Grilled Shrimp Paste on Sugarcane

Name: Grilled Shrimp Paste on Sugarcane
Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings as part of a multi-dish meal
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Ingredients: 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; 2 tsp. Fish sauce (nước mắm); ½ tsp. Kosher salt; ½ lb. (227 g.) Fine rice vermicelli, cooked or rice paper sheets; 2 oz. (57 g.) Minced pork fat, pork belly, or fatty trimmings from pork shoulder or butt; 2 tsp. Granulated sugar; ½ tsp. Ground black pepper; 1 tbsp. Finely ground roasted rice powder or store bought (substitute rice flour or cornstarch); 1 small Cucumber, Kirby variety preferred, bite size julienne strips, about ⅛ inch (0.3 cm.) thick; 8 to 12 sprigs Cilantro; 8 to 12 sprigs Mint; 1 recipe Lime dipping sauce, nước chấm and/or Vietnamese Peanut Sauce, tươc đậu phọng; 1 lb. (454 g.) Small shrimp, peeled, de-veined, and roughly chopped; 2 cloves Garlic, minced; 1 recipe Scallion oil; 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)

Chạo Tôm

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

Ingredients

Asia
Vietnam
Dinner
Starter
Gluten-free
Southeast Asia

Ingredients

Method