All posts filed under: Eat

Quick Caramelized Pork Ribs

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Caramelized spare ribs are a stable for lunch or dinner at my parents’ house. We would eat it as part of a rice dish with fresh vegetables and a slice of egg and pork meatloaf (cơm sườn bì chả). These pork ribs are cooked quickly so the meat have a chewier texture than the American version where the meat falls off the bones. This dish is very easy to prepare and takes only 30 minutes to cook. Difficulty: Easy / Servings: 4 / Time: 30 minutes Ingredients: 3 lb. of pork ribs 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons coconut soda (Coco Rico) 3 tablespoons of fish sauce 2 tablespoons of sugar 1 yellow onion, quartered 1/2 tablespoon of mushroom seasoning (if this is not available, use chicken bouillon powder or skip it) 10 cloves of minced garlic and 1 clove of crushed garlic Ground pepper Salt Scallion for garnish Olive oil for cooking Directions: Cut the spare ribs into approximately 2-3 inch segments. This is roughly 2-3 bones per segment. Marinate the ribs with 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of …

Pan Fried Fish with Turmeric and Dill / Chả Cá Thì Là

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Fish with turmeric and dill or chả cá thì là is a famous Vietnamese dish made popular in the northern region of Vietnam. This dish typically has a hardy white fish marinated in turmeric and other seasonings and then pan fried with a lot of dill. My mom and I came up with a version that you can make at home. It has a few exotic ingredients that are generally available at an Asian grocer. This dish is fragrant and is served on a bed of vermicelli rice noodles and top with dill, peanuts and a dab of the aromatic sauce. We published a taco version last month based on this recipe so some of the steps will be the same. The key difference is that this recipe uses shrimp paste or rouc, a pungent shrimp seasoning. In our taco recipe, we substituted the shrimp paste with fish sauce and created a different sauce to pour over the fish at the end. If you do not like the shrimp paste, use the recipe for the marinade and sauce …

Bánh Mì Series: Pork Pâté

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We introduced you to bánh mì xíu mại or meatballs sandwich, pickled carrots and daikon radish accompaniment and homemade garlic mayonnaise in earlier posts. The next key essential ingredient to assemble a true Vietnamese bánh mì is to make pork pâté. This meat spread gives the sandwich a unique flavor and can be easily eaten alone with bread. My favorite thing to eat for breakfast is to have toasted bread spread with delicious pâté and mayonnaise and top with a fried egg and a splash of soy sauce. This pâté is so easy to make and so scrumptious that you cannot stop eating it. Difficulty: Easy / Serving: 6 cups / Time: 1.5 hours to make and 8 hours to set Ingredients: 2 pound of ground pork ½ pound of pork liver (if you cannot find pork liver, you can substitute with chicken liver) 15 cloves of garlic 3 teaspoons of sugar 1 ½ teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons of ground black pepper 1 ½ cups of canola oil Directions: Mince 15 cloves of garlic in the food …

Phở Bò / Beef Noodle Soup

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Phở is a hearty noodle soup that is the most well known of all noodle soups from Vietnam. The stock can be made with chicken or beef with the most popular type being beef noodle soup. Every region has its own take on phở bò and the noodle soup is often eaten for breakfast. Phở bò takes at least a few hours of just simmering the bones to get the  right bone stock for the soup base. This is a dish that is made for long weekends and especially when the weather turns cold. We redid the traditional phở recipe into 2 parts (beef stock and  phở broth) to make it easier to measure the ingredients and to get a consistently good broth. This is one of the easiest recipe for phở that we wrote to create a very clear, rich and fragrant broth. You can make the bone stock in advance and freeze it. Whenever you want to make phở, just defrost the bone stock and season the stock to make the phở broth. Difficulty: Medium / Time: 3 hours for bone …

Vietnamese Egg Rolls / Chả Giò

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Chả giò or egg roll is a popular fried food in Vietnam that is usually served with lettuce and herbs to make a wrap and then dipped into a sweet and sour fish sauce ( nước chấm). The fried egg rolls are also often served over a bed of rice and accompanied by vegetables and herbs as part of a rice vermicelli noodle bowl or  bún chả giò. The egg rolls are filled with a mixture of ground pork, glass noodles, mushrooms and vegetables and then wrapped in a rice paper and fried until golden brown. In this recipe, we use both the traditional rice paper which are flimsy and harder to wrap. However, these egg rolls are lighter and crunchier than the flour based Chinese wrappers. Chả giò makes for a great treat at any gathering. Difficulty: Medium / Serving: 35-40 egg rolls / Time: 1 hour Equipment: Food Processor Tip: You can freeze uncooked egg rolls in the freezer and they will fry up nicely once defrosted. Ingredients: 1.5 pound of ground pork 1 pound of shrimp …

Quick Steamed Fish with Ginger Soy Dressing

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Another dish that my mom taught me before leaving for college was steamed fish with a ginger soy sauce. The version that I had while I was in college was for salmon steak and utilized only a microwave that was allowed in the dorm. This version is still just as easy but has the benefit of additional tweaks since those college days. This is a healthy and elegant dish that will fool people into thinking that you slave away making it for dinner. This recipe is rated easy and takes 15-20 minutes to make. Serves 2 people per fish. Ingredients 1 pound whole red Tilapia or another meaty white fish. (You can also use fish filet but I find that whole fish tastes better.) ½ a yellow onion ½ cup of julienned ginger 8 stalks of scallions ¼ teaspoon of sesame oil ½ teaspoon of fish sauce ¼ teaspoon of white wine 1 teaspoon of soy sauce ½ tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of mushroom seasoning ½ teaspoon of salt ½ teaspoon of ground black pepper 1 …

Chicken Liver Pâté

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You can’t go wrong with pâté spread over toasted bread for any snack or meal. Due to French colonialism from 1887 to 1954 (also known as French Indochina), many French dishes have been adopted by the Vietnamese over the years.  Vietnam has a version of pâté that is part of the famous banh mi made of ground pork and chicken liver. My mother came up with an easy recipe that is a fusion of French pâté with Vietnamese flavors. It has a nice hint of wine with a touch of soy and garlic. Be prepared to devour at least one loaf of baguette when you spread this delicious pâté on it. You can also add radish, cucumbers or any vegetables that you prefer to the spread to give it some freshness. This recipe is rated easy and takes 30 minutes to make and a few hours to chill in the fridge. This recipe makes approximately 5 cups of pâté. Ingredients: 2 pound of chicken liver 1 cup of milk 4 sticks of softened butter 1/3 cup of …

Fried Prawns in a Tamarind Sauce / Tôm Rang Me

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Fried prawns in a tamarind sauce or tôm rang me is a popular dish especially for those living on the coast. The fresh prawns are fried and then tossed in a sweet and sour sauce made from tamarind to offset the greasiness of the oil. This humble dish is finger licking good. This recipe is rated easy and takes 30-45 minutes to create. Ingredients: 10 giant prawns 1 block of fresh tamarind 1 tablespoon of minced garlic 1 teaspoon of ground annatto 1 teaspoon of sesame oil 1 teaspoon of fish sauce 2 cups and 1 tablespoon of water 5 tablespoons of sugar ½ teaspoon of salt ½ teaspoon of ground black pepper Vegetable oil for frying Garnish with spring onions and Cilantro Directions: Sprinkle ½ a teaspoon of salt on top of the shrimps. Mix to incorporate the salt among the shrimps. This process will help remove excess moisture from the prawns. Break the tamarind block into smaller chunks. Soak the tamarind block with 2 cups of water for approximately 15 minutes or until the …

Duck and Bamboo Vermicelli Noodle Soup / Bún Măng Vịt

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Duck and bamboo vermicelli noodle soup or  bún măng vịt is a permanent fixture at my parent’s weekend dinners. This simple and rich vermicelli soup is a dish that one will not find at a restaurant. This is comfort food at its core. A whole duck is boiled for 45 minutes to create a fragrant and rich broth. The duck is then cut into bit size pieces and ready to be dipped in a garlic ginger fish sauce. The bowl of noodle soup is topped with bamboo shoots simply sauteed with some seasoning and a salad of lettuce, cabbage and mints. This is a meal that is best served with family and friends as you’ll guarantee to fight over the meatiest parts of the duck. This dish takes 1 – 1.5 hours to prepare. The recipe serves approximately 8 portions and is rated medium in difficulty. Ingredients: 1 whole duck 1 package of dried bamboo shoots (If you don’t have this, you can use the can version.) 8 tablespoons of fish sauce (for broth and …

Fish Taco with Tumeric and Dill

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Tacos are very popular in the states and the trend has been to mix the Mexican traditional taco with Asian ingredients. This combination have been a huge hit with a fusion of Korean bbq and Mexican food. This trend inspired  me to create a Vietnamese version of the fish taco based off of a traditional northern dish comprise of fish with turmeric and dill or  chả cá thì là. This recipe change the traditional sauce and the accompaniment to create a fusion fish taco. I tested this recipes on 4 teenagers and they could not get enough of it. This is a bonafide crowd pleaser for your next gathering. This recipe serves 6 and is rated medium in difficulty. This recipe takes approximately 30 minutes to prepare and require marinating the fish for at least 1 hour. Ingredients: 2 pounds of tilapia filet or any other firm white fish of your choice 2 large bunches of dill 3 stalks of spring onion 1 tablespoon of lemongrass 2 tablespoons of minced garlic ½ of diced yellow or …