Vietnam's Other Black Gold

A few days before we left for Saigon, I poured the last of the 5 pounds of Vietnamese black pepper that had moved with us to Malaysia in 2005 into our pepper grinder.

This was not a coincidence.

Did we return to Saigon just to restore our stock of Vietnamese pepper? I wouldn't say that, exactly. We knew we'd go before the end of the year. As October passed and our stash shrank, well ... it just seemed like a good time to make plane reservations.

Vietnam isn't the country that comes to mind when gourmets start talking black pepper. It's all Tellicherry this and Sarawak that; if a pepper-loving foodie really wants to impress her cohort she might proclaim an allegiance to Ecuadorian prganic Ecuadorian black pepper.

That's black pepper they're walking on

Vietnam is the world's largest black pepper producer, and the spice is a key component of the cuisine. While Vietnamese food isn't as overtly chile-hot as Thai food, many dishes have a nice kick thanks to this Vietnamese black gold. A quick Google search turned up no mail-order sources for this peppercorn that, in my opinion, is the equivalent of any other 'gourmet' varieties. If you happen to be in Vietnam you can buy it by the kilo for a steal.

What follows is an extremely quick, tasty recipe that highlights black pepper's uniquely complex heat. If Vietnamese isn't within your reach, use whatever is. Just make sure that it's very fresh (ie. still fragrant; a good whiff should make you want to sneeze), and freshly ground.

Light and Bright Vietnamese Herby Omelet with Black Pepper-Salt-Kalamansi (or Lime) Dipping Sauce

We ate this street snack on a grey, misty winter morning in Hanoi. At 630am on a Sunday the city's streets were strangely quiet. About 4 blocks from the lake we came across a granny tucked under the overhang of an office building. Seated on a tiny stool, she was making omelets, emerald green with chopped herbs, in a small pan over a single burner. We ordered one and marveled at its simplicity and brightness. The dipping sauce - a combination of salt, lots of fragrant black pepper, and kalamansi juice - added zip and beautifully complemented the fresh taste of the herbs.

Any combination of Asian-ish herbs works here, the more the merrier - just be sure not to go too heavy on the strongest-flavored herbs. This morning my omelet included Thai basil, mint, Vietnamese coriander (polygonum/laksa leaf), perilla, cilantro, and sorrel (caution: too much sorrel and your omelet will be more gray than green). You might also use wild pepper leaves, or a bit of dill. Arugala would be a nice, albeit inauthentic, addition. A few chives or one scallion chopped with the greens are possibilities, but don't use enough to overpower the herbs. Don't be alarmed at the amount of minced herbs in this dish - the egg really shouldn't be much more than a binder. 

sea salt or Kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

kalamansi or lime halves, for squeezing

4 eggs

1 1/4 cup of a combination of fresh herbs chopped together to a fine mince

vegetable oil

1. In a small saucer mix (for each person) a pinch of salt, a few generous grinds of pepper, and kalamansi juice (2-3 halves, depending on the size of the fruit) or lime juice (1/2 a juicy lime). Mix lightly - it's not necessary to dissolve the salt.

2. Beat the eggs to thoroughly combine. Stir in the herbs.

3. Place a (preferably non-stick) skillet over medium heat. Add a dribble of oil and then wipe it around with a paper towel to remove the excess.

4. Add the eggs and cook slowly, covered, to allow them to set. Once the top no longer jiggles slide the omelet onto a plate and then turn the plate over into the skillet, to cook the other side. Avoid browning the omelet, if you can.

5. Once the omelet is cooked, slide it onto a plate and eat by dipping pieces into the sauce. (Lovely eaten room temperature, too.)

Tons of pepper for export

Comments

[Appetite for China]

Is that the distinctive pepper in bahn mi's meat?

[Phil]

One of the more disheartening things that I discovered about the Cambodian pepper industry while I was doing some research on it for an article was that most of the black pepper from Cambodia that isn't consumed locally ends up exported to Vietnam ungraded and then graded and mixed in with Vietnam's pepper.

[Chad Edward]

Why no photos of this morning's omelet?

[Robyn]

Appetite - couldn't say for sure, but I've noticed alot of black pepper in Vietnamese charcuterie.

Phil - that is sad. Cambodia needs to get its pepper noticed by some gourmet who can get the word out to specialty stores overseas.

Chad - the photographer wasn't here when I made the omelet! We'll work on coordinating our schedules.

[Steven Goh]

Woo... the size of vietnam papper looks bigger than in Malaysia. Papper meaning spicy food. I just love spicy food.

I wonder how the people survive the smell while working there.

[Annie]

Just wanted to wish you guys a merry Christmas and a happy new year! And getting a little bit of withdrawal from lack of new posts ^_^

[Robyn]

Steven - yes, it is. We did a side-by-side taste test with Sarawak black pepper and found the Vietnamese to be a bit more, well, peppery on the back of the tongue. That said, maybe the Viet pepper we have on hand is fresher than the black pepper we bought in Kuching.

Annie - same to you guys! I'd planned to queue up some posts to run while were gone but, well - best laid plans and all that. More soon. Happy Holidays!

[Viet]

if you have a chance to visit Phu Quoc island, you'll see a lot of black pepper grow on the island. (I believe they're also grown on the Con Son island).

there's a cooking show on PBS, called America's Test Kitchen, and they have segment on testing kitchen utensils (actually,they test everything that's used in the kitchen from bread maker to tortilla. one day, they tested on black pepper, one of the jars contained pepper from VN....they also ranked the VNese's black pepper pretty high.
I don't know the reason why Americans tend to marinate with or add black pepper before cooking. It's knida defeat the purpose of black pepper. In my opinion (I have a rice cooker in my kitchen, that's how much I'm into cuisine, but I like to watch experts prepare food on TV), black pepper is the type of cooking additives should be added after the cooking has been done(not before) to enhance the taste and fragance because when black pepper is cooked , it has a bitter taste, also the fragrance is "vaporated".

[Robyn]

Hi Viet - I haven't seen the show, but I know the magazine it's associated with (Cook's Illustrated). Susan Herman Loomis, an American cookbook writer living in France, also rates Vietnamese pepper as among the best in the world (I searched for a mail-order source in the US, to no avail -but apparently it is available in France).

Your observation about marinating with black pepper is interesting. I don't actually prepare many dishes that require marination, except for some south Asian curries that require 'dry' marination in a mix of dried, toasted spices (of which black pepper is usually one). Otherwise, I almost always add black pepper, along with salt, early in the cooking process .... and then more pepper later, shortly before serving the dish. I haven't found that this turns the black pepper bitter - and it's a way of 'layering' flavors. Some of the pepper is mellowed, and the pepper added at the end is sharp.
I have to admit that our tastes are a bit skewed; we probably use much more black pepper than your average American, especially after living in Vietnam, where the pepper was so good we really ramped up the amount added to every dish!
Thanks for your comment.

[Diane]

I love black pepper. I picked some in Kerala (in South India) two years ago...and having just run out issued strict orders to a friend traveling there this fall to bring some back for me. It is far better than what is typically available here. I also cook a lot of Thai food and use Thai white pepper for that - maybe they source it from Vietnam?

I have not tried Vietnamese pepper yet, but will have to do so based on this. I can't get enough of the stuff.