Mi Xao Bo - Stir Fried Egg Noodle with Beef

Having to work at a few Asian restaurants in my lifetime has taught me a few tricks on stir-frying.  I'm glad I was able to learn a few technique that I can use at home.  Mi xao is a pretty simple dish to make but if you want restaurant quality mi xao that's going to take a few extra steps.  Like many noodle dishes such as Pad Thai and Hu Tieu Xao, I like my mi xao a certain way.  The noodle and vegetables must be firm, can't tell you enough how much I dislike mushy noodle and vegetable in anything stir-fried.  The best way for all the components in your mi xao to cook perfectly is to cook them separately.  That's the reason why it requires a few extra step but I assure you it's worth the effort.

Ingredients:

1 bag of fresh chow mein
1 lb of eye round beef (sliced)
1 bag of Chinese broccoli (Cai Lan)
2 carrots
1 pack of mushroom
2 tablespoon of minced garlic
oyster sauce
fish sauce
soy sauce
mushroom seasoning
ground pepper
salt
sugar
vegetable oil

1.  Marinade the sliced beef with about 2 tablespoon of oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of mushroom seasoning and 1 tablespoon of minced garlic.
2.  Wash and prepare your vegetables so that they will stir-fry more easily.
3.  Boil a pot of water (enough for all your vegetables) and add 1 teaspoon of salt.  Have a big bowl filled with some ice water ready.  Once the pot of water have come to a boil, add your vegetables to the pot.  Removed the vegetables after about 1 minute and drain all the hot water.  Transfer the veggies into the bowl with ice.  This will stop the vegetables from cooking any further and ensure that your vegetables will stay crispy.  After a minute drain the vegetables from the iced water.
4.  Boil water in a pot.  We will use this pot to heat up the noodle and let it cook gradually through steaming.  If you cook the noodles all the way now, it will be mushy after stir-frying it later.  Once the pot of water have come to a boil, add the noodles to the pot for about 15 second and make sure all the noodles have submerge under the boiling water.  After 15 seconds drain the hot water and just let the noodles cook gradually in the steam.  Make sure you toss the noodles so that it doesn't stick together especially the bottom batch.
5.  Heat up some cooking oil in a wok.  Add the marinaded beef and stir-fry.  When you are stir frying make sure the heat is on the highest setting and you are constantly stirring everything so it doesn't burn. Once the meat has cooked about 70%, add the vegetables.   Season everything with 1 teaspoon of salt.  Stir-fry everything together until all the ingredients is well seasoned.  Remember the vegetables has been pre-cooked, the purpose of stir-frying now is to season you do not want to overcook the vegetables.  Transfer beef and vegetables to a separate bowl.
6.  Heat up about 1/4 cup of cooking oil in  wok.  Add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic to the oil.  Add the noodle to the wok, make sure the heat is on the highest setting.  Stir and mix the noodles in the oil and garlic. Add about 1/4  tablespoon of fish sauce and 2 teaspoon of soy sauce to the noodles and  mix.  The beef and vegetables from before should have produce some liquid.  Spoon that liquid to the noodles to season it, don't do it all at once.  Just a couple spoonful to coat the noodles.  Make sure the heat is still on high and you are constantly moving the noodles around.  Once you have season the noodle well turn off the heat.
7.  Drain the access liquid from the beef and vegetables, and then add the beef and vegetable mixture to the noodles.  Mix so that everything is evenly distributed.
8.  Transfer to a plate topped off with some ground pepper and enjoy!

Hen Tron Banh Trang - Clam Sauteed w/ Sesame Rice Cracker

I had the opportunity to try this delicious dish in Hoi An.  The baby clams were fresh picked from the river earlier that morning. The meat was so sweet and firm, not something I can find at home.   The clams were lightly sauteed with no seasoning just some fresh onions. It was eaten with rice cracker and mam nem (fermented fish sauce). Even though I was already full from breakfast and lunch, I pretty much inhaled a plate within 3 minutes.  

Whenever I make this at home,  I usually have to settle with canned clams or frozen clams. While it no longer has its natural sweet flavor, I still prefer using frozen clams because it has better texture than canned clams.  I use fresh minced garlic and shallots to help fragrance the clams and just a tad of fish sauce to season.  I also like adding some julienned green mangoes for tartness and freshness. For the sauce you'll want to dilute the mam nem with fresh lime juice, sugar, crushed garlic, and fresh chili.  The sauce can be eaten on the side but a lot of times I just mix some in because everybody in my family loves mam nem.  If you prefer to omit the mam nem, I would use more fish sauce when seasoning the clams. Of course this dish cannot be complete without Vietnamese coriander (rau ram), crushed peanuts, and fresh chili.   Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 pack of frozen baby clams

1 teaspoon of minced garlic

1 teaspoon of minced shallots

1 stalk of green onion minced

1/2 green mango (julienned)

chopped Vietnamese coriander

fresh chili

crushed peanuts

sesame rice cracker

cooking oil

fish sauce

sugar

Sauce:

3 tablespoon of mam nem

2 teaspoon of crushed garlic

1 tablespoon of sugar

1/4 of fresh lime (juice)

chili (your preference

1.  Thaw out the frozen clams.   The clam has absorb a lot of water you'll want to squeeze out as much as you can.

2.  Heat up cooking oil in a pan.  Add the minced garlic and shallots and cook until fragrance.  Add the clams and green onions.  Season lightly with fish sauce and sugar.  Transfer to a bowl.  

3.  Prepare mango, coriander, sauce, rice cracker, peanuts.

4.  Add green mango and fresh chilies to the clams and toss.  At this point you can add prepared mam nem or serve it on the side.   

5.  Transfer to a serving plate topped with crushed peanuts, chopped coriander, and additional fresh chilies.  Rice cracker

on the side.

6.  Scoop clams with rice cracker and enjoy!

Rau Muong Tron Thit Bo - Beef Water Spinach Salad

Firstly I like to wish everybody a happy new year!  May 2014 bring you lots of luck, love, prosperity, laughter, and of course good food!  I'm sorry for my absence but it was much needed.  I got the opportunity to travel so I disconnected myself from all social media and just appreciate what was in front of me.  This upcoming year marks my 6th year blogging, thank you everybody for your support all these years.  I can't wait to share new recipes inspired from my travels.

I'm a huge fan of Vietnamese drinking food.  Whenever I'm on vacation, I always look for a good restaurant to "nhau".  Nhau refers to getting together to eat and drink.  Getting together to drink is a way of life for Vietnamese men, they often get together several times a week.  They meet each other at a small restaurant that specialize in a specific protein.  Men sit for hours slowly drinking and enjoying delicious food.  You rarely see women at those type of establish but why deprive yourself from good food?

Rainier BBQ in Seattle, Washington is one of my personal favorite.  They have a variety of drinking food and everything I've tried has been pretty good.  One of my favorite dish is a beef salad with rau muong (water spinach).  It reminds me of Bo Tai Chanh another one of my favorite.  It's so refreshing with the finely julienned water spinach stem and dressed in a tangy dressing.  It's so addicting to eat, one serving is never enough!  The best part is how easy you can recreate this dish at home.  If anyone is complaining about eating too much salads this is the one you need to try!  I hope you like my interpretation is flavorful dish, enjoy!

Ingredients:

water spinach stem (julienned)
1 lb beef (thinly sliced)
1/2 onion (finely sliced)
garlic (minced)
shallots (minced)
lime
fresh chili
fresh mint leaves (rough chopped)
vinegar
sugar
fish sauce
cooking oil

1.  Prepare the water spinach.  There is a tool you can use to julienned your water spinach easily.  Or you can use a razor but that require a little experience. http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2007/06/water-spinach-s.html  Let it soak in water so it will curls and then drain completely.
2.  You can use eye round beef if you prefer lean meat but I like some texture and fat so I used rib eye.  Marinade the beef with garlic, shallots, and fish sauce (~2 tablespoon).
3.  Marinade the slice onion with 1/2 tablespoon of sugar and 1/4 tablespoon of vinegar.
4.  For the dressing combine 5 tablespoon of sugar, 4 tablespoon of lime juice, 1/2 tablespoon of sugar, and 5 tablespoon of fish sauce.  The sauce should be sweet, tangy, and salty.  You can add more sugar, vinegar, and fish sauce to your liking.  Make sure you mix the sauce well so the sugar dissolves.
5.  Heat up a frying pan with some oil and cook the beef.  I cook mine about medium rare, the dressing will cook it some more.
6.  Mix the water spinace, sliced onions, and mint leaves together.  Move it to a serving platter.  Pour the meat mixture on top, and then the dressing on top.  I use about half the dressing, and reserve the remainder for later if needed.
7.  Top with chopped chili and more mint leaves if prefer.
8.  Toss lightly before eating, enjoy!

Bo Bia -Jicama Spring Rolls

I love just about every single spring rolls in existence, from pork belly to baked fish.  Bo bia, on the other hand, never really made that much of impact on my appetite.   I can't remember eating them a lot growing up, therefore I never crave for them.  Last year during a family reunion, my aunt had bo bia on the menu.  The females of the family got together to form an assembly line to make bo bia.  A few people were in charge of rolling them, while others were in charge of wrapping them up so they will stay fresh, and some were in charge of re-stocking the fillings.  It was a lot of fun being in the kitchen with my family and dogging on each other's roll.  We were all so hungry at the time too so we kept sneaking in a roll here and there.  Anytime someone's roll were deemed ugly, that roll was to be disposed immediately in the form of eating it!  We definitely took advantage of that and soon everybody started messing up on purpose.  My aunt and mom finally caught on when we kept asking for more fillings.  Because of that day, I became very fond of bo bia!

Bo bia is made with a variety of ingredients; sauteed jicama, Chinese sausage, eggs, sauteed dried prawns, lettuce, and mint leaves.  Prepared fish sauce is my dip of choice for most spring rolls but bo bia is the only exception.  Bo bia is best eaten with a peanut-hoison sauce.  This type of sauce is richer but it's a nice balance with all the vegetables in the roll.

Ingredients:

1 Jicama (5-6 cups)
1-2 carrots (3 cups)
1 cup of dried prawns
4-5 Chinese sausage link
10 eggs
salt
peanut butter
hoisin sauce
vegetable oil
chili paste
lettuce
mint leaves or cilantro
rice paper

1.  Rehydrate the dried prawns in warm water.  Once it has soften, sauteed the prawns in oil and two spring of minced green onions.

2.  Julienne the jicamas and carrots.  Sauteed them in a little bit of oil until tender and season
 with a couple pinch of salt.

3.  Boil the sausage link in water until fully cooked and then thinly slice the sausage to your liking.

4.  Beat the eggs and then fry them very thinly as if you are making crepes.  Once your eggs are fried, slice them in thin strips, if not you can leave them as a sheets.

5.  Prepare your lettuce and mints/cilantro.  Chop them up and then mix them together.

6.  Lay out all the ingredients and get ready to roll.

7.  In a sauce pan combine 3 cup of water, 1 cup of hoisin, and 1/2 cup peanut butter to make the sauce.  Add chili to your liking for spiciness.
8.  Roll, dip, and enjoy!

Pho Chay - Vegetarian Pho

There was a period of time when I wanted to ease myself into vegetarian cooking.  It was healthier and of course you feel a bit more humane.  It didn't last very long, however, I just miss eating steaks and seafood too much. I, however, got one thing out of it, I had lots practice with making pho chay.  I really admire vegetarian cooking, especially Vietnamese vegetarian dishes.  A lot of times it taste so much similar to the original dish and taste so good that you hardly notice the meat is missing.  

With any soups, the most important factor is the broth.  I use a lot of roots vegetables to make the broth for pho such as; daikons, carrots, leeks, cabbage, onions, and ginger.  You'll want to cook these vegetables down until they basically fall apart, and then remove them from the broth.  You will attain a very subtle and sweet broth and the only thing you will need to season the broth is salt and spices you use to make traditional pho.  Instead of meats, I use tofu, mock meats, and more vegetables.  You'll want to sauteed the tofu and mock meats with some soy sauce and sugar so it's not bland in the soup. I lightly blanch my favorite vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, baby corn, and mushroom to add to the soup.  Make sure you season each component well; the broth, the "meats", and the vegetables.  

I would totally choose traditional pho over pho chay any day of the week but it's nice having options for certain occasions.  When lent come around, I have another noodle soup option. When you are feeling ill and in need of something light and warm, pho chay is a great option.  Are you having vegetarian guests for dinner? You can't go wrong with introducing Vietnam's most famous soup pho, but vegetarian style.  Hope you will find this recipe helpful in the future, enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 cabbage

1 daikon

3-6 medium carrots

1 leek

1 onion

1 ginger

broccoli

mushroom

baby corn

tofu

canned mock meat (optional, get the one without added flavoring)

star anise

cinnamon

cloves

pho noodles

green onions

lime

cilantro

salt

sugar

mushroom seasoning

soy sauce

How to make the broth:

1.  Wash and prepare the cabbage, daikon, and about 3 carrots.  Put these ingredients in a 6 quart pot and fill it up with water.  Let the vegetables cook down in the broth and then season with sugar, salt, and soy sauce, and mushroom seasoning. Once the vegetables fall apart or has cooked down enough, remove the vegetable.  

2.  Broil the ginger and onion in the oven. Remove any skins and then add to the pot as well.

3.  Roast the spices in the oven, you'll need about 2 cinnamon stick, 5 star anise, and 4 cloves.  Add the spices towards the end when the broth is done and ready.  Remove the spices after 15 minutes. 

The "Meats" and Vegetable:

1.  Cut the tofu and meats to bite size.  Heat up some cooking oil in a pan, and sauteed the tofu and mocked meats with some soy sauce and a little bit of sugar.  Make sure you seasoned it well and the tofu is cooked all way.   

2. Cut up the broccoli and carrots and mushroom.  Blanch all them and the baby corn in boiling water and add enough salt to give the vegetable some taste on their own.  If you prefer more flavor, you can sauteed the vegetables with soy sauce and sugar just like the tofu.

Assembling:

1.  Prepare the pho noodles, lime, and garnish for the soup.

2.  Put noodles in a bowl, add the tofu, mocked meat, and vegetables on top.  Add hot broth and then topped off with the garnish.  

3.  Add hoison and sriracha to your liking, and enjoy!

Bun Moc - Pork Paste Soup

Bun moc is another soup originated from northern Vietnam. Not only does it have to go up against popular northern soup such as pho and bun rieu, it is overshadowed by just about all the other soup from Vietnam.  While most of us are well acquainted with bun bo hue from central vietnam and hu tieu from the south; there is very little love for this humble soup from the north.  Bun moc is a light soup made with pork bones and pork paste.  Pork meat is ground into a paste and then used as the main meat of the soup.  The pork paste is very similar to the ones you could steamed with banana leaves to make cha lua, also know as Vietnamese pork rolls.

While my dad's breakfast of choice was pho, my mom prefer bun moc.  She even had a favorite spot near my grandma's in Saigon.  Even though I was my dad's pho buddy, I often accompanied my mom whenever she craves a bowl of bun moc.  My favorite thing about bun moc is definitely the pork balls made by spooning glob of pork paste right into the broth.  Most stall also offer deep fried pork paste and you can get fancy by mixing pork paste with some wood ear fungus.  The pork paste for bun moc is slightly different from the pork paste used to make cha lua because cha lua's meat is dense and firm.  Bun moc's pork paste on the other hand is very light and airy; it's like you are biting into chewy pork marshmallows.  I love it so much so I often put pork paste in a lot of other soup like bun bo hue,bun rieu, mi, and hu tieu.

My mom buys a freezer full of pork paste from Seattle, there is a deli that makes very good pork paste.  Every now and then I would grab a few container when I visit home.  If you like your pork paste extra fluffy, I suggest adding a tiny bit of Alsa baking powder (the ones in the pink pouch).

Bun moc is another soup that is very simple to make and doesn't require the whole day.  Use pork neck bones and a couple yellow onions to make the broth.  Bun moc is also know for it's very light and clear broth so make sure you par-boil and rinse your bones well.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:  

2 lbs pork necks bones
2 yellow onions
rock sugar
sugar
salt
fish sauce
black pepper
mushroom seasoning
2 cups of pork paste
1/4 cup of wood ear fungus (rehydrated and then minced)
lettuce/bean sprouts
lime
green onions (chopped)
cilantro (chopped)
chili

1.  Par-boil your pork bones and then rinse with plenty of cool water.
2.  Add clean bones to a 6 quart pot and fill with water.  Let simmer on low-medium heat.  Add two yellow onions.
3.  Season with salt (3 tablespoon), rock sugar(thumb size), mushroom seasoning (1 tablespoon), and black pepper (1/2 teaspoon).  And continue to taste and season with salt and sugar if necessary.
4.  I deep fried 1 cup of pork paste and mixed the other half with minced wood ear fungus.

5.  Prepare your noodles(vermicelli rice noodles),vegetables of choice, and garnish.
6.  Taste your broth for the final time.  If broth still need some saltiness, taste with fish sauce.
7.  Spoon pork/fungus mixture right in the broth, you can ball it up ahead of time also.
8.  When pork balls floats to the top, your soup is ready to eat.
9.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Bread Pudding w/ Condensed Milk Sauce

Anybody who knows me, know I am not a dessert person.  I don't like sweet very much, and I probably have my mom to thank for that.  My mom didn't let me have a lot of sweets growing up.  So I usually passed on cakes and cookies.  I don't know what it is about bread pudding that draws me to it so much.  Every time there is bread pudding on the menu I have to order it.  There's something so comforting to me about pudding and i'm the same way with french toast.

I've been playing around with bread pudding a lot lately, making it at least once and sometimes even twice a week.  You can turn pretty much any dessert into a bread pudding!  Have anybody ever had freshly baked baguettes dipped in condensed milk?  If you haven't, you need to try it!  And that's where I got my inspiration for this recipe.  I hope you all will enjoy this amazing dessert! 

Ingredients:

1 loaf of French bread

3 eggs

2.5-3 cups of heavy cream (this depends on how firm you want it to be)

2 cups of sugar (more or less depends on your taste)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

1 cup of blueberry

1 cup of milk

1/4 cup of condensed milk

1.   Tear bread into smaller pieces.

2.  Mix sugar and heavy cream together first, this way you can taste it in case you want to adjust the sweetness.  Add eggs, vanilla, and nutmeg to the mixture, and mix with a whisk.  

3.  Add the bread to the wet ingredients and combine.  I find it easier to use your hand with gloves.  Make sure everything piece of bread is soaked in the wet mixture.  Fold in the blueberry.  And let everything sit for about 15-20 minutes.  

4.  Pre-heat oven to about 300 degrees.

5.  Butter a baking pan and then start stuffing it with the bread mixture.  Because I like my bread pudding a little firm, I make sure I pack the pan pretty tightly.  

6.  Put in the oven for about 40 minutes.  Then I take it out and brush the top with some butter (this will help it form the delicious crust at the top), put it back in the over turn it up to about 350 degrees for another 15 minutes or until you get that golden brown crust.  

7.   In a pot combine the milk and condensed milk.  Cook it on medium heat, mix thoroughly and let it cook until the two ingredients blend together. 

8.  Let the bread pudding cool completely. 

9.  Cut out a piece and serve it on top of a bath of sauce or you can just dip it in the sauce.  

10.  Enjoy!