Mi Hoanh Thanh - Wonton Noodle Soup

   

I posted a recipe for Wonton Soup before but this version is with egg noodle and the broth is slightly different. I really despise the pictures quality of the previous post so this give me a chance to redeem myself.

I am a huge fan of wonton noodle soup especially with roasted duck. Roasted duck is not exactly easy to make at home so I usually make Xa Xiu instead. There's something about adding BBQ meat to the broth, it take the flavor to another level. With that being said I think it's best to let the meat marinade in the xa xiu seasoning overnight. Enjoy this recipe and the pictures!

Broth:

1 lb pork neck bones
1 large chunk of ginger
1 medium yellow onion
fish sauce
rock sugar
mushroom seasoning
salt
black pepper

Wonton Filling:

1 lb of shrimp (cut into smaller pieces)
a couple dash of salt
ground pepper
finely minced green onions
1 teaspoon of mushroom bouillon
2 teaspoon of oyster sauce
2teaspoon of sugar

Other Ingredients:

Xa Xiu
1 package of egg noodle soup
green onions
wonton wrappers


Cooking:



1. Marinade pork in xa xiu seasoning over night.
2. Rinse and clean the pork bones with plenty of salt.
3. Pre-boil bones.
4. Add ginger and onion to broth. Season broth with 1/4 tablespoon of salt, a good chunk of rock sugar, and 1 tablespoon of mushroom seasoning. Let simmer for an hour.
5. Prepare the wonton filling by combining all the listed ingredients. Let the mixture sit in the fridge until ready so it will get a chance to stick together.
6. Pan fry the Xa Xiu. Let it cool down and then slice into thin pieces.
7. Boil egg noodle with water and a pinch of salt. Rinse with cold water and let it dry out a bit.
8. Season the broth with 1-2 tablespoon of fish sauce and a couple dash of black pepper. Add more sugar if needed.
9. Once the broth is ready, start preparing the wonton. Scoop a teaspoon of shrimp filling onto a wrapper and pinch the corners together with warm water.
10. Add wonton to broth to cook. I like to make each bowl of soup individually in a small saucepan. There is more heat to cook the wonton faster.


Pour hot broth and wonton over egg noodle. Add the xa xiu meat and garnish with some green onions. Enjoy!

Bun Oc - Snail Noodle Soup

Don't mistake Bun Oc for a bowl of Bun Rieu, they do appear very similar. Both soup has a reddish hue from the tomatoes simmering in the broth. The misconception of these two soups started when people often add Oc to their Bun Rieu, which I love by the way. The broth to Bun Oc is much lighter and there is more emphasis on the tomatoes.

This recipe is inspired by my first visit to Maryland. After a long 4 hour ride I was welcomed with a bowl of noodle soup with fresh conch meat. Upon slurping the broth I can smell the sweet aroma of ginger, lemongrass and taste the sourness of the tomatoes. I added fresh fish mints, dills, and perillas to the steaming bowl, and flavor it with a teaspoon of fermented shrimp paste(mam tom). The conch meat was incredibly sweet and it felt like the lemongrass was created just to be use for this soup. At that moment I felt like I was eating at a street stall back in Vietnam, a taste of Que Huong.

Since it is lent season I used dried shrimp (tom kho) for the broth, otherwise a pork broth would be just as great. I used frozen snail meat labeled as Oc Buou (the larger snails), which saved me a lot of time on removing the shell. To flavor the broth I used a lot of ginger and lemongrass. Since snail meat is not exactly filling I added tiger shrimp to fill in the voids. Enjoy!

Ingredients:


1/2 cup of dried shrimp (tom kho)
2 chunk of ginger (about the size of your thumb)
4-5 stalk of lemongrass
6 large tomatoes (cut into large pieces)
2 tablespoon of tomato paste (for color)
1 package of frozen snail meat
1/2 lb of tiger shrimp (remove shell)
1 shallot minced
fish sauce
salt
rock sugar
fermented shrimp paste (mam tom)
mushroom seasoning
cooking oil
green onions/red onions (optional) chopped
1 package of rice vermicelli

Cooking:


1. Rinse and soak dried shrimp in warm water. When it has soften rough chop it into smaller pieces.
2. Bring a pot of water to boil, add the dried shrimp, lemon grass stalk, and ginger. Let this simmer for about 30 minutes.
3. Add rock sugar, 2-3 teaspoon of salt, and 1 tablespoon of mushroom seasoning to the broth.
4. Heat up a large pan with cooking oil. Caramelized the shallots and then add the snail meat. Season the snail meat with 1 tablespoon of fish sauce and 1 teaspoon of mushroom seasoning.
5. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste to the snail meat and stir fry. Add 1 tablespoon of shrimp paste. Stir fry for a couple minutes.
6. Add the snail meat/tomatoes mixture to the broth and let simmer.
7. Add another 1 tablespoon of fish sauce and additional sugar if needed.
8. Add shrimp and let it cook through.
9. Prepare the rice vermicelli.

Pour boiling broth over noodles and garnish with some onions. A simple and healthy meal, enjoy!

Mi Quang - Quang Nam Noodles

Whoever came up with the idea for mi quang, thank you!  Mi quang originated from Quang Nam province in central Vietnam, hence the name mi quang.  According to my dad mi quang was created during tough times when food were very scarce.  People made the most out of whatever ingredients they have at home.  For that reason, there are many different ways you can make mi quang.  I guess that's why I love this dish so much because you can can throw whatever you want in the pot.

Mi quang is eaten with a lot of fresh vegetables another reason why it appeals to me because i'm a veggie lover.  It is not exactly a soup but it's not like hu tieu kho either.  You add just enough broth to the bowl so you can easily mix all the ingredients together and slurp that thick noodle.  Because you add very little broth, it is important that you season your broth and meat very well.  That's the one thing I notice when I eat a bowl of mi quang from Vietnam versus a bowl from the states.  Mi quang from Vietnam is seasoned very well and I find the mi quang I've had from the states to be too bland.  You almost want to over salt your broth and meat because the vegetables and noodles will balanced everything out.

The most common version of mi quang contain shrimp and pork belly.  Chicken mi quang is a close second.  I've tried it with king crab and beef as well.  Honestly, anything will work!  One day i'm going to have to experiment with fish.  To me the most important part about mi quang is the broth.  It doesn't matter to me if you use pork or chicken to make the broth, the deal breaker is the shrimp head.  I always use shrimp with the head to make mi quang because it gives the broth so much flavor.  I also like using fresh pineapples to give the broth a very subtle tart.

Ingredients:  

1/2 cup of shrimp peeled
1 cup of dried shrimp (tom kho)
2 lb of pork belly
1 lb of shrimp w/ head unpeeled

6 purple shallots

1 cup of riped pineapple cut in chunks
paprika
tumeric powder
salt
sugar
rock sugar
fish sauce
black pepper
mushroom seasoning
cooking oil


dried mi quang noodles
quail eggs
whole roasted peanuts
seasame rice cracker
green onions
your choice of veggies (banana blossom, romaine, cabbage, bean sprouts, water spinach
your choice of herbs (mint, cilantro)
lime
chili

1.  Thoroughly clean and wash pork belly.  Then cut into slices.  Marinade with 1/2 tablespoon of salt, 2 tablespoon of fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of paprika, 1 teaspoon of turmeric, and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. 
2.  Smashed or minced 1/2 cup of peel shrimp
3.  Rehydrate 1 cup dried shrimp in warm water.  Then use a food processor to ground it. 
4. Thinly sliced the purple shallots. 
5.  In a soup/stock pot, heat up some oil.  Fried 1/2 of the sliced purple shallots.  Add the fresh minced shrimp and the dried shrimp to the pot and sautee a long with the shallots. 
6.  Add 5 quarts of water and let pot come to a boil.
7.  Remove any scums and reduce heat.
8.  Season broth with  2 teaspoon of salt, rock sugar, and 1 tablespoon of mushroom seasoning.
9.  Heat up oil in a pan, add 1/2 of the remaining sliced shallots. Brown the shallots and then add the shrimp w/ heads.  Season with a sprinkle of salt, a couple sprinkle of sugar, a sprinkle of black pepper, and 1/2 tsp of paprika.  Sauteed until shrimp is cooked and flavorful, remove and set aside. 
10.  Heat up more oil, and the remaining sliced shallots.  Add the marinated pork belly.  Stir fried the pork belly.  Add about 2 tablespoon of sugar.  As liquid release from the pork, reduce heat to allow pork belly to absorb all the flavors. 
11.  Add pineapple chunks to the pork and let it braised in the pork for about 10-15 minutes.  The pork belly should be slightly salty and very flavorful. 
12.  Add pork belly, pineapple, and all the liquid into your broth.  This will flavor your broth and give your broth that vibrant orange color.  Again the broth should be slightly saltier than most broth because you don't need a lot of broth when you eat Mi Quang.  Season with addition sugar and fish sauce if needed.  Let pork belly marry with the broth.

13.  Remove scum if necessary.
14.  Boil your Mi Quang noodles, drain, and let air dry.
15.  Prepare all your veggies and herbs of choice.

How to prepare your bowl:


1. At veggies and herbs of choice to your bowl
2. Add the noodles.
3. Add the sauteed shrimps,  quail eggs.
4. Add pork belly from the pot and ladle enough broth to fill 1/2 the bowl. 
5.  Top off with green onions, roasted peanuts, and sesame cracker.
6.  Squeeze some lime and add chili to your liking.
7.  Mix everything together and enjoy!!

Che Thai - Fruits in Coconut Milk

I'm not a sweets person so I pass on desserts about 99% of the time. My parents, on the other hand, are major sweets junkie. they especially love to eat che! I never really got into making Vietnamese dessert but I really do want to change that. But if you ask anybody in my family they will vouch that I can whip up a good cup of Che Thai.

Che Thai is a Vietnamese adaptation of a Thai dessert. I much prefer the Vietnamese version because the Thai version is too sweet for me. It's basically fresh fruits in a coconut/milk mixture. Back in Vietnam you can pretty much smell this dessert a mile away because it often contain durian (sau rieng), a very pungent fruit. In fact if you are not eating true Che Thai if it does not contain sau rieng according to my mom. I grew accustomed to the the Americanize version you often find a Vietnamese bakeries where it is more milk base. Half and half milk is often used because it's a lot more "beo", beo is the Vietnamese term to describe food that are rich and fatty.

We don't have the pleasure of using fresh fruits but canned fruits will do. I usually stick with jack fruits, logans, lychees, coconut gels, and palm seeds. You can add a variety of other things such as tapioca pearls, agar strands, thach (Vietnamese jello), and etc. I like playing around with Knox gelatin because if you make it just right it does have this chewy texture that I just love. I had a a lot of variations of Che Thai, and I try to incorporate different elements I like. I'm always careful not to make it too sweet. It must be the right about of sweetness, to the point where you can down couple cup without feeling overwhelm. You can definitely make this dessert ahead of time because it always taste better the next day. This is such a versatile dessert so please play around with this recipe!

I found these "green worm" dessert at our local Vietnamese market, and it would look so pretty in the Che Thai. I also picked up some food coloring so I can play around with the colors, too bad the pictures did not turn out too well due to my awful lighting. Don't worry it still taste great! Just add some crushed ice and you have yourself a refreshing treat.


Ingredients:


1/2 gallon + 4 cups of 2% milk
1/2 gallon of half and half milk
1/2 can of coconut milk
2 can of jackfruits
1 can of logans
1 can of lychees
1 jar of coconut gel
1 jar of palm seeds
1 box of Knox gelatin
sugar
food coloring (optional)

Milk Gelatin:

1. Boil 3 cups of milk with 3 tablespoon of sugar.
2. Sprinkle for package of gelatin on top of 1 cup of cold milk.
3. Combine boild milk and cold milk and stir until everthing dissolved.
4. Add a couple drops of red food coloring.
5. Pour in a container and freeze for about 20-30 minutes.

Che Thai:

1. Drain and sliced all the fruits into smaller pieces (except for coconut gel and palm seeds).
2. Combine 1/2 gallon of 2% milk, 1/2 gallon of half and half milk, 1/2 can of coconut milk, 1 cup of sugar, and couple drop of green food coloring. Stir everything together.
3. Pour int he whole can of palm seeds even the syrup, the same goes for the coconut gel.
4. Add the sliced fruits.
5. Take the gelatin out of the freezer and cut into 1cm cub. Add to the milk.
6. Give it one last tasting, add more sugar if you like it sweeter.

Banh Canh Cua - Tapioca Noodle Crab Soup

I never liked this soup growing up. I thought it was bland and boring, but of course my mom would always make it. I'm sorry foodies; I was a clueless child then and did not appreciate the essence of this soup. I remember throwing a tantrum one time when I was little because I did not want to eat it. My brother was like you are eating wrong! When you eat banh canh you're suppose to add a squirt of lime, extra fish sauce, and a lot of pepper. You know it's just right when you can taste the sourness from the lime and the saltiness of the fish sauce. It was perfect! Luckily I grew to love this soup but only with extra lime, fish sauce, and pepper of course. I guess big brothers are good for some things.

 This recipe was inspired by my friend's mom. I had a bowl of her banh canh and instantly was intrigue by her broth. As I was slurping her broth I noticed a familarity. It looks like banh canh but why does it have a hint of Bun Rieu in it? Well that's because she uses the crab paste from the jar commonly use to make the "cach" for bun rieu. I like to use canned crab meat from Costco.  You can add a lot of different ingredients to banh canh such quail eggs, pork blood, and fish cakes.

Ingredients:

2 lbs shirmp
2 cup of crabmeat (thawed if frozen)
fresh store brough banh canh noodle from the freezer section
1 tablespoon of minced shallot
2 tablespoon of crab paste
cooking oil
4 quart of water
1.5 tablespoon of salt
fish sauce
3/4 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon mushroom seasoning
1 shallots minced
ground pepper
yellow onions (3 quarters for broth, 1 quarter thinly sliced for garnish
green onions (finely chopped)
cilantro (finely chopped)
fried shallots
lime
fresh chilies

1. Ground 1/2 of the shrimp in a blender
2. Sauteed ground shrimp with some oil in soup pot.  Add 4 quart of water to the pot, along with salt, sugar, and mushroom seasoning.  Let it come to a boil and then turn down to medium for 30 minutes.  Remove any residue from broth.
3.  Peel the other half of the shrimp and cook them right in broth.  Once the shrimps are cooked, remove and set aside for later.
4. Heat up 1/2 tablespoon of oil in a small pan. Add the minced shallot (you can use the white part of the green onions as well) and saute until fragrance.
5. Add the crab meat and saute with the shallots. Season with a little bit of fish sauce and ground pepper. Add the crab paste and continue to stir.
6. Add the crabmeat into the broth and let simmer for 15-20 mins.  Your broth is done.
7.  If you like your soup thick like gravy, you want to have water and tapioca start handy.
Some people like to add the noodles directly into the pot but I can't risk overcooking the noodles. I prefer to transfer a portion of the broth to smaller pot and prepare individual bowls. Bring the pot to a boil, add shrimp and noodle and let cook. Dissolve about 1-2 tablespoon of tapioca with enough water.  Add this to your broth  to thicken the broth.  Once the noodle is soft enough to eat, transfer to bowl immediately. Top off with green onions, sliced onions, and cilantro.
8.  Enjoy!

Sup Chua Cay Thailand - Tom Yum

I love themed dinners...I'm such a dork! As I was getting groceries for the Thai Papaya Salad, I just had this urge to make Tom Yum to go with it. I order Tom Yum every time I eat Thai, it is a must or I will not be satisfied. A lot of people compare Tom Yum to the Vietnamese Canh Chua. I guess I can see the similarity due to the tartness of both soup, but they both have their own unique flavors. Tom Yum has a sharp fragrance from the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves, definitely a sinus clearing smell. The broth of Tom Yum is more briny and sour whereas canh chua is more sweet and sour. I guess it just irritates me when people tell me we are going to eat Lau Thai (Thai Hotpot) but we are really eating Canh chua?

What I really wanted to get out of this soup is as a lot of fragrance and flavor from the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. I did this by letting the lemongrass and lime leaves simmer in chicken broth for over an hour, to the point where the lemongrass falls apart. Believe me it will make a difference! Another thing I love about Tom Yum is you can a lot of different type of proteins. Don't get me wrong because I do love Canh Chua, but I feel it taste best with catfish. For this recipe I will stick with shrimp and squid. Feel free to use other shellfish or even meat!

Ingredients:

4 cans of chicken broth
1/2 lb of shrimp (peeled)
1/2 lb of squid (cut into smaller portion)
3 stalks of lemongrass
4-5 kaffir lime leaves
4 roma tomatoes (cut into quarter)
1/2 yellow onions (cut vertically into medium strips)
1 cup of sliced button mushroom
cilantro for garnish
sugar
fish sauce
mushroom seasoning
tamarid
fresh chilies

1. Cut the lemon grass in half and bruise it with the handle of your knife.
2. Bring chicken broth to a boil and throw in the lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves. Cover the pot and let simmer for an hour. If the broth reduces too much just add water.
3. Flavor the broth with 1-2 tablespoon of fish sauce, 1/2 tablespoon of sugar, 1/3 tablespoom of tamarid powder, 2 teaspoon of mushroom seasoning, and fresh chilies.
4. Add tomatoes and let cook for 5 minutes and then add mushroom and onions.
5. Once the vegetables are cooked, add the shrimp and squid. Cook them last so they will be fresh when you are ready to serve.
6. Top off with little bit of cilantro.

Enjoy!

Goi Du Du Thailand -Thai Green Papaya Salad

Boy have I been slacking off lately! I still cook quite often though, just haven't had time to blog about it. Hopefully tonight will make up for my absence :)

I was having dinner with some friends several months ago at a new Thai place that just open up in Indianapolis. We ordered the Thai Green Papaya salad which seems very simailar to the Vietnamese version when I read the description. The used of the long green beans and cherry tomatoes really made the salad pop with beautiful colors. It was almost too pretty to eat! Not really, but you get the idea. Upon trying it for the first time, yes shame on me for missing out all these years, I noticed it was a lot sweeter than the Vietnamese version which is not really a bad thing. Everybody really enjoyed it because the flavor was there!

I figure it can't be anymore difficult then the Vietnamese version, so I gave it a try. I used sauteed sliced beef as a protein because it goes very well with lime juice and tomatoes. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 papaya (shredded into thin long strips)
1 carrot (julienned)
2 cup of long green beans ( cut into 1 inch portion)
1 cup of cherry or grape tomatoes (cut in 1/2)
1/2 cup cilantro (rough chopped)
1/2 cup basil (rough chopped)
1/2 lb sliced beef (any cut is fine)
vinegar
fresh chilies
lime
fish sauce
sugar
1/2 tablespoon garlic (minced)
crushed peanuts

1. Marinade the green beans and papaya with 1 cup of sugar and 1/3 cup of vinegar for 1-2 hours.
2. Marinade the sliced beef with garlic, 1/2 tablespoon of fish sauce, and 2 teaspoon of sugar for about 30 minutes.
3. Drain vinegar/sugar mixture from green beans and shredded papaya. Squeeze as much of the liquid out from them.
4. Flavor the green beans and papaya with 1 lime, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce,sliced chilies, and a couple pinch of sugar.
5. Sauteed the sliced beef and let cool.
6. Toss in the sliced beef and tomatoes. Add more lime and fish sauce to your liking.
7. Right before serving toss in the cilantro and basil.
8. Top off your plate with some crushed peanuts.