All posts tagged: Food

Ech Chien Bo (Fried Frog Legs Tossed in a Butter Sauce)

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Ech chien bo or fried frog legs is a classic accompaniment for late night drinking in Vietnam.  You can usually find this dish in any countryside or city sidewalk cafes.  I have a theory that this dish came about because frogs were abundant back in the day and chicken was more expensive.  Frog legs are eaten in France and many other parts of the world, but not necessarily in the US.  Additionally, frog legs tend to have higher water content than chicken, so they will keep the moisture better during cooking. I know my fellow Americans will likely be turned off by frog legs, but give them a try and you will be pleasantly surprised with the burst of flavor.  Alternatively, you can also use chicken for this dish. This recipe serves 2 people and is moderately difficult. Ingredients: 1 lb of frog legs (about 6 frog legs or 3 pairs)  You can buy this at a Chinese market or Chinatown.  Alternatively, you can also use chicken or pork. 1/2 cup of diced onion ¼ …

Gỏi đu đủ / Green Papaya Salad

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Gỏi đu đủ is one of my favorite salads in the Vietnamese cuisine.  It is a very simple and refreshing dish to make, especially in the summer.  The traditional gỏi đu đủ is made with green papaya and beef jerky.  Vietnamese beef jerky is different from American beef jerky in that the jerky is spicier, sweeter and chewier.  I have tried this recipe with American beef jerky that I get from Costco and it still tastes great.  If you do not like beef jerky, feel free to top it with your choice of protein.  This salad is typically made as an alcohol accompaniment for late night drinking in Vietnam. Try this recipe for a quick week night dinner or for your next BBQ. Ingredients 1 green papaya (about 2 cups of shredded green papaya) 1 small carrot (about ¼ cup of shredded carrots) Approximately 1/2 cup of Vietnamese basil (Rau Thom Que) or Thai basil Beef jerky (enough for at least 1/2 cup or as much as you prefer) ½ of a yellow onion Sriracha Roasted peanuts for …

Bánh patê sô (Vietnamese Meat Pastry)

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Another snack I really enjoyed as a child was bánh patê sô.  Bánh patê sô is a Vietnamese savory puff pastry that is likely derived from the French colonization.  Many of the Vietnamese cuisines have flavors and techniques from the French culinary tradition.  How else would we have the ubiquitous bánh mì which is our version of a baguette sandwich?  This pastry is made with traditional puff pastry or pâte feuilletée and filled with ground pork, bean thread noodles and mushrooms.  The beauty of this pastry is that you can fill it with whatever you fancy.  For this version, we allowed for the ground pork to shine in its simplicity.  As summer is in full swing, this is a perfect treat to take with you on a picnic or a roadtrip. This recipe makes about 9 pastry squares. Ingredients 1 package of puff pastry 1 lb of ground pork (*Optional: add 2 pieces of chicken liver grounded to mix with the pork.  This is the traditional way of making the meat mixture hence the name patê …

Must Do’s: Đà Nẵng , Vietnam (Part 1)

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Đà Nẵng  is one of the major port cities in Vietnam and the biggest city on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. The city is situated on the coast of the Eastern Sea, at the opening end of the Hàn River.  The city is also a famous beach resort town with major high end resorts that were developed over the last decade.  Yet, the town still maintains a charm of a small coastal town as compared to Nha Trang. Đà Nẵng is also centrally located and within 100 km of several UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Imperial City of Huế, the Old Town of Hội An, and the Mỹ Sơn ruins.  Recently, the New York Times ranked Đà Nẵng 43rd on its  list of 52 places to go in its 2015 list.  Needless to say, Đà Nẵng is becoming a global destination with its famous white sandy beaches and fresh seafood cuisine. I know Đà Nẵng more intimately as I spent a few years there as a child and still have a majority of my relatives living in the city.  When I wanted …

Bò Né (Vietnamese Steak and Eggs Breakfast)

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Every culture has its own spin on steak and eggs.   I remember running off to school with some pocket money for breakfast which would include banh mi, steamed sticky rice, soy milk and many other wonderful dishes.  Bò né is one of my favorite breakfast dishes. Who can resist a skillet of marinated beef flank with butter and sunny side up eggs served with a crusty french baguette? Bò né  literally translates into dodge beef.  I think this has to do with having to “dodge” the splatter of oil on a hot skillet when you add beef to it.  The trick to tasty bò né is to marinate the beef the night before.  This is ideal for Sunday brunch. Ingredients: 1 lb of flank steak 1 teaspoon of fish sauce 1-2 stalks of scallions diced Onion garlic butter 4 eggs (2 per person) ½ teaspoon of sesame oil 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce 1 teaspoon of sugar 1 teaspoon of pepper a pinch of 5 spice seasoning   Directions   Marinate: Trim fat off of …

Vietnamese BBQ: Lemongrass Marinade and the Chicken Skewers

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Every culture has some form of street food.  The United States has hot dogs and pretzels.  Vietnam has a whole culinary dictionary of street delights.  One of the most common snack is meat skewer marinated in fragrant lemongrass and fish sauce grilled over these tiny aluminum boxes filled with flaming coals on a hidden alley somewhere.  These grilled skewers became a staple of Vietnamese restaurants in the US and worldwide.  Every family has a marinade recipe of the same ingredients but in different proportions. This is our family’s recipe that we serve at the restaurants and at home over the years. The trick to this recipe is to marinate the meat overnight.  We tried it with just ½ an hour and it was still delicious.  I highly suggest marinating these overnight and even leaving them in the freezer during the week until you are ready to consume them. We grilled these chicken skewers over a traditional Vietnamese charcoal box, but you can easily do this on any grill or on the stove.  The combination of …

Honeycomb Cake / Bánh Bò Nướng

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One of my favorite childhood treats is this sweet, fragrant and chewy sponge cake called bánh bò nướng.  The cake is made from rice flour, water, sugar, and yeast. It has a honeycomb-like appearance on the inside due to the presence of small air bubbles. This is why it is called a honeycomb cake. Coconut cream is included in the cake batter revealing a slight flavor and aroma of coconut.  It is a very simple recipe but the result lies in the baking technique which we are excited to show you in this post. Ingredients: 14 oz (approximately 1 package) of tapioca starch flour. This equals to 2 cups. 1 can coconut cream – 14 fluid oz 1 stick of unsalted butter and a little extra to coat the pan 2 cups of sugar 2 bags of Alsa baking powder (5 teaspoons of single acting baking powder) 8 eggs 2 bags of vanilla sugar or 2 tablespoons of good vanilla extract 1 tablespoon of pandan flavored paste or syrup (not essence) – preferred brand is …

Must Do’s: Paris from a Local Point of View (Part 1)

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I am excited to start a new travel series on this blog where La Vie Partagée will collaborate with locals that live around the world to write their Must Do’s in their own playground.  Our first post in this series will be about the second city closest to my heart: Paris. Wahiba is a friend I met when I interned at Accenture in Paris. She is a chic, young Parisian.  Fast forward a few years later, we are still great friends and travel buddies.  When I wanted to write about the current trends and new must dos from a Parisian perspective, I naturally went to the source. Wahiba was excited to share her favorite things to do and new places to see, eat, drink, and shop. Must See Fondation Louis Vuitton Besides the usual suspects that we all have come to know of Paris (Eiffel Tower, Louvre, etc), this is the newest attraction that sits on the edge of Bois de Boulogne.  In 2006, LVMH commissioned famed American architect, Frank Gehry, to design a building …