I wrote this recipe while I was visiting a friend in Vung Tau. I did not actually enjoy Vung Tau much, but it was nice to be able to cook.
It was originally supposed to be a Vietnamese dish called Bun Bo Hue, except vegetarian, "So I can't put bo (beef) in it," I told the woman in the market.
"Then it's not Bun Bo Hue," she said. But it is good. Here is the recipe.
Ingredients:
1 carrot
2 potatoes
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
2-3 spring onions (scallions? yes.)
hot pepper to taste
lemon grass
various herbs - basil, mint, cilantro, also banana flower stalks if you can get them (they're a lovely purple colour), turmuric, ginger
1 block tofu (firm/Chinese preferably, cut into smallish cubes and fried)
1 kg bun noodles (if you cannot get bun, rice noodles will probably work.)*
1. Cut up the tofu and (stir) fry it until it's crispy on the outside. Set aside.
2. Cut up the carrot, hot pepper, potatoes, spring onions, cilantro, basil and mint. Fill a big pot with water (about as much as you want to have soup - maybe 2/3 full? 1/3+1/4? I don't know.) Add the veg and the herbs and some salt. Bruise the lemon grass and stick it in. Leave it to become stock, stirring occasionally. You could use cabbage too I guess. Whatever floats your boat. Or you could cheat and use bullion. If I were making it again in the US I probably would.
3. Cut up the onion, garlic, turmeric, and ginger. Put a smallish (omelet-type pan) on the stove and add oil. Put in some spices (I've no idea what they were, since they were mostly unlabeled. Lets pretend one was anatto. Another one was cinnamon (that's not pretend, that one I know.) Stir them around in the oil a bit, then add the onion/garlic/turmeric/ginger. Stir fry that until it smells very nice and then scoop it out (with a slotted spoon) and plop it into the soup (which should be coming to a boil around now) leaving the oil behind.
4. Put the tofu in the omelet pan and mix it around. You may wish to salt it. And don't forget to keep stirring the soup!
5. Add some salt and soy sauce to the soup, it's getting lonely. Take out the lemon grass, it has done its task (this is why you BRUISED it instead of chopping it up, right?)
6. Turn off the omelet pan. If you are using rice noodles, add them to the soup. If you have fresh (pre-cooked) bun, put a handful in each bowl that you are going to serve.
7. When noodles are ready, add the tofu, salt, pepper, soy sauce, etc. to the broth.
8. Serve in a bowl with chopped up greens on it (basil, mint, banana stems, sprouts if you want, etc) and hot sauce and soy sauce as desired. Yay.
I think it's quite good, though if I had some vegetable bullion that would be slightly better - make a richer broth. Try not to eat the bits of hot pepper, they're quite hot.
*Note on bun: these are thin, soft Vietnamese noodles sold pre-cooked in the markets here. They're typically translated as "rice vermicelli", so that would be the most obvious substitution to make. Japanese noodles like udon or soba would probably also be interesting - less authentic, but the dish isn't terribly authentic to start with. It's important to remember when using them that they absorb water like nothing else, so don't just plop them all in the soup, as you'll wind up with a pot of slightly salty noodles and nothing else.
1 carrot
2 potatoes
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
2-3 spring onions (scallions? yes.)
hot pepper to taste
lemon grass
various herbs - basil, mint, cilantro, also banana flower stalks if you can get them (they're a lovely purple colour), turmuric, ginger
1 block tofu (firm/Chinese preferably, cut into smallish cubes and fried)
1 kg bun noodles (if you cannot get bun, rice noodles will probably work.)*
1. Cut up the tofu and (stir) fry it until it's crispy on the outside. Set aside.
2. Cut up the carrot, hot pepper, potatoes, spring onions, cilantro, basil and mint. Fill a big pot with water (about as much as you want to have soup - maybe 2/3 full? 1/3+1/4? I don't know.) Add the veg and the herbs and some salt. Bruise the lemon grass and stick it in. Leave it to become stock, stirring occasionally. You could use cabbage too I guess. Whatever floats your boat. Or you could cheat and use bullion. If I were making it again in the US I probably would.
3. Cut up the onion, garlic, turmeric, and ginger. Put a smallish (omelet-type pan) on the stove and add oil. Put in some spices (I've no idea what they were, since they were mostly unlabeled. Lets pretend one was anatto. Another one was cinnamon (that's not pretend, that one I know.) Stir them around in the oil a bit, then add the onion/garlic/turmeric/ginger. Stir fry that until it smells very nice and then scoop it out (with a slotted spoon) and plop it into the soup (which should be coming to a boil around now) leaving the oil behind.
4. Put the tofu in the omelet pan and mix it around. You may wish to salt it. And don't forget to keep stirring the soup!
5. Add some salt and soy sauce to the soup, it's getting lonely. Take out the lemon grass, it has done its task (this is why you BRUISED it instead of chopping it up, right?)
6. Turn off the omelet pan. If you are using rice noodles, add them to the soup. If you have fresh (pre-cooked) bun, put a handful in each bowl that you are going to serve.
7. When noodles are ready, add the tofu, salt, pepper, soy sauce, etc. to the broth.
8. Serve in a bowl with chopped up greens on it (basil, mint, banana stems, sprouts if you want, etc) and hot sauce and soy sauce as desired. Yay.
I think it's quite good, though if I had some vegetable bullion that would be slightly better - make a richer broth. Try not to eat the bits of hot pepper, they're quite hot.
*Note on bun: these are thin, soft Vietnamese noodles sold pre-cooked in the markets here. They're typically translated as "rice vermicelli", so that would be the most obvious substitution to make. Japanese noodles like udon or soba would probably also be interesting - less authentic, but the dish isn't terribly authentic to start with. It's important to remember when using them that they absorb water like nothing else, so don't just plop them all in the soup, as you'll wind up with a pot of slightly salty noodles and nothing else.
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