On 2005-11-12, limey > wrote:

> "Peter Huebner" > wrote in message
> t...

>> In an earlier life I was working as adult ed consultant at a school that
>> was teaching German to Vietnamese boat people - and as a direct result I
>> got invited to quite a lot of Vietnamese banquets. Which I really
>> enjoyed, and I got quite a few hints and tips on how to prepare some of
>> the dishes.
>>
>> There are a couple of issues, however, where my memory fails. One thing
>> is the [pastry] for lack of a better word. A lot of dishes were similar
>> to spring rolls, but they were things bundled in a white
>> pastry/pasta/whatever and then boiled or steamed rather than deep fried.
>> Grab with chopsticks, dunk in fish sauce and eat. Delicious. But I
>> cannot for the life of me remember how to make that coating. Rice flour
>> and hot water is what has stuck but I am at a loss as to method ?!?
>>
>> The other thing I am wondering about is the fish sauce. I remember it as
>> quite different from Thai fish sauce which is the only I have been able
>> to obtain here in NZ so far. Are they really different, or is my memory
>> playing tricks on me?
>>
>> If anyone has a good link on how-tos I'd appreciate it. I think I can
>> remember well enough what it should taste like to be able to experiment
>> successfully with a few memory refreshers.
>>
>> cheers, -Peter
>
> Would this help, do you think? -
>
> http://www.panix.com/~clay/cookbook/...cgi?vietnamese

And, for information about fish sauce:

http://www.panix.com/~clay/cookbook/...cgi?fish-sauce

I also found this useful information about the difference between Thai
and Vietnamese fish sauce:

Also keep in mind that fish sauce is also used in Thai and Filipino
cooking, where it tends to be saltier and heavier in flavor. So, even
though Thailand produces most of the fish sauce sold in the U.S., you
need to make sure that the condiment you're buying is made in the
'Vietnamese' style. How to do this? Look for Vietnamese
lettering alongside the Thai script. Sometimes, the terms Phu Quoc
and Phan Thiet are included on the label to signal a connection with
these two famous fish sauce-producing areas in Vietnam. Fish sauce
from Vietnam now sometimes use "Hon Phu Quoc" or "Hon Phan Thiet" (see
image on left) to indicate that their product came from islands in
those regions; hon means islands, and communicates a more authentic
Viet condiment (versus a Thai product, which may not be clued in on
such linguistic subtleties).

http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/essentials.htm

--
Clay Irving >
Maybe this world is another planet's Hell.
- Aldous Huxley