Serve your guests a "two-jewel" dinner … Asian fondue and soup

Sunset, April, 1987

1/2 cup long-grain white rice

6 thin slices (each about the size of aquarter) fresh ginger

2 tablespoons fish sauce (nuoc mam)or soy sauce

4 teaspoons sugarSalt

2 tablespoons salad oil

1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

1 tablespoon minced fresh lemongrass, or 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel (yellow part only)

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion

1/2 pound lean beef such as eye ofround or flank steak, minced

1 tablespoon chopped freshcoriander (cilantro)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Dipping sauce (recipe above)

In a 3- to 4-quart pan, combine water,rice, and ginger. Bring to boiling and simmer, covered, until rice is very tender to bite, about 30 minutes. Add fish sauce, sugar, and salt to taste. Set aside as long as 4 hours.

Meanwhile, in a 6- to 8-inch frying pan,combine oil, garlic, and lemon grass. Stir over low heat just until garlic is golden; set garlic oil aside.

Mix green onion and beef in a tureen. Toserve, bring broth to boiling and add garlic oil. Pour boiling hot soup over meat and stir. Sprinkle with coriander and pepper. Offer dipping sauce to season as desired. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Photo: Several dishes ofchef Kim Quy Tran's seven-jewel beef dinner at San Francisco's Golden Turtle are pictured here. Our recipes present the fondue that begins the meal (the two plates in foreground, with fondue pot) and the soup that ends it. Here chef Tran pours hot broth into seasoned minced meat

Photo: Set up at home, here's how Vietnamesebeef fondue works: you dip beef slices in pot of simmering vinegar broth (left); place on moistened rice paper (above) with lettuce, carrot, daikon, apple, mint; then roll up and dip in sauce to eat

Photo: Pour simmering broth, flecked with tender grains of rice, over minced beef; the very hot liquid quickly and lightly cooks the meat to make a refreshing soup