OK so we know that Vietnamese food is my favourite. Real, authentic Vietnamese food. Tonight though, I have proven the incredible perfection of Vietnamese flavour combinations. I threw a few things together and ended up writhing in culinary ecstasy. How does one cuisine manage to get it so damn right? Admittedly the Ankle Biters were not as enthralled as I and the Bread Winner’s opinion is pending his arrival home from the office. So you’ll just have to take my word for it.

I had two pieces of panfried stuffed tofu leftover, some rolled rice noodles from my market foray, 100g of uncooked scallops and 200g green prawns I found lurking in the freezer. So I had a flick through Into the Vietnamese Kitchen and this is what I came up with. Although there are a few parts to it, overall it was a quick and easy meal. Not 10 minutes but still quick.

Prawn, Scallop, Leftovers and Rolled Rice Noodles.
To make spring onion oil:
4 spring onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup oil

Gently heat oil. When hot enough that a pieces of spring onion sizzles when dropped in, put all spring onions in, stirring for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

To make topping:
100g scallops
200g green prawns (shelled)
2 pieces leftover panfried stuffed tofu, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 shallot, finely minced

Simmer prawns and scallops in water until just cooked through. Drain and quickly fry all ingredients together.
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To make sauce:
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon palm sugar
1 teaspoon dried chilli

Mix all ingredients together.

Noodles and Garnish:
1 packet rolled rice noodles
assorted Vietnamese herbs (I used coriander and a couple of others I couldn’t identify)
good handful bean sprouts

Immediately before serving, steam noodles for 5 minutes. I used the varoma of course so I cooked at varoma temperature on soft speed (with water covering blades) for 8 minutes.

To serve:
Place rice noodles in bottom of bowl. Top with prawn/scallop/tofu topping. Drizzle a little sauce over. Place a teaspoon of spring onion oil on top of that. Sprinkle herbs and bean sprouts on top.