Vietnamese Menu January 14+15

Remember - Sit-down quiz with ingredient ID component after clean-up tomorrow!

Sous Chefs:

The good news is you don't have to set up the steam table today, everything comes off of it's own station.

Fisherman's soup - recipe is easy, watch demo of how to cook shrimp in the soup. You can make soup early and hot hold - keep cooked shrimp on the side until service, put them in cups and ladle soup over them.

Green mango salad - mangoes should be green and firm, if not - talk to me. The salad goes on the street food plate, so you don't need a lot per portion - about 1 TBSP.

Sticky Rice (Sweet Rice) - is soaking over night. You need to drain it, put it into a perforated hotel pan lined with moist cheese cloth and steam it for 15 minutes. Do this early, it's usually served at room temperature, so it doesn't matter if it's not hot at service. Keep it for the street food station in a 1/3 hotel pan, covered with a moist towel.

Your primary responsibility besides soup/salad/sticky rice will be to set up the Street Food Station. This should be done on Station 5 using one chaffing dish with three 1/3 hotel pans in it to hold the hot food - like the dim sum set up. The street food plate will go to every customer with an entree, so we need to be prepared for 50-60. Each small (6") plate will contain a 1oz. ramekin of nuoc cham (made by station 6), a small portion of green mango salad, about a TBSP. of sticky rice, one rib, one Beef in La-Lot portion, one salad Roll, one shrimp on sugar cane. It should look like this

EXCEPT there will be a small lump of sticky rice next to the mango salad:

From K1 Menu Photos

Draw a great diagram of how this will look on Station 5. Where will everything be? Plates? Ramekins of sauce? Chaffing dish with each compartment labeled, Where's the rice? The salad rolls, and mango salad? Don't use utensils to plate- use gloved hands - faster that way.

BTW - All of the nouc cham for the class will be made by Station 6 and distributed or portioned as needed. Station 6 should portion 50 small ramekins of the nouc cham for the street food plates - about 1/2 full each ramekin. The rest will be used by Team 4 to dress their noodles for the fish.

Station 2:
Salad Roll set up is deceptive. It looks and sounds simple, but until you've made a few, it's awkward. For that reason, have all your MEP set up to start rolling by 9:00 AM - we'll get everyone to practice rolling a few, I'll help, and it will be easy. Watch the video - ask me for the towels as soon as I walk in. These go on the street food plate, so don't worry about the nouc cham dip - station 6 will make and portion that for you

Pho - You will have 2 types of beef to add to this - boiled beef (already done) and thin slices of raw sirloin. Plan to go to the meat room for about 30 minutes and slice the semi frozen meat down there at about 7:30, be sure to talk to me before you go .Plan to set up Station 2 table and a tray stand with sheet tray for Pho pick -up during service. The broth has been made for 2 days, so only heat 1/2 on Day 8. Heat it in a stainless pot on the range ,use one of the station 2 woks, filled with simmering water, as a hot water bath to hold the stainless pot of broth. The wok next to the broth should have simmering water and a china cap - this is to heat and refresh the noodles in.Draw a diagram of how you are going to set everything up. Noodles should be portioned ahead and held in cups - where will they be on the station? The Herbs? The raw beef?Where are your bowls kept? Under liner plates for Table Salad, Sambal, and Lime? All of this should be mapped out before you get to class. Check with chef before service if you have any doubts about the efficiency of your plan. You will pick up ala minute from Station 2.

Station 3
Shrimp on Sugar cane - the shrimp "mousse" for this got made today, Talk to the sous chefs about who will do the finishing grill work on these - probably we only have one person to grill both your shrimp and team 5's Beef in La Lot skewers. Watch the video on how to shape and form and also on how to work with sugar cane. Chef can help.

Fried Fish - catfish fillets coming in, cut into large bite-sized pieces and divide into 6 oz portions. You will set up most of your mise en place on your station, the fish portions and seasoned flour mix on a tray stand next to the wok, and one of the large woks directly across from your station will be filled with 6" deep of fry oil and act as your deep fryer - just like down town Saigon on the side walk. Let chef turn on and adjust the temp on the oil - if you get it wrong, it's a BIG fire - very scary. Draw a diagram of where everything will be and label everything, it will make your life soooo much easier. You will be frying ala minute - order-fire-pickup as the orders are called. Served in the wide, shallow bowls.

Station 4- Making the table salad is labor intensive and time consuming, you're making them for everyone, so start early. Watch the video on handling herbs and table salad and then set up a production assembly line so you can knock them out fairly fast. Keep completely covered with moist towels at all times and, if there are any left over, they can be wrapped and used on Day 9 - you won't have to make as many.

The Chicken salad is very straight forward - follow the recipe and serve at room temp. You are responsible for your own Jasmine rice and making enough to share with Station 5. Hold it hot in a chaffing dish on your station.

Station 5- Beef in la lot leaves is time consuming. set it up "production style", meaning don't make one at a time, lay out all of the leaves, fill them all , roll, them, then put them on skewers. Remember that the amount of beef prepared is supposed to be enough to last for both days. Have a conversation with Station 3 and the Sous Chefs about who will work the grill for both your product and the shrimp on sugar cane during service. They will both be cooked in batches and brought to the street food station in 1/3 hotel pans.

Crepes- Do only 1 times the recipe for the batter . Make batter early and consult chef when you are toasting the mung beans and then again when you are straining the batter. Make and fill crepes ahead, hold at room temp and reheat in a non stick pan ala minute.

Station 6 - Weigh out ingredients for dough and get started on it as soon as you come in. While dough rises, prep and set out all other sandwich ingredients and make chips. The pate was made today, the roasted pork needs to be cooked early in the Chinese oven and cool enough to slice for sandwiches by 10:45 - so start the pork FIRST THING! 1/2 of the pate and pork is for Day 8 and 1/2 is for Day 9, DONT use it all up on Day 8. The rolls should be ready to bake by 10:00, so that they have time to cool before cutting for service Chips can be made as far ahead as you want - just not a day before. You are also making all of the nouc cham for the rest of the class. Most will go into ramekins for street food, about 2 cups will go to station 3 for their noodles.

Questions answered between 8-9 tonight. I may answer late ones if I can, but try to have questions submitted by 8:00 - that's the deadline.