Mi Dac Biet - Combination Egg Noodle Soup

I've been craving a bowl of noodle soup lately.  I remember eating a really delicious bowl of Mi Do Bien (Seafood Egg Noodle Soup) at Cafe Thuy Van in Louisville.  It had plumped shrimps, quail eggs, and some fish cake (cha ca) in a chicken broth.  What made the dish really memorable to me was the use of He (Chinese chives).  Herb is more than just a garnish in Vietnamese cooking, it really complete the dish.  Pho is not the same without rau hung que (Thai basil) and we just can't have Banh Xeo without rau dap ca (fish mint).  Here is a good site to learn more about Vietnamese herbs.

Ingredients:

1-2 lb of pork neck or pork ribs

1/2 chicken 

1 medium yellow onion

1 ginger 

rock sugar

salt

fish sauce

ground pepper

egg noodle

1 cup of imitation crab

1/2 lb shrimp

1 can of quail eggs

bunch of Chinese chives

green onions

bean sprouts (optional)

limes (optional)

msg (optional)

Prepping:  

1.  Prepare egg noodles, most noodles require you to boil it before eating.

2.  Cook the shrimp and peel the shell, leaving only the tail on.

3.  Rinse the quail eggs.

4.  Cut the imitation crab to your liking.

5.  Wash all herbs and vegetables.

6.  Cut chives into 2 in. section.

7.  Prepare green onions for garnish.

8.  Cut limes into smaller section.

9.  Roast yellow onion and ginger.

Broth:

1.  Wash chicken and pork bones with salt.

2.  Boil the chicken in pot with about 1 quart of water and 1 teaspoon of salt.  Since we don't usually pre-boil chicken make sure you scoop away the scum.

3.  In a seperate pot pre-boil the pork bones, the rinse with cold water.  Simmer in a large pot with 2 quart of water and 3 teaspoon of salt..

4.  Add peeled ginger and yellow onion to the pork pot.  To taste add rock sugar, 1 pinch of msg, 1 teaspoon of ground pepper, and fish sauce.  

5.  Once the chicken is cooked, remove from broth and let cool.  You can add the chicken broth into the pork pot.  Continue to let broth simmer for 1-2 hours.  Continue to add more fish sauce and sugar to your liking. 

6.  Once the chicken is cool enough to work with, shred chicken into smaller strips.  It's up to you if you want to use the skin.

Arrange some shredded chicken, cooked shrimp, and Chinese chives in a bowl with egg noodle.  I cook the quail eggs and crab meat in the broth in a smaller pot for a couple minutes.  Once the  broth has come to a boil, add to your bowl.  Add bean sprouts, green onions, and limes to your liking.  Top off your bowl with some ground pepper and enjoy!

Goi Du Du - Green Papaya Salad

Papaya is not only good to eat but has a lot of health benefits. It is rich in fiber and contain antioxidants which help prevent cancer and heart problems. Summer is approaching fast, try this refreshing salad to cool you down from the heat.

Ingredients:

1 green papaya
1 medium carrot
1/2 lb shrimp
1 bunch of Thai basil
1 lime
2 roma tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic
vinegar
sugar
fish sauce
chili of choice
chopped roasted peanuts

1. Julienned the papaya and carrot, then marinade with 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/8 cup of vinegar in the fridge for 30 minutes or so.
2. Dice roma tomatoes and then rough chop the Thai basil. Set aside for later use.
3. Squeeze some of the excess liquid from the papaya and carrot mixture, not completely dry but to the point where it's not dripping in liquid anymore.
4. Add the garlic and tomatoes.
5. Squeeze one whole lime, and then add fish sauce. You have to keep tasting as you add the fish sauce, enough to balance the lime juice. Depending on how sweet you like your papaya salad, add more sugar. Toss all the ingredients together.

6. Add the shrimp and your choice of chili, I like it spicy so I use habanero.
7. Right before serving toss in the basil leaves and top with peanuts, enjoy!

Bun Rieu - Crab Cake Noodle Soup

Bun Rieu was the first dish I learned to cook, there's always going to be a special spot in my heart for this noodle soup.  Bun Rieu is a noodle soup originated from northern Vietnam made with fresh rice paddy crab, Cua Dong.  During our visit to Vietnam in 2008 my mom actually got the chance to make bun rieu with fresh cua dong. She brought some home from the market to prepare for her pot of bun rieu.  She pound the crabs, shell and all, into a fine paste which is then use to make the rieu (the crab cake) and it also flavor the broth.  Cua dong is incredibly aromatic compare to other crabs and unique to soup like bun rieu and canh bun.  Every time I order a bowl of bun rieu in Vietnam, the first thing you smell is the rice paddy crab and it's incredible!

Here in the United States fresh rice paddy crabs in out of the question.  We have to settle for frozen cua dong, which can be very difficult to work with.  However, there is a crab paste that can be found as any Asian grocery store often labled as Gia Vi Nau Bun Rieu (seasoning for Bun Rieu).  This crab paste is already season, so you'll just need to combine with other ingredients to make it for meaty.  The usual suspects are ground pork, ground shrimp, crab meat, and ground dried prawns.  Eggs are then added to bind all these ingredients together.  When this mixture is added to the broth it form into a delicious, crab like cake.  The next best thing to cua dong!

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs of pork neck bones
1/2 cup of dried prawns (tom kho)
6-7 roma tomatoes (you can add more if you like tomatoes)
bean curd/tofu (optional)
pork blood (optional)
shrimp paste (mam tom)
rock sugar
cooking oil
salt
fish sauce
1 shallot (hanh huong)
4 stalk of green onions (chopped)
split water spinach (rau muong) or your greens of choice
lime
chili
rice vermicelli

Crab cake or rieu mixture:

1/2 cup of dried prawns
1/2 lb of groud pork
1/2 lb shrimp (I find the shrimp with head attached is sweeter)
1 cup of crab meat (frozen, canned, or fresh whatever you like)
1 jar of crab paste or gia vi nau bun rieu (save 1 tablespoon for color)
2 shallots (hanh huong)
eggs
ground pepper

1. Rinse the dried prawns and then soak it with hot water until soften. 1/2 cup will be for the broth and 1/2 cup will be for the rieu mixture.
2.  Par boil the pork bones with plenty of salt and rinse with cool water.  Transfer clean bones to a clean pot (i'm using a 6 quart pot) and fill pot with water.  Add 1/2 cup of dried prawns to the pot as well.uarter the roma tomatoes.  Let pot simmer until pork bone is tender.
3. Rinse and quarter the tomatoes.  Set aside for later.
4. While the pot is cooking, prepare the rieu mixture.   Rinse and peel shrimp.
5.  You can use a knife and cutting board for this part but a food processor would be easier.  Combine 1/2 cup of dried prawns, 1/2 lb of shrimp, 1/2 lb of ground pork, 1 cup of canned crab meat, and 2 shallot.  Ground everything finely in the food processor (picture below for reference).

6.  Combine ground mixture from step #5 with the jar of crab paste (reserve 1 tablespoon for later), 2 eggs, 1/2 tablespoon of shrimp paste, and a pinch of ground pepper.  Mix thoroughly and then let it bind in the fridge while you prepare the broth.

7.  Season the broth with salt (~4 tablespoon), rock sugar (2 tablespoon), and mushroom seasoning (2 tablespoon).  If the pork bones is tender enough, remove from broth.
8.  If you are using tofu and pork blood.  Make sure you rinse both well.  You should even par boil the pork blood.  Add both to pot.
9.  Let pot come to boil and then turn it down to medium.  Spoon the crab mixture from step #6 into the pot.  If the heat is too high, it may cause the crab mixture to break apart.
10.  In a separate pot, heat up some cooking oil to sauteed the tomatoes with 1 chopped shallots.  Season with some fish sauce (1/2 tablespoon).  Transfer the tomatoes to the pot.

11.  In that same pot, heat up some cooking oil.  Add the 1 tablespoon of reserve crab paste, and 3 tablespoon of shrimp paste. Sauteed both ingredients until they marry with the cooking oil.  Add this to the pot.
12.  Taste the broth one last time, add additional fish sauce if needed.
13.  The bun rieu is ready with vermicelli noodle and fresh greens.  Enjoy!

Goi Xoai Xanh - Green Mango Salad

Here I am again experimenting with Goi (Vietnamese Salad). This time I get to play with Xoai Tuong (Green Mango). Xoai tuong is not the typical green mangoes you see at the local supermarket. Xoai tuong is unripen mango that are usually sold on the streets of Vietnam as a snack for those who like the sour taste. It's not golden yellow in color and definitely not sweet. It's actually very hard in texture and when you bite into a slice of these expect to hear a loud crunch. Their color can range from white to pale green and even to a light yellow depending on what stage it is in. I have to say they have an acquired taste because it is quite sour to eat. My mom and dad stay away from these because they think it's "xot ruot" meaning it will sting your intestine due to its sourness. I, on the other hand, love eating these! Every time I see these at the Asian market a I have to buy a couple to satisfy my craving. I usually just eat them as a snack with sugared fish sauce, but I want to change it up a bit and try it as a salad.

Ingredients:

1 Xoai Tuong
1 medium carrot
1/4 lb of shrimp
1/4 lb of pork belly meat
1/2 lime
Vietnamese coriander (rau ram)
1 cup of sugar
1 fresh chili
1-2 teaspoon of chilli paste
fish sauce

Prepping:

1. Julienned the carrot.
2. Cut the mango into smaller pieces. I cut the mango into different portion and discard the pit. I then use a vegetable peeler and shave it into flat pieces. You can probably cut it differently but keep in mind that it has a very hard texture so you want to cut into small pieces so it's easier to work and eat with.
3. Boil the pork belly in salted water until fully cook. Then slice it into 1/2 -1 inche strips.
4. Cook the shrimp. I just put the shrimp in the microwave for a couple minutes
5. Rough chop 1 cup of vietnamese coriander.
6. Slice the chili into smaller pieces.

How To Make The Salad:

1. Add 1/2 cup of sugar to the mango strips and carrots, mix really well. Let it sit for about 10-15 minutes, this way the mango can absorb the sugar so it becomes sweeter.
2. Add fish sauce, 1/2 a lime, fresh chillies, and 1 teaspoon of chili paste. Toss everything together. Add more fish sauce and lime to your liking.
3. Once you are satisfy with the taste add the pork and shrimp, continue to toss.
4. Add Vietnamese coriander right before serving.

ENJOY!

Banh Bot Loc - Pork and Shrimp Dumpling

Banh Bot Loc originated from Hue, Vietnam along with other banh such as banh beo, banh uot, and banh nam. I remember eating Banh Bot Loc for breakfast in Vietnam when I was little. I love the soft and chewy texture of the dough on the outside and the well seasoned pork and shrimp filling on the inisde. Dip in good fish sauce really complete this dish.

I was fortunate to learn how to make Banh Bot Loc from my friend's mom. The best way to learn something is to observe. And I have never really work with flour before so it could get tricky. This is my first time making Banh Bot Loc by myself and I was quite satisfy with the result. The only thing I really want to improve on is my consistency. It was really hard for me to use the same amount of dough each time because it was so sticky. Sometimes I have too much dough and other times I have not enough dough. I have so much opportunity to practice and get better, plus it's a lot fun playing with sticky dough!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb pork belly meat
1/2 lb shrimp
1/2 cup of dried black fungus
1 shallot
fish sauce
salt
ground black pepper
sugar
cooking oil
aneeto seed
banh bot loc flour bag
banana leaves (i've seen people use aluminum foil but I love the smell of banana leaves)

Prepping:


1. Cut the shrimp into three smaller pieces.
2. Cut the the pork belly into 1/2 inch strips and then sliced it into thin pieces.
3. Minced the shallot
4. Soak the the dried black fungus in warm water until soften. Then minced it.
5. Prepare the banana leaves by cutting them into two differen size. ( I will go into detail below on why)

Filling:
Banh Bot Loc has a unique look because we can see bright orange filling through the translucent dough after it is steamed. You can achieve his in two ways. If you use the shrimp with its head still attached, some of the "cach" in the shrimp head will provide coloring. You still need to remove the head because only the body should be use. If you use the already clean shrimp you can add color with aneeto seed oil.


1. Prepare coloring by warming up aneeto seed in a pan with about 1/2 tablespoon of cooking oil.
2. After extract enough color from the aneeto seed you can now remove the seed from the pan.
3. Add the shallot and sauteed until you can smell the swet fragrance.
4. Add the minced dried black fungus and sauteed.
5. Add the pork and shrimp and continue to sauteed.
6. Season the mixture with a little bit of salt, sugar, pepper, and fish sauce.
7. Once the mixture is cooked you can have a little piece and adjust for taste if needed.

Dough:
I just follow the directions on the back of the bag.


1. Mix the whole bag with 1 and 1/2 cup of cold water.
2. Boil two cup of water in a pot, use a roomy pot because you will need to combine the flour mixture.
3. Once the water has come to a boil, turn off the stove and remove from heat.
4. Add the mixture from step 1 and add 1/2 tablespoon of cooking oil.
5. Mix all it together thoroughly so you don't end up with chunks in your dough.
6. After a while the dough should thicken and become extremely sticky.

Assembling:
Give yourself some room to assemble.


1. My friend's mom taught me to use two layer of banana leave. The smaller piece will be use to hold the dough in it's place and I guess to help shape it.

2. Place a spoonful of dough on to the banana leave. It really depends on how big you want it to be. If it's your first time making this beware that the dough is sticky and you probably won't have a lot of control on the consistency right away. Use a spoon to try to spread and flatten the dough.

3. Put some filling on top of the dough.


4. Bring the top and bottom edge of the smaller banana piece together. I like to push the filling down into the dough so it doesn't come apart when you roll.


5. Begin to roll the larger banana leaves until it becomes a tube.

6. With the open part facing up, fold the two sides down.
7. Tie to rolle together so the leave doesn't come apart.

It takes about 15-20 minutes to steam the banh bot loc.

These freeze really well, anytime you have a craving just take them out and steam for about 25 minutes.

Bo Nhung Dam - Sliced Beef in Vinegar Broth

Bo Nhung Dam is Vietnamese fondue where you dip thinly sliced beef into a hot vinegary broth. The sliced beef is then rolled into a summer roll along with rice vermicelli and then a variety of vegetables, fruits, and herbs. You then dip the roll in prepare fish sauce or fermented anchovy sauce. Even though it is called bo nhung dam but you are able to add other proteins such as shrimp and squid. Not only is this dish delicious it's also very entertaining! This is not something you have to cook beforehand and then serve it at the dinner table. You are able to cook right at the table with your friends and family. Bo Nhung Dam is eaten at a slower pace so you can cook, roll, eat, and socialize in between.

Ingredients:

sliced beef (doesn't need to be an expensive cut just something lean)
sliced squid
shrimp
lettuce
bean sprout
cucumber
thinly sliced star fruit
rice vermicelli

Vinegar Broth:

There's actually two ways you can make the broth. Go easy when you add the vinegar because you do not want it to overwhelm the broth.

Vinegar and Coconut Juice

1 can of coconut juice
1 tablespoon of vinegar
1/2 yellow onion thinly sliced
sugar

Vinegar and Beer

1 can of beer
1 tablespoon of vinegar
1/2 yellow onion thinly sliced
sugar

Fermented Anchovy Sauce (Mam Nem):

1 cup of fermented anchovy sauce (they usually come prepare in a bottle)
1 cup of crush pineapple and its juice
1 fresh chili sliced

Cook all these ingredients together in a pot for about 5 minutes.

Bo Nhung Dam dinner :)

Sorry I do not have a picture of a roll probably because I eat them too fast :p

Goi Muc - Calamari Salad

If there is one type of dish that I do over and over again, it has to be goi. Anytime I visit my parents I always prepare a fresh plate of goi for dinner. Goi is extremely easy to prepare and healthy for you. Once you get the hang of making it you pretty much try to turn everything into a goi, or at least that's the case for me. Happy cooking!



Ingredients:

10 small squid
1/2 yellow onion
1/2 red bell pepper
1 teaspoon of minced ginger
1 portion of cellophane noodle
1/4 tablespoon Vietnamese coriander
1 lime
sugar
vinegar
fish sauce
salt
fresh chillies
chili paste



Prepping:

1. Thinly slice the onions and bell pepper
2. Wash and then rough chop the rau ram
3. Soak the cellophane noodle in hot water until soften
4. Wash and clean out the squids. Cut squid into smaller pieces. Cook squid in boiling water for 5 minutes.
5. Marinade the onions and bell pepper with a dash of salt, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 1/2 tablespoon of vinegar


Squid Marinade:

1/2 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
1 lime
1 sliced chili
2 teaspoon of chili paste
1 teaspoon of minced gingerCombine squid and marinade and toss together. Make sure you do it thoroughly or the squid will be bland.

Drain any excess liquid from the onions and bell pepper mixture. Drain any excess liquid from the cellophane noodle. Toss together the squid, onions, bell pepper, and cellophane noodle. Add additional lime, fish sauce, and chili paste to your liking.

Once you are satisfy with the taste, drain excess liquid. Add the rau ram and toss.

Enjoy!