Recipe: Vietnamese pizza
Vegan dishes packed with flavour that are on the table in no time: that’s what it’s all about in the new cookbook Vegan east by Milou van der Will, with Eastern cuisine taking centre stage. She shows you how to enjoy the traditional flavours of classic Eastern dishes using the tastiest ingredients, such as this Vietnamese pizza—but naturally in a plant-based version.
“Egg is usually used as the base topping for this Vietnamese street snack. I replace it with my Korean gochujang sauce, a little like the tomato sauce used for Italian pizza. Fusion galore. Give yourself a few pizzas to practise with and you’ll almost want to start a food truck—it’s that delicious.”
How to make Vietnamese pizza
- Heat a small frying pan with the oil. Fry the portobello with a pinch of salt. Set aside.
- Gather all the toppings around you: the sauce, portobello, spring onion, green pepper, finely chopped peanuts, mayo and sriracha. Also prepare a bowl of water with a pastry brush and a spoon. Heat a grill pan or frying pan over medium heat.
- Use 2 sheets of rice paper per pizza.
- Place 1 rice paper sheet on a plate. Brush with water. Place the second sheet on top and immediately place it in the pan (without oil!). Rub circles with the back of a spoon so that the 2 sheets stick together. At first it may seem impossible and the top sheet will curl up, but keep going. Continue making circles. Massage extra with the spoon wherever bubbles form, because you don’t want those.
- After a while, the pizza base changes from transparent to whitish. When you see this happening, turn it over with tongs. Keep making circles now too. Lower the heat if necessary. Otherwise, the edges will burn quickly.
- Time to add the toppings. First spoon 2 tablespoons of gochujang sauce onto the pizza. Spread it out. Then top with the portobello, spring onion, green pepper and peanuts. Remove from the pan. Drizzle with some vegan mayo and sriracha. Cut into slices with scissors, or fold in half, serve authentically in an old newspaper and lick your fingers clean.
How to make the gochujang sauce
- Mix all the ingredients, except the cornflour and water, in a wok and heat the sauce over low heat. Simmer gently for a few minutes.
- Meanwhile, make a slurry with the cornflour and 2 teaspoons of water. Stir it into the sauce. Simmer for another 2 minutes, until the sauce has thickened. Use the sauce immediately.
Title: Vegan east
Author: Milou van der Will
Price: €25.95
Publisher: Good Cook
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