Vietnamese Feast in tel-Aviv!!

Living in Tel-Aviv has it’s advantages; don’t get me wrong- For example, if you want to go out to a club at 5am, and still get served a drink, or buy a load of cheap clothes which wouldn’t be out of place in a Baghdad brothel, or risk your life every time you get on your bike and ride across town thru traffic- This is the place to be!
However- if you love having tons of perfect Vietnamese food all over the place on every corner, like I got used to in SF-
Well- this is when things go south if you happen to live in TLV.
So what’s a girl to do?!

MAKE IT MYSELF!

making herbs and flowers ricepaper wrapped fish!

As most of you know, I have an elite Supper Club! “Omnivore”! Once a month, a group of people come, and I make a dinner from a different place, or a different inspiration, for them.

www.rimaolvera.com 

Omnivore Dinner last night

usually, it happens to be what I most feel like eating, and last night was no exception.

I decided to make a supreme feast of a lot of really unusual Vietnamese dishes, things you don’t see on the menus of places in the States or Europe, but must go to Vietnam to taste.. Here’s the menu:

Now, when I write a menu, I keep it simple! Unlike when I write this Blog!
No paragraphs-long- paragons of overblown, philosophical, long-winded nonsense! no poetry and pomposity describing the pedigree of every ingredient in the dish! (unlike some people I could mention..!) No way!
Just get to the point, and let the DISH speak for itself!!!
Besides, I hate photos of my actual food.
I  think it kills the spirit of it, it never looks as beautiful as in real life, and of course, you can’t really smell, see, or taste it, you won’t hear the crackle of a shrimp roasting on the grill, you can’t smell the burst of fragrance as a handful of fresh herbs is added to a bowl of perfect, wok- seared mussels!
and you can’t hear the clink of glasses and bursts of happy laughter from the guests!
So forget it! If you are there- Enjoy!!!

I’m not even going to get into all the details- but i will describe one dish, and why I think this will give you an insight into the exquisite delights of the elevated and delicious cuisine of Vietnam-

Soft-Shell Crabs with Spicy Caramel:
”what the hell?!” 
Don’t lie! I know that’s what you are thinking!
To make this dish, you need some soft-shell crabs. All crabs shed their shells once in a while to grow bigger. And when they do, their brand- new shells are soft as a baby’s bottom for 2 or 3 days! And this is when you grab ‘em , and devour ‘em, shells and all!! YUM!!
Then, you caramelize sugar, when it is a medium brown, toss in a load of sliced shallots! let them sizzle in there! add some black pepper! 
some fresh lemongrass! rice vinegar! Fish sauce!
(made from fermenting all kinds of small fish, out in the sun! it stinks like hell! And it tastes like heaven!!) Coconut milk! Lime juice!
when it’s nice and thick, fry up the crabs in riceflour, and coat ‘em with this crazy sauce! squeeze a bunch of fresh limes over them , and add a big handful of fresh coriander, asian basil, hot green chiles, and green onions!
Now- doesn’t this sound sublime?! I told you!

Me and Alon make soft-shell crabs

So go and if you are lucky enough to be near a good Vietnamese restaurant, forget about ordering this, because this is really esoteric! Order the “Pho”, which is an incredible soup , and the national dish of Vietnam, and be thankful! In fact- order two bowls, and eat one for me! It’s my favourite!!
Hopefully this unique and surprising dish will inspire you to go out and try to find this food from Vietnam, try it’s delights, and maybe even one day to try cooking it for yourselves! And don’t forget to write and say thanks!!!

Typical Vietnamese Market

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

3 Comments »