(Left: Esther, Andrew, Yonghui and G
erard)Hello everyone =)! Welcome to our cooking episode 101!
Well, today we will be imparting to you our experience and knowledge in preparing delicious Gỏi Cuốn (Vietnamese Cold Roll)! Before that, let me introduce you our beloved master chefs - look at the picture above!
We had great FUN on a memorable and momentous day - 07/03/09, the day Gỏi Cuốn was born (see above)... FUN with what you may ask? Well as you can see from the title, we had lots of FUN meddling and rolling Gỏi Cuốn. It was actually a cooking project collaboratively done by teachers and students from the NUS Vietnamese language course. As you can see, we are proud to present our handmade and self-made (with lots of sweat and 'blood' - not inside the Gỏi Cuốn, of course!) Gỏi Cuốn.
Well, doing projects for NUS students is actually more of a chore than an enjoyment. But for this cooking project, it was the opposite. Well, the chore part maybe getting the Gỏi Cuốn rolled to what it should look like may be a chore but well... I think it was kinda fun actually haha =)!!! The first few rolls were kind of... bad... but after we got the hang of it, the rolls were more 'in shape'. As the old saying goes, "Practice makes perfect" I guess =)... We may not be the team with the best tasting or best looking or best decorated Gỏi Cuốn but we certainly have the best team spirit! But hey, our Gỏi Cuốn doesn't seemed that bad right? Ya! Not due to the camera angle but they look presentable... at least to us... or me... ok...
Having the experience to roll one Gỏi Cuốn, I can tell you it is not as easy as you think... I thought having the experience of rolling 'bo pia' - Chinese rolls is good enough but I was wrong. Definitely, you need some skills to roll a nice Gỏi Cuốn, different from Bo Pia. Er-hem!!! So let Master Chef impart to you a tiny tiny bit of my knowledge and experience to you...
Firstly, the skin of Gỏi Cuốn is one of the stickiest stuff I have handled (other than glue). Vietnamese rice paper dipped in water gradually turns soft and will stick, so it have to be handled with care or otherwise it will break.
Secondly, you shouldn't be too greedy or generous with the ingredients. This is not the more the merrier, the fatter the better. But rather have little proportion of each of the SEVEN ingredients, thus making a small 'mountain' of ingredients already.
Thirdly, after the roll has been wrapped up nicely, it's time for the most important part - the making of the most delicious DIPPING SAUCE!!! The sauce shouldn't be too sweet, too sour, too spicy or too diluted. 1 part sugar, 1 part vinegar or lime juice and 1 part water. Add a bit of chopped chilli and chopped peanuts also. Remember, the secret of the art of making Gỏi Cuốn tastes nice is - the DIPPING SAUCE!
Below are some of the peek-tures we took on that day, enjoy!
<----- OUR fabulously prepared Gỏi Cuốn!!!
<---I'm having FUN!!! Esther having FUN looking down...
<----He's having FUN too =)!!!!
<---- All of the students' 'heart' work...
<---- Busy, busy, everywhere busy...
<---- Now comes to the 'Food Tasting Time'=)!!!
<----Vietnamese noodles prepared by our teachers =)... YUMMY!!!
Lastly, we would like to thank the teachers and fellow friends for making the day meaningful and joyous one =)!!!
Cảm ơn cô và các bạn!
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