Dish Development: Saucisson Brioché
with the flavors of a shrimp toast
Recently I’ve been deep diving into classic French cuisine and it’s influence on Vietnamese cuisine. The obvious ones being pot au feu and phở, beef bourguignon and bò kho, and of course the bánh mì with it’s baguette, pâté and mayonnaise.
Whilst doing my research, I came across the saucisson brioché; a traditional French dish originating from Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and consisting of a cooked pork sausage baked inside a rich, fluffy brioche dough typically served with a side salad, dijon mustard and cornichons.
I noticed some similarities with a saucission en brioché and a shrimp toast; both having a type of sausage encased in bread (I guess the shrimp is more of a farce than a sausage but you get the point), seared or fried and served with a mustard. Although the shrimp toast originally dates back to China, it eventually made it’s way to Vietnam via cultural exchange and trade routes from Southern China/Hong Kong, a fusion dish blending Cantonese prawn paste with Western-style bread.
Growing up in a Vietnamese household, my mother would smear the prawn paste onto vegetables such as bell peppers, mushrooms and eggplant before deep frying until golden brown and serving it with nước mắm.
For my first attempt and version of this recipe, I turned my mom’s chunky prawn farce recipe into a shrimp sausage that I baked into a sesame crusted brioché. Served with a cilantro aioli, herb salad tossed in a grainy mustard vinaigrette and pickled shallots.
Overall, I think the first attempt was a success. There are a few things I would tweak as I continue to work on future versions of this dish but the flavors worked very well together and I could definitely envision this dish being served at a French-Asian Bistrot.