Oh, when I visited Vietnam in 1999, I simply love the food. Okay, so being a foodie, I love food, all types or cuisine with fresh taste that tantalize my sense of smell, taste I will try! Only food that are way fatty, steeped in animal oil and greasy, I can’t really stomach.

Enough about me, back to this recipe and dish. The dish, is a famous Vietnamese appetizer and simply a delight! Shrimp is minced into a smooth paste and coated around a sugar cane stick like a lolly, that of a mini American Coney dog, but heaps tastier. Well it is seafood we are talking about here. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients
500g/1lb 2oz raw prawns, peeled and cleaned
50g/2oz pork fat (or use streaky bacon)
100g/3½oz dried shrimp, soaked for an hour in hot water
50g/2oz shallot, finely chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce, plus extra for dipping
½ chilli, finely chopped, to taste
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
10 sticks sugar cane (available in some Asian and Caribbean speciality shops)
black and white sesame seeds, for coating
groundnut oil, for deep frying
salad leaves, to serve

Method

1. Place the prawns and pork fat in a food processor and blend to a paste.
2. Add the dried shrimp, shallot, fish sauce, chilli and black pepper to the mixture and blend again.
3. Cut the sugar cane into sticks the size of lolly sticks. Wet your hands and mould a ball of the mixture around the broad end of the cane. Smooth it, so it looks like an egg-shaped lolly. Roll the mixture roughly in the sesame seeds.
4. Heat the oil in a deep, heavy-bottomed pan. It is ready when a breadcrumb that is dropped in will sizzle gently in it. (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.)
5. Deep fry the prawn sticks in the oil for about 5 minutes or until coloured. If possible finish them off over a charcoal fire or grill to crisp up.
6. Serve on a bed of crisp salad leaves using more fish sauce as a dipping sauce. The sugar cane can be chewed at the end to extract the juice.

Try it and share with me your pictures and comments!

Instead of plain rice, how about this simple fried rice served with other meats and vegetables dishes?

A classic dish, fried rice is believed to have originated in the city of Yangzhou, a province in China. Made with barbecued pork, shrimp and spring onions, Yangzhou Fried Rice is the standard and by far the most popular of fried rice dishes of Chinese cuisine.

Here, is a simple and basic recipe to enjoy fried rice.

Plus, It’s great way to use leftover rice cooked for the next meal.

What is good about fried rice is that you can turn it into a main meal by adding meat/seafood and vegetables.

Ingredients:

• 1 - 2 green onions. More if you like
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Pepper to taste
• 4 tablespoons oil for stir-frying, or as needed
• 4 cups cold cooked rice
• 1 - 2 tablespoons light soy sauce or oyster sauce, as desired

Preparation:

Wash and finely chop the green onion. Lightly beat the eggs with the salt and pepper.

Heat a wok or frying pan and add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the eggs. Cook, stirring, until they are lightly scrambled but not too dry. Remove the eggs and clean out the pan.

Add 2 tablespoons oil. Add the rice. Stir-fry for a few minutes, using chopsticks or a wooden spoon to break it apart.

Stir in the soy sauce or oyster sauce as desired.

When the rice is heated through, add the scrambled egg back into the pan.
Mix thoroughly. Stir in the green onion and serve hot!