Vietnamese food cooking

Vietnamese Omelette with ground pork

2007-11-04T22:08:00.001-08:00

Ingredients

1/2 a bundle of vermicelli noodles
small handful black fungus
1-2 tablespoon of oil for frying
3/4 eggs
1-2 shallots, chopped
3 chives, chopped thin
1/3 lb. ground pork
fresh ground pepper
2 tablespoon of fish sauce

Directions

1. Beat eggs in a large bowl, with fish sauce. Chop onions, vermicelli, and mushrooms. Mix in with eggs. Add ground pork and black pepper.

2. Heat pan over high heat with oil. When hot, pour in mixture, cover with lid, and reduce heat to medium/medium high. Let cook. Check after about 6 minutes. Let cook until top is set and bottom is browned. (Can take up to 15 minutes). Once top is set, loosen edges with spatula. Slide it out onto a plate, then carefully place the pan over the plate and invert. Continue to cook until bottom is crunchy set.

3. Remove onto plate. Let stand. Cut into squares. Eat over rice.

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Marinated Quail in Honey

2007-11-04T22:04:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

1 tsp. coriander seeds, lightly crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp. clear honey
Chopped parsley to garnish
2 onions, sliced
1 1/4 cups dry cider
8 quails
1 1/4 cups chili vinegar
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Directions

1. Mix the coriander, honey, onion, cider, and vinegar in a large bowl (not a metal one). Add the quails and marinate overnight.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Drain and reserve the marinade. Dry the quails with paper towels. Heat the butter and oil in a large casserole. Add the quails, 4 at a time, seasoning them with salt and black pepper. Brown on both sides.

3. Put all the birds in the casserole and pour the marinade over them. Cover and cook in the oven for 40-45 minutes, basting occasionally, or until tender. Garnish with chopped parsley to serve.

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Shrimp and Ground Pork on Sugar Cane

2007-11-04T22:01:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

1 tbsp. Nuoc Mam sauce or 1 tbsp. Maggi liquid seasoning mixed with 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice, 1 garlic clove, crushed and dried, and 1/4 green onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro leaves
salt and pepper
butterhead lettuce
1 small onion, finely chopped
vegetable oil for deepfrying
3/4 cup ground pork
all-purpose flour or cornstarch
1 1/3 cups peeled shrimp
4 x 6 inch lengths of sugar cane
1 tbsp. dried shrimp
1 egg, beaten

Directions

1. If using dried shrimp, soak for about 1 hour in warm water. Squeeze out excess water and chop finely. Wash the fresh shrimp and chope finely.

2. Put the ground pork into a large bowl. Add the onion, cilantro, fresh and dried shrimp, salt and pepper, and Nouc Mam sauce.

3. Pour the egg into the pork and shrimp mixture, and mix well with your hand. The mixture should come together so that it can be molded around the lengths of sugar canes. If it is too runny, sift a little all-purpose flour or cornstarch into the mixture.

4. Peel the sugar cane, leaving 2 inch of the green covering on at each end, or 2 inch at one end. Mold the mixutre on to the peeled part of the sugar cane.

5. Broil the sticks under a moderatley hot broiler, turning to ensure evenness in the cooking. Make sure that the sugar cane does not burn. Alternatively, deep-fry in hot oil for 4-5 minutes.

6. Serve on a bed of lettuce. The sugar cane should be chewed or sucked as you eat the shrimp and pork.

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Shrimp with Sesame Seeds on Toast

2007-11-04T21:54:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

1 small onion, grated
1 small egg, beaten
salt and black pepper
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
1 cup peeled shrimp, finely chopped
1 thin French stick or 8 slices bread, crusts cut off
1/2 tbsp. dried shrimp
Cornstarch black for dusting
4 tbsp. white sesame seeds
1/2 tsp. grated fresh root ginger
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

Directions

1. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan until they begin to brown, shaking frequently to prevent them from burning.

2. If using dried shrimp, soak in warm water until soft. Drain thoroughly and squeeze out excess water. Chop them finely. Combine the dried and fress shrimp, garlic, ginger, grated onion, egg, salt, and black pepper, and knead together with your hands. The mixutre should be stiff but not too stiff to spread. If it is to runny, dust with the cornstarch.

3. Cut the French bread into 1/2 inch slices or cut the slices of bread into triangles or shape using pastry cutters. Press the sesame seeds firmly into the shrimp mixture, using the back of a wooden spoon so that the shrimp mixture is also pressed firmly on to the bread. Refrigerate for 2 hours or longer if possible.

4. Heat enough oil to just deep-fry the rounds, shrimp side down, for 1 minute. Using a pancake turner, turn carefully and fry the other side for a further minute. Drain on a paper towels and serve hot.

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Chicken Pho

2007-11-04T21:44:00.000-08:00

Ingredients

3 cerely stalks, finely chopped
3 green onions, chopped into rings
10oz. cooked chicken, finely shredded
8oz. flour sticks or spaghetti noodles
3 3/4 cups chicken stock
2 pieces light wood ear fungus or 8 white button mushrooms, finely slice

Directions

1. Place the celery and green onions in a bowl and put on the table. Place the cooked shredded chicken in a separate bowl and put that on the table also.

2. Follow the directions on the flour sticks pack, or boil up the spaghetti until just soft. Drain and rinse with some boiling water. Place in 4 bowls.

3. Boil up the chicken stock until simmering, then add the light wood ear fungus or the mushrooms. Place in a bowl and put on the table.

4. The guests should put a mixture of celery, green onion, and shredded chicken onto the noodles then ladle the hot chicken broth into the bowls.

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Salmon Cakes with Dill and Garlic

2007-09-23T23:56:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of seafood in Southeast Asia and cooks have marvelous ways of transforming it into delicious foods. One of the common approaches is to pound fish, shrimp, or squid into smooth pastes and then flavoring the paste with fish sauce, etc. The resulting mixture is commonly steamed into patties for longer storage and then deep fried.

Sliced, the cakes have a crisp skin on the outside and chewy-soft texture on the inside. With a lager beer on the rocks, the sliced seafood cakes make for a fabulous snack.

At Vietnamese and Chinese markets, there is often white or light gray fish paste in the seafood counter. Simon Bao, an avid fisherman, asked me if there I had a master recipe for making fish cakes from such a paste. Yes, I do. You may recognize the recipe below from the Seafood chapter of my book.

Based on my mother's recipe, these salmon cakes are one of my favorite stealth foods -- something I make and keep frozen for when I need a last minute morsel for guests, or something for dinner. The dill adds contrasting color and subtle flavor, whereas the garlic and onion add punch. Steamed into patties, all you have to do is fry, broil, or grill them to eat. Basically, this is convenience food that you make at home.

You don't have to use salmon, though if you do, I suggest wild salmon for flavor and sustainability reasons. As the photo here shows, the bright orange/pink color makes an impression too.

Whatever fish you select, AVOID dry-ish, tight fleshed fish like ahi tuna, which cooks up very dry unless you add tons of oil. King mackerel works well and I love it. Unfortunately, it has high levels of mercury so I don't eat it as often as I'd like to. Rich-tasting fish, like trout, catfish, and butterfish (sablefish/black cod), would work well too.

Seafood is slippery and difficult to pound in a mortar and pestle. I prefer the ease of a food processor.

Makes fourteen to sixteen 3 1/2-inch cakes, to serve 8 to 10
2 pounds skinless salmon fillet

Marinade

2 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil

2 egg whites

1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 large yellow onion, cut into 1-inch chunks

2 cloves garlic, choppedCanola or other neutral oil

1/4 cup lightly packed finely chopped fresh dill, feathery tops only

1. Cut the salmon into 1-inch chunks, discarding any errant bones you discover along the way. (Bevel-tipped tweezers, particularly the professional kind used for fish, will speed any bone removal.)

2. To make the marinade, in a bowl, whisk together the sugar, baking powder, cornstarch, fish sauce, oil, egg whites, and pepper until blended. Add the salmon and mix well with a rubber spatula to coat thoroughly. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.

3. Grind the salmon in 2 batches (or in 3 or 4 batches if you have only a small food processor). In a large-capacity food processor, finely chop half of the onion and garlic, stopping the machine as needed to scrape down the bowl. Add half of the salmon and process until a smooth, stiff, sticky paste forms, again stopping the machine as needed to scrape down the bowl. Pass a spatula through the paste; it should have a resilient, almost bouncy texture. Transfer the paste to a bowl. Repeat with the remaining onion, garlic, and salmon. Add the dill to the paste and mix well with the spatula.

4. Fill the steamer pan half full with water and bring it to a rolling boil over high heat. While the water heats, cut out sixteen 4-inch squares of parchment paper and place them on the counter. Set a small, shallow bowl filled with water alongside. Using a spring-action 3-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop up a heaping mound of paste and release it onto a paper square. (If you don't have an ice-cream scoop, use a 1/4-cup measuring cup to scoop and a rubber spatula to push the paste onto each paper square.) Dip the heel of one hand in the bowl of water and rub the mound of paste in a circular motion to flatten the top. Aim for a cake the size of an average burger, about 1/2 inch thick and 31/2 inches in diameter. Smooth and neaten the sides with wet fingers. The cake doesn't have to be perfectly round or flat. Repeat to make more cakes. You may steam the cakes in batches as you shape them or wait until you shape them all.

5. When you are ready to steam, pick up the cakes by their paper squares and place them in the steamer tray, spacing them 1 inch apart. Place the tray in the steamer, cover, and steam each batch for 6 to 7 minutes, or until the cakes have puffed up and are lighter in color, the signs of doneness. Remove the steamer tray from the steamer pan and set aside to cool. (If you have 2 trays, have the other one ready for steaming.) Repeat the steaming until all the cakes are cooked and then let them cool completely. As the cakes cool, they deflate and their color brightens. (At this point, the cooled cakes can be doubled wrapped in plastic wrap or placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature before continuing.)

6. Discard the paper squares from the cooled cakes. Now you must choose the second cooking method, which will crisp the cakes and deliver a golden brown finish. Each method has its advantages and all produce delicious cakes. For shear ease, lightly coat the cakes with oil and broil in a toaster oven, turning them once, for about 15 minutes total. For a tasty charred edge, lightly coat the cakes with oil and grill over a medium-hot fire on a charcoal grill or medium-high heat on a gas grill, turning them once, for 6 to 8 minutes total. For the most authentic taste and the most evenly crisp exterior, blot excess moisture from the cakes with a paper towel, heat oil to a depth of 1 inch in a wok, skillet, or Dutch oven to 350ºF and deep-fry for 1 to 2 minutes. In each case, let the crisp cakes cool for 1 minute, then cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices and serve.

Spicy Cabbage Salad

2007-09-23T23:41:00.000-07:00

The heat of summer calls for grilling and simple salads. This colorful, crunchy, tangy spicy cabbage salad is a meatless version of the classic cabbage and chicken salad (gỏi bắp cải gà) often served at home and in restaurants. Made without the poached and hand shredded chicken, gỏi bắp cải (pronounced "goy bahp kai") is more like a slaw. I love to pair it with grilled food, particularly pork or chicken that's been seasoned a bit on the sweet-garlicky-savory side. The salad's chile kick and vinegary tang provide wonderful flavor contrasts.

I add the cashews (or sometimes peanuts) to lend richness to the salad, which would otherwise be too lean tasting. Watch it on the chiles. The mortar and pestle pounding releases all the oils and the dressing can be fiery -- enough to make you sweat a bit or feel overheated.

Serves 4 to 6

Dressing

1 or 2 Thai or serrano chiles, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 teaspoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar

1 pinch salt

2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons fish sauce

5 to 6 tablespoons unseasoned Japanese rice vinegar
1 (1 1/4 to 1 1/3 pound) head green cabbage, about 1 pound, quartered through the stem end, cored, and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-wide ribbons

1 large carrot, peeled and finely shredded

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Vietnamese coriander (rau răm), cilantro, or mint leaves

1/3 to 1/2 cup toasted cashew halves and pieces (not whole ones) or coarsely chopped unsalted roasted peanuts.

1. Using a mortar and pestle, mash the chile, garlic, ½ teaspoon sugar, and salt together into a fragrant orange-red paste. (Use a sweeping motion at first to crush the ingredients and then pound.) This releases and combines the oils from the chile and garlic. Scrape the paste into a bowl and add the remaining teaspoon of sugar and smaller quantities of fish sauce and rice vinegar, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt and to combine well. Taste and add more fish sauce or rice vinegar to create a spicy, tart, savory, lightly garlicky dressing.

2. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, carrot, chopped herb of your choice and cashews. Toss to combine and distribute the ingredients well. (When making this salad in advance, leave the cashews out and add them right before tossing, lest they get chewy.)

3. Just before serving, pour the dressing over the salad and toss to mix well. The salad will wilt slightly. Taste and adjust the flavors to your liking, balancing the sour, sweet, salty, and spicy. Transfer to a serving plate, leaving any unabsorbed dressing behind, and serve.

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Chicken or Duck Nut Soup

2007-09-20T04:14:00.000-07:00

Ethnicity: Vietnamese

For 6 servings:
6 pieces chicken or duck
2 cups mixed nuts (peanuts, pecan, chestnut, almond)
10 Chinese prunes
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 can longan berries or lychees (if available)

Fry chicken until golden. Boil 8 cups water with 2 teaspoons salt. Add chicken, cook about 45 minutes. Add nuts and cook another 45 minutes. Skim the broth while cooking to make it clear. Add longans or lychees 5 minutes before serving.Serve along or add bean sprouts or noodlesTo make a fancy chicken or duck nut soup, use the whole chicken or duck (3 lbs). Stuff all the nuts into the belly. Sew the top and the cutting area with a needle and thread. Fry the chicken until golden. Cook 2 hours to 3 hours or until tender in a big pot with 8 cups water and 1 cup coconut water or 1 can Seven Up. Skim regularly while cooking. Season the broth with 2 teaspoon salt or to taste; 1/4 teaspoon Monosodium Glutamate.Chinese prunes and longan berries or lychees can be omitted.This soup may be prepared in advance, frozen, and reheated when served. To serve it we use a soup bowl, large enough to contain the chicken or duck and the broth. Since the duck or chicken is very tender after 3 hours of cooking, it will separate easily with a serving spoon.

Vietnamese swrim roll

2007-09-19T23:53:00.000-07:00

Vietnamese swrim roll, called Goi Cuon
Swrim roll is one of Vietnamese favorite food. A roll is not much, people usually have it as breakfast, it's too little for lunch or dinner. More than that, people can also have it as snack, heavy snack huh !To make a swrim roll, we first need a piece of rice paper which was water slightly, put some vegetable, vemicelli and swrim on the rice paper then roll it.

Vietnamese beef noodle soup

2007-09-19T23:50:00.000-07:00

called Pho Bo
Pho (beef noodle soup) is a bowl of white thick noodle with beef served on the noodle. Pho is the most popular food among the Vietnamese population. Pho is commonly eaten for breakfast, although many people will have it for their lunch or dinner. Anyone feeling hungry in the small hours of the morning can also enjoy a bowl of hot and spicy pho to fill their empty stomachs.Vietnamese prefers beef served in a little bit raw, this soup can also go with tenden, meatball.