Egg plant

Tấm's Pancake

Rice Batter
1 cup of dried rice flour1.5 cups of fresh water
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon or turmeric powder

Mix all together, leave in room temperature for one hour.An alternative is to use the batter mix from the fresh rice paper rolls.

Ingredients

300 grams or finely cut shrimps, shelled and deveined(or any other seafood)Vegetable oil for frying
2 thinly sliced spring onions
250 grams of beansprouts
Starfruittopping mix - 
mint 
coriander
basil, carrots and banana flowerpacket of rice paper

Add the shrimps to the rice batter and heat a little oil in a small non-stick frying pan.

Stir the batter and pour just enough into the pan to create a thin layer - top with a few beansprouts and spring onion. Fry over medium to high heat until the bottom of the pancake is crisp.

To serve, each person tables a pieces of pancake, adds fresh star fruit, and wraps it in a rice paper

Fold the pancake.

And begin to roll the pancake in the rice paper.

And now lets find a good fairy tale to go with our tasty pancake....One that is well known, is the fairy tale about Tấm.


Once upon a time a man married again after his first wife died. His new wife bore a child as dark as rice bran, so the baby girl was named Cám. the man had by his first marriage a very beautiful baby daughter named Tấm, which means broken rice. When Tấm's father's affection for his first daughter diminished with the birth of his new girl, the stepmother began to abuse Tấm and forced her to do all the housework, while Cám lived luxuriously. Her hatred of Tấm was intensified by the fact that Tam was much more beautiful than her own daughter Cám, even though Tấm was forced to do all the laboring under the sun.

One day, stepmother sent Tấm and Cám to fish, promising to reward the girl who caught the most fish with a new yem (shawl). Cám knew her mother would never punish her and so bathed herself carelessly in the river while Tấm worked hard fishing. When Cám noticed all the fish Tấm had caught, Cám advised Tấm to wash the mud out of her hair or else she would be scolded by mother. As Tấm washed her hair, Cám poured all the fish Tấm had caught into her own basket and ran home.

Upon discovering she had been tricked, Tấm sobbed until a male fairy appeared to her and comforted her. She told Tấm to look into her basket to discover the one remaining little carp. She told Tấm to take the carp home and put it into the well at the back of the house, reciting a special poem/greeting whenever she came to feed it, which meant:

"Oh my dear little carp!
Come and eat the golden rice, silver rice of mine
Not to eat the stale rice, old porridge of the other's."

Everyday, Tấm would come out to the well a few times to feed the carp, always reciting the greeting beforehand so that the carp would come up from the water. The carp grew fatter everyday that Tấm fed it, and stepmother began to suspect Tấm's behavior. One day, stepmother sneaked out close to where Tấm was feeding the fish. She waited until Tấm was gone, and went over to the well, finding nothing. Stepmother repeated the greeting she had heard Tấm reciting and to her delight, saw the carp come up from the water. Stepmother caught and killed it to put in her rice porridge.
When Tấm discovered this, she broke into sobs. The Goddess of Mercy again appeared to Tấm and consoled her, and instructed her to salvage the bones of the carp and bury them in four separate jars underneath each corner of her bed.

A short while later, the king proclaimed a festival. The stepmother and Cam must go, but Tam was left to sort a huge basket of green and black beans. The fairy guardian appears again and transform a handful of dust into sparrows, then instructs Tấm to dig her four jars. From the first jar, Tam got a beautiful blue and silver gown, from the second, a pair of golden slippers, from the third, a saddle-furniture, and from the fourth, a horse. Tấm dressed herself and hastened to the feast, arousing the curiosity and admiration of everyone present, but the envy and jealousy of her own sister and stepmother. She left at once, but while crossing a stream she dropped one slipper.

The slipper flowed along the river until it came into the king's garden, and was picked up by one of the king's attendants. The king proclaimed that any maiden whose foot fit the slipper would be made into his Queen. Every eligible lady who went at the celebration tried the slipper, including Cám, but all to no avail. Suddenly, a very beautiful stranger appeared whose foot fit perfectly into the slipper (not to mention on her other foot was adorned the corresponding slipper of the same make). Stepmother and Cám were shocked to discover the mysterious lady was no other than Tấm! Tấm was immediately brought on the royal palanquin into the imperial palace for a grand wedding celebration, right in front of her seething stepmother and stepsister.

When Tấm's father threw an anniversary, Tấm proved her filial duty and made a short visit home to honor the anniversary with her family, despite the abuse she had suffered at the hands of stepmother. Stepmother asked Tấm to climb an areca tree and gather its betel nuts for her drunk father's altar. Tấm obeyed and as she climbed to the top of the tree, stepmother took an axe and chopped the tree down, so that Tấm fell to her death. By tradition, Cám was married into the palace in place of her late sister. Tấm had reincarnated into a nightingale and followed her sister into the palace.

The king remained despondent and dearly missed his late wife, while Cám tried hard to please him. One day, a palace maid hung out the king's dragon robe to the sun, when the nightingale appeared to sing a song to remind the maid to be careful with her husband's gown. The bird's song captivated everyone who listened to it, and even drew the attention of the king. The king called out to the nightingale to land in the wide sleeves of his robe if it really was the spirit of his late wife. The nightingale did exactly as the king asked, so it was put into a golden cage where the king spent most of his days as it sang songs to him. Cám became increasingly incensed and asked her mother what she should do. Her mother instructed her to catch the bird and feed it to a cat. Cám did as she was told and after skinning it, she threw the feathers over the gate of the palace.

From the feathers rose a beautiful white cedar tree. Its shade was so soothing that the King ordered a hammock to be made under it, and to his immense liking, he always dreamed about his late wife Tấm when he rested under that tree. Cám was jealous again when she learned about it so she told her mother, who instructed Cám to chop down the tree and make a loom out of its wood. But later on when Cám sat on the loom and tried to weave some cloth, the decorative crow on the loom spoke with Tấm's voice, accusing Cám of stealing her husband.

Following her mother's advice, Cám burned the loom and buried its ashes far outside the palace. From where the ashes were buried, a persimmon tree rose, bearing only a single but magnificent fruit. A poor old woman who worked as a water vendor walked by one day and saw it, begging it to fall to her, and promising that she would not to eat it, only admire it. Indeed it fell to her, and she did not eat it. The next day, the old woman found that when she came home from her errands, the housework was done while she was gone and there was a hot meal waiting for her. This miracle happened continuously for a month, so one day, the old lady pretended to leave but stayed back to spy, when she saw Tấm emerge from the fruit and begin to do the household chores. The old woman emerged and tore up the peel so Tấm could no longer turn back.

One day, the king, lost while hunting, stopped by the hut. The old woman offered him betel, and when the king saw how the betel had been prepared, in the peculiar special way his late queen had always prepared it: the betel leaves looked just like the wings of a phoenix; he inquired as to who had prepared the betel. The old woman told him her daughter had done it, and the king made her produce the daughter, and saw it was Tấm. He was overjoyed and Tấm was brought back into the palace as the king's first wife.

Later when Tấm has returned to the palace. Cám asked Tấm about her beauty secret, Tấm told Cám that to be beautiful, just taking a bath in boiling water. Cám did exactly what Tấm said and was boiled alive.

Cám's body was then cut apart and made into a jar of food. Tấm sent that jar to her stepmother. The stepmother believed what was inside the jar was just food and started to eat it. One day, a crow flew by the stepmother's house and rested on her roof. It cried out:

"Delicious! The mother is eating her own daughter's flesh! Is there any left? Give me some."

The stepmother was enraged, but when she finally reached the bottom of the jar, she discovered Cám's skull inside and immediately died of shock.

Tấm

Once upon a time a man married again after his first wife died. His new wife bore a child as dark as rice bran, so the baby girl was named Cám. the man had by his first marriage a very beautiful baby daughter named Tấm, which means broken rice. When Tấm's father's affection for his first daughter diminished with the birth of his new girl, the stepmother began to abuse Tấm and forced her to do all the housework, while Cám  lived luxuriously. Her hatred of Tấm was intensified by the fact that Tam was much more beautiful than her own daughter Cám, even though Tấm was forced to do all the laboring under the sun.

One day, stepmother sent Tấm and Cám to fish, promising to reward the girl who caught the most fish with a new yem (shawl). Cám knew her mother would never punish her and so bathed herself carelessly in the river while Tấm worked hard fishing. When Cám noticed all the fish Tấm had caught, Cám advised Tấm to wash the mud out of her hair or else she would be scolded by mother. As Tấm washed her hair, Cám poured all the fish Tấm had caught into her own basket and ran home.

Upon discovering she had been tricked, Tấm sobbed until a male fairy appeared to her and comforted her. She told Tấm to look into her basket to discover the one remaining little carp. She told Tấm to take the carp home and put it into the well at the back of the house, reciting a special poem/greeting whenever she came to feed it, which meant:

"Oh my dear little carp!
Come and eat the golden rice, silver rice of mine
Not to eat the stale rice, old porridge of the other's."

Everyday, Tấm would come out to the well a few times to feed the carp, always reciting the greeting beforehand so that the carp would come up from the water. The carp grew fatter everyday that Tấm fed it, and stepmother began to suspect Tấm's behavior. One day, stepmother sneaked out close to where Tấm was feeding the fish. She waited until Tấm was gone, and went over to the well, finding nothing. Stepmother repeated the greeting she had heard Tấm reciting and to her delight, saw the carp come up from the water. Stepmother caught and killed it to put in her rice porridge.
When Tấm discovered this, she broke into sobs. The Goddess of Mercy again appeared to Tấm and consoled her, and instructed her to salvage the bones of the carp and bury them in four separate jars underneath each corner of her bed.

A short while later, the king proclaimed a festival. The stepmother and Cam must go, but Tam was left to sort a huge basket of green and black beans. The fairy guardian appears again and transform a handful of dust into sparrows, then instructs Tấm to dig her four jars. From the first jar, Tam got a beautiful blue and silver gown, from the second, a pair of golden slippers, from the third, a saddle-furniture, and from the fourth, a horse. Tấm dressed herself and hastened to the feast, arousing the curiosity and admiration of everyone present, but the envy and jealousy of her own sister and stepmother. She left at once, but while crossing a stream she dropped one slipper.

The slipper flowed along the river until it came into the king's garden, and was picked up by one of the king's attendants. The king proclaimed that any maiden whose foot fit the slipper would be made into his Queen. Every eligible lady who went at the celebration tried the slipper, including Cám, but all to no avail. Suddenly, a very beautiful stranger appeared whose foot fit perfectly into the slipper (not to mention on her other foot was adorned the corresponding slipper of the same make). Stepmother and Cám were shocked to discover the mysterious lady was no other than Tấm! Tấm was immediately brought on the royal palanquin into the imperial palace for a grand wedding celebration, right in front of her seething stepmother and stepsister.

When Tấm's father threw an anniversary, Tấm proved her filial duty and made a short visit home to honor the anniversary with her family, despite the abuse she had suffered at the hands of stepmother. Stepmother asked Tấm to climb an areca tree and gather its betel nuts for her drunk father's altar. Tấm obeyed and as she climbed to the top of the tree, stepmother took an axe and chopped the tree down, so that Tấm fell to her death. By tradition, Cám was married into the palace in place of her late sister. Tấm had reincarnated into a nightingale and followed her sister into the palace.
The king remained despondent and dearly missed his late wife, while Cám tried hard to please him. One day, a palace maid hung out the king's dragon robe to the sun, when the nightingale appeared to sing a song to remind the maid to be careful with her husband's gown. The bird's song captivated everyone who listened to it, and even drew the attention of the king. The king called out to the nightingale to land in the wide sleeves of his robe if it really was the spirit of his late wife. The nightingale did exactly as the king asked, so it was put into a golden cage where the king spent most of his days as it sang songs to him. Cám became increasingly incensed and asked her mother what she should do. Her mother instructed her to catch the bird and feed it to a cat. Cám did as she was told and after skinning it, she threw the feathers over the gate of the palace.

From the feathers rose a beautiful white cedar tree. Its shade was so soothing that the King ordered a hammock to be made under it, and to his immense liking, he always dreamed about his late wife Tấm when he rested under that tree. Cám was jealous again when she learned about it so she told her mother, who instructed Cám to chop down the tree and make a loom out of its wood. But later on when Cám sat on the loom and tried to weave some cloth, the decorative crow on the loom spoke with Tấm's voice, accusing Cám of stealing her husband.

Following her mother's advice, Cám burned the loom and buried its ashes far outside the palace. From where the ashes were buried, a persimmon tree rose, bearing only a single but magnificent fruit. A poor old woman who worked as a water vendor walked by one day and saw it, begging it to fall to her, and promising that she would not to eat it, only admire it. Indeed it fell to her, and she did not eat it. The next day, the old woman found that when she came home from her errands, the housework was done while she was gone and there was a hot meal waiting for her. This miracle happened continuously for a month, so one day, the old lady pretended to leave but stayed back to spy, when she saw Tấm emerge from the fruit and begin to do the household chores. The old woman emerged and tore up the peel so Tấm could no longer turn back.

One day, the king, lost while hunting, stopped by the hut. The old woman offered him betel, and when the king saw how the betel had been prepared, in the peculiar special way his late queen had always prepared it: the betel leaves looked just like the wings of a phoenix; he inquired as to who had prepared the betel. The old woman told him her daughter had done it, and the king made her produce the daughter, and saw it was Tấm. He was overjoyed and Tấm was brought back into the palace as the king's first wife.

Later when Tấm has returned to the palace. Cám asked Tấm about her beauty secret, Tấm told Cám that to be beautiful, just taking a bath in boiling water. Cám did exactly what Tấm said and was boiled alive.
Cám's body was then cut apart and made into a jar of food. Tấm sent that jar to her stepmother. The stepmother believed what was inside the jar was just food and started to eat it. One day, a crow flew by the stepmother's house and rested on her roof. It cried out:

"Delicious! The mother is eating her own daughter's flesh! Is there any left? Give me some."

The stepmother was enraged, but when she finally reached the bottom of the jar, she discovered Cám's skull inside and immediately died of shock.

The Hundred-knot Bamboo and Cambage Soup

This is a Vietnamese fairy tale about a laborer who is exploited by a wealthy landowner. In order to keep and motivate the laborer, the landowner promises to reward him with marriage to his daughter after three years of labor. When the time for marriage arrives, the landowner breaks his promise by offering his daughter to another man. When the laborer complains, the landowner tries to trick him again by sending him in search of a bamboo stalk with one hundred segments, again promising him his daughter if the laborer can find the bamboo stalk. After divine intervention, the laborer triumphs in the end.

This fairy tale goes well with this Bamboo and Cabbage Soup.

1 litre Vegetable stock:

- 1 litre water 

- ¼ tsp salt 

- 1 ½ tsp fish sauce 

- ¼ tsp rock sugar 

- 300g chopped cabbage and bamboo sprouts

Shrimp mousse:

 - 200 g prawns, peeled 

 - 1/4 tsp sea salt 

 - ¼ tsp coarse black pepper

 - ½ tsp fish sauce

 - ½ tsp sugar 

 - 1/3 cup white spring onions and shallots, 

 - chopped finely 1 egg white 

The rest:

6 cabbage leaves 

12 spring onions 

8 carrot flowers, finely sliced 

Sesame oil 

½ cup spring onion curls 

½ cup coriander leaves 

½ tsp coarse black pepper

Method:

Blend all of the ingredients for the shrimp mousse together in a blender.

Bring a small pot of salted water to the boil.

Cook leaves for two minutes then set aside.

First make the vegetable stock: - Bring water to the boil, add salt, rock sugar, fish sauce, cabbage. Cook for 25 minutes on a low hear.

Cut the bottom white part off the 12 spring onions then blanch the green part for 30 seconds in the same hot water. Set aside.

To make your dumplings, take 2 teaspoons and dip in oil to avoid the mixture sticking to spoons. Take a small amount of the shrimp mousse mixture and mould into an oval shape using both of the spoons as a guide. Make 12 in total – any leftover mousse can be made into small balls and dropped into the broth at the last moment.

Poach the dumplings in the vegetable broth for one minute, then remove with a slotted spoon.

Cut the cabbage leaves into small squares, 10c m x 15 cm, reserving any left over cabbage. Place the first cabbage leaf on a flat surface and place the dumpling in the middle, allowing 2cm space on each side.

Fold over the sides of the cabbage leaf and tie up with a spring onion in a small bow.

Once you’ve done all 12 parcels, place them in the broth with the carrot slices, left over torn cabbage leaves and prawn mousse balls. 

Simmer for 8-10 minutes.

Serve in a bowl topped with spring onion curls, bamboo sprouts, coriander leaves, a pinch of black pepper and a few drops of sesame seed oil.

Vietnamese Snake Fairy Tales and Recipes

I have been inspired by travels in Vietnam to explore Vietnamese fairy tales and recipes.

Apparently, some of the Vietnamese fairy tales are a lot like Brothers Grimm fairy tales. 

As an example the fairy tale about the Cham Master Snake....

Giang Dung was young woman very different from any of the other girls in her village near by My Son. Giang Dung got married all was well for just a little while, her husband had passed away. However, she was left pregnant with a frog. Giang Dung and all the townspeople were horrified at the fact that her baby was a snake.

Giang Dung came to the conclusion that no matter what shape this baby was, she would have it. And she would raise it no different than if it was a human baby.

The baby snake was born and grew up to become a boy snake. One day the mother asked her son who he would like to marry. He responded by saying, I want to marry the King of Cham's youngest daughter, Kien Tien.

Years later, Kien Tien did in fact agree to marry him. And as the story turns out, once the frog and Princess Kien Tien kissed, Master Snake’s skin was shed and he become a handsome young man.

When Kien Tien awoke she found her husband skin. She screamed hysterically of course, but then walked in Master Snake as handsome young man. 

And they lived happily ever after.

Now on to a suitable recipe. We will obviously not choose a snake recipe, as that would be a bit cruel. Instead, we will choose a recipe which is from the area around My Son,

The Hoi An Spring Roll 

recipe.

1 (8 ounce) package rice vermicelli

8 ounces cooked, peeled shrimp, cut in half lengthwise

8 rice wrappers (6.5 inch diameter)

1 carrot, julienned

1 cup shredded lettuce

1/4 cup fresh brazil

water as needed

Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Remove from heat. Place rice vermicelli in boiling water, remove from heat, and let soak 3 to 5 minutes, until soft. Drain, and rinse with cold water.

Fill a large bowl with hot water. Dip one rice wrapper in the hot water for 1 second to soften. Lay wrapper flat, and place desired amounts of noodles, shrimp, carrot, lettuce and basil in the center. 

Roll the edges of the wrapper slightly inward. Beginning at the bottom edge of wrapper, tightly wrap the ingredients. Repeat with remaining ingredients.