Súp Đồ Biển (Vietnamese Bouillabaisse)

 

I decided to do a seafood dinner for Good Friday, so I recreated a Súp Đồ Biển paired with Rambutan Martini.

Súp Đồ Biển

I totally made this up, but it tastes very similar to one I’d had in an upscale French-Vietnamese restaurant (except they used lobster and I used shrimp; sadly it's been off their menu for years). It was a clear broth, not tomato base, and there was no hint of fish sauce, which I do not like (I'd know; fish sauce is very pungent). There are seafood soups on Vietnamese restaurant menus, but I have yet to find a similar Súp Đồ Biển again. They probably put their own Vietnamese twist to a French classic.

• 4 cups water
• 1 tblsp hondashi
• 3 lemongrass stalks, crushed
• 1" galangal, smashed
• pinch of saffron
• 2 cups mixed seafood (I used shrimp, clams, muscles, swai, squid)
• 2 sprigs Thai fresh basil
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• cooked rice vermicelli
• cooked jasmine rice

1. Heat water and add hondashi, lemongrass, galangal, and saffron until boiling.
2. Add the seafood. Bring back to a boil. Cover tightly and turn off the heat. Let steam until the seafood is cooked (about 10 minutes). Discard the lemongrass.
3. Serve with lime wedges, basil, cooked rice vermicelli, and cooked jasmine rice.

Rambutan Martini

Makes 2

I like Martini, I like Lychee Martini, and I like Rambutan, so I decided to make a Rambutan Martini for Good Friday.

• ice
• 1 20 oz can of rambutan in syrup
• 8 oz vodka
• 2 cocktail skewers

1. Thread three rambutans to a skewer.
2. Fill an ice shaker with ice cube. Add vodka and 1/4 cup of syrup and shake vigorously.
3. Strain into martini glasses.
4. Garnish with the skewered rambutan.