Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Vietnamese Omelette

The first word that comes to mind for a non-Asian when you mention the word 'fish sauce' (nuoc mam, in Vietnamese) is, "Ugh, that thing smells!" It does have a pungent smell when you have a whiff directly from the bottle. But it sure does wonders for the simplest foods, like scrambled eggs and omelettes. A Vietnamese omelette is very easy to prepare and bursts with flavours that are a delight to the palate.

Recipe "au pif":
4 large eggs
1 small onion cut in thin slices
1 tbsp of fish sauce, to taste (any Asian grocery store)
1/2 cup of minced crab
3/4 cup of ground pork
1 tbsp of finely chopped dill
2-3 tbsp Canola oil

In medium-sized bowl, mix all ingredients, except for onions and oil, with a fork or whisk.
Heat oil in pan. Amount of oil will add crispiness to the outside edge of the omelette.
Add in sliced onion in hot pan and cook until almost soft and almost caramelized.
Slowly pour in egg mixture in the pan over the onions and fry until edges are getting crispy.
Cover the pan until the top raw part of the omelette is lightly cooked from the steam.
Flip the omelette to cook the other side.
Once golden and crisp, serve the omelette with coriandre leaves and white steamed rice.
This tasty omelette can be eaten as a side dish for lunch or dinner with steamed rice, or simply for breakfast.

2 comments:

stickyfingers said...

When I first went to Vietnam, I wasn't able to find my grandmother's family but I did discover - much to my surprise - that the real Banh Xeo/Vietnamese Omelette actually doesn't contain eggs.

It's a rice flour crepe that is coloured yellow with turmeric. I love it so much and marvelled at how the further south you travelled the bigger and more exotic they were. Yum. These days it's one of the first things I eat whenever I land over there.

Anonymous said...

stickyfingers is right!