Gỏi cuốn 03

Chào các thầy cô và các bạn!

chúng em là project group Gỏi cuốn 03. Chúng em tên là Phúc (Charles), Khôi (Wei Hao), Thưy (Pei Hua) và Danh (Terry).Chúng em đi nhà thầy để nấu ăn gỏi cuốn vào chín giờ sang.

This is it….3rd October 2009 was the long awaited day of our Vietnamese Food Festival. This event gathered all level 1 Vietnamese students together to explore the Vietnamese culture through food. Food which plays an important role in one’s culture signifies many aspects of a country. As such, this cooking project was one of the highlights of the module. Unlike the past semesters, this time round, the food festival was held at Thầy Minh's house. 

Our group was supposed to prepare Gỏi cuốn, a traditional Vietnamese wrap. All of us came prepared for this event with bags and bags of ingredients. When we arrived at Thầy Minh's house, his house was already packed with our friends of LAV1201. Everyone was so engrossed in their cooking and definitely also enjoying themselves very much. Each of us was responsible for getting specific ingredients and we prepared it the day before the Food Festival.

The ingredients are as follows:
• Bee Hoon
• Vietnamese rice paper
• Lettuce
• Cucumber
• Basil leaves  
• Mint leaves
• Bean sprouts
• Pork belly 
• Tiger shrimps 
• Fish sauce

The most interesting ingredient of this dish was the Vietnamese rice paper. I was surprised by how the texture of the paper changed as it came into contact with water. Cô Lê and Cô Quỳnh taught us the proper way of wrapping. This procedure was not as easy as it seemed when we cooked it ourselves. You must be really careful not to tear the rice paper. 

Procedure: 
1) Wash all ingredients.
2) Soak Bee Hoon in cold water for 20 minutes then place into boiling water and cook for 5 minutes.
3) Rinse under cold water, drain and set aside.
4) Slice the pork meat and cucumber into thin strips. The prawns were cut into half.
5) Place a sheet of rice paper on a plate. Arrange the lettuce, cucumber,mint leaves, basil leaves, bean sprouts, chives and Bee Hoon on the rice paper, along the edge closest to you.
6) Top with slices of pork and shrimps.
7) Fold the edge of the rice paper closest to you over the filling. Then fold the left and right hand sides over and roll the spring roll away from you to form a neat parcel.
8) Continue to make 15 more rolls.
9) Serve with fish sauce.

                                             Charles slicing the cucumber 

                                             Putting the fillings into the wrap

                                             Pretty fingers wrap pretty rolls

                                              Who's the handsome guy on the LEFT?!?

                                               "Added the prawn?"

                                             Full concentration on the salad roll

We then went on to decorate our Gỏi cuốn and prepare the fish sauce for the dish.

                                             Salad Roll Fusion

                                       The Final Presenation.. Where is Charles?? In the salad roll?

                                                            Glutton for punishment!!!

The grading of each group’s dish started around noon. Every team final product looked very appetising. During the critique, Cô Bích who is a very good cook pointed out our mistakes in the selection of ingredients without even having to see through our cooking process. She sensed everything through taste! Cô Bích also mentioned that some of the dishes taste much better than that from Business School canteen. 

After which, all of us were given the opportunity to taste the food. On top of those prepared by our friends, Cô Bích also cooked her trademark phở gà for all of us. 

All in all, the food festival was a success. We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all the teachers for making it happen.

Our reflections

Pei Hua: I really enjoyed myself very much that day. It was a wonderful and insightful experience for me. The food festival was just like a bonding session for everyone where all our teachers became just like friends to us. Although everyone was exhausted by the end of the event, the weary was all overcome by the joy and laughter on that day. 

Wei Hao: It was a really enriching experience for me as it was one of my few times preparing a dish. Especially since it was a Vietnamese dish, it was really an eye opener for me. I never thought that the various vegetables that the Vietnamese would heavily use in their dishes could taste so delicious together. I would definitely like to try preparing and tasting the other Vietnamese dishes some other time.

Charles: To be honest, I would say that I did not really get to experience cooking Vietnamese food as I have to leave early on that day for a midterm in school. Fortunately I have the chance to see Cô Lê showing us how to wrap the Gỏi cuốn before I left. Tiếc quá! Nevertheless, I feel that the main aim of the project is to bring all of us together and I am glad that I have at least mingle around with my coursemate of LAV1201. 

Terry: I have never cooked or prepared any dishes except for instant noodles till now. However, I had a great and fun filled experience during the few hours of “cooking mama” session with my wonderful classmates as well as the teachers. I am sure that we have learnt new recipes to prepare new Vietnamese dishes instead of Singaporean delights. I look forward to prepare a new dish in the next cooking session (if there is any). LAV1201 Super Fun!!!