Vegetarian nuoc cham (Vietnamese fish sauce dressing)

Vegetarian Vietnamese Dressing

This is a vegetarian adaptation of nuoc cham, the Vietnamese sweet fish sauce dressing, which seems to be used with just about every Vietnamese dish, at least those which we get in the states.

Fish sauce is a liquid drained from fish that are salted and left in a jug in the sun to ferment. I have heard that kosher fish sauce is available, but I have checked lots of places in the capital of the Jewish diaspora (the Upper West Side) and haven't found it yet.  So, I am dubious that such a thing exists, though I will have to try Jersey and Brooklyn.  Although fish sauce is said to be made from anchovies, which have fins and scales and are therefore are kosher, without supervision who cares about this,  it is possible that any given sauce contains treyfe fish. (The use of fish flavorings along with meat is of no concern to me.  For more on this, see my posting on lamb shank ragu and the umami problem.)  It also presents a problem for vegetarians, including my daughter.

As as substitute for fish sauce, I use Bragg's aminos, which tastes like a wonderful aged soy sauce with lots of umami undertones.  I also sometimes wonder what Google is up to.  I push this product so much you would think that they would take out an ad on one of my pages.  You could also use an expensive aged soy sauce.   I find that Bragg's makes the best substitute, not quite the same, but not bad at all:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Bragg's aminos (substitute fish sauce or a wonderful aged soy sauce if you wish)
• 3 cloves smashed garlic
• juice of two limes
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• on chopped green or red chili (bird or serrano) -- optional, remove ribs and seeds if you don't want it so hot
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 tablespoons peanut or canola oil

Method

1. Smash the garlic with the side of a broad sharp knife or cleaver.  Sprinkle with 1 spoon of sugar and set aside for a minute.
2. Chop, smash, and crush the garlic and sugar until you have a puree. Put it in a jar or small pitcher.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
4. The quantities are approximate and can be adjusted to your taste.

This dressing may be used for any number of Vietnamese or Thai-style salads. I will post some recipes shortly.  It is also great with grilled meats on cold boiled rice noodles. 

Roasted garlic aioli

The third step in the order of the Passover seder is to eat karpas, which is most often parsley or celery dipped in salt water.  The reasons for this are rather obscure, but are often linked to Passover as a spring holiday.  You say the blessing over vegetables ("fruits of the earth") and then dip and eat.  In our family, we would have boiled potatoes, since that was as close as my grandfather would get to a green vegetable, and since the blessing is the same as that on parsley.  However, there is nothing to say that the karpas has to be so meager, and really any vegetables go.  Supposedly, Persian Jews serve a platter of herbs, which is the traditional opening of a Persian mean in any case.  The Cairo Geniza, one of the great documentary sources for medieval social history, contains evidence that karpas was something of a cocktail party at the beginning of the seder.  At our seder, we have gotten progressively more carried away with this over the years.  It can pacify those for whom the fifth question ("when do we eat?") is the most important one,  allowing the rest to enjoy the seder.  It fortifies everyone until dinner and keeps them happy. This year we had steamed artichokes, boiled new potatoes, radishes, carrots, fennel, and herb platters (coriander, watercress, tarragon, dill, parsley, and scallions), along with a variety of dips:  olive oil, beet caviar, guacamole, and this roasted garlic aioli.

Readers of this blog will know that my mother is seriously garlic averse, and aioli presents a real challenge when she is in the house.  However, although it is very sharp, aromatic (and delicious) made with raw garlic, it mellows out considerably ir you roast it first. The taste is still garlicy and rich enough to satisfy garlic lovers.  I actually roast it in the microwave which is fast and easy.  While I am sure that my mother would have been personally offended by the smell if we served a conventional aioli, she did not even remark on the roasted garlic version.  She may even have eaten some. Here is how I do it:

Roasted Garlic Aioli

Ingredients:

• 2 head garlic
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup flavorful liquid
• olive oil
• salt
• juice of 1/2 lemon

Method

1. The garlic is most easily roasted in a microwave.  Remove the paper outside of two heads of garlic, but leave whole.  Cut of a little of the tops to expose the insides of the cloves.  Put them in a measuring cup or microwave-safe dish, drizzle with a little olive oil, pour on 1/4 cup liquid (I used water with 1/2 teaspoon of Osem PArve Pesach vegetable broth, but you can use what you want.  Cover and zap for about 3 minutes or until garlic is tender. Squeeze the garlic out of the peels -- it will plop right out, and proceed as follows depending on whether you make it by hand or in a mini food processor. (The quantities aren't large enough to use a regular blender or food processor.)
2. To make it in a mini-processor: Put the peeled garlic in the processor with one egg yolk and a pinch of salt, and whir until chopped and combined.  With the motor running, drizzle in 1/2 to 3/4 cup of olive oil -- as much as it will take before breaking. Remove and mix in the lemon juice.
3. To make it by hand:  Smash the peeled garlic with some coarse salt with the side of a chef's knife or cleaver.  Using the blade and the side of the knife, work into a puree.  Transfer to a bowl and mix in an egg yolk.  Slowly drizzle in up to 3/4 cup of olive oil  It will be easier to see that the sauce is not breaking up if you are doing this by hand.  Stir in lemon juice.
4. The quantity given here makes just under a cup, and as one of many dips it was enough for 14.  By itself, I would say it serves 4-6, depending on how you use it.  It is delicious with all kinds of veggies, especially cold or room temperature steamed ones.  It would also go well as a side sauce with boiled or roast chicken, or with fish.  You can also spread it on fish fillets before baking quickly in a hot oven.