Gourmet by Kat

Caramelized Seabass in claypot (Ca seabass kho to)

2016-03-02T23:31:00.001-08:00

It's been a long hiatus since my last post and to be honest I almost forgot how to do the posting on my own blog. My disappearance partly has to do with being a busy mom with kids and their activities as always and also guilty as charged for my laziness as well. Okay, enough of the excuses. Let's us get to the point. I think this recipe would be a perfect start for my coming back since it's absolutely delicious but yet so easy that will take no time and effort to prepare. Unlike the traditional catfish in claypot, the texture and buttery taste of the seabass will satisfy the pickiest eater's taste bud. Another advantage with seabass is that you will never run into the problem of muddy smell or taste as occasionally seen in catfish. Trust me on this and your family will love you forever .... okay maybe until the next quarrel:)
It can be served along with other side dishes such as blanched vegetables (bok choi, okra, cabagge...) or vegetable soup for a nice but breezy family meal or just accompanied with a bowl of steamed rice for a quick lunch. Regardless of how you choose to serve it, your tummy is in for a delectable treat.

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb of seabass filet (skinless and boneless preferred)
2. 2-3 cloves of garlic (minced)
3. 1-2 shallots (minced)
4. Fish sauce, sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, mushroom seasoning, black pepper, salt, oil, chili powder and 1/3 cup of water

Method:

- Rinse the seabass filets well and pat dry.
- Season lightly with salt, 1.5 tsp of fish sauce, 1.5-2 tsp of sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, mushroom seasoning, black pepper, chili powder and half of the minced garlic and shallot mixture.
- Let the fish marinade for about 30 minutes.
- In a medium size clay pot on medium heat, add 2 tsp of sugar and 1 tsp of oil, let the sugar caramelized into a nice molasses color then quickly add in the remaining half of the minced garlic and shallot mixture. Stir well for 30 seconds until fragrant then add the seabass filets into the pot.
- Flip the filets several times to get a nice coating of the caramel. When the fish slightly turns opaque, add in the water and let it simmer on low-medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes until 3/4 of the liquid evaporated.
- In a small bowl, mix 2 tsp of fish sauce and 2 tsp of sugar. Add the mixture into the pot and turn the fish to make sure each piece evenly coated with the fish sauce mixture. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking with more or less sugar or fish sauce as needed. It should taste slightly sweet and salty at the same time. Let it simmer for another 1 minute or 2 until the sauce is slightly thicken. Turn off the heat and sprinkle with chopped green onions and whole red chili peppers if desired. Served hot with steamed rice and vegetables. Enjoy!

Flossy pork buns (Banh mi ngot cha bong)

2014-08-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

Hello again everyone! Summer is almost over for most of us. My boys are actually back to school for two weeks now. It just seems too short of a summer for us all, but I'm also glad that they are back to school so we all can get back to our own routine again.

That means I also have to get back to my baking routine to get breakfast ready for the boys every morning. Breads and buns are the staples for breakfast in our house second to the quick-and-easy cereals. This flossy pork bun recipe is quite easy to make and very tasty as well. If you don't have floss pork on hand, you can substitute with ham or bacon and cheese. I am sure they will taste just as delicious. Give it a try for your loved ones at home.

Ingredients:

390g of bread flour

170ml milk

15g of milk powder

7g of dried active yeast

65g of sugar

1/2 tsp of salt

75g of soften butter plus extra for the greasing the muffin pan.

1 egg

2 green onions (cleaned and chopped)

1.5 cups of floss pork

Japanese mayonnaise

Methods:

Warm the milk in the microwave for 30 seconds (temperature should be about 110F), then add yeast and 1 tsp of sugar to the milk and mix well. Let the yeasts activate and foam up for about 10 minutes.

In the mixing bowl of the stand mixer, combine flour, remaining sugar, salt, egg and milk powder. Turn the speed up number 2, add the yeast and milk mixture to the flour mixture and begin kneading the dough until it becomes moisten. Add soften butter and continue kneading until the dough becomes soft, smooth and shiny for about 10-15 minutes. If the dough still sticks to the side or the bottom of the bowl, it means that the dough is either still a little too wet or the kneading time is not sufficient enough.

Cover with a plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and let the dough proof for about 30 minutes to 1 hour until it's double in size.

Roll the dough out into a rectangular sheet about 1/2 inch thick. Squeeze the mayonnaise in a zigzag pattern as seen in the picture on the dough. Sprinkle the floss pork evenly on the dough and top it of with chopped green onions.

Roll the dough up as you would do in a Swiss roll and seal the seam.

Use a sharp knife or a dough cutter to divide the dough into 12 equal portions.

Brush the muffin tin with melted butter and place the rolls in the tin. Cover and let them proof again for another 30 minutes. Brush extra butter on top the rolls before baking.

Preheat the oven to 375F and bake the buns in the oven for about 10-13 minutes until golden brown.

The buns are still soft the next day, just pop them in the microwave for 20 seconds each and you will have yourself a tasty breakfast, sweet and savory at the same time.

Steamed Pork Bun (Banh Bao Thit)

2014-07-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

The origin of steamed buns is rooted from China. With thousands of years of history, steamed bun has been a staple diet in many Chinese families. They usually come in a variety of sizes and stuffed with different types of filling such as pork, chicken, cabbages, mushrooms, tofu, spinach, etc.

Steamed buns have migrated overtime to many different countries and took on different versions. In Vietnam, the most traditional version is stuffed with ground pork that is mixed with wood-ear mushrooms, hard-boiled eggs or quail eggs and Vietnamese sausage (lap xuong). While steamed buns can be eaten at any meals, they are commonly eaten as breakfast. One of the best feature about these buns is that they can be made in large batches and stored in freezer for later consumption. All you have to do is re-steam them and in a short few minutes, you can enjoy a scrumptious steamed bun just as good as the freshly made one.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

1. 1 bag of steamed bun cake ( I used the Rooster brand that was made in Australia)

2. 100g or 1/2 cup of sugar

3. 1 cup of milk

4. 1/2 tsp salt

5. 1 tbsp of cooking oil

For the filling:

1. 1/2 lb of ground pork

2. 1/3 cup of sweet pea and carrot mix (optional)

3. 1/2 of white onion (diced)

4. 2 tbsp of minced shallot and garlic

5. 3 tbsp of minced wood-ear mushrooms

6. 3 hard-boiled egg (cut each into quarters) or 12 boiled quail eggs

7. 1 Vietnamese sausage or lap xuong (sliced into 12 pieces)

8. 1.5 tsp of oyster sauce, 1 tsp fish sauce, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 tsp of sugar, 1/2 tsp of mushroom seasoning, black pepper, garlic powder.

Method:
Mix flour, sugar, milk and salt in a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Start out at speed number 2 and slowly increase to number 4 once everything incorporated. Knead for about 10 minutes then add 1 tbsp of canola oil (or any type of cooking oil) and continue to knead for another 10 minutes.

Cover and proof the dough for about 30 minutes in the mixing bowl. Once the time is up, divide the dough into 12 equal balls.

While proofing the dough, prepare the filling by mixing all the filling ingredients together except for the eggs and sausages. Divide the meat mixture into 12 equal portions and form them into round balls with a piece of sausage and egg in each meatball.

Roll out each dough ball into a thin, round layer. Place a meat ball in the middle of the dough. While holding the dough on the left hand, creating the pleats around the edge of the dough in the counter-clockwise direction with your right hand in the pattern as seen in the picture above.

Continue pleating until the ends meet and twist the top of the bun counter-clockwise to close the hole of the bun.

Place each bun on top of a piece of square paper to help it from sticking to the bottom of the steamer after steaming.

Place the buns in the steamer, add some white vinegar to the boiling water underneath the steamer to help whitening the buns.

Place a kitchen towel or paper towel on top of the steamer before cover with the lid to catch all the dripping water that could make the buns soggy while steaming.

Steam the buns for about 10 minutes, then open the lid to shake off or wipe off the excess water condensed on the lid. Cover and continue steam for another 10 minutes until done.
You can freeze the remaining buns in the freezer and re-steam or microwave before the next consumption.

Enjoy!

Hasselback Garlic Cheesy Bread

2014-06-04T21:53:00.000-07:00

Summer is here! Well, at least for us since my boys were already off school a couple weeks ago. They started summer camp last week and I wish to myself that I could also take the summer off to spend more time with them.
I saw the picture of this garlic cheesy bread recipe a while back on Facebook and I was practically drooling while staring intensely at the screen. I said to myself that I have to make this very very soon. But until recently, when I stopped by a Chinese bakery to pick up some breads for my boys, my oldest told me he wanted some garlic breads. Only then I thought of this garlic cheese bread that I saw on Facebook, so I told him "Mommy will make some for you soon". And so I did keep my promise to him.
I love how easy this recipe turned out. All the ingredients can be easily found from your pantry and fridge. Give it a try next time you are planning some spaghetti or pasta dishes for dinner. These breads will be a great addition to your meal and greatly appreciated by your family.

Recipe adapted from Lauren's Latest (Thanks Lauren for the great recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Warm Water (I added a little more water as the dough seems to be a little dry)
1 Tablespoon Honey
1 envelope Active Dry Yeast (2 1/4 Teaspoons)
1 teaspoon Salt
3 cups Bread Flour
Olive Oil, For Greasing Surfaces
⅓ pounds Sharp White Cheddar, Or Any Other Cheese You Prefer (I used Harvati cheese since that was what I had on hand)
½ cups Garlic Butter ( I made my own version with melted butter, 1 clove of minced garlic, a handful of chopped parsley and some salt for taste)

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, stir water, honey and yeast together. Let yeast proof 5 minutes. Once you know yeast is active, stir in salt and the flour in 1/4 cup increments. If you are using a stand mixer, be sure to not increase your speed higher than a 2 or ‘stir’. Once dough starts pulling away from the sides and the bowl seems to be pretty clean, set a timer for 5 minutes and walk away. Let the machine knead the dough. After 5 minutes, dough should be smooth and tacky but when touched shouldn’t leave any dough on your fingers.
Grease the bowl and the dough. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Punch down dough and cut into two equal portions. Form into two long baguettes the length of the cookie sheet. Twist the breads to create the look and also to help keep the shape of the breads from shrinking. Cover with plastic wrap and rise 30 minutes. Start to preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place dough close to the oven where it’s nice and warm. Once oven is preheated, remove plastic wrap, from the dough reduce oven to 350F, put the bread into the oven and bake 20 minutes.
In the meantime, slice the cheese into thin slices and melt the butter.
Pull loaves of bread out of the oven after 20 minutes and brush with the melted garlic butter. Bake another 5-7 minutes or until bread begins to turn a golden brown. Remove from oven and cool 15 minutes.

Cut 1-inch slices 3/4′s of the the way through the loaves. Brush garlic butter in between each slice and fill with a slice of cheese. Bake another 3-5 minutes or until cheese is completely melted. Serve immediately.

Banh xeo (Vietnamese savory crepes)

2014-03-31T20:59:00.000-07:00

Hello Spring!!! What a gorgeous and lively season! I love it when everything rejuvenates after the long cold winter. My unattended little garden surprised me yesterday when I came out for the first time to clean up the backyard after several winter months. All my mints and herbs that I planted last year are now full of life and competing with each other to show their vibrant green leaves under the shining sun. And that was how I came up with the idea to have this Vietnamese savory crapes for dinner tonight.

Wait a minute, you may ask, how does that have anything to do with the mints and herbs? Well, if you look closely to my pictures you will see how they are related. Unlike the French crepes which usually served alone by itself, the Vietnamese crepes are usually accompanied by a lot of green vegetables such as lettuces, mustard greens, and a varieties of Vietnamese mints and herbs along side with the fish sauce dressing. It has been a long while since I last made this and I have certainly enjoyed it very much especially with my freshly grown green vegetables.

Ingredients: (make about 10 crepes)

1. 1 bag of any brand Banh xeo flour, about 500g (I used Huong xua brand)

2. 1 can of coconut milk (about 400ml)

3. 600-700ml of water

4. 1/2 tsp salt

5. 1 tsp sugar

6. 1 tsp mushroom seasoning

7. 1 tbsp of oil

8. 1/4 cup of chopped green onions

9. 2/3 lb of pork belly (sliced into thin slice, 1 inch wide)

10. 1 lb of shrimps (peeled and deveined)

11. Sliced shallots ( from about 10 shallots)

12. Bean sprouts

13. Cooking oil

14. Green leave lettuces, mustard greens, varieties of mints, peppermint and fresh herbs

15. Garlic fish sauce for dipping (see recipe below)

Garlic fish sauce:

- 5 cloves of garlic (minced finely)

- 2 thai red chili peppers

- 5 tsp of vinegar

- 8 tsp of fish sauce

- 4 tbsp of sugar

- 3/4 cup of water

Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl until the sugar has all dissolve. Serve together with shredded pickled carrots and daikon (Do chua).

Method:

- Mix the first 8 ingredients together in a large prepping bowl and stir well until all combined (Notes: all the banh xeo bags have their own batter mixing instruction in the back, but I modified and adjusted the seasoning to my own taste).
- In a large, non-stick frying pan, add about 1-2 tbsp of oil. Then add in a few slices of shallots, pork belly and shrimps. Stir for a few second until the meats and shrimps are half way cook, then immediately pour in a couple ladles of the batter mixture and swirl the pan around to evenly spread the batter to make the crepe as thin as possible.

- Leave the frying pan open for about 3 minutes then add a handful of beansprout to 1 side of the crepe. Cover the pan with a lid for couple more minutes.

- Once the bottom of the crepe turn golden brown and the middle of the crepe batter has set, fold the crepe in half as in folding an omelet.

- Dish it out onto a large serving plate and serve immediately while it's still hot.

The typical way to serve banh xeo is to put together a large piece of lettuce leave and a piece of mustard green leave, arrange the mints and herbs in the middle. Break a small piece of banh xeo and lay it neatly on top of the mints, then roll it up into a roll. Dip the banh xeo roll into the garlic dipping sauce and enjoy!

Another way to serve banh xeo is to add all the vegetables into a small bowl, then add a couple pieces of banh xeo and drizzle the garlic fish sauce over. Roughly mix the content in your bowl and enjoy.

This dish could be served as an appetizer or as a main dish and it is perfect for cold, rainy weather as well.

Crispy roasted pork belly (Heo quay) with vermicelli

2014-03-04T23:11:00.001-08:00

It's Fat Tuesday, so why not getting fat together! And why not eating roasted pork belly before the Lent season starts. To me I can only afford to enjoy this dish a few times in a year unless I'm ready for a new larger pant size. That why whenever I prepare this dish, I always savor every single bite especially the most high prize part of the dish, the crunchy, crispy skin that tastes so divine.
In my opinion, homemade roast pork is much more flavorful than the store bought one. Since the pork is prepared in a much smaller portion than the whole pig at the BBQ joint, you can easily control the marinade and able to let the meat mingle and absorb the flavorful marinade. The most important part to make this dish a success lies in the crispiness of the skin (of course without burning it). Once you can achieve this crucial step, you are more than half way being successful. To tell you the truth, if I could just eat all I want, I would definitely go for the skin. Tonight dinner, I serve it with mixed herb salad and vermicelli noodles, but you can also serve it with rice and it would make a wonderful entree.

Ingredients:
1. 1 piece of pork belly with skin intact about 1.5-2 lbs (choose the one with same, even thickness)
2. Brine water: 4 cups of water, 2 tbsp salt, 1/4 cup of cooking wine.
3. For the meat part marinade:
    - 1 tsp Maggi soy sauce
    - 1 tsp sweet soy sauce
    - 1/2 tsp mushroom seasoning
    - 1 tsp sugar
    - 1 tsp five spice powder
    - 1 tsp Mui Kwe Lu cooking wine
4. For the skin part:
    - 1/2 tsp salt
    - 1/4 tsp baking soda
    - 1/2 tsp vinegar
    - 2 tsp soy sauce
    - 1/2 tsp five spice powder
    - 1 drop of red food color, 1 drop of yellow food color

Method:
- Clean the pork belly, scrape the skin side with the knife and pick clean all the remaining hairs.
- Soak the meat in the brine water solution for about 3-4 hrs.
- Remove the meat from the brine water and dry the meat with paper towels.

- Combine all the seasonings for the meat marinade and pour it out on a shallow dish, place the pork belly with the meat part down on the marinade. Use a brush to brush the marinade along the side of the meat and be careful not to let the marinade to touch the skin part.
- For the skin part, sprinkle the skin with salt, next rub on 1/2 of the baking soda amount, then brush on the vinegar. Wait for 1 minute, then repeat same step for the remaining baking soda and vinegar.
- Cover the meat with a plastic wrap and refrigerate it 24 hours or at least overnight for best result.

- Next day, combine the soy sauce, five spice powder and food color in a small bowl and brush it on the skin part.
- Preheat the over to 350F, set up a water bath in a baking tray, place a cookie rack and top and place the pork belly skin side down.
- Roast the meat for about 40 minutes at 350F, then increase the temperature to 425F and roast it for another 40 minutes.

- Once the roasting time is up, crank up the heat to 500F and change to broiler mode. Flip the meat skin side up and roast the skin part for about 15-20 minutes. This part is very crucial and you have to watch the skin every couple minutes for make sure they are roasting evenly. There will be some crackling and popping sounds in the oven but that is normal as the skin starts to crisp up. Just make sure to watch the skin and use aluminum foil to cover the brown, crispy parts to prevent it from burning further.

- Let the meat rest for about 10 minutes before slicing it. Serve it with vermicelli, herbs, and fish sauce or on rice and you will get yourself a nice, satisfying meal.

Herb sea salt soft pretzels with Cheese sauce

2014-03-03T00:18:00.000-08:00

This is my second time trying my luck with soft pretzels. I don't even want to be reminded of my first attempt at making homemade pretzels. If I could throw a rock to hurt somebody, those pretzels would do a very fine job. It has been years since I even thought about making pretzels again until recently when I saw a post on my Facebook page about homemade soft pretzels from a food blogger. The pretzel picture looked so delightful and enticing that I almost wanted to reach into the screen and grab that pretzel. So forget about my first painful experience with pretzels, I immediately looked up the recipe and made my plan for the second attempt without hesitation.
I have to say, the result is beyond my expectation. The fresh hot, crusty-on-the-outside and soft-in-the-inside pretzels taste heavenly. Especially when it is accompanied with the creamy, savory cheese sauce, you can forget about the world around you. The recipe is such a breeze to make and with just a couple hours in the kitchen, you will be rewarded with some fantastic homemade good eat. These soft pretzels are best when they are fresh hot out of the oven, but I don't think you will have to worry about left-over, stale pretzels because there won't be any.

(Recipe adapted from Two peas and their pod, original recipe adapted from Bobby Flay)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
3 ounces unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons dried Italian herbs (The original recipe called for fresh chopped rosemary)
Canola oil, to grease bowl
3 quarts water
2/3 cups baking soda (I used only 1/4 cups)
1 whole egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water or milk
Coarse sea salt

For the Cheese Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste and a dash of garlic powder

Directions:

1. To make the pretzels: combine the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.
2. Add the salt, flour, and rosemary to the mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands.

4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope.

6.To shape into pretzels, take the right side and cross over to the left. Cross right to left again and flip up. Slowly add the baking soda to the boiling water. Boil the pretzels in the water solution, 2 at a time for 30 seconds, splashing the tops with the warmed water using a spoon. Remove with a large flat slotted spatula or a spider. Place 4 pretzels on each baking sheet, brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with sea salt. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until pretzels are golden brown.

7. Remove pretzels from oven and let cool on a wire baking rack.
8. To make the Rosemary Cheese Sauce: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and whisk in flour. Pour in the milk and whisk until the mixture thickens. Stir in shredded cheese, stir until cheese is melted and smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with pretzels.

Bon appetite!

Crispy banana fritters (Chuoi chien)

2014-02-06T21:49:00.000-08:00

Banana fritter or fried banana (Chuoi chien) has always been one of my many childhood favorite snacks. It reminds me of my childhood growing up in Vietnam where simple, inexpensive snacks like this tastes so divined. I remember these snacks`were sold ubiquitously everywhere, in the alley around the neighborhood, at an outdoor market or on the curbside in front of many schools.
The steamy, hot fried banana fresh out of the oil quickly wrapped in banana leave was something that always put a big smile on my face. The crunchiness of the outside fritter complements perfectly the sweet and soft banana inside. Along with these banana fritters, sweet potato fritters were also popular among the kids. The same batter can also be used to make these sweet potato fritters, just substitute sweet potato yam for bananas. The secret to the long lasting crunchiness lies in the double deep frying method where the banana fritter is fried to merely brown, then dipped in the batter and re-fried again until golden brown or to the desired crunchiness. Try it and you won't be disappointed!

Ingredients:

1. 1 bag of tempura mix, Pyramid brand or any brands you can find (about 12 oz)
2. 2 tbsp of coconut cream powder
3. 4 tbsp of Crisp fried powder mix (bot chien gion as seen in the picture below)
4. 8-10 tbsp sugar (depend on how sweet you want your batter is)
5. 1 tsp salt
6. 1 & 3/4 cups of water
7. 3-4 tbsp coconut milk (see picture below)
8. 1 tbsp oil and enough for deep frying
9. 14-16 Thai bananas (Chuoi su)

Method:

Mix all ingredients except for bananas in a large mixing bowl until smooth and no lumps left in the batter (the batter should be a little bit thinner than the pancake batter).

Peel the bananas and place them covered inside a plastic wrap, make sure to leave enough rooms between each banana.

Use a chopping knife with thick, large blade to press on those bananas until flatten (about 1/4 of an inch thickness).

In a deep frying wok, add a few inches of oil under medium heat. Heat the oil until about 350F or until a drop of tested batter floats up in the oil.
Place the flatten bananas inside the batter mixture and cover the bananas with the batter. Drain the excess batter on the bananas and carefully place them in the hot oil.
Fry the bananas until merely brown then remove from the oil, drain on a rack for a minute. Subsequently, dip the battered bananas in the batter mixture again, drain the excess batter and deep fry until golden brown.
Remove from oil, drain on the rack and serve hot.
They are great eaten as is or can also be served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to create a delightful after-dinner-dessert.

Shredded pork and pork skin (Bi)

2014-01-28T23:26:00.000-08:00

First, I want to apologize for my long hiatus. I don't know if I should blame the craziness of the holiday seasons or the lack of diligence, but I know I have been seriously lagging and necglecting my blog for a long while.
Well now I'm back and still alive, just in case you were wondering, I want to introduce to you all one important component of the scrumptious Bbq pork rice dish aka "Com bi cha thit nuong". As you may remember, I have introduced to you how to make the Bbq grilled pork (thit nuong) and the steamed egg meatloaf (Cha) in previous posts. So now it's time to bring to light the last, but not least, portion of the combo: shredded pork skin or "Bi".
This sidekick dish is actually my favorite out of the three. I just love its versatility. Beside serving along side with grilled pork and the steamed egg meatloaf on rice, it also can be rolled up in rice papers to make delicious spring rolls called "Bi cuon" or stuffed in the baguette to make a lovely lunch sandwich. I also love to serve this with cold vermicille noodle "bun", mixed green mint salad and dressed in fish sauce to make a nice lunch (or dinner) entree. You can't go wrong no matter which way you like to serve it.

Ingredients:

- 1 bag of frozen shredded pork skin (you can find them in most Vietnamese supermarket)
- 1 lb of pork belly or pork shoulder.
- 1 bag of ground roasted rice called "thinh" (also can be found in Vietnamese supermarket)
- 5 cloves of garlic (minced), 2-3 shallots (peeled)
- 1/2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt
- some vinegar and cooking wine

Method:

- Defrost the frozen shredded pork skin then clean and rinse well under cold running water. Soak the skin in some vinegar and cooking wine to reduce the pungent smell of the skin for about 15 minutes.
-Drain the pork skin and pat dry with papper towels.

- In a medium pot, bring water to boil, add the pork belly or pork shoulder into the pot and season lightly with some salt and a piece of rock sugar along with the peeled shallots. Cook the meat until no longer pink (take about 45 minutes to 1 hour).
- Remove the pork from water, pat dry and sear it in a frying pan with a couple tbsp of oil until all sides are brow.
- Remove from heat and let it cools before proceed to next step.

- In a small frying pan, add a couple teaspoons of cooking oil and add in the minced garlic. Stir and remove from heat once it turns light brown and drain from the oil to prevent further browning.
- Combine the pork skin and the shredded pork meat in a prepping bowl.
- Season with salt, sugar, ground roasted rice and fried minced garlic. Adjust the seasoning to your liking and serve.

- Serve along side with steamed egg meatloaf, grilled porks and some vegetables with a drizzle of chili garlic fish sauce for an irrisistible meal. Bon appetit!

Shrimp and Squid salad (Goi tom muc)

2013-10-24T22:09:00.000-07:00

This shrimp and squid salad is such a refreshing dish that serves great as an appetizer at your weekday dinner and perfect at any weekend parties. The dish is super simple to prepare and super delicious for the taste buds. The secret to this tasty salad is in the dressing. Transforming the pungent fish sauce into a delicious dressing to bring out the freshness of the salad can be challenging if the ratios is off. The ratios that I'm mentioning here are between the fish sauce, the lime juice and the sugar. The simplest one to remember is 1:1:1, but for me I like a little more sweetness to the dressing so I tend to add a little more sugar into sauce. Adjust the ratios to however you like and get your beers ready for some tasty treat.

Ingredients:

For the salad:
1. 10 jumbo shrimps, peeled and deveined
2. 1 lb of baby squid with heads (cleaned)
3. 2 bunches of fresh mint leaves
4. 1 bunch of scallion, 1 bunch of cilantro
5. 1 white onion (sliced)
6. 5-6 shallots to make crispy, caramelized shallots
7. Few slices of ginger
8. Roasted sesame seeds for garnish

For the dressing:
1. 1 small knob of ginger (minced)
2. 5 tbsp lime juice, 5 tbsp fish sauce, 7 tbsp sugar
3. 3 cloves of garlic and 3-4 Thai red chilies (minced)

Steam the shrimp and squid with a few slices of ginger to tone down the seafood smell. After about 15 minutes turn off the heat, slice the the baby squids in two or three pieces. Discard the gingers.
Chop the scallions into 2-3 inch long pieces and slice the white parts of the scallions in half. Slice the white onion and soak it in water that was seasoned with some salt, sugar and vinegar. Chop the cilantro and mints roughly into about 1 inch long pieces.

To make the crispy, caramelized shallot, slice the shallots into thin slices. Add it in a small pot with cooking oil (enough to submerge the shallots). Stir occasionally and continue until the shallots turn golden brown and crispy. Remove immediately from the heat and the oil before it turns too dark, set aside for garnish.

For the dressing, combine minced garlic, ginger, red chilies in a small bowl, add lime juice, fish sauce and sugar (no water needed). Mix well until the sugar has dissolved and adjust accordingly to your taste.

To plate the salad, mix all the green ingredients plus the onion slices (removed from the seasoned water) together then add the squids and shrimps. Give it a quick mix to combine, garnish with caramelized shallots and a sprinkle of roasted sesame seeds. Drizzle the fish sauce dressing and serve.

Pain au lait (milk bread)

2013-10-14T21:37:00.001-07:00

It has been a while now since I baked breads. I feel like I'm missing something in my life without baking. Yes, I do love baking, especially baking good breads for my boys. They both have been under the weather lately and not wanting to eat much. Any parents out there would know that getting your kids to eat while they are sick is a big challenge. I found this very promising soft bread recipe while browsing the web a couple nights ago and decided to give it a try. I'm glad that I did, my boys loved it and so did my husband. I'm so delighted to see the breads came out light and soft with the right amount of sweetness. My house was smelling amazing with the aroma of fresh breads. The boys love to have it with a dab of butter while my husband devoured it with my homemade strawberry jam. I'm so glad that I have brought their appetites back!

Recipe adapted from Daily delicious (Thank you for a great recipe)

Ingredients: (I converted the measurement from gram to cup for the sake of convenience)
(Make 10 breads)

230g of all purpose flour (about 1 2/3 cups)
60g of bread flour (about 3/4 cup)
125g of whole milk (about 2/3 cup)
4g of instant yeast (or dry active yeast)
50g of egg (about 1 egg)
38g of sugar (about 1/6 cup)
5g of salt
63g unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
Pearl sugar for topping

Warm milk to about 100-110F in the microwave and add yeast (plus 1 tsp sugar), mix well with a plastic spoon and set aside.

Combine flours, sugar, salt in a the stand mixer bowl. Subsequently add in the yeast/milk mixture and egg. Turn the speed up to #4 and let the dough kneaded for about 5 minutes until the dough comes together and not sticking to the side of the bowl.

Add soften butter, little at a time until all incorporated into the dough. Continue to let the dough kneaded for another 10-15 minutes until soft, smooth and satiny looking.

Transfer the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it proof for about 1.5 hours or until double in size (the recipe said for about 30 minutes but I found mine needed more time to double in size).

Transfer the dough onto the silicone mat and press down the dough lightly. Divide the dough into 10 equal balls. Let the dough rest for about 15 minutes before working on it.

Roll out the dough with the rolling pin into a round circle about 4 inches in diameter.

Then roll it upward like a Swiss roll, seal the dough by gently press the seam together and set the seamed side down on the baking mat.

Cover the shaped doughs and let it rise until almost double in size (about 1 hour).

Preheat the oven at 400F, brush the dough with egg wash (1 egg plus 1 tbsp of milk).

Use a pair of scissor to cut the top of the dough in a zigzag line. Sprinkle pearl sugar on top.

Bake the breads for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Let them rest for about 5 minutes before devouring them.

Serve with jam or butter or just plain by itself with a hot cup of Joe and you are good to go. Enjoy!

Lotus seed Moon cakes (Banh Trung Thu nhan hat sen)

2013-09-20T00:18:00.000-07:00

Moon festival is tonight, the moon is shining bright and rising high up above. The boys are having fun with their battery operated lanterns although I still prefer the traditional handmade lanterns with candles that I used to play as a kid. The air is getting chillier tonight signalling the change in weather. Autumn is here finally! I love the Fall when the weather is cooling down but not too cold yet. Leaves are turning colors and starting to fall signifying the harvesting season is on its way.
To the Vietnamese, Moon Festival is also a children Festival where the kids get to play with colorful, animal shaped lanterns while enjoying the sweet treat moon cakes. Speaking of moon cakes, this is my third year making them. Although I don't eat much of them, I love making these to give out to friends and family. The process is quite complicated and very time consuming. I do suggest to set some dedicated time aside if you decide to make them since it could take a whole day if not more to prepare them. But when you sit down with a slice of homemade moon cake and a cup of tea to enjoy the bright, shinning moon in a breezy air night, it's all worth it.

Ingredients:

For the lotus seed filling:
1. 2 lbs dried lotus seeds (you can find these in any Asian supermarket)
2. 1 1/2 lbs sugar
3. 450ml of canola oil
4. 1 tsp salt
5. 2 tsp vanilla extract
6. 5 tbsp of cooked glutenous rice flour (also available in Asian market)

Soak the dried lotus seeds in a large container with water overnight (you can add 1-2 tbsp of lye water to help soften the lotus seeds)
Drain and rinse well several times with water mixed with vinegar to eliminate the smell of lye water.
Transfer the lotus seeds into a medium pot, add enough water to cover the lotus seeds and 1 tsp of salt. Cook until the lotus seeds become tender and the water is almost gone.
Pour the lotus and the water left in the pot to a blender or food processor and blend well until smooth. Transfer the pureed lotus seeds into a large frying pan and add sugar. Constantly stir the mixture on low-medium heat as showed in the below picture until slightly thicken then add the cooked rice flour 1 tbsp at a time.

Continue to stir on low heat for another 5-10 minutes until the texture looks like paste and won't stick to your hand when touching it. It takes about almost 1 hour from start to finish. Remove from heat and let the lotus seed paste cools down before handling.

Once the lotus paste cools completely, divide it into little balls weight about 3/4 of your moon cake total weight (for example, if your moon cake weights 200g, then the lotus paste filling should weight about 150g including the salted egg yolk and the shell should weight about 50g). Make a ball and flatten it, then place the salted egg yolk in the middle, wrap the lotus seed filling around the egg yolk to enclose it.

For the salted eggs:

To make about 40 salted eggs, boil 700mg salt in 2.5 liters of water mixed with 50ml of cooking wine, 1 tsp sugar, 4 star anise and 1 cardamom. Bring to boil for a few minutes and turn off the heat. Once the salted water is cooled to room temperature, place the cleaned eggs neatly in a large jar and pour the salted water over. Make sure the eggs are completely submerged in the water. Use some heavy object like a small bowl or plate to place on top of the eggs. Cover tightly and set aside for the eggs to get salted and will be ready in about 5 weeks.

When the eggs are ready, crack them open, peel off the egg white completely. Soak them in some cooking wine, drain, sprinkle some vanilla extract on top and bake them briefly for 8-10 minutes at 350F. Drizzle a tbsp of sesame oil on the eggs after they are done and save them later for the moon cakes

For the dough: (Enough for 15-20 cakes)
1. 1 lb All purpose flour
2. 14 oz of golden syrup (recipe below)
3. 4 oz of cooking oil
4. 3 egg yolks
5. 2 tsp of lye water
6. 1 tsp of baking power

For the egg wash:
1. 2 egg yolks
2. 1 tbsp oil
3. 1 tsp of the golden syrup
Mix well together

For the golden syrup recipe:
1. 2.5 lbs of sugar
2. 2.5 lbs of water
3. 1/8 cup of fresh lemon juice
4. 1/8 cup of lye water mixed with 1/8 cup of water

Add water and sugar in a medium pot, mix well until the sugar dissolved. Use 1 bamboo chopstick to measure the level of the water. Mark the level of the water on the chopstick with a pencil. Take the chopstick out and divide the measured distance into 3 equal parts. On the top part of the chopstick, divide it again into 3 equal parts.
Bring the sugar/water mixture to a gentle boil under medium heat. Make sure not to stir or cover the pot. When the water evaporates to the 1/3 mark on the chopstick, add lemon juice and stir gently. Continue to boil until the water comes down to the 2/3 mark on the chopstick then add the lye water mixture. The syrup will change its color into an amber, honey color. Let the mixture boil for 5 more minutes before turning off the heat. Keep the syrup in an air tight container. This syrup preparation has to be done a few months ahead since the older the syrup, the better it is for the cake.

To make the dough:

Sieve the flour and baking powder together in the stand mixer. Slowly add the syrup, oil, and lye water into the flour. While mixing, add egg yolks 1 at a time into the flour mixture and continue to mix for about 5 minutes. The dough at this stage will be very wet and sticky. Cover the dough with a plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes.

Pour the dough out on a baking mat with a cup of all purpose flour on the mat, start kneading the dough by hand while folding the extra flour into the dough until it forms a nice, smooth dough ball that does not stick to your hand any more when touch. (Add more flour as needed).

Divide the dough into little round balls weighing about 50g each.

Roll the dough out and hold it in one hand while placing the lotus seed filling ball in the middle of the rolled out dough.

Slowly stretch the dough upward to cover the entire lotus seed ball and make it into one big, round, smooth ball as seen in below pictures

Coat the moon cake mold with some flour, shake out the excess flour and fill the mold with the moon cake ball. Press firmly on the ball to help it fill up the mold.

Continue to press the moon cake into the mold to get design imprinted sharply on the moon cake. The cake should fit the mold perfectly as seen the below picture (I used the mold that produces 200g cakes).

Press on the handle to spring out the cake from the mold, place them nice and neatly on the lined baking tray. Use a toothpick and prick around the side of the cake about 5-6 holes to help release the steam while baking.

Preheat the oven at 350F, put a tray of water on the bottom rack of the oven to create moisture for the cakes and prevent them from cracking.

Place the moon cake tray in the oven and bake for about 8 minutes then remove from the oven and let it cool down for a few minutes before spraying water on the surface of the cake to help keeping it soft and moist. Continue to let the cakes cool down for 30 minutes then place it back in the oven and bake for another 8 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and let it cools down for a few minutes before applying the egg wash. Use a very fine brush to apply the egg wash on the surface of the cakes, make sure not to over-brush the cake (only brush over it once).
Let the cakes cool again for 30 minutes then return them back to the oven for another 8-10 minutes until the cakes turn golden brown.

Moon cakes are best consumed after 2-3 days because it takes some times for the oil from the filling and the dough to soften and change the look of the cakes. These moon cake are best complemented with a good pot of jasmine tea. Hope you all will enjoy it!

Happy Moon Festival everyone!

Bun Bo Hue (Hue style spicy Beef noodle)

2013-09-16T21:30:00.003-07:00

Bun Bo Hue, another Vietnamese famous noodle soup that I'm long due to cover in my blog. It is my hubby's favorite noodle soup beside the egg noodle soup. I haven't really been making a lot of effort to cook this regularly enough for him since it's definitely not a quick night dinner meal. But last weekend, while we were looking a nice quick Vietnamese lunch to wrap up our San Diego weekend get away, we stumbled upon this 'hole in the wall'' restaurant that serves authentic Hue style dishes. The saying "Don't judge the book by its cover" is so true with place, who knew a place like this would serve such delicious food and of course, Bun Bo Hue is one of their specialty there. After tasting their scrumptious Bun Bo Hue, I was reminded that it's been a long time since I had cooked this noodle soup.
So in my version of Bun Bo Hue, I prepared the broth with beef bones, beef shank and pork belly. The tradition Bun Bo Hue also has pork hocks and coagulated blood cubes, but since they are not my cups of tea, I omitted them. Also, instead of the Cha Hue (Hue style pork ham), I made Cha tom (shrimp paste cake) and it's just equally delicious. I will be honest, it won't be an easy process (that's also one of the reason why I haven't cooked this for while), but the ending result is always satisfying and well worth it. All I can say is that I have made my husband a happy man with tonight dinner.

Ingredients:

For the broth:
1. 3-4 lbs of beef bones
2. 1 beef shank about 2-3 lbs
3. 1 pork belly about 1.5-2 lbs
4. 6-7 stalks of lemongrass, bruised slightly to release the aroma
5. 1 large onion
6. For the sate sauce: 4tbsp of minced lemongrass, 5 tbsp of mince shallot and garlic, 3 tsp of paprika (ot mau), 3 tbsp of red crushed pepper, 3 tsp of fish sauce, 2 tsp sugar
7. Salt, fish sauce, rock sugar, 2 tbsp of shrimp paste (mam ruoc) mixed with 1 cup of water and set aside.

For the Cha tom (shirmp cake):
1. 1 lb of shrimp
2. 2 tbsp of minced shallot and garlic
3. 2 eggs (reserve 1 egg yolk on the side)
4. 2 tsp of fish sauce, 1 tsp mushroom seasoning, 2.5 tsp sugar, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, black pepper, 2 tbsp of corn starch.

For the noodle:
1. 1 bag of large vermicelli noodle (thick rice noodle), cooked accordingly to the package instruction.
2. Bean sprouts, shredded cabbage, lettuce, Vietnamese mints (rau ram) and mint leaves, shredded banana blossom (optional), lime wedges
3. Chopped green onion, cilantro, thinly sliced white onions.

In a large stock pot, bring the water to boil and add the cleaned beef bones, beef shank and pork belly into the pot. Boil on high heat for about 15 minutes for all the dirty foams to float up on the surface. Turn off the heat and drain it in a colander. Rinse the bones and meat under cold water and remove all the dirty gunk that stick to bones or meat.
In another large pot, bring about 5 quarts of water to boil and slowly add in the cleaned bones and meats. Season with salt, rock sugar and fish sauce and simmer for about 1 hours then add in the whole white onion and lemongrass stalks. At this point, remove the pork belly and set aside until cool to touch then slice it thinly. Continue to simmer the broth for another 2 hours until the beef shank is tender, remove and do the same as for the pork belly. Add the shrimp paste that was mixed with water into the broth and adjust the seasoning as needed.
Make the sate sauce by adding 5 tbsp of cooking oil into a small sauce pan on medium heat, then add minced shallot, garlic and lemongrass into the heated oil. Stir constantly for about 5 minutes to release the fragrant then season with fish sauce and sugar. When the mixture turns caramelized a little, add paprika in stir for 30 seconds and divide the mixture into 2 portions. Add 1 portion into the broth pot, keep the other portion of the sate mixture on the stove and quickly add in the red crushed pepper. Continue to stir for about 10 second and remove from heat, set aside to use later as condiment for the noodle.

To make the shrimp paste, peel and devein the shrimps. Add shrimps and minced shallot, garlic mixture into a food processor and process until the shrimps turn into a smooth, fine paste. Season the shrimp paste with fish sauce, sugar, black pepper then add in eggs, corn starch and mix well. Transfer the paste into a ceramic baking mold and steam for about 30 minutes. Before the shrimp cake is done, brush the surface with the reserved egg yolk and cover lightly for about 5 minutes until it cooked through. Let it cool and slice into 1 inch thick cake.
To prepare the noodle, add the noodle in a bowl, layer with sliced pork belly, beef shanks and 1 piece of shrimp cake. Ladle the hot soup over the noodle, sprinkle with chopped green onions, cilantro and sliced white onion. Before serving, squeeze the lime juice and add the reserved sate sauce into the bowl depend on how much you tongue can take the heat. Serve with fresh vegetables and mint leaves.

Crispy rice with shredded pork and Vietnamese sausage (Com chay lap xuong cha bong)

2013-08-29T22:12:00.001-07:00

My carb days are over a few weeks ago when I decided to go back to the gym. I still have the crave for carbs every now and then. When I looked back at these crispy rice pictures, I realized how much I really miss eating these. The dish is super simple and easy to prepare, yet it makes a great afternoon snack. All you need are just some left over rice, some Vietnamese sausages, shredded pork or Chinese pork floss and couple more ingredients. In no time, you will have a scrumptious appetizer.
The crispiness of the rice and the saltiness of the fish sauce bring everything together nicely in every bite. The secret to make this addicting appetizer is to pan-fry the rice until it's all brown and crispy. The crispier the rice, the better it tastes so be patient when frying this. I am still salivating while looking at these pictures, hmmm.... maybe I should reconsider my low-carb diet!

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups of cooked rice
2. 1 Vietnamese sausage (lap xuong)
3. 1/2 cup of shredded pork (cha bong) or Chinese pork floss
4. 1/4 cup of tiny dried shrimp (Ruoc)
5. Scallion and cooking oil
6. Mixed garlic fish sauce (nuoc cham), recipe's below.

Method:

- In a medium frying pan, add about a couple tablespoons of oil. Once the oil is heated, add the rice and spread it evenly on the pan (you could also spread the rice a small plate and gently slide it down into the frying pan). Let the rice crisps up in the pan for a good 15 minutes or more until it turns golden brown then flip it over with a spatula and fry it on the other side for another 10 minutes.
- Slice the sausages into thin slices and fry it in another pan with no oil added for a few minutes. Make the scallion oil by adding chopped scallion into a small sauce pan with 1/4 cup of oil, season with a pinch of salt and a pinch of mushroom seasoning.

- To make the garlic fish sauce :

- 5 cloves of garlic (minced finely)

- 2 thai red chili peppers

- 5 tsp of vinegar

- 8 tsp of fish sauce

- 4 tbsp of sugar

- 3/4 cup of water

Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl until the sugar has all dissolved

- Once the rice is golden brown and crispy on both sides, remove from the pan a place on a serving plate. Spread a thin layer of the scallion oil, then top it off with the shredded pork. Add a couple sprinkles of the dried shrimps and arrange the sausages on top. Drizzle a few teaspoons of garlic fish sauce and server immediately while it's still hot and crispy.

Bun Moc (Vermicelli noodle soup with mushroom meatballs)

2013-08-22T21:56:00.001-07:00

The weather is still very warm lately and yet here I am posting another hot noodle soup recipe. Since we are still on the noodle subject, I just want to introduce to everyone another great, common Vietnamese noodle soup called Bun Moc (Bun means vermicelli and Moc means wood ear mushrooms).
Originally, Bun Moc is a Northern noodle soup. It's typically made from pork bone broth and pork paste (Gio song) mixed with wood ear mushroom to form the meatballs. It's usually served with vermicelli, pork sausage (Gio lua) and slices of pork belly. All together, they form a light, yet hearty bowl of vermicelli noodle soup. If you love Vietnamese noodles, I hope this will add another great noodle version to your recipe collection.

Ingredients:

1. 4-5 lbs of pork bones
2. 1.5 lbs of pork belly
3. 1 lb of raw pork paste (gio song), this can be found in any Vietnamese/Asian super market
4. 1 log of pork sausage (gio lua or cha lua) either fried or steamed wrapping in banana leaves
5. 1/2 cup of dried wood ear mushroom (you can also use the fresh one if available)
6. 1 pack of dried vermicelli
7. Bean sprouts, chopped green onions and cilantro, lime wedges, fried shallots, shredded ongchoy stems (rau muong che), mint leaves, Thai red chilies
8. Salt, fish sauce, rock sugar, mushroom seasoning
9. 1/4 cup of dried shrimps (tom kho), soaked in warm water for 15 minutes or until soften then drained.
10. 1 large peeled white onion

- Clean the pork bones and the pork belly then place them in a large stock pot. Add enough water to cover the bones and meat. Bring to a quick boil for about 5 minutes then drain and discard the dirty water.
- Clean the bones and meat under cold running water then set aside. In another stock pot, add about 4 quarts of water and bring to boil. Gently place the bones and pork belly back in the boiling water and skim the gunk or impurity that float up on the surface periodically to keep the broth clear.
- Add the soften dried shrimps and the whole white onion into the broth. Season the broth with salt, fish sauce, rock sugar and mushroom seasoning. Simmer for about 1 hour and remove the pork belly. Slice into thin slices when cooled enough to touch.
- For the raw pork paste (gio song), chopped the soften wood ear mushrooms and add it to the pork paste. Season with 1 tsp of fish sauce, 1 tsp of sugar and some fresh ground black pepper. Mix well and divide it into 2 equal portions.
- Form each portion into little round meatballs (size of a small lime). Heat up cooking oil in a small sauce pan and deep fry 1 portion of the meatballs until golden brown. For the other meatball portion, add them into the simmering broth. The meatballs will automatically float up to the broth surface once they are cooked (as seen in the below picture).

- For the pork sausage (gio lua), slice into 1/4 inch thick circles and set aside.
- Cook the vermicelli noodle according to the package direction, rinse and drain in a colander.
- Prepare the garnish (green onion, cilantro, fried shallots) and vegetables (bean sprouts, shredded ongchoy and mint leaves) while the broth is simmering.
- To assemble the noodle soup, add about 1 cup of cooked vermicelli in a bowl, a few slices of pork belly, pork sausage along with 2-3 fried pork meatballs. Ladle the hot soup over the noodle and add a few pork meatballs from the soup broth into the bowl. Garnish with chopped green onion, cilantro, and fried shallots. Serve with a plate of the prepared vegetables and a spritz of lime juice.

Vietnamese Udon noodle soup (Banh Canh Gio Heo)

2013-08-12T19:31:00.002-07:00

Wow.... and summer is officially over for us starting last week when both of my boys started school again. It was such a fun filled, busy summer for us with all the kids activities and mini vacations here and there. Now that with the older one went back to school and the little one started pre-school, I'm having my Monday back to do my own things. Ever since I've been away from my blog, my food pictures keep on piling up in my camera. Now with all the time I have on my day off, I'm planing to put my body back on track with the help from the gym membership .... and also hopefully more blogging:).

Banh canh is one of the Southern Vietnamese noodle soups. It's quite easy to prepare and still taste as delicious as other noodle soups such as Hu tieu or Mi soups (rice or egg noodle soups). It can be served as a hearty breakfast, simple lunch or a quick dinner meal. The banh canh noodles, contrarily to the rice noodles, are shorter and much thicker strains which are made from tapioca and rice flours. The broth is prepared with pork bones and pork hocks. There is also another version of banh canh from the Central region of Vietnam that made with seafoods such as shrimps and crabs with a much thicker broth called Banh Canh tom cua. Hopefully I will be able to cover that version of Banh canh in a near future. For now let's enjoy this simple hearty noodle soup first.

Ingredients:

- 2-3 lbs for pork neck bones
- 1.5 lbs of pork hocks (use the pre-sliced ones)
- 1. 5 lbs of pork belly or pork shoulder
- Banh Canh noodles (Tapioca noodles, you can find these fresh pre-made noodles at many Vietnamese super market)
- Vietnamese pork ham (Gio lua, optional)
- 1 large white onion
- Bean sprouts, green onion, cilantro, chili pepper, lime wedges
- Salt, rock sugar (about 2 small lumps), fish sauce, mushroom seasoning (bot nem)
- Fried shallots (hanh phi)

Method:
- In a medium stock pot, bring half a pot of water with the bones, pork hocks and the pork belly or pork shoulder meat to boil for about 10 minutes. Drain and discard the dirty water. Clean the bones and meat under cold running water and set aside.
- In another large stock pot, bring about 3/4 pot of water (enough for about 10 bowls) to boil then add the bones, the pork hocks and meat back into the water. Add 1 whole white onion into the broth. Let the broth simmer until the pork hocks and the meat are tender (but not falling off the bones for the pork hocks). It takes about 1.5 hours. Season the broth with rock sugar, salt, fish sauce and mushroom seasoning to taste.
- In the meantime, make some fried shallots (hanh phi) by slicing the shallots into thin slices. Add a few tablespoon of cooking oil into a small sauce pan and add sliced shallots. Stir occasionally until the shallots turn caramelized and crispy. Remove from the hot oil just right before it completely turned golden brown (If you wait until it turns to color you want then the product will look burned).
- Add 1/3 of the fried shallots and a couple teaspoon of the shallot -infused oil into the broth.
- Remove the pork meat and the pork hocks from the broth and set aside. Once the pork meat is cooled enough to touch, slice them into thin slices.
- To prepare the noodle soup, add banh canh noodle, a few slices of pork meat, pork ham and 1 pork hock to a bowl. Ladle the hot broth on top and garnish with chopped green onion, cilantro, fried shallots and a few slices of red chili pepper (if you can take the heat). Right before being served, add a spritz of lime juice and a dash of fresh ground black pepper. Enjoy it with bean sprouts.

Chinese Green Onion Pancakes

2013-05-14T23:04:00.000-07:00

I can't believe summer will be here soon. My oldest son will be done with his first grade in exactly 1 week. Time really does fly while you are having fun. My little baby boy will soon be a second grader! I'm so proud of him through out the year in many ways. He has grown and learned so much from the first day that I dropped him off at school. My baby boy is now a little man with many achievements that make his mama proud. So to reward him for his hard work, I made for him his favorite snack: the green onion pancakes.

There is a Szechuan Chinese restaurant near our place that we frequently visit on the days that my kitchen temporarily "closes" for service. And every single time we go there, I have to order this scrumptious appetizer for him. I don't blame him though, because as simple as it may look, it is quite addicting. The ingredients are so simple and readily available in most pantries. All you need are some flour, salt, water and green onions. That's it and an hour later you will have this delightful pancake to enjoy as snack.

(Adapted from Delicious day)

Ingredients: (Make 8 pancakes)

1 1/2 cups (200 g) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt (I used only 1 tsp of salt and also add 1 tsp of sugar)
1/2 cup (125 ml) water
3 green onions (scallions, green parts only, trimmed and cut into small rounds, to yield about 1/3 cup
2 tbsp oil (I used peanut oil) for brushing
some additional all-purpose flour, for dusting and rolling
oil, for frying

Sift the all-purpose flour into a big bowl and then add the salt into the flour. Combine well and set aside.

Bring the water to a boil. Slowly add the water to the flour and knead the dough until it’s no longer sticky and the surface becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. If the dough is to dry, add 1 tablespoon of water to the dough. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes. (The kneading process can be done by hands or with help of the stand mixer, I recommended the latter).

Add the green onion into the dough.

How to make the green onion pancakes: On a flat and floured surface divide the dough into 8 equal-sized pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a ball using your palm. Working with one dough ball at a time, roll the dough to a thin disc using a rolling pin. Dust the rolling pin with some all-purpose flour as you go. Brush the surface of the disc with the oil. Roll the dough into a cylinder.

Coil it up like a snail (see above picture). Dust the rolling pin with the flour and roll the dough until flat, measuring about 4 inches in diameter. Set the dough aside on a baking sheet. Repeat for the rest of the dough.

Notes: the pancakes are delicious as it, but if you are the type who likes to dip everything in the sauce, then you can stir up this quick and simple dipping sauce as below.

- 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp sweet soy sauce, 1 tsp of sesame oil, and some chopped green onion. Combine everything with a quick stir and enjoy with your pancakes.

Galbi Jiim (Korean beef short rib stew)

2013-05-01T22:11:00.000-07:00

Before I start, let me I apologize for my long disappearance. Sometimes I wish that I could just stretch my day a little longer so I could get more things done. I found that in order to juggle and balance your work and family lives, you have to sacrifice many things that you would love to do at your leisure. Most of my time beside work evolve around cleaning, cooking, doing homework and being a "chauffeur" for my son to his extracurricular activities. The day goes by so quick and when I do have a little time for myself, I just want to lay down and do absolutely nothing else! So ... that is my excuse!:)

Anyway, back to the topic, I made this Galbi jiim dish a while back, following one the popular Korean cooking blog called Maangchi. In my opinion, this dish is best enjoyed in a cold winter day with some homemade kimchi, and a bowl of hot steamed rice. Also, don't forget to accompany some soju or beers with this delicious, comfort meal. It may take some times to prepare and cook, but at the end of the day, you will be rewarded with an awesome homemade beef stew that will knock your socks off. My hubby gave it two thumbs up!

(Recipe adapted from Maangchi with some modifications)

Ingredients:

◦ 3 lbs of beef short ribs

◦ Water, 2 cups

◦ Cooking wine, 2 tbsp (I used Japanese mirin sake)

◦ Soy sauce, 6 tbsp

◦ Black pepper, 1 tsp

◦ Brown sugar, 2 tbsp

◦ Garlic, 8 cloves minced

◦ Green onion

◦ 1 Onion, sliced

◦ Sesame oil, 1 tbsp

◦ 2 large carros and 4 white or red potatoes

◦ 1 daikon radish

◦ 10 dried Shitake mushrooms (I replaced this with king oyster mushrooms)

◦ Mool yeot (Korean corn syrup), 2 tbsp

Instructions:

1. Soak Shitake mushrooms in warm water for about 4-6 hours (omit this step if you use fresh mushrooms).

2. Soak short ribs in cold water in a large bowl for at least 30 minutes and change the water a few times. Make 2 slits between each cube of beef on the opposite side of the bone.

3. Boil water in a large pot. Put in the short ribs. Boil for 5-10 minutes.

4. Take out the ribs from the boiling water and wash them with cold water to remove unnecessary fat or floating foams.

5. Throw away the boiling water and clean the pot.

6. Place the cleaned beef short ribs in the pot.

7. In a mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of water, 6 tbs soy sauce, 8 cloves of minced garlic, 1 sliced onion, 2 tbs cooking wine, and 2 tbs brown sugar. Add it to the short ribs in the pot.

8. Boil it over medium heat for 1 hour.

9. While it boils, you can prepare the other ingredients: Cut carrot, potatoes and radish into 5 cm-size cubes and round the edges to make several balls (the size of the balls should be like ping pong balls ). Cut the soaked shiitake mushrooms into bite size. 

*tip: You can add several skinned chestnuts and gingko nuts.

10. Open the lid of the pot and add all ingredients (carrot, potatoes, radish, and shiitake mushrooms) to the pot. Let it simmer for about 1 hour over low heat.

 *tip: Stir the ribs and other ingredients with a wooden spoon from time to time. Pour the liquid from the bottom of the pot over top of the meat.

11. Open the lid and check if the meat is cooked fully. Use your chopstick to poke the meat. When it is smoothly going through the meat, the meat is tender enough.

12. Add 2 tbs of moolyeot (corn syrup), 1 tbs sesame oil, ½ tsp black pepper, and heat it up over high heat. Mix it well until liquid evaporates. Transfer galbi jjim to a platter and sprinkle some green onions for garnish before serving.

Vietnamese vermicelli with Barbecued Pork (Bun cha thit nuong)

2013-04-15T21:59:00.000-07:00

The weather has been warm enough lately for an early Barbecue event. Well, not quite yet at certain places on the globe, but we have been very blessed for living in Southern California with gorgeous weather of early Spring. So I have to take advantage of our new barbecue grill and the weather to make this delicious Northern Vietnamese noodle dish.

To me, this dish resemblances more of a salad than a noodle entree. Mostly, because I love to add a lot of vegetables with the smallest amount of noodle possible to my bowl whenever I eat this. Also, the fish sauce serves as a dressing and ultimately brings everything together in this dish like a salad. That is why to me, making the fish sauce dressing is just as important as marinating and grilling the meats. The lightness of the minty vegetables and the smokey fragrance of the barbecued meats make you feel delighted and guilt-free when enjoying this noodle "salad".

Ingredients:

For the noodle:

- 2 lbs of pork shoulder meat (slice into 1/4 inch thick slices)

- 2 lbs of ground pork

- 1 bag of vermicelli noodle (cook accordingly to the bag's instruction, drain and rinse with cold water)

- pickled shredded carrot and daikon radish (carrot + daikon + vinegar + water + sugar + salt)

- Vietnamese mint leaves (several different varieties), shredded green leave lettuces

- Scallion oil (chopped scallion + 3 tbsp oil + a pinch of salt, microwave for 35 seconds)

- chopped peanuts (optional)

For the marinade:

- 6 tsp of sugar

- 5 tsp fish sauce

- 2 tsp of sweet soy sauce

- 1 tsp honey

- 1 tsp of oyster sauce

- 1 tsp of oil

- 1 tsp of garlic powder

- 1 tsp of mushroom seasoning

- Fresh ground black pepper

- Minced garlic (4-5 cloves), minced shallots (about 6), minced white part of green onion (about 10)

Combine all the marinade ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Divide it into 2 equal portions. Mix one portion with the pork shoulder slices and the other portion with the ground pork. Mix well to combine and let them sit for at least several hours or overnight for best result.

For the ground pork, make it into lemon-size balls and flatten them to form the patties.

Prepare the grill and grill the meat and patties until fragrant and golden brown.

Fish sauce dressing:

- 1 part of sugar

- 3/4 part of fish sauce

- 2/3 part of white vinegar

- 2 parts of water

- minced garlic and red thai chili peppers

Bring everything, except the garlic and chilies, to boil in a small sauce pan. Turn off heat and let it cool to room temperature before add in garlic and red chilies.

To serve, add the hot, grilled meat in a small bowl, pour the fish sauce over to submerge most of the meats, add pickled carrot and daikon radish on top. In a large serving plate, arrange the minty vegetables and lettuce on one side, the vermicelli on the other side of the plate with scallion oil for garnish. Or if you feel lazy like me, we can add all the noodle, vegetables and meat in one bowl, then pour the fish sauce dressing over. Mix and devour!:)

Bun cha ca Nha Trang (Nha Trang fish cake vermicelli)

2013-03-26T22:19:00.000-07:00

I have visited Nha Trang once in my life when we went back to Vietnam almost a decade ago. However, I have never gotten a chance to try this local deliciousness until recently. This is actually my second attempt of making this dish. Since I have never tried it before, I'm not very sure how authentic the taste of my soup is. But one thing I know for sure is that it came out deliciously, just how I imagined it would taste.

The tanginess of the tomato and tamarind soup base blends nicely with the seafood flavor. The crunch from each bite of the bamboo complements perfectly the softness of the vermicelli and the fish cake. This noodle dish requires a large variety of vegetables to accompany it. I am missing the banana blossoms, so I substitute with green leave lettuces and it worked just fine although the banana blossoms may give the dish an additional crunch to the texture. But hey, I can't be too greedy right? Or can I?

Ingredients:

1. 2 lbs of pork belly

2. chicken broth (or water for the broth)

3. 1 lb of fish cake (uncooked)

4. 1 lb of pork paste (uncooked)

5. 5 tomatoes

6. 2 lbs of bamboo shoot

7. 1/4 of a pineapple (optional, I did not have it so I omitted it)

8. 1 bag of dried vermicelli (cooked and drained)

9. Banana blossoms (shredded), green leave lettuces (roughly chopped), bean sprout, a variety of Vietnamese mint herbs.

10. Salt, rock sugar, tamarind soup base, mushroom seasoning, fish sauce, annatto -seed-infused oil for color.

11. 3-4 shallots (thinly sliced) and 4-5 white part of the green onions (cut into 1 inch long)

12. green onions and cilantro (chopped), white onion (thinly sliced) for garnish

13. For the pickled garlic chili mixture: Jalapenos, Thai red chiles, garlic, vinegar, sugar and salt

In a large stock pot, add annatto-seed-infused oil then white parts of green onion and shallot. Stir until slightly brown and fragrant. Add in tomatoes and pineapple (if use), cook for a couple minutes until slightly soften.

Next, add chicken broth or water into the pot and bring it to boil.

In another pot, bring some water to boil and boil the pork belly for about 10 minutes. Drain and rinse to remove any dirty foam that stuck to the meat. Then add the pork belly into the soup pot. Simmer for 30 minutes until fully cooked, then remove the pork belly and cut into thin slices. Season the soup with salt, rock sugar, tamarind soup base, mushroom seasoning and fish sauce, adjust the seasoning to taste. Finally, add the sliced bamboo shoots to the soup and continue to simmer for 15 more minutes.

In a stand mixer, add the fish cake and pork paste in the mixing bowl and mix under medium speed until everything nicely incorporated (about 10 minutes). Season with 2 tsp of sugar, 1 tsp of fish sauce and ground black pepper.

Form a nice, round cake patty with a diameter of about 5 inches. Heat up some cooking oil and deep fry the fish cake patties until golden brown on both sides, then slice them up into 1/4 inch thick slices after cooled down.

Prepare the pickled chile and garlic by heating up the vinegar, sugar and salt with 1/2 cup of water. Turn off heat after reaching the boiling point and cool the mixture down to room temperature before adding it to the chilli and garlic slices.

To assemble the bowl, add vermicelli to the bottom of the serving bowl, lay a few slices of fried fish/pork cake along with some pork belly slices. Ladle the broth into the bowl with some bamboo shoots, tomato and pineapple pieces. Garnish with chopped green onion, cilantro and sliced onion.

Serve immediately with fresh bean sprout, pickled chili/garlic and other vegetables.

Grilled lemongrass beef sandwich (Banh mi thit bo nuong xa)

2013-03-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

I can't believed Spring is here already! My oldest son was on Spring break last week, so I used that excuse to take a couple days off from work to do a mini family vacation. It was a nice little get away for the boys, but I told my husband it was more like an adventure for me and him if you know what I mean. Traveling with kids is never easy, especially with the little ones. Therefore, I always pick somewhere locally in driving distance as our vacation destination. This time around, we picked San Diego so the boys can visit Sea world and get acquainted with the fish and sea animals. They loved it, but my husband and I were knocked out at the end of each day while we were there.

Anyway, I didn't have much time to cook since the vacation and I have neglected my blog long enough so I just want to post something quick that I made a couple weeks ago for breakfast. Traditionally, banh mi is served as breakfast with a variety of different fillings. I particularly love this grilled lemongrass ground beef patties for the filling because it reminds me of my childhood in Vietnam. I used to gulp down these for breakfast before school every morning. The charcoal grilled flavor of the meat blending together with the lemongrass fragrant creates a mouth-watering and irresistible experience in every bite. I hope you will try and enjoy it too.

Ingredients:

1. For the beef patties:

- 1 lb of ground beef (use the meat with higher fat content so the meat won't dry out too much after grilled)

- 1 large white or yellow onion (finely chopped)

- 1 small Thai red chili (optional if you like to spice it up)

- 4 tbsp of finely minced lemongrass

- 3 tbsp of hoisin sauce

- 5 cloves of garlic (minced)

- 3 tsp sugar

- 1 tsp five spices

- 3 tbsp canola oil

- 2 tbsp fish sauce

- 1/2 tsp salt

2. For the pickled carrot and daikon:

- 2 medium carrots

- 1 medium daikon

- 2 cups of water

- 1/4 white vinegar

- 1/3 cup of sugar

- 1 tbsp of salt

3. For the sauce:

- 2 tbsp of hoisin sauce

- 1/4 cup of juice from the grilled beef if grilled in the oven (or beef broth if charcoal grilled)

- 1 tsp of sugar, black pepper

4. For the sandwich:

- Warm, freshly baked baguettes

- Cucumber, jalapenos, green onions, Thai red chilies, cilantro, pickled carrot/daikon.

- Homemade Vietnamese mayonnaise

Method:

- Mix all the ingredients for the beef patty together, let rest for 15 minutes and form into 2 inch wide patties (you can also prepare this step the night before). If you want the charcoal grilled flavor, which I usually prefer, then go for it. If you don't have a gas or charcoal grill, then the oven will also do the job just fine.

- Pre-heat the oven to 400F, grill the meat patties in an aluminum tray for about 20 minutes. Make sure you turn the patties occasionally to get even browning. After 15 minutes, open the oven, remove the juice of the meat inside the tray into a small bow and reserve for the sauce later. Drizzle the patties with some oil and put it back in the oven. For the last 5 minute, turn up the oven to 500F under broiler and broil the patties until caramelizing on both side.

- For the sauce, bring the reserved juice of the meat or beef broth together with hoisin sauce in a small sauce pan. Add sugar and black pepper. Turn off the heat once it becomes bubbling hot. Set aside for the sandwich later.

- Shred the carrots and daikon. In a small sauce pan, bring the vinegar, sugar, water and salt to boil and turn off the heat. Wait until the mixture completely cool to room temperature before pouring it into the shredded carrot and daikon. Keep refrigerated in an air-tight container and you can have it ready for use anytime.

- Slice the cucumbers lengthwise, shred the green onions, thinly slice the jalapeno and red chili.

- To assemble the sandwich, cut the baguette lengthwise on one side and leave the other side intact. Spread the mayonnaise on both sides of the baguette, drizzle a teaspoon of hoisin sauce mixture then lay 2-3 patties on one side. Subsequently layer the sandwich with cucumber slices, pickled carrot/ daikon, shredded green onions, jalapeno and red chili slices. Finally, layer on top a couple sprigs of cilantro and drizzle with another teaspoon of hoisin sauce. And voila ... breakfast (or lunch) is ready!

Bon appetit!

Tender Pork Tamales

2013-03-05T21:48:00.000-08:00

Hot... hot... hot... tamales! Mission accomplished!

I have been wanting to make these scrumptious, wonderful goodness for a long time now, but never got a chance to go through with it. Until last week, when I stopped by the supermarket for some butters. As I walked pass the Hispanic food aisle, from the corner of my eye, I saw bags of Maseca corn flour waiting to be picked up on the shelf. I was then reminded of the tamale that was long imbedded in my to-do list and almost forgotten now. I picked up a bag of Maseca and quickly gathered all other ingredients needed to get ready for my quest for tamales.

Although I had never made tamale before in my life, but I always thought of it as a real challenge to accomplish. And turn out, it was quite a complicating and time-consuming process. I didn't want to jam everything in one day, so I divided the preparation process into two days. The night before, I started braising the pork shoulder in my slow cooker overnight. I was glad that I chose to prepare the pork the night before, because beside saving some time on the second day for my tamales, I also harvested the moist and most tender pork roast ever. The meat was falling apart, juicy and full of flavors. My husband couldn't wait but helped himself to some of the meat with rice for lunch before I could fill them in the tamales.

In my opinion, a great tamale requires a balance between the juicy, savory filling and the light, fluffy texture of the corn masa. In the recipe that I used, the braising liquid was used to rehydrate the flour, so the homemade flavor was built directly into the masa dough to give it a great depth of flavor. You will see that the complexity of flavor is appreciated in every single bite. This mouth-watering tamale also makes a very filling and satisfying snack or meal. They will keep well in the fridge for a week and a few months in the freezer. But I doubt that you will hardly have any left-over for freezing.

Recipe adapted from No recipes

(with minor modification)

Ingredients:

1 large onion sliced crosswise into 3 rounds

4 large cloves garlic

1 jalapeño

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 pounds pork butt

2 teaspoon of seasoning salt

1.5 teaspoon of garlic powder

60 grams dried Pasilla chili

60 grams dried Guajillo chilies

1 carrot

2 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

5 cloves

1 teaspoon Mexican oregano

1 teaspoon ground coriander seed

2 teaspoons salt, 2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp accent, 1 mushroom seasoning

2 large onions minced

3 large cloves garlic minced

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

400 gram can whole stewed tomatoes

2 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons Mexican oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed

1 package hoja de maiz para tamale (dried corn husks)

4 cups masa harina para tamales (Maseca brand)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper

1 1/3 cup manteca (lard)

3 1/2- 4 cups reserved pork stock

2 large tomatoes

Instructions:

Place the onion, garlic and jalapeño in a single layer on a baking sheet. Move your oven rack to the top position and turn the broiler on. Place the baking sheet in the oven and broil until the tops of the onion, garlic and jalapeño are black. Flip them over and broil until the other side is charred as well.

Meanwhile, add the vegetable oil to a heavy bottomed pot that's just wide enough to accommodate the pork shoulder. Heat on high until the oil is shimmering. Season the pork shoulder with seasoning salt and garlic powder. Add the pork shoulder and press it down to ensure there's good contact between the meat and the pot. Let this fry undisturbed until the bottom is nice and brown (about 5-7 minutes). Flip the pork over and brown the other side.

Once both sides of the pork are browned, add the charred onion, garlic and jalapeño. Wipe 1 Pasilla chili and 1 Guajillo chili and add them to the pot as well as the carrot, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cloves, Mexican oregano, ground coriander and salt. Pour enough water into the pot so that the pork is submerged by 1" (about 5 cups). Bring to a boil and skim off any scum that floats to the top.

Cover the pot with a lid and let it simmer over medium low heat until the pork falls apart when prodded with a fork (about 2-3 hours).

Transfer the pork to a bowl, then strain the braising liquid through a strainer and set the pork stock aside. We're going to use this for both the mole and the masa.

To make the mole sauce, wipe the remaining Guajillo and Pasilla chiles with a damp paper towel, then trim the tops off the of the chiles with a pair of scissors. Use the scissors to cut down the length of each chile so you can open it up. Remove the seeds and light colored membranes, and lay the chilies flat on a baking sheet.

Roast the chiles in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes until you can smell the sweet fragrance of the peppers. This brings out the flavor of the chiles, but be careful not to burn them as they will get bitter.

Put the roasted chiles in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow them to rehydrate for 10-15 minutes, then scoop the chiles out, discarding the soaking liquid.

Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to a frying pan and add the minced onions and garlic. Fry over medium low heat until the onions are fully caramelized (about 40 minutes). Turn off the heat and allow the onions to cool.

Add the sesame seeds to the bowl of a food processor and process until they are finely ground. Add the drained chiles along with the canned tomatoes and caramelized onions and run the food processor until smooth.

With the food processor running add some reserved pork stock 1/4 cup at a time until the mixture is smooth and does not clump anymore, but it is still thick. (you shouldn't need more than 1 cup). Scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times with a spatula. Add the honey, salt, mexican oregano, ground cumin and ground coriander and continue to process until well incorporated.

Strain the sauce mixture through a fine mesh sieve or chinois, pressing down on the solids to extract as much sauce as you can.

Shred the pork with a fork. Measure out 1 cup of the sauce and set it aside (for the topping), then add the remaining sauce to the pork. Stir to combine.

Rehydrate the corn husks in warm water.

To make the masa, whisk together the masa harina, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add 3 cups of the reserved pork stock and mix together with clean hands to combine. Keep adding pork stock 1/4 cup at a time, until the mixture is about the consistency of cookie dough.

Put the Manteca in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, then beat until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes), scraping down the sides of the bowl once ( it will go from translucent to white)

Turn down the speed of the mixer, then incorporate the masa a little bit at a time. A classic way to test if your masa is light enough is to drop a little ball into a glass of water. It should float on the surface.

To wrap the tamales, place 1 rehydrated corn husk with the narrow end pointed to the left. Use a spoon or spatula to spread a thin layer of masa all the way to the left, right and bottom edges of the husk, leaving about a quarter of the husk exposed along the top. This space prevents the husk from getting sandwiched in between layers of masa, making the tamales easier to unwrap.

Place some of the pork filling along the middle of the layer of masa you just laid down, but leave a gap to the left.

Fold the narrow end of the husk over the filling.

Finish by folding the bottom flap over the filling, and then folding the top flap over the bottom flap. If you've done this successfully you should have a nice rectangular package with 3 sides closed and one side open (with the filling exposed). Place the tamale with the flaps facing down on a baking sheet.

Once you've wrapped all the tamales, prepare a deep pot with a steamer insert by filling the pot with water until the waterline is just below the level of the steamer insert. Place the tamales in the steamer vertically, with the open end facing up.

Wet a kitchen towel, and cover the pot with the towel before covering it with the lid. This prevents condensation from forming on the lid, which will drip down and maker your tamales watery. Make sure to fold the bits of towel hanging out of the pot over the lid so they do not catch on fire.

Bring the pot to a boil, then turn down the heat so you can barely see a steady stream of steam escaping. Steam the tamales for 1 1/2 hours. Make sure you check the steamer periodically to make sure you don't run out of water.

To make the sauce for the tamales, put the tomatoes in the food processor and process until smooth. Strain the tomato puree through a fine mesh strainer into a small sauce pan. Add the reserved 1 cup of mole sauce to the tomato sauce. Cook the sauce over medium low heat until the sauce is thick and bubbly. You'll want to stir it frequently to keep it from burning.

To serve, unwrap your steamed tamales, leaving them on the husks. Cover with the sauce, a dollop of sour cream and serve.

These tamales will keep for about 1 week in the fridge, or for a few months in the freezer. You can re-steam or heat them in the microwave wrapped in a damp paper towel to warm them up.

Bon appetit!

Kimchi Fried Rice with Shrimps

2013-02-28T21:07:00.000-08:00

Just me and the boys are home tonight, so I didn't want to prepare any fancy dinner. The boys were chowing down their Japanese ramen noodles that I cooked for them. This is one of their favorite quick-fix meals. As for me, I use the left over rice and some fresh Kimchi that a friend just got for me to fix myself this quick and delicious fried rice for dinner. It was supper fast to prepare and doesn't even cost an arm and a leg since it was made from very simple ingredients. I especially love the kimchi flavor in this fried rice, just enough the tang and the spiciness that will make your tummy very happy. Too bad that my hubby was missing out on this yummy dish, but that means more for me to devour :).

Ingredients:

- 4 cups of leftover rice

- 1 cup of kimchi

- 10-15 medium shrimps

- 1 egg

- 3-4 cloves of garlic (minced)

- Chopped green onion for garnish

- 1.5 tbsp fish sauce, 2 tbsp sweet soy sauce, 1 tsp mushroom seasoning, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, ground black pepper, 1 tbsp of sesame oil.

- In a medium wok, add 1-2 tbsp of cooking oil, wait for the oil to get a little hot, then add in garlic and stir until lightly brown and fragrant.

- Quickly break in the egg and scramble for a minute. Add the shrimps in and stir constantly for another minute. Season the shrimps with some mushroom seasoning and garlic powder.

- Subsequently add in the rice and stir quickly, season the fried rice with the rest of seasonings.

- Finally, add in the kimchi, do another quick stir until everything is combined. Turn off the heat and sprinkle with chopped green onions for garnish.

Enjoy!

Pistachio macarons with Black sesame buttercream

2013-02-26T22:38:00.000-08:00

Yay! I'm back with more macarons! Have I told you how much I adore these little round shaped cookies? Or maybe I haven't told you enough how much I love to look at them as much as I love to devour them. They are such a pretty sight to see and I think I more I make them, the more I got addicted to them. My husband's favorite flavor is pistachio. So to please my "customer", I made the pistachio once again, but with a twist on the buttercream filling to make it a little more interesting.

I got a jar of this black sesame paste from a Japanese supermarket a while back without knowing what to use it on. So the thought came to me while whipping up the Swiss buttercream. Five minutes later I got myself some black sesame buttercream to dress my pistachio macarons with. I totally love how the flavors play out so nice together. The black sesame paste definitely highlights the creamy, nutty flavors of the buttercream and the pistachio. I think this is my new favorite combination. My husband, in the other hand, is still loyal to his pistachio and the original buttercream, so I saved half of the plain buttercream for him and the other half to mix with black sesame paste for myself. And we are all happy campers!

The recipe that I used for all of my macarons is still the same one that I adapted from "Not so humble pie". This recipe follows a French method where the egg white is whipped into meringue form before incorporated into the almond flour and powder sugar mixture. It doesn't require the complicated step of cooking the sugar syrup before being mixed into the meringue as seen in the Italian method.

I thought of trying a different method (i.e. the Italian method) to experiment the difference in textures, but the comfort and the ease of using the French method had won me over every time. May be one of these day, when I gather enough courage to try new thing, then I promise I will give it a try. For now please bear with me.

Ingredients:

Yield about 80 shells (40 macarons)

60g almond meal and 60g pistachio meal
200g powdered sugar
100g egg whites (aged for 24hrs on the kitchen counter)
35g granulated sugar

Green food coloring gel (4-5 drops)

1. Mix together almond and pistachio meal with powdered sugar in a food processor. Pulse until all incorporate well, sift and set aside. Place egg whites in a clean bow of a stand mixer, start at low speed (number 2) until foamy then gradually add in granulated sugar and increase speed to medium (number 6). Add in food color and continue to beat the meringue until a stiff peak formed (do not over mix).

2. Add the nut flour mixture into the meringue in three additions and start folding until all incorporated (about 50 strokes). This step is very crucial for macarons, make sure you don't over mixed the batter otherwise it will become too runny. However, under-mixed batter will yield cracked and footless macarons. The mixture should flow down like a strand of ribbon as the spatula lifted from the batter.

3. Attach the round tip (Ateco #11) to the pastry bag and pipe them onto the prepared baking sheets that lined with silpat or parchment paper . The size of each cookie is about the size of a quarter (1 inch), and make sure to leave enough space between the cookies. Pick up the tray and tap down hard on the counter to bring up the bubbles inside the macarons.

4. Let the macarons rest at room temperature for about 30min to dry up the surface (it's ready when it doesn't stick to your finger or feel wet when touched)

5. Preheat the oven to 300F, place an aluminum foil sheet on the top rack to prevent the macarons from browning too quickly. Then place the cookie sheet on the bottom rack and bake for about 13-15min.

6. Remove from the oven and let they cool down a little before remove from the silpat or parchment paper. Cool completely on the cookie rack before adding the filling.

7. Assemble the macaron with a small dap of buttercream filling in the middle of one macaron and top with another macaron. Refrigerate the macarons in an airtight container for 24-48hrs before devour them. The macarons need time to mature and absorb the moisture from the filling, so be patient and trust me it worth the wait!

Black sesame buttercream:

50 grams egg whites (about 2 egg whites)

100 grams sugar

150 grams butter, softened

2 tsp of black sesame paste

Mix the egg whites and sugar and place them in the double boiler. Whisk them together until all the sugar dissolved and the egg whites start to turn white and fluffy. Continue whisking until the egg whites become hot to tough. Transfer the egg whites into a mixer bow and start whipping at high speed until light and fluffy (or until the bow is not hot anymore, it takes about 3-5 min).

Start adding softened butter piece by piece until all incorporated into the meringue. It might look like it is curdling but continue whipping will make it comes together. Finally add the black sesame paste and mix well.

Note: I learned of a way to fix the curdled buttercream. For most part, if you continue whipping, the curdling will slowly disappear. However, if things ever go haywire, instead of throwing away your curdled buttercream, you can give this method a try. Take out 1/4 portion of your buttercream, microwave it for about 15 seconds. Start the mixer at low speed, then slowly add microwaved buttercream back to the curdled buttercream. Increase the speed to medium-high and watch the magic takes place when the buttercream slowly comes together.

Making these little goodie bags of macarons for gifts are perfect for any occasions and you can brighten up somebody's day.

Enjoy baking!

Cha Trung (Vietnamese egg meatloaf)

2013-02-20T20:54:00.000-08:00

We had a great dinner last night with this Cha Trung (egg meatloaf), at least I know my husband did because it is one of his favorite dish. I prepared and marinaded the meat the night before, so last night dinner was a breeze to make. It is quite easy to prepare and simply delicious with some steamed rice. You can either bake it in the oven or steam it in the steamer, whichever method you choose, the result will be some moist, delicious egg meatloaf.

Cha trung is typically accompanied with grilled pork (thit nuong), shredded pork skins (bi) and together they are served with broken steamed rice (com tam). This southern Vietnamese dish can be served as breakfast, lunch or dinner. For different variations, you can also add salted duck eggs to make "Cha trung muoi" (salted egg meatloaf) or some crab meat for a fancier version called Cha cua. Give it a try and I'm sure you will enjoy it!

Ingredients:

1. 3/4 lb for ground pork

2. 1/2 bundle of clear vermicelli (mien or bun tau)

3. 1 oz of dried wood ear mushrooms (nam meo)

4. 5 eggs (save 2 yolks for the top layer)

5. 1/2 yellow or white onion (finely minced)

6. 2.5 tsp fish sauce, 3 tsp sugar, 1 tsp of sweet soy sauce, 1 tsp mushroom seasoning, garlic powder, black ground pepper.

Soak the dried wood ear mushrooms and clear vermicelli in a bowl of warm water until soften (takes about 15-20 minutes). Mince the wood ear mushroom and cut the vermicelli about 1 inch long in length.

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl (except for 2 egg yolks). Mix well and transfer to a baking mold or a steaming bowl.

If you choose the steaming method, steam the meatloaf in a water bath steamer for about 45 minutes. In the last 15 minutes, beat the reserved egg yolks and spoon it on top of the meatloaf, make sure it cover the meatloaf evenly. Continue steaming the meatloaf uncovered for about 10 minutes until the egg yolk layer dried up, then cover the lid for about 5 minutes before turn off the heat.

For baking method, preheat the oven to 375F and bake the meatloaf in a water bath for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Repeat the same steps for the egg layer during the last 15 minutes of baking.

Remove from heat and let cool a little bit until you can handle and unmold the meatloaf. Slice and serve hot with rice, grilled pork and fish sauce.