Jude said:
I found a package of sugar cane chunks, peeled, about 2 - 3 inches
long, at my grocery the other day. It was only $2 for the 1 pound
package, so I bought it. Now what the heck do I do with the darned
things??
I have vague recollections of shrimp dumplings wrapped around sugar
cane and steamed, but I bet those would be hard for me to make at home.
I have a veg steamer but no bamboo steamer, BTW. Before searching
google for random recipes, i figured I'd see if anyone had used sugar
cane in their cooking with great success.
Thanks!
There are a number of Vietnamese recipes for shrimp
and other things cooked with sugar cane. The cane is
split into long sticks about 1/4-1/2 inch thick and
the food is skewered on them. Here are some I have.
I haven't actually made any of these recipes yet - sugar
cane is hard to come by - but I have eaten this stuff
in a Vietnamese restaurant. Yummy.
BARBECUED SHRIMP PASTE ON SUGAR CANE
(Chao Tom - Vietnamese)
1 tbsp. roasted rice powder
scallion oil
crisply fried shallots
1 tbsp. roasted peanuts, ground
1 lb. raw shrimp in the shell
1 tbsp. salt
4 oz. pork fat
6 garlic cloves, crushed
6 shallots, crushed
2 oz. rock sugar, crushed to a powder, or 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
4 tsp. nuoc mam (Vietnamese fish sauce)
freshly ground black pepper
Peanut Sauce
Vegetable Platter
8 oz. 6 1/2" rice paper rounds, (banh trang)
12" piece fresh sugar cane or canned packed in light syrup, drained
12 8 1/2" bamboo skewers
vegetable oil, for shaping shrimp paste
8 oz. extra-thin rice vermicelli
Prepare the roasted rice powder, scallion oil, crisply fried shallots,
and roasted peanuts. Set aside. Shell and devein the shrimp. Sprinkle
the salt over the shrimp and let stand for 20 minutes. Rinse the shrimp
thoroughly with cold water. Drain and squeeze between your hands to
remove excess water. Dry thoroughly with paper towels. Coarsely chop
the shrimp. Boil the pork fat for 10 minutes. Drain and finely dice.
In a food processor, combine the shrimp, garlic, shallots, and sugar.
Process until the shrimp paste pulls away from the sides of the
container, stopping as necessary to scrape down the sides. The paste
should be very fine and sticky. Add the pork fat, roasted rice powder,
fish sauce, and black pepper to taste to the processor. Pulse briefly,
only enough to blend all of the ingredients. Cover and refrigerate.
Meanwhile, prepare the Peanut Sauce and Vegetable Platter. Cover the
rice papers with a damp towel and a sheet of plastic wrap; keep at room
temperature until needed. Peel the fresh sugar cane; cut crosswise into
4" sections. Split each section lengthwise into quarters. (if using
canned sugar cane, split each section lengthwise in half only, then
thread 2 pieces lengthwise onto a skewer.) Pour about 1/4 cup of oil
into a small bowl. Oil your fingers. Pick up and mold about 2
tablespoons of the shrimp paste around and halfway down a piece of fresh
sugar cane. Leave about 1 1/2" of the sugar cane exposed to serve as a
handle. (If using canned sugar cane, there is no need to leave a
handle. The skewers will serve as handles.) Press firmly so that the
paste adheres to the cane. Proceed until you have used all the shrimp
paste. Prepare a charcoal grill or preheat the oven to broil.
Meanwhile, steam the noodles, then garnish with the scallion oil,
crisply fried shallots, and ground roasted peanuts. Keep warm. Pour
the peanut sauce into individual bowls and place the Vegetable Platter
and rice papers on the table. Grill the shrimp paste on the sugar cane
over medium coals, turning frequently. Or broil, on a baking sheet
lined with foil, under the broiler, about 6" from the heat, for 3
minutes on each side, or until browned. Transfer to a warm platter. To
serve, each diner dips a rice paper round in a bowl of warm water to
make it pliable, then places the paper on a dinner plate. Different
ingredients from the Vegetable Platter, some noodles and a piece of the
shrimp paste, which has been removed from the sugar cane, are added.
The rice paper is then rolled up to form a neat package. The roll is
dipped in the Peanut Sauce and eaten out of hand. The remaining sugar
cane may be chewed. Note: If both types of sugar cane are unavailable,
use skewers. Shape the shrimp paste into meatballs and thread 3-4 on
each skewer. Yields 4-6 servings.
CHAO TOM
(Vietnamese Shrimp and Sugar Cane Rolls)
1 lb. shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. toasted rice powder
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp. Vietnamese fish sauce (nuoc mam)
2 shallots
2 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. ice water
vegetable oil to oil your hands
3 6" long canned sugar cane sections (about 1" in diameter)
1 cucumber, peeled and cut into thin slivers
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1 cup fresh coriander leaves
12 butter or red leaf lettuce leaves
12 8" round dried rice papers
Dipping Sauce:
4 garlic cloves
2 fresh Serrano chiles
2 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons Vietnamese fish sauce (nuoc man)
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
6-8 tablespoons water
Shell and devein the shrimp. Toss with salt; let sit for 10 minutes.
Rinse with cold water; drain thoroughly. Blot dry. In a food
processor, finely mince the garlic and shallots. Add sugar, pepper,
toasted rice powder, fish sauce, and shrimp; process into a smooth
paste. With the machine running, pour the ice water through the feed
tube; process until the shrimp is light and fluffy. Cover and
refrigerate. Pour vegetable oil into a small bowl. Place a wire
cooling rack on a baking sheet; brush with oil. Cut the sugar cane
lengthwise into quarters to make 12 long strips. Dip your fingers into
the oil, then take about 2 tablespoons shrimp paste and evenly mold a 1"
cylinder around a sugar cane strip, leaving 1" free at both ends.
Arrange the rolls on the rack diagonally, and keep them from touching
each other. Arrange the cucumber, mint, coriander leaves, and lettuce
on a platter; set aside. Broil the shrimp rolls about 6 inches from the
heat, turning once, until the edges are bright orange and the filling
feels firm to the touch, 2-3 minutes per side. To serve, take a rice
paper sheet and set it on a plate. Dip a pastry brush into a bowl of
water. Brush the entire rice paper generously with water. Let it sit
until the paper is pliable and somewhat flimsy. Put a lettuce leaf on
one end of the paper. Place a cucumber sliver, mint, and coriander
leaves on top of the lettuce. Take a hot stick of sugar cane, break off
the shrimp and place it on top of the vegetables. Begin rolling up the
paper to enclose the filling; form it into the shape of a cylinder. Dip
into the Nuoc Cham Dipping Sauce, and take a bite, then chew on the
sugar cane for the sweetness (do not swallow the sugar cane). Makes 12
rolls or serves 6.
Nuoc Cham Dipping Sauce: Grind the garlic, chiles, and sugar into a
paste in a mortar, blender, or mini-food processor. Stir in fish sauce,
lime, and water. Strain into a dipping bowl.
Note: If sugar cane is not available, use a skewer or inexpensive
bamboo chopsticks. Soak them in water overnight before wrapping with
shrimp paste.
The Vietnamese use a small indoor earthen stove fueled with coal set on
the table to simmer, boil, and barbecue. I have broiled this dish in an
oven, with excellent results. Sugar cane makes this recipe visually
exciting and exotic. Its sweetness subtly melts into the shrimp paste.
Sugar cane comes fresh and canned in better Asian markets; the former is
scarce and very expensive. Check with the grocery clerk to make certain
that you are buying the 6"-7" long stalks, not the cubes. The recipe
serves well as a buffet appetizer or as a first course for a dinner
party.
SHRIMP ON SUGAR CANE
(Chao Tom - Vietnamese)
1 lb. raw shrimp in shell
2 tbsp. pork fat, boiled for 10 minutes and diced very small
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp. rock sugar, pounded to a powder, or 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 12" section sugar cane
2 egg whites, beaten until slightly frothy
1/4 c. vegetable oil, approximately
Basic Vegetable Platter (see below)
1 tbsp. roasted rice powder (see below)
12 dried rice papers (banh trang)
sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper
Nuoc Leo with Tamarind Sauce
Shell and devein the shrimp, then rinse. Dry thoroughly in paper
towels, blotting many times. Mash the garlic in a mortar, then add the
shrimp, a few at a time, and mash to a paste. If the mortar is not
large enough, it will be necessary to remove the already prepared shrimp
paste to make room for the additional shrimp to be pounded. After all
the shrimp is reduced to a smooth paste, pound the sugar into the
shrimp, then add the egg white and pound with the pestle until well
blended. Finally add the roasted rice powder, black pepper, and pork
fat, combining all the ingredients. Peel the sugar cane. Cut into 4"
lengths and then split lengthwise into quarters. Pour about ¼ cup of
oil into a bowl. Dip your fingers into the oil and pick up about 2
tablespoons of shrimp paste. Mold it into an oval, around and halfway
down the sugar cane, leaving half of the sugar cane exposed to serve as
a handle. Proceed until you have used up all the shrimp paste. Preheat
the oven to 350F. Put the shrimp on sugar cane on a baking sheet, then
bake for 30 minutes or until brown. Serve with the vegetable platter,
dried rice papers, and Nuoc Leo with Tamarind, as follows: Each person
is given a dried rice paper, and, dipping his finger in water, he
moistens the entire surface of the paper, which soon becomes soft and
flexible. He then helps himself, from the vegetable platter, to some
lettuce, cucumber, coriander, and mint, if available. Then he takes a
sugar cane stick, removes the shrimp patty, breaks it in half
lengthwise, and places it on top of the vegetables, all in a cylinder,
at one end of the rice paper. Then he folds over each side to enclose
the filling and rolls it up. Holding it in his hand, he then dips it in
his own small bowl of sauce. While you eat the shrimp in rice paper,
you can also chew on the sugar cane. Serves 6.
