Flan recipe

With Chef Nguyễn Ngọc Quyên of Movenpick Hotel Hanoi

(For 2 servings)

1.    Ingredients:

Heart of the coconut tree spring rolls and shrimp rolls

–    Dry copra                       200 gr

–    Herbs                               30 gr

–    Cucumbers                      100 gr

–    Coriander                         30 gr

–    Carrots                             100 gr

–    Curly lettuce                     50 gr

–    Purple onion                     50 gr

–    Mint leaves                            20 gr

–    Chilli peppers                      20 gr

–    Rice sheets                        2 pcs

–    Green sticky rice              30 gr

–    Prawns                               80 gr

–    Shrimp type 30pcs/kg     100 gr

–    Egg                                    1 pc

–    Roasted peanuts             150 gr

–    Sesame oil                         5 ml

–    Fish sauce                         30 ml

–    Brochette                           2 pcs

–    Vinegar                              30 ml

–    Sugar                                 80 gr

–    Raw pork paste                  30 gr

●    Ingredients for the sauce:

–    Brown sugar                              200 gr

–    Pineapple                                     2 kg

–    Garlic                                            1 pc

–    Lime                                              4 pcs

–    Roasted peanuts                         100 gr

–    Chilli peppers                               9 pcs

–    Fried onions                                 100 gr

–    Water                                            90 ml

–    Citronella                                       3 pcs

2.    To make:

●    Shrimp rolls

Wash the prawns, dry, mince, and mix with raw pork paste, pepper, sesame oil and sugar. Blend the mixture with green sticky rice then deep fry.

●    Sauce

Chopped garlic, citronella, chili pepper and fried onions. Then stir-fry the fried onions with ½ minced chili pepper, ½ minced garlic, and ½ minced citronella.

Continue to add sugar, fish sauce, and pineapple after peeling off the eyes, then lime juice and the remaining minced chilli pepper, garlic, and citronella. Grind the roasted peanuts with water then add to the sauce, and heat until mixture is condensed.

●    Heart of coconut tree salad

Wash cucumbers, cut into quarters, cut out seeds then slice

Julienne the carrots

Thinly slice onions

Thinly slice heart of coconut tree

Julienne the chilli peppers

Peel the boiled shrimp and cut in half

Mix all the above ingredients, display half of the salad on a plate to serve with shrimp rolls. The rest of the salad is wrapped with prawns and rice sheets.

3.     Requirements of completed dish:

Colour: Shrimp rolls have a beautiful golden brown colour. The colour is balanced between the ingredients – orange from carrots, white from heart of coconut tree, red from chilli peppers, and green from herbs.

Texture: Rolled without tearing.

Flavour: Heart of coconut tree salad has a sweet and sour taste, while shrimp rolls are greasy.

You can sample this dish at Movenpick Hotel Hanoi, 83A Lý Thường Kiệt Street, Hà Nội, or visit the hotel’s Facebook page @MövenpickHanoi for more details.

Located at 4 Phan Boi Chau Street, near the Le Loi – Phan Boi Chau intersection, District 1’s Ben Thanh market area, the food stall was well known as the stomping ground of many foreign visitors, overseas Vietnamese and artists prior to the pandemic.

Unlike other versions of crab noodle soup, or bun rieu , the dish here consists of a big chunk of fried tofu, congealed duck blood, a slice of tomato and its huge, signature crab meatball instead of the typically lumpy crab meat with small bite-size pieces on top.

It would seem the cook aims to preserve all original flavors pertaining to this dish, allowing guests to enjoy the rich and soft tofu, chewy blood jelly and firm, tasty crab meatball and thin rice vermicelli.

The dish is served with a plate of special fish sauce, chili, shrimp paste and tamarind dipping and a plate of fresh split morning glory, mung bean sprouts, thin strips of banana blossom, cilantro and basil leaves.

A bowl of noodle soup at “Bun Rieu Ganh” in Saigon. Photo by VnExpress/Huynh Nhi.

Mai Thi Lien, 60-year-old owner of “Bun Rieu Ganh”, has always been loyal to the traditional soup taste for over 40 years with her mother’s recipe.

“The noodle soup is well seasoned. To add sourness, we do not use lime or kumquat juice but tamarind instead,” Lien said.

Even though the price per serving is VND55,000 ($2.4), considered higher than at other stalls in the city, Lien claims she is not thrifty when spending money on ingredients since when it came to good food, it was quality that counted.

Besides, inner-city rent further explains the higher price. “In the past, it used to be a street vending business, my customers had to borrow seats from nearby stalls. So seven years ago, I started to rent a fully equipped place with seats and air conditioners and needless to say, the fee is exorbitant,” she said.

Special crab meatballs in a bun rieu pot at the shop. Photo by VnExpress/Huynh Nhi.

Nguyen Nhat Huy from District 4 first visited the food stall thanks to word of mouth. He was impressed with the umami of the stock and clean, tidy space.

“VND55,000 for a bowl at a long established stall reputed for its traditional recipe is not pricey. Even an optional choice of a pork stick sausage at VND10,000 ($0.4) is quite reasonable, I think,” Huy said.

The stall is open from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. In addition to the price for a bowl of bun rieu , guests should be aware they have to pay VND3,000 if they use wet tissues and VND5,000 for motorbike parking.