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!

Pho Bo - Beef Noodle Soup

I wrote an entry for crock pot pho last year and it was quite an experience. Crock pot cooking sure has its benefits but I much prefer cooking on the stove top. Maybe I have OCD in the kitchen but I can not leave something cooking on it's own for that long without tasting it.  It'll probably work if I started measuring everything precisely but I know that's not going to happen!

Living so far from my parents, I've develop a love for pho more than ever before. While living in Vietnam, my dad and I were pho buddies.  I didn't really have a choice, but it was our daddy and daughter time together.  After pho we would walk around and my dad would catch up with his friends and neighbors.  When we moved to the states, there were no pho shop and no friends to visit.  We still had our daddy daughter time though, grocery shopping in 3 feet of snow.  Those early years were tough!

Despite her busy schedule, my mom always made sure there was a pot of pho every Saturday morning.  It was something we all look forward to every weekend.  Now that I no longer live at home, I miss my mom's cooking more and more especially her pho.  It's definitely her best dish!

I have tried cooking pho in many different ways, believe me I've tried all the techniques!  And I don't think one technique is better than another, it's all about what you are comfortable with!  And these are the techniques I love and I hope they will help you on your next phoventure!

1.  Root Vegetables

When you of think of pho, you automatic think of beef and even more beef.  While beef play an important role in making a pot of beef pho, I feel we need to credit the root vegetables.  A lot of western soup are made by using a lot of roots vegetables such as onion, carrot, leek, celery, and etc.  Why?  Root vegetables are so good for broth because they give off a natural sweet flavor that's not going to take away or overwhelm the beef flavor.  I especially love using the onion family for pho such as yellow onions and leeks.  They are must haves whenever I make pho!

2.  Beef Bones

I love love my bone marrow but you have to use a variety of bones and meat.  Bones alone will not produce a great broth, that's why we use beef shank as well.  Look for beef neck bones or any bones with a little bit meat to it.

3.  Spices

One of the worst pho turn off for me is the over use of spices.  I definitely got this from my dad.  He hates pho that has a very strong aroma of spices, he feels it takes away the beef flavor.  There are pre-package pho spices at the Asian market but I tend to stick with only a few.  I usually only use cinnamon and star anise.  You want the spices to be subtle to linger but not to overwhelm.

4.  Roasting

While my mom feels roasting the ginger and onions are not needed, I love this step.  It takes these ingredients to a whole another level of sweetness.  You can also roast the spices as well but spices burn a lot faster so be careful.  I like to roast them and wrap in aluminum foil and place it in the pot, you can remove easier this way.

5.  Clear Broth

Certain soups you can get by without have a clear broth but murky pho is not as inviting.  I take the extra step to get my bones and meats very clean.  You'll want to par-boil your bones and then rinsing them with cool water right after.  I even use a different pot par-boil my bones.  The only thing that goes in my pot of pho are clean bones, fresh water, and clean meat.

Ingredients:

4-5 lbs of bones (the more the better)
2 shank
beef balls bo vien (optional)
tendons (optional)
2 yellow onions
2 leeks
2-3 knob of ginger
rock sugar
salt
black pepper
mushroom seasoning
fish sauce
2 cinnamon stick
7-8star anise
aluminum foil
thinly sliced beef (Pho Tai)
pho noodles
green onions/cilantro/sliced yellow onions (garnish)
lime
bean sprouts/basil (optional)

Total cooking time:  5-6 hours minimum

1.  Par-boil beef bones/shank/tendons, thoroughly rinse both with cool water and set aside.  If you are using tendons, you’ll need boil this for 2 hours before you add it to your pot.
2.  Fill a new 10 qt. pot with water and add clean beef bones/shank/tendon.  Let everything simmer on low-med heat.  All the ingredients will be ready at different times, the best thing to look is the tenderness.  If the meat is falling off the bones you know you have cooked the bones sufficient enough.  Estimate time about 3 hours.
3.  Roast the ginger/onion in the oven or grill.  Remove the skin and then add to the broth.  Add the leeks to the pot along with your meats and bones. Add rock sugar about the same size as a knob of ginger. 1/2 cup of salt, 3 tablespoon of mushroom seasoning.  Remove scum when necessary.
4.  You should see fat at the top from the bones/shank, remove as much as you can or if you like the fat you can leave it.
5.  Remove shank when it's tender, I don't like my shank fall apart tender I like it a little firm which will be easier to slice as well.  Tendon will take longer so keep it in the pot until its tender to your liking.  Once meat/tendon is done; remove, let cool down, and the. sliced thinly.
6.  Taste the broth and add final adjustment now, add additional salt/sugar/fish sauce if needed.
7.  Lightly wrap the spices in aluminum foil and add to the pot for about 20 minutes and leave lid on.
8.  Prepare sliced rare beef, noodles, vegetables, green onion, sliced onion, and lime.
9.  When your pot of pho is done I like to remove all bones in to one bowl for munching.  Discard ginger, onions, leeks, spices.  So you are left with only the broth.  You can also take the extra step of straining your broth.

10.  Prepare a bowl to your liking and enjoy!