Made in Vietnam recipes: From salted fish fried rice to rice flour doughnuts

Dream of your next – or first trip – to Vietnam to go nuts on the street food? Well, in the meantime here are two dishes to try at home

The cabbage and chicken salad with Vietnamese mint looks so delish you may want to go face first (Michael Fountoulakis )

Cabbage and chicken salad with Vietnamese mint

Serves 6

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
½ cabbage, thinly sliced
2 carrots, cut into long thin strips
3 red Asian shallots, thinly sliced
1 handful Vietnamese mint
1 long red chilli, cut into rings
2 tbsp roasted unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped,
plus 1 tsp extra, to serve

Dressing

120g sugar
100ml lime juice
60ml fish sauce
2 garlic cloves, chopped

This salad is very common in the homes of Hanoi – every family prepares their own version. Bring a small saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the chicken, reduce the heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until just cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a chopping board, leave to cool, then cut or shred the chicken into thin strips. Place in a large bowl.

To make the dressing, whisk together the sugar and lime juice until the sugar has completely dissolved. Stir in the fish sauce and garlic.

Add the vegetables, mint, chilli and peanuts to the chicken. Pour the dressing over the salad and gently toss to combine. Serve on a large platter, sprinkled with the remaining peanuts.


 Return of th mack: a salted mackerel delight (Michael Fountoulakis )
 (Michael Fountoulakis)

Salted fish fried rice

Serves 6

1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 salted mackerels in soy bean oil, flaked
1 tbsp of the soy bean oil
4 red Asian shallots, finely chopped
1kg boiled rice, or boil up
400g uncooked long-grain white rice
⅓ teaspoon salt
2 spring onions, cut into rings
Soy chilli dipping sauce, to serve

The salted mackerel, or mam ca thu, is available in jars, ready to use, from oriental grocery stores. Save the oil and use it to fry the rice, for a more intense flavour. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok over high heat. Pour the eggs over the base of the wok and cook for 1-2 minutes, rotating the wok to ensure the omelette cooks evenly.

Remove from the wok. When cool enough to handle, roll the omelette into a cigar shape and roughly chop. Wipe the wok clean and place over medium heat. Add the soy bean oil from the salted mackerel, then sautée the shallot until fragrant. Add the salted mackerel and cook for a further 1 minute.

Now add the rice and salt. Keep tossing the rice and fish, as the rice can easily stick to the side of the wok. When the rice has heated through, add the omelette strips. Toss, then remove from the heat. Serve topped with the spring onion, with the dipping sauce on the side.

Green mango and sundried squid salad

Serves 6

1 small dried squid
2 green mangoes, peeled and cut into long thin strips
3 red Asian shallots, thinly sliced
½ long red chilli, seeded and cut into thin strips
1 small handful coriander
1 small handful mint
2 tbsp fried shallots

Dressing

120g sugar
100ml  lime juice
60ml fish sauce
2 garlic cloves, chopped

It is best to buy an Asian mango variety such as keow savoy or nam doc mai, as the more common unripe “kensington pride” lacks the necessary tartness required for this recipe. Asian mango varieties can be recognised by their slightly longer shape, and a small “hook” at the end.

Chargrill the squid for about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer the squid to a mortar and lightly pound with a pestle to remove any of the light film on the skin. Using kitchen scissors or your fingers, shred the squid against the grain into thin strips and place in a large bowl. Add the mango, shallot, chilli, herbs and half the fried shallots.

To make the dressing, whisk together the sugar and lime juice until the sugar has completely dissolved. Stir in the fish sauce and garlic. Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and gently toss.

Serve the salad on a large platter, scattered with the remaining fried shallots.

Open sesame: banana and sweet potato provide the starch (Michael Fountoulakis ) (Michael Fountoulakis)

Rice flour doughnuts with a mung bean filling

This recipe is from the director of the Viet Way Centre, Hanoi chef Nguyen Phuong Hai, who recently released his own cookbook in Vietnam. The banana and sweet potato provide the necessary starch, which rice flour lacks, so the dough is strong enough to deep-fry.

Makes 40

100g dried mung beans
140g sugar
A few drops of vanilla extract
1 sweet potato
1 banana
180g glutinous rice flour
40g sesame seeds
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

To make the doughnut filling, rinse the mung beans under cold running water and place in a bowl. Cover with cold water and allow to soak for 2 hours. Drain the mung beans well. Place in a steamer set over a saucepan of boiling water and cook for 20 minutes, or until soft.

Transfer the mung beans to a dry wok or frying pan. Add half the sugar and dry-fry over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Divide the mixture into 40 portions and shape into small balls.

Peel the sweet potato and steam it whole for 15 minutes, or until soft. Weigh out 120g of both the sweet potato and banana. Place in a mortar and pound until smooth. Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the remaining sugar and 2½ tbsps warm water and mix to combine. Now add the mashed sweet potato and banana and lightly knead for 3-4 minutes, until you have a smooth dough. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rest for 20 minutes.

Divide the dough into 40 equal portions, roughly the size of golf balls. Take one piece of dough at a time and flatten it into a disc. Place a mung bean ball in the middle, then encase it in the dough. Roll in the palm of your hands to form a ball, then dip the doughnut in the sesame seeds. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Heat about 10 cm (4 inches) of oil in a wok. To test the oil, place the tip of a wooden chopstick into the oil – when bubbles slowly rise to the surface, the oil is hot enough to use.

Fry the doughnuts in batches for 4-5 minutes per batch, until golden brown. Drain well on paper towel and eat while still warm.

‘Made in Vietnam’ by Tracey Lister & Andreas Pohl (Hardie Grant, £14.99) Photography © Michael Fountoulakis