by Simone on April 21, 2012 // 19 Comments »

Lemongrass beef skewers – book review Vietnamese street food

Seriously good sandwich!

The book I have been reading for the past couple of weeks is all about Vietnamese Street Food. What I love about the book is the fact that it has all those wonderful stories of streetvendors who build a name for themselves in this rather competitive ‘street food’ business. If you’ve never been to Vietnam or Asia for that matter, you might not realize that streetfood is part of culture there. In fact I think we’ve had most of the really memorable meals at a local tiny stall. It’s usually the ones with plastic chairs and horrible fluorescent lighting that give you the best food.

This is not the first book I have that is all about street food. It almost seems to be a trend and a lot of the times it is disappointing and the recipes bland and certainly nothing like the vibrant colors and flavors of real Asian cuisine.

This book however is totally different. Some of the recipes come from the street vendors themselves and you can tell, by reading the recipe, that it is authentic. I decided to make as a first dish from the book something simple and quick. We didn’t have a lot of time tonight but I wanted something tasty nonetheless. I chose a sandwich.

And can I just say….WOW. It’s absolutely delicious and I was sorry I only made 2 of them as we could easily have eaten two each. I had a bit of trouble making the marinade paste as my pestle and mortar is really too small, so I ended up doing it in the stick blender but it was so worth it.

This dish will definitely be on our favorite list from now on and I cannot wait to try out some of the other dishes. High on my ‘to make’ list are some of the spring rolls included. Love spring rolls!

But the book has over sixty authentic Vietnamese street food recipes, ranging from pho to prawn rice paper rolls and rice balls. For me part of the appeal of this book are the stories. Making the book not only a cookbook but also a great guide to some of the wonders of Vietnam.

Vietnamese Street Food by Tracey Lister and Andreas Pohl is published by Hardie Grant Books

Hardie Grant on Twitter

Hardie Grant on Facebook

And apologies for the quick snaps of the sandwich but we were quite hungry and the smells made me rush!

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Lemongrass beefskewers in baguettes

Yield: 6

Prep Time: 1 hrs and 20 mins

Cook Time: 6 mins

Total Time: 1 hrs and 26 mins

Ingredients:

300g rump steak
2 red asian shallots (roughly chopped)
3 lemongrass stems (white part only, roughly chopped)
1 red chili (seeded and roughly chopped)
1 tablespoon sesame seeds (toasted)
2 teaspoons fish sauce
3 baguette ((or 6 small ones))
crispy lettuce (leaves separated)
2 cucumbers (peeled and sliced)
1 handful coriander sprigs
1 red chili (extra, sliced)
3 cloves garlic (roughly chopped)

Directions:

Thinly slice the steak and put in a bowl. Place shallots, garlic, lemongrass and chili in a large mortar and use the pestle to grind the mixture into a fine paste. Add the sesame seeds and crush with the pestle. Spoon the paste and the fish sauce over the meat, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Soak 12 bamboo skewers in water for 1 hour to prevent them from burning during cooking. Thread the meat onto the skewers and cook on a hot chargrill or barbecue grill for 2-3 minutes on each side. Meanwhile split the baguette in half lenghtways. Place the lettuce, cucumber, coriander sprigs and extra chili inside the baguettes. Place two fo the cooked skewers inside each baguette. Hold onto the baguette and gently pull out the skewers

Note

Marinating the beef in the mixture give it a lot of flavor and spice. Make sure you marinate it for at least an hour.

Recipe from Vietnamese Street Food

posted in Asian, Book review, Bread, Healthy, Meat, Recipes, Reviews

19 Comments »

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Amy Tong — April 21, 2012 at 09:28
I love all kinds of street food. Yes, it’s part of the culture in Asia. This Lemongrass beef skewers in baguettes looks totally awesome. I especially love the lemongrass and chili in it. Can’t wait to make this.

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- Simone (junglefrog) — April 22nd, 2012 at 13:13
  
  Let me know how you like it Amy. We tought it was so good we will be making this again and again!
  
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Rosa — April 21, 2012 at 10:47
I love Vietnamese food and that book’s for me! A wonderful recipe. So droolworthy.

Cheers,

Rosa

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- Simone (junglefrog) — April 22nd, 2012 at 13:13
  
  It’s both a gorgeous book and a delicious sandwich Rosa.. You’re gonna love both!
  
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Lea Ann — April 21, 2012 at 14:24
I’m adding this book to my wish list. I’ve fallen in love with Rick Bayless’s shows about Mexico and street food and have heard a little bit about Vietnamese. Thanks for the review. This recipe you tried looks WONderful.

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- Simone (junglefrog) — April 22nd, 2012 at 13:14
  
  Thanks Lea Ann! Yes it is really really good.
  
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Marta @ I love breakfast — April 21, 2012 at 14:30
I like both, vietnamese and street food It’s always the best in Asia to eat on a street as it’s fresh

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- Simone (junglefrog) — April 22nd, 2012 at 13:14
  
  I just wish we had such great streetfood here! But you’re right, nothing beats the real thing!
  
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raquel@eRecipe.com — April 21, 2012 at 15:49
Street foods are part of the culture here in Asia. I’ve not yet been to Vietnam but I am curious about their food. This dish looks enticingly delicious. =)

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- Simone (junglefrog) — April 22nd, 2012 at 13:16
  
  We’ve been to quite a few countries in Asia, but my favorites are definitely Vietnamese and Indian. Love both.
  
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joey — April 23, 2012 at 08:11

This sounds delicious! I love street food — we too (in the Philippines) have a whole cuisine of street food ourselves Asian street food is truly a wonderful gastronomic adventure! I’ve been to Vietnam once (Hanoi) and we absolutely loved the street food there. And I can attest that yes, it is those places with the plastic chairs and horrible lighting that are the best!

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Peter G | Souvlaki For The Soul — April 24, 2012 at 05:44

Yum! What a fantastic sandwich! And I love that it’s “street food”. Great pics Simone!

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angela@spinachtiger — April 25, 2012 at 14:44

Wow, what a meal. And, that bread. I think I could eat dirt in that bread and be happy.

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Rhonda — April 27, 2012 at 08:43

I just made my first Vietnamese dish yesterday, I made Pho and I loved it. I am excited to do more Vietnamese cooking! Your sandwich makes me want to do it even more!

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Ryan Hoody — May 1, 2012 at 22:13

Great looking food! I love that some of the recipes come directly from the street vendors. It’s pretty tough to get more authentic without traveling to the street vendors themselves. I think a booming street food industry is something lacking in the states. Sure there are the hot dogs, pretzels, and some great food carts in certain parts, but nothing like the street food you see permeating all corners in other countries.

Thanks for the recipe!

Ryan

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Kevin (Closet Cooking) — May 10, 2012 at 03:25

That is one tasty looking sandwich!

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erin — May 25, 2012 at 21:18
Hi there! I love lemongrass beef stir-fry and I can’t wait to try this!

One question: The directions mention garlic in the paste, but garlic isn’t listed under the ingredients. How much garlic do you add?

Thanks!

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- Simone (junglefrog) — May 28th, 2012 at 09:43
  
  O that’s stupid. Let me check and add it in the recipe!
  
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erin — May 31, 2012 at 02:38

Thank you!

I used this to marinate a flank steak, which I grilled, sliced, and served over lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers with a drizzle of Vietnamese Dipping Sauce: http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2008/11/basic-vietnamese-dipping-sauce-nuoc-cham.html

The flavours were delicious!

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