Vietnamese spaghetti bolognese. You need six garlic, and even though peeling garlic is annoying (to me) it’s worth it for the flavor you get. Cook ground pork with a tablespoon each of sugar and Vietnamese fish sauce (nước mắm). Set the pork aside and cook the garlic with half an onion, followed by a can of tomatoes (or use fresh in the summer), adding two more tablespoons of fish sauce and two tablespoons tomato paste. Return the pork to the pan and cook five more minutes. Add pepper (but no salt; the fish sauce will take care of that), and eat it with rice. Do not use spaghetti. That’s just part of the metaphor. It tastes delightfully sour, and it’s better if you serve it with nước chấm, which in its simplest form can be a mixture of fish sauce, rice vinegar, and lime juice.
(Photo: The recipe is adapted from The Foods of Vietnam by Nicole Routhier.)
365 Days of Food 