Shrimp cakes from the ‘laboratory’ in Ho Chi Minh City

Shrimp cake is a familiar dish to many diners. In Ho Chi Minh City, you can enjoy this dish in a novel molecular cuisine.

Hanoi specialty shrimp cakes in the perception of many diners are golden pieces of shrimp wrapped with shrimp, served with sweet and sour sauce like the sentences described by Thach Lam in the book “Hanoi chopped six streets”:

“The intestines tightened first, we watched the cake gradually yellow, gradually yellow, the shrimp shrank, the sweet potato hatched, and the cake curled up a bit impatiently, wanting to lie on the plate. A faint scent floats into the air, which we take in a refreshing breath along with the cold north wind … ”

Looking for the taste of Hanoi shrimp cakes in Ho Chi Minh City, I happened to know that Bom Gastronomy restaurant also serves this cake, but it is an alternative version, out of the shape of the original dish.

Not following the traditional processing steps, the shrimp cakes at this restaurant have been completely redone thanks to a new cooking method called: Molecular Cuisine.

Bom Gastronomy has refreshed the shrimp cake by shrinking and consolidating the ingredients from the powder coating, to the shrimp filling, dipping sauce and raw vegetables, the small ingredients in the palm of the hand.

That fusion is one of the techniques of a modern cooking method called: Molecular gastronomy. This method is a cross between cuisine, science and art. In each dish, the chef will apply the rules of physics, chemistry in the processing, altering the structure of the dish, providing a different culinary experience.

Compared with the traditional version, the ingredients for shrimp cakes in the molecular cuisine version are almost unchanged, including fresh shrimp, eggs, flour, fried flour, fish sauce, purple onion, garlic, herbs.

Sharing about the difference between traditional cakes and molecular-style shrimp cakes, Mr. Do Bao Duong, founder of Bom Gastronomy restaurant, said that the traditional cooking method is somewhat relative, the cook tasting based on experience and senses. For example, dipping sauces are mixed not according to specific quantities, the taste can change when salty or light.

On the contrary, molecular cuisine is about the precision when weighing ingredients, which is one of the rules of this cooking method. Each ingredient in the culinary version of shrimp cakes is calculated to balance the flavor and nutritional value. Some diners may not be familiar with the recipe-based accuracy, as each person’s taste is different.

“Bom introduces molecular cuisine into traditional dishes, using familiar ingredients to suit a wide range of Vietnamese diners. The restaurant also wants young guests to feel the traditional taste from a modern perspective. The dishes here apply basic techniques so that customers can easily accept and learn about this interesting culinary trend ”, Mr. Duong shared about the innovation of traditional dishes by processing methods. modern.

“The kitchen becomes a miniature laboratory when chefs create dishes according to the method of molecular cuisine”, Mr. Duong said. At the “laboratory” in Bom Gastronomy, chefs apply desconstructed and faux caves techniques to create the modern version of shrimp cakes.

First of all, it must be deconstructed. This is a technique that changes the structure and shape of the original dish, creating a completely new version but still ensuring the original taste. When applied deconstructed, the chef does not wrap the whole shrimp in the dough but chopped and divided it into 2 parts. The base of the cake is minced shrimp coated with crispy flour, the top layer is sautéed minced shrimp.

In the traditional version, the sauce is the liquid in a bowl to add seasoning. To the molecular culinary version, fish sauce is condensed into a fixed gel layer directly onto the cake thanks to the faux caves technique. Here’s how to make a solution in the form of a liquid glue. The liquid is held by a thin, viscous, non-melting gel film. Instead of dipping shrimp cakes with their own sweet and sour fish sauce, the molecular cuisine version has fused the sauce with the other ingredients.

To make fish sauce gel, the chef uses normal fish sauce, adding gelatin to thicken. The ingredients are carefully weighed so that the gel layer is not too loose or too thick, has a transparent texture, a deep yellow honey color.

This way of processing is completely different from the traditional shrimp cake making steps. The original dish consists of 3 separate crust, filling and sauce. When processing, the chef will prepare the ingredients in pieces, the cake is wrapped in dough and then fried until golden crispy. Cake is served with sweet and sour fish sauce.

In the molecular culinary version, the chef prepares fresh shrimp, peels and then purees it. The shrimp meat is mixed with eggs, purple onion, garlic, salt and pepper spices, shaped into a flat circle, rolled over the fried dough and deep fried until both sides are golden. The remaining ground shrimp meat is also rounded, flat, steamed, then pan-fried.

Separating 2 parts of shrimp is lettuce. The top part is carrot and perilla leaves. All are fixed with a bamboo toothpick. The dish’s molecular culinary spirit lies in the fish sauce gel droplets decorated on the perilla leaf layer.

The innovative version of the shrimp cake is simply decorated with layers of ingredients stacked on top of each other. The crust is the crispy fried shrimp, followed by the rounded lettuce layer, followed by the pan-fried shrimp. The top layer is perilla leaf dotted with 3 drops of honey-colored, transparent fish sauce gel.

The fish sauce gel drops on the perilla leaves make the dish more prominent, stimulating the taste buds.

The chef instructed me to eat by holding a bamboo toothpick, bringing the whole piece of cake into my mouth in one go. If chopped or eaten separately, it will be difficult to recognize the flavor of this dish like the original version.

Even though it’s finger food (the appetizer is small in size), I found the shrimp cake to be quite large to eat in one piece. I cut the cake in half from the top with a knife, fixed the spilled ingredients with a fork. The chopped portion is still 2 layers of shrimp, raw vegetables and fish sauce gel.

The taste of the dish reminded me of the times I sat down to eat shrimp cakes at the West Lake sidewalk restaurant. This time I also eat shrimp cakes, but in a more luxurious place with dark space, yellow lights, candles, knives and forks on the table, there is a attentive service staff.

Unlike a plate of golden yellow cake on a plastic plate, with a basket of raw vegetables and a bowl of garlic and chili sauce, the shrimp cake at Bom Gastronomy is placed in a polite white ceramic plate, neatly trimmed vegetables, dipping sauce. are beautiful gel drops.

Before enjoying it, I expect the taste of the dish to be similar to the original version. However, this cake does not have the traditional sweet potato so the new flavor lacks sweetness. In return, the shrimp meat tastes well even though it has been minced. Deep-fried shrimp coated with flour, pan-fried shrimp reminds me of fried dishes. The dish does not create a greasy feeling because raw vegetables balance the flavor.

In the traditional version, the delicious shrimp cake or not depends largely on the dipping sauce. Likewise, the fish sauce gel portion forms the soul of a molecular cuisine version of shrimp cake. This gel layer has a strong taste of salty fish sauce, clear the smell of garlic and chili spices, adding sweetness of sugar. It is this gel sauce that makes me feel similar to traditional shrimp cakes.

It is difficult to judge which version of the cake is better because each type of processing has its own characteristics.

If you like the feeling of eating hot cakes, biting crunchy dough blended with sweet potato pulp, chewing an intact shrimp flavored with fish sauce, you should choose the original version of shrimp cake.

If you are curious about the modern culinary trend, want to experience a dish that exceeds the standards of traditional rules, dine in a luxurious space, you should immediately try shrimp cake in molecular cuisine.

For diners who choose to enjoy the taste of modern cuisine, chef Bom Gastronomy suggests that after appetizing with shrimp cakes, diners can order more Bom Iberico, Mushroom Ravioli and a glass of Bom signature cocktail.

These are all typical dishes of the molecular culinary approach. Iberico pork dish is served with sweet potato and melon jelly (cantaloupe jelly). This type of jelly was made from the edible paper method. Jelly includes potato powder, soybeans, fresh fruit color and flavor, creating a combination that is not ideal but the opposite flavor stimulates the taste of diners.

The Mushroom Ravitol is the wonton soup of Italy. The texture of this dish is just foam. There is also another cooking technique of molecular cuisine called foam (sauce whisk). The foam has a fragrant, smoked, smoked meat flavor that melts right when it touches the tip of the tongue.

The chef introduces the restaurant’s signature cocktail, inspired by his trip to Da Lat (Lam Dong). The glass of water brings a familiar tamarind scent in the new wine taste, creating an attractive sweet and sour taste.

In a modern space with traditional features from the image of Bom, mo fan to bronze drums decorated in the restaurant, Bom Gastronomy is the ideal place for diners to explore the taste of Vietnamese food, refreshing by modern cooking method.