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Rau luộc chấm kho quẹt
Boiled vegetables with dipping sauce
Rau luộc chấm kho quẹt: Mekong boiled vegetables with a thick caramelised fish-sauce and pork dip
Farm families in the Mekong Delta, in Đồng Tháp and Cần Thơ, used to stretch a few spoonfuls of salty kho quẹt across a whole basket of boiled garden vegetables, and it is now a nostalgic favourite in Saigon restaurants. The dip is pork fat rendered into crisp cracklings, then fish sauce, sugar, shallot, dried shrimp and black pepper bubbled down until thick and sticky enough to 'scrape' (quẹt) with a vegetable. The vegetables do most of the work, so the plate stays light. Chef's tip: take the dip off the heat while it still looks a little loose; it sets as it cools and, cooked too far, it burns bitter and turns rock-hard.
- Total time
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the kho quẹt
- 2 ⅞ oz pork back fat or fatty pork bellycut into 5 mm dice
- 2 tbsp dried shrimpsoaked 10 minutes, drained
- 3 shallotsfinely chopped
- 2 cloves garlicfinely chopped
- 4 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp water
- 1 tsp black peppercoarsely ground
- 1 red bird's-eye chillisliced
For the vegetables
- 10 ½ oz white cabbagecut into wedges
- 5 ½ oz okra
- 5 ½ oz long beanscut into 10 cm lengths
- 2 carrotcut into thick batons
- 1 chayotepeeled and cut into wedges
- 1 tsp salt
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Put 2 ⅞ oz pork back fat or fatty pork belly in a small heavy pan over a medium-low heat and let it render, stirring, until the cubes are golden, crisp and cooked through. Lift out the cracklings and keep 2 tbsp of the fat in the pan.
8 minStep 2: Fry 3 shallots, 2 cloves garlic and 2 tbsp dried shrimp in the fat until the shallots are golden.
2 minStep 3: Add 4 tbsp fish sauce, 3 tbsp sugar and 3 tbsp water and simmer over a low heat, stirring often, until the bubbles turn large and slow and the sauce coats the spoon like runny honey.
6 minStep 4: Stir in 1 tsp black pepper, 1 red bird's-eye chilli and the cracklings and take it off the heat. It thickens as it cools.
1 minStep 5: Bring a large pan of water to the boil with 1 tsp salt. Cook the vegetables one kind at a time until just tender but still bright: 2 carrot and 1 chayote about 4 minutes, 5 ½ oz long beans and 5 ½ oz okra about 2 minutes, 10 ½ oz white cabbage about 2 minutes. Lift out with a slotted spoon.
12 minStep 6: Pile the vegetables on a platter and serve with the kho quẹt in a small bowl for dabbing, with steamed rice.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 210 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 24 g
- Fat
- 11 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does rau luộc chấm kho quẹt take?
- About 30 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of shallots?
- Half an onion per 2 shallots.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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