C. sapidus

Wok-seared shrimp with garlic and chile (tom rang toi ot) from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. This is a Vietnamese version of Chinese salt and pepper shrimp. Tossing the shrimp in cornstarch, white pepper, salt, and sugar before searing in the wok gives them a nice crust. Next time I’ll sear the shrimp a little longer. Cooking the shrimp in their shells would be more authentic, but da boyz don’t like them that way. Cukes and a baked potato with melted butter on the side (also not authentic). Wok-seared shrimp with garlic and chile (tom rang toi ot)

Three-egg omelet with fish sauce and five-spice powder. Filling: thinly-sliced Poblano chile, shallot, garlic, roasted chile paste, and a little of the dipping sauce. Dipping sauce: Hoisin sauce, Sriracha, and fish sauce. Mmmm. The five-spice flavor came through nicely.

This fascinating discussion leaves me more confused than ever. Let me see if I can pick out a few points of general agreement: 1) “Guo yu”, “guo yiu”, “guo yau”, "gau yu" or “zhou yau” (in various Chinese dialects) literally translates to “passing through oil”, and can also be described as “oil blanching.” 2) The material to be, um, processed is usually marinated in a cornstarch mixture before passing through oil. The English term “velveting” seems to be ambiguous, referring to 1) or 2), or perhaps both. Since I don’t speak Chinese, I have no opinion whatsoever. It would make my life easier if the English terminology was consistent. Maybe I’ll just stick to simple stir-fries and avoid the issue altogether. Doesn’t “chow” mean stir-fry in Chinese? (sorry, Dejah) Majra: I have also been delighted with Land of Plenty, so I am very interested in Ms. Dunlop’s Hunan cookbook. Do you have any idea why you are “blocked”? Are the recipes unfamiliar, uninspiring, or too complicated?

Whoa, sorry, I did not mean to cause an argument, but now I am very curious. Is there a word (or words) in English (or Chinese, for that matter) for the following process? Make a marinade by blending egg white, rice wine, salt, and cornstarch. Cut chicken into thin squares and marinate for at least 6 hours. Immerse the chicken for about 20 seconds in 275 F (135 C) oil. If answering the question involves heated argument, I am happy to call it “that thing where you marinate the meat in cornstarch and maybe some other stuff and then deep-fry it briefly in cool oil” (although that description seems a bit unwieldy). Ah Leung: How would you translate "gouyu'ing"?

Bruce, did you velvet in water or oil? ← Susan, I velveted in oil but did not monitor temperature. It seemed to take about the specified 20 seconds for the chicken to turn 90 percent white, so the temperature was probably in the ballpark. Sheetz: Thanks for the tip.

Out of curiosity I checked some of my oldest cookbooks. Dianne Kennedy and Rick Bayless sport faded yet festive stains from the chile spectrum. Julie Sahni proudly wears splotches of turmeric yellow. Most of the cookbooks fall open to favorite recipes, and all have been smudged and madly annotated. The paperback Joy of Cooking is the only one that has completely fallen apart, probably from poor binding rather than overuse. Boiling my cookbooks would yield a meager yet spicy stock.

Pontormo: So, an Italian-Vietnamese-Thai soup then. Sounds delicious to me – thanks for the explanation. Shaya: I’m glad you are feeling well enough for “fun with ravioli.” We made hot and sour Hunan chicken with carrots and zucchini, edamame, and Jasmine rice. More information here (click).

Tonight we made Barbara Tropp’s hot and sour Hunan chicken. School was out today, so I prepared all of the ingredients this morning while home with the boys. I liked some things about this dish and did not like others. The texture of the vegetables was very nice, with the carrots sliced thinner and cooked longer than the zucchini. Ms. Tropp’s instructions were excellent as usual, and I learned several techniques from this one recipe. I had never “velveted” chicken before, and perhaps I did it wrong but I prefer the taste and texture of chicken that has been seared in a hot wok. Also, the flavors of the sauce never really came together. I’ll try the leftovers for breakfast – perhaps it just needed a little salt. Overall, not bad for a quick weeknight meal, but I probably won’t make this again. Edamame and jasmine rice on the side. I hope jasmine rice isn’t “trendy” – I like it too much.

So many beautiful dinners! Nishla: Thank you! Your potato-chorizo-egg dish immediately jumped out at me, but the pizza and seared scallop salad also look and sound delicious. Pontormo: I’m so glad that you have found a new friend in lemongrass, but it isn’t fair to dangle “Thai pho” without explanation. Please do report on your Asian soup adventures. Our boys love soup, but (mostly because of time limitations) we don’t make it often enough. Forest: Thank you! Klary: Thanks! Your picture-taking routine sounds like ours, except our only decent light is on the stovetop (I have learned to avoid leaning on still-hot burners). Lucylou: Your pictures are quite beautiful, especially the chili crusted pork roast and the potato cheese soup with pancetta. Sarawelch: I love your flavor combinations and I am intrigued by the sweet potato and chicken pie, but ooh, that dessert! MiFi: I am now craving beef Stroganoff (preferably yours). GTO: Spring? What's that?

Michelle: You are one of the people that I hoped would post. Your banh xeo looks beautifully light, with its delicate ring of tiny bubbles around the edge. The pile of herbs is gorgeous, too – I often forget about serving herbs with Vietnamese food in the winter. Alright, I'll bite. I made banh xeo last Saturday. I have not been taking pictures of my food lately but here is a previous banh xeo. ←

Tonight we made pan-seared tuna steaks with a ginger-lime dipping sauce; stir-fried trumpet mushrooms; coconut rice; and cucumbers. More information in the Vietnamese Food thread (click).

Yet more from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: pan-seared tuna steaks (ca thu chien) with ginger-lime dipping sauce (nuoc mam gung). We briefly coated the tuna steaks in a mixture of lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and oil before searing them in a cast iron skillet. The boys surprised me by preferring the tuna rare, so next time next time I’ll shorten the cooking time. I loved the ginger-lime dipping sauce, a simple mixture of lime juice, sugar, fish sauce, and lots of minced ginger. We also stir-fried trumpet mushrooms and garlic with olive oil, and finished the dish with chicken stock, cornstarch slurry, and a little salt. Simple and very good, served with coconut rice and cukes on the side.

Marlene: Deepest condolences on the loss of your mother. Tonight’s dinner: chicken and ginger in caramel sauce (ga kho gung) from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. More information here (click). Stir-fried baby bok choy, coconut rice, and the usual cukes on the side. For the bok choy, I separated the leaves, cut the thick leaf bottoms from the more delicate tops, stir-fried the thick parts with garlic and chilies, and then added the leaf tops towards the end. The sauce was a mixture of Shaoxing rice wine, fermented bean paste, and fish sauce.

Tonight we made chicken and ginger in caramel sauce (ga kho gung) from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. Cubed chicken thighs, simmered until tender with thinly-sliced and smashed ginger, caramel sauce, fish sauce, and salt. Garnished with chopped scallions, it was simple and delicious. Stir-fried baby bok choy, coconut rice, and the usual cukes on the side. Chicken and ginger in caramel sauce (ga kho gung) I did have difficulty with the caramel sauce. For the first batch, I followed the directions in the cookbook. The whole batch crystallized badly, so I threw it out and made caramel my usual way – no water, heat for about 5 minutes until the sugar starts to melt, stir and regulate the heat until the caramel turns the desired color, and then add water slowly and carefully to stop the process. I made this batch of caramel sauce very dark to provide caramel flavor without adding a lot of sweetness. Caramel sauce (nuoc mau)

Oh, another thing – I love when the author gives recipe variations. Rick Bayless does this especially well; recipe sidebars often list several regional variations on a particular dish. These variations give an idea of how the recipe can be changed, and pack several additional recipes, sometimes quite different, onto each page. Fuchsia Dunlop does this well, too, providing vegetarian and non-vegetarian versions for several recipes. For example, she casually mentions that a grilled chicken marinade works well on halved zucchini. We made both, for a very good and very easy weeknight dinner. When authors describe recipe variations and ingredient substitutions, they demonstrate that they have explored the recipe and tested its resilience or sensitivity to change. This gives me ideas for exploring my own variations on the theme.

Dejah: Oh my, that looks incredible! Your caramel sauce looks good to me. I like caramel pretty dark, with only a hint of remaining sweetness. I agree with you about adding more lemongrass – I have started routinely increasing the amount of lemongrass by at least half (garlic too). Perhaps lemongrass has more zing in the tropics. Speaking of the anti-tropics, the snow-covered lounge chair next to the grill is a nice touch.

Susan: In addition to your excellent list, I also value how the author addresses exotic ingredients in a recipe. Some authors specify the authentic ingredient without mentioning possible substitutes. Other authors specify an inauthentic ingredient without mentioning the real thing. A select group of authors get it right - they specify the authentic ingredient, list possible substitutes, and discuss how the substitution will affect the taste of the finished dish.

For jasmine rice, I use around 1 part rice to 1.25 parts water in a closed pot on the stovetop. I’ll make it dryer if the “planned leftovers” will be used for fried rice. Mrs. Crab usually makes basmati rice in an open pot, probably similar to Jack’s method. Austin: I never had much luck with the fingertip method either – it probably works better with a smaller pot than what we use. It's good to "see" you around!

Dejah: Wow, beautiful braises! Yes, I felt the same way about Ms. Dunlop's red pork. It was good, but needed a litte more "something". What other vegetables do you think would work with that dish?

I hope your throat feels better. What is it with bloggers and sore throats lately? A shot for each shot? What makes you think the five innoculations will be in your arm?

You should - they are great fun. And those doughnuts look delicious. Ann_T: Thanks! Oh, my - I know that you get all self-depreciating about your baking, but oh, my - those croissants look amazing - golden brown crust, light as a feather, and just the right amount of filling.

Mmm, lots of beautiful, juicy, seared-red meat around tonight. We had baked fish fillets with sherry-butter sauce and basil; stir-fried baby zucchini slivers with garlic; and basmati rice. Mrs. Crab made cabbage salad with dried cranberries. We also killed a bottle of Elk Run eiswein.

<whimper> Dang, that looks good! Cinnamon, caramelized sugar, fruit - sounds like my kind of dessert (mentally adds tarte Tatin to my ever-growing list of things to make one of these days). How has your life has changed since you last blogged? Have you been cooking from Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table? Enquiring minds wanto to know.

Oh, we will definitely need pictures and a tasting report. Congratulations! By the way, Mrs. Crab followed a recipe once - she has never been quite the same ever since. I think honey would be much sweeter than a good dark caramel.

. . . as does that . . . . . . and that.