White Guy Vietnamese
Tom Douglas Restaurants Chef and Operations Manager, Sean Hartley, called this class “White Guy Vietnamese” because he wanted us to know that he didn’t grow up in Vietnam and doesn’t have a Vietnamese family heritage. Yet, after many years of eating in and around the International District in Seattle and after taking many trips to Southeast Asia, this is a cuisine he admires, scrutinizes, studies, and eats at every opportunity.
In addition to showing us numerous slides from the numerous Southeast Asian trips he has taken with his family, Sean treated us to tastes, both savory and sweet (such as taro root and pork wrapped in banana leaf), purchased from one of his favorite Seattle Southeast Asian joints, Seattle Deli. Sean also initiated us into the mysteries of ingredients like the best ever fish sauce available in the US (Red Boat Brand- buy some of this and your Nuoc Cham will sing), and banana flower. Sean’s advice- explore Seattle’s Southeast Asian joints and buy lots of stuff, taste, and discover!
Then he showed us how to make beef in wild betel leaves, which is a seasoned beef forcemeat wrapped in wild betel (or ‘la lot’) leaves and cooked. The recipe was inspired by Sean’s early visits to Seattle restaurant, Wild Ginger.
Sean then showed us how to make fresh rice noodle wraps, hands on. The batter was made with rice flour (be careful not to buy the sweet rice flour) and water. Learning to spread the batter very thinly in the skillet and cook it just right was a skill that took a few tries to master, but we got better at it as we practiced. The wraps were filled with rehydrated dried mushroom and poached shrimp, then cut in pieces, served over fresh herb salad, and dunked in a vibrant, well balanced nuoc cham (thank you, Red Boat Fish Sauce!)
We finished with sweet, chewy, spongy bahn bo in pastel colors and refreshing lime yogurt spritzers. We can’t wait for Sean’s next class!