THE FRUGAL GOURMET VIETNAMESE FOOD has been influenced by both the French and the Chinese. The French popularized strong ccifee, pastries, asparagus, french bread and meat pies. The Chinese influenced the use of chopsticks, stir-frying in a wok and serving long-grain rice sepa- rately at the meal rather than mixed with the other dishes. Salads are popuiar and an ex- tensive selection of fresh herbs adds a delight you will find nowhere else. The recipes presented here are really quite typical of the whole cuisine. It is not complicated cooking, but you must find fresh herbs, and find them all the year round. Please don't miss the Lemongrass Chicken or the Rare Beef with Lime. They are both cu- linary classics. VIETNAMESE MEATBALL ON A STICK (Serves 6 as part of a Vietnamese meal or enough to fill 12 8-inch rice wrappers) These tiny meatballs on a stick are just the most juicy and delicious tidbits you can imagine. Cook them on charcoal and serve them in rice paper wrappers, and you are in business. The Vietnamese immigrants brought the rice wrappers and the works to these shores. 1% pounds lean ground beef lege white 2 tablespuons soy sauce 2 tablespoons ‘‘nuoc mam’’ (fish sauce — available in any Asian market) Y teaspoon salt Y; teaspoon ground white pepper 1 tablespoon sesame oil 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed 2 tablespoons dry sherry ¥2 teaspoon liquid smoke 1 teaspoon sugar 1 tablespoon cornstarch Place all the ingredients in an electric mixer and blend until very smooth. Mould ali of the meat mixture into walnut-sized meatballs and place on metal or bamboa skewers. Broil in the cven, turning once, or on the charcoal grill, much preferred. Serve with chopped fresh cor- iander or mint, lettuce leaves and moistened rice paper wrappers (see hint below), and Vietnamese Dip- ping Sauce (recipe below). HINT: On preparing rice paper wrappers: These round rice wrap- pers can be found in large oriental or Thai/Victnamese markets. They come dried. To serve, place a moistened Wednesday, Bee og ce Pe Apzil 15, 1992 — North Shore News VIETNAMESE FOOD has French and Chinese infiu- ences. favorites Chicken with Lime. Some popular are Lemongrass and Rare Beef Vietnamese cooking is very simple, but tasty. NEWS photo Paut McGrath kitchen towel on the counter and put a few sheets of rice paper on the towel. Do not let them overlap. Using a plant spray.-, spray them on both sides with water and allow them to soak up the water for a few minutes. Prepare only the amount you need: they are not reusable. Do not let them sit too long or they will become soggy. When they are soft they are ready to serve. The wrappers come in several sizes, So choose the one that is the most convenient for a particula: dish. VIETNAMESE DIPPING SAUCE (Makes about 2'4 cups) ¥2 cup ‘‘nuoc marm:"’ (fish sauce) 2 tablespoons rice-wine vinegar 2 teaspoons sugar 1 cup water va cup grated carrots Ys cup grated ‘‘daikon’’ radish (available in oriental markets) 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed duice of /: lime Chili oil to taste Mix all the ingredients together well and chill a bit before serving. VIETNAMESE LEMONGRASS CHICKEN (Serves 4-6) This quickly prepared but ter- rifically flavorful dish is great served with rice paper wrappers. | love it with a few leaves of mint and basil. This one you must try. It is easily done in a wok. 1 3-pound frying chicken 4 stalks lemongrass (found in Asian markets) minced, about 2 cup 3 scallions (green and white part) 1 teaspoon salt VY teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to faste 2 talMespoons peanut off 2 small fresh red chile peppers, seeded, cored and chapped 2 teaspoons sugar Y cup fresh or canned chicken stock GARNISH: Ya cup chopped dry-roset:c mats 2 tablespoons ‘‘nuoc mam" (fish sauce) Chopped fresh coriander leaves Hack the chicken into small serving pieces, chopping through the bones with a sharp cleaver. Remove the outer leaves of the femongrass and finely stice the tender white part at the base of the stalks. Bruise with a mortar pea- See Shop page $3 Use natural dyes for decorating Easter eggs inquisitive Cook SUE WILSON ANNE GARDINER DECORATING EGGS is an Easter tradition for many children. And in the spirit: of creative recycling, you can make your own dyes from vegetable crimmings. Along with the fun, there’s a sub- ue lesson in egg cookery. Natural dyes make soft. earthy colors. Try the dried skins of cooking onions t09 give muted browns and warm tans. Youll need enough to fill a medium-sized plastic produce bag (about 2 ounces by weight). Most grocers don’t mind if you volun- teer to tidy the onion bin. Or use four large bunches of carrot tops to produce gentle greens from the water-soluble pigment chlorophyll. To extract the pigments, boil onion skins in two litres of water for 20 minutes, and carrot tops in two litres of water, covered for 40 minutes. Lengthy simmering ex- tracts the color. Strain each of the dyes into a stainless steel pan. Press the used tops and skins to extract any extra pigmem, then discard. Add one tablespoon (15 mL) white or cider vinegar to each dye to help it set. You should have plenty of cach dye to color a dozen eggs. Acids such as vinegar bring out the yellow tones in chlorophyll pigments, sO expect a mossy mather than a deep green from ihe carrot tops. To imprint ims eges with a pat- tern, place a single sprig of parsley, tern or a simpie flower on a square of nyion stocking big enough to stretch around the egg. About a five-inch (12 cm) square should be plenty. Wrap it tightly around the egg, making sure the leaf pattern stays flat against the shell. Tie at the too with string. Elastic bands of various wiaths, or thick netting stretched around the ege, also leave unique prints. Lower the eggs gently iato the dye, and simmer for 20 minutes. This gives the dye time to color the egg shell. It’s also the perfect way to hard-cook an egg. Eggs should never te boiled because their proteins toughen in high leat. So if the water bubbles hard. turn it down. *‘Simmer’ means a bubble breaks the surface of the cooking water only occa- sionally. Cooking temperatures make a big difference to the tex- ture of hard-cooked eggs: boiled eggs are rubbery. Immerse the eggs immediately in cold water. When those dyed with onion skins are cool enough to handJe, remove the nylon and let the eggs dry. The carrot dye takes a fitile longer. Let it cool, then return the eggs to the dye and refrigerate for at least four more heurs before undoing their coverings. Dry the eggs and rub them with a soft cloth dipped in a bit of salad oil. Buff them to a soft sheen. (if the eggs are for eating, refrigerate them until just before serving. Older eggs peel more easi- ly dian fresh ones as their shell is not as firmiy attached to the egg white. These eggs nestled in a basket filed with raffia or moss celebrate the beauty of nature in a soft and subtle way.