Vietnamese Inspired Breakfast Frittata

Frittatas can be a very same-same affair. Everyone loves the frittata camp breakfast staple of bacon, potatoes, and cheese. It’s easy to quickly put together with minimal dishes to wash, and because, well, it's simply delicious. But every so often, an injection of something different goes a long way.

The Vietnamese have a steamed egg dish called chả trứng hấp that is enjoyed with rice.

This is my take combining that humble Viet dish and the frittata.

INGREDIENTS

Frittata:

• 8 eggs

• ¼ cup milk

• ½ cup cha lua, or Vietnamese pork sausage (pork belly, ground pork, bologna sliced meat, or bacon can be used as a substitute)

• 1 shallot

• a small handful of cilantro

• 2 green onions,

• 1 tbsp of fish sauce

• ½ cup mozzarella

• 1 tbsp of cooking oil

Tomatillo Fish Sauce:

• 4-5 medium tomatillos

• 1 serrano chili, or 1 jalapeño

• 1 medium shallot

• a small handful of mint

• a handful of cilantro

• 3 tbsp fish sauce

• 3 tbsp sugar

• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil (optional)

Side Salad:

• Vietnamese pickled carrots and radishes

• spring mix

• mint

• olive oil

• salt

• pepper

• lime

• fried shallots (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Tomatillo Fish Sauce: Make Ahead of Camping

If you have a portable food processor, making the sauce is a very easy process. A smoothie maker will do just fine. If not, you can use a mortar and pestle, or chop everything up incredibly fine by hand then mixing all the ingredients up in a bowl.

To make the the sauce, remove the wrapping from the 4-5 medium sized tomatillos and give them a quick rinse. Place the tomatillos at the bottom of the food processor, then add a roughly chopped medium sized shallot, roughly chopped serrano chili, the small handful of mint and cilantro, 3 tbsp of fish sauce, and the 3 tbsp of sugar. Blend until you get a nice salsa verde consistency. Taste to adjust any seasoning. The salt, sweetness, and acidity should be perfectly balanced. No flavor should over power each other.

Set aside on a bowl and let the flavors mingle.

Frittata: Make At Camp

Chop the ½ cup of the Vietnamese pork sausage, cha lua, into 3-inch slivers about a ¼ inch thick. Pork belly, ground pork, bologna deli meat, or bacon can be used as a substitute if Vietnamese pork sausage cannot be found. Proceed to thinly slice the medium sized shallot, and the 2 green onions.

In a medium sized bowl, beat together the 8 eggs, then combine the ¼ cup of milk, ½ of the diced green onions, and 1 tbsp of fish sauce. Continue to beat till all the ingredients are evenly incorporated.

Add in the 1 tbsp of cooking oil to a skillet. Turn the heat on to medium-high heat. When the oil in the skillet starts to shimmer, add in the diced shallots. Sauté the shallots until they start to become translucent. Then add in the ½ cup of diced Vietnamese pork sausage. Continue to sauté until the sausage starts to get some color on some of the corners or sides.

Set the stove’s heat to medium-low and pour in the egg mixture. Sprinkle on top with the egg mixture the ½ cup of shredded mozzarella. Cover the skillet and let the everything cook thoroughly. You’ll know that the frittata is cooked when the whole thing has puffed up to twice its size.

Take off the heat and let it cool.

Side Salad: Make At Camp

The side salad is best put together whenever you’re ready to serve. Place the cooled pie slice of frittata on the plate, then a handful of spring mix, 5-6 mint leaves, then a squirt of olive oil, a dash of lime juice, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. No need to mix together.

Finish off the frittata with some of the Vietnamese pickled carrots and radishes, the (optional) fried shallots, and a good spoonful of the Tomatillo fish sauce.

And now, it’s ready to be devoured. Enjoy!