Name: Grilled Shrimp Paste on Sugarcane
Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings as part of a multi-dish meal
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Ingredients: 1 recipe Lime dipping sauce, nước chấm and/or Vietnamese Peanut Sauce, tươc đậu phọng; ½ lb. (227 g.) Fine rice vermicelli, cooked or rice paper sheets; 1 tbsp. Finely ground roasted rice powder or store bought (substitute rice flour or cornstarch); 2 tsp. Granulated sugar; 1 small Cucumber, Kirby variety preferred, bite size julienne strips, about ⅛ inch (0.3 cm.) thick; 2 oz. (57 g.) Minced pork fat, pork belly, or fatty trimmings from pork shoulder or butt; 5 pieces Sugarcane, 4-inch (10 cm.) lengths, each stalk cut lengthwise into four sticks (about one 20 oz. (567 g.) can. If available, use fresh sugarcane: peel outer edges, then cut); 1 head Green and/or red leaf lettuce—separate leaves, wash and spin dry, then rip into 4 to 6-inch pieces; 1 tbsp. Shallot, minced; 8 to 12 sprigs Cilantro; 2 tsp. Fish sauce (nước mắm); ½ tsp. Kosher salt; 8 to 12 sprigs Mint; 1 recipe Scallion oil; 1 lb. (454 g.) Small shrimp, peeled, de-veined, and roughly chopped; ½ tsp. Ground black pepper; 2 cloves Garlic, minced

Preparation info

Makes
4 to 6
servings as part of a multi-dish meal

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Southeast Asian Flavors

By Robert Danhi

Published 2008

About

This dish is eaten by breaking some of the grilled tender shrimp “mousse” from around the sugarcane stalks, bundling it in a lettuce leaf with a rice noodle sheet, herbs, and cucumber, and then dunking it into a lime dipping sauce. It originated in Huế, central Vietnam. A small amount of pork fat enriches the shrimp paste. Finely ground roasted rice powder (sidebar pg. 244) (thính) helps create the paste’s unique texture. The paste is applied to sticks of sugarcane, steamed to