burn the unpeeled onions on an open fire (on the grill, on a gas stove or using a burner) – the onion peel should turn black. Then burn the ginger root. Fry spices (anise, cardamom, cinnamon) in a dry frying pan. Put onions, ginger, spices, oxtails and 5-6 sprigs of fresh coriander in a large saucepan (better if it is a thick-walled saucepan, such as a cast iron) and pour three liters of water. Salt. Simmer the broth over low heat for 3 hours. Strain the finished broth, add the nuoc-mam sauce in such an amount that it feels good. And pour the broth into a decanter or pitcher.

Plunge the rice noodles into boiling salted water and boil them for a few minutes. Cut raw beef tenderloin into very thin slices across the grain. To make it easier, put the tenderloin in a plastic bag in the freezer for 40 minutes beforehand.

Cut the limes into quarters. Finely chop the green onion, cilantro leaves (no stems needed) and hot pepper.

Serve in deep plates or bowls: put rice noodles, slices of raw beef, a handful of greens, a few rings of hot pepper, a quarter of a lime. Serve the broth in a decanter to pour into plates already at the guests.

For 6 people

Prepare: 30 minutes

Preparation: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 75 g sugar
• 25 g cocoa powder
• 1 fresh pineapple
• 160 g marzipan (at least 60% almond content)
• 18 brick sheets (flaky, very thin dough, usually rolled up. Greek filo is a good substitute for brik, you can also use Chinese wonton sheets).
• 50 g melted butter

Preparation

Make a syrup from 10 ml of water and sugar: bring to a boil, stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add cocoa, stir so that there are no lumps, and bring to a boil again. Let the sauce cool down.

Peel the pineapple and cut it into 18 large sticks (5 cm long and 1,5 cm wide). Roll the marzipan into a pancake 1 cm thick (it is more convenient to do this on a plastic cutting board), cut it into 18 rectangles with the same dimensions (5 x 1,5 cm). Cut the brick sheets in half and brush lightly with melted butter. Fold the pieces of dough in twos to increase its thickness. Put a pineapple block in the middle of a double piece of dough brik, marzipan on top and roll everything in the shape of a nem (first wrap the short edges of the sheet, then the bottom edge and then tightly the top edge so that you get a tight envelope). Fry the nemes in a non-stick pan with a little melted butter. When they turn golden, carefully transfer them to a paper towel for a few minutes to absorb excess oil. Arrange crispy nemes on plates and top with chocolate sauce. Leave the remaining sauce in the bowl on the table (what if someone else is tempted?).