Chạo Tôm

the imperial prawn paste of Huế: pounded prawn and pork fat moulded around a baton of peeled sugar cane and grilled over charcoal, so the cane sweetens the paste and is chewed afterwards

Origin: Vietnam

From the journey of Sugar Cane.

Almost everywhere else in the world sugar cane is a source of sweetness and nothing more. In Vietnam it is also a piece of equipment. Chạo tôm belongs to Huế, the old imperial capital on the Perfume River, whose cooking is the most refined in the country and was shaped by the Nguyễn court's appetite for small, elaborate, labour-intensive dishes; it is the best-known member of a whole family of Huế grilled snacks eaten wrapped in rice paper with herbs. A paste of prawn pounded with pork back fat is moulded by hand around a peeled baton of fresh cane and grilled over charcoal, and the cane does three things at once: it holds the paste like a skewer, it releases steam and sugar into the prawn from within so the meat stays moist and takes on a faint sweetness, and when the paste has been eaten the stick is chewed for its juice, so the dessert arrives inside the main course. The pork fat is not optional either; it is what gives the paste its characteristic springy, almost bouncing texture, which Vietnamese cooks achieve by pounding or beating the prawn rather than merely blending it. It is served with rice paper, lettuce, herbs, pickled vegetables, and a bowl of nước chấm, and assembled at the table by each person.

Ingredients

Paste

500 g raw prawns, peeled and deveined
80 g pork back fat, finely diced
3 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 whole shallots, finely chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp freshly ground white pepper
1 tsp cornflour
1 whole egg white

Skewers

1 length fresh sugar cane, about 40 cm, peeled and cut into 8 batons of roughly 12 cm
2 tbsp neutral oil, for brushing

To Serve

8 sheet rice paper, lettuce leaves, mint, coriander, and Vietnamese perilla, to serve
150 ml nước chấm, to serve

Method

Pat the prawns thoroughly dry with kitchen paper, spread them on a tray, and freeze for 15 minutes until very cold but not frozen solid. Chill the diced pork fat alongside.
Pound the prawns in a large mortar, or pulse them in a food processor, with the pork fat, garlic, shallots, fish sauce, sugar, pepper, cornflour, and egg white until you have a thick, sticky, slightly springy paste that still shows a little texture.
Lift the paste out and throw it back into the bowl hard, twenty or thirty times, until it becomes visibly springier and clings to itself. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
Peel the sugar cane and cut it into batons about 12 cm long and a finger thick. With wet hands, take a handful of paste and mould it firmly around the middle of each baton into a smooth spindle, leaving 3 cm of cane bare at each end as a handle.
Brush lightly with oil and grill over medium charcoal, turning often, for 10 to 12 minutes, until the paste is opaque, firm, lightly charred in places, and cooked through. Serve at once with rice paper, herbs, and nước chấm, and chew the cane at the end.

Notes

Fresh cane is sold by Vietnamese, Caribbean, and South Asian grocers, usually in the cooler months; tinned cane batons in syrup are widely available and are the common substitute, but they must be rinsed and dried thoroughly or the dish will be sicklysweet. If no cane can be had, lemongrass stalks or plain bamboo skewers will hold the paste, though the sweetness and the chewing at the end are lost. Pork back fat is what gives the paste its bounce and there is no good vegetarian route to the same texture; ask a butcher, and dice it as finely as you can. To eat, lay a softened rice paper on the palm, add lettuce and a generous pile of herbs, slide the paste off the cane onto it, roll, and dip in nước chấm. The same paste is moulded onto lemongrass in the south and around a rice-paper cone in Hanoi.

The Gastrographer

Name: Chạo Tôm
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Vietnam
Ingredients: 500 g raw prawns, peeled and deveined; 80 g pork back fat, finely diced; 3 clove garlic, finely chopped; 2 whole shallots, finely chopped; 1 tbsp fish sauce; 2 tsp caster sugar; 1 tsp freshly ground white pepper; 1 tsp cornflour; 1 whole egg white; 1 length fresh sugar cane, about 40 cm, peeled and cut into 8 batons of roughly 12 cm; 2 tbsp neutral oil, for brushing; 8 sheet rice paper, lettuce leaves, mint, coriander, and Vietnamese perilla, to serve; 150 ml nước chấm, to serve

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control