Vietnamese Food

[C. sapidus]

Pan-seared tuna steaks, ginger-lime dipping sauce, jasmine rice, and a vegetable garnish plate with lettuce, cilantro, mint, and Thai basil. Boiled gai lan did not make the picture. All from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen.

[nakji]

Qua ngon!

Oooh, only two months til I'm back in Hanoi on holiday! I have to make an eating wish-list.

[C. sapidus]

Qua ngon!

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Took me a while to translate that. Apologies, thank you, and I hope to hear about your Hanoi holiday.

[nakji]

Qua ngon!

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Took me a while to translate that. Apologies, thank you, and I hope to hear about your Hanoi holiday.

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Sorry, I meant, "it looks delicious!"

There will be a trip report thread. It looks like I'll just be in Northern Vietnam, but I plan to do some serious eating in Hanoi and surrounds for about a week in August.

[C. sapidus]

Nakji, I am looking forward to your trip, photos, and always-entertaining editorializing.

Shaking beef (bo luc lac), store-bought French bread, and eternal cucumbers. We marinated cubed flank steak in oyster sauce and soy sauce, stir-fried the beef with sliced garlic, and then tossed the stir-fry with pineapple, red onion, Thai basil, and a dressing of lime juice, sugar, fish sauce, and bird chiles. The beef was served as a salad with watercress and sliced tomatoes.

Recipe from Mai Pham’s Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table. Note to self: next time, stir-fry the beef in batches for better browning.

[Katie Meadow]

Thanks to Ce'nedra's recent post on the favorite food blogs thread, I checked out several of them. Whiteonricecouple.com is fabulous. Their noodle tutorial is the best I have ever seen, so anyone with questions about cooking various types of noodles should check that out. Their "Battle of the Banh Mi" is also wonderful; not only great suggestions and recipes for make-your-own but a list of reader recommendations for sandwich places all over the country.

Another blog she mentioned is Steamykitchen.com, also very interesting. Excellent blow-by-blow description of how to make the perfect Viet iced coffee.

C. sapidus, that shaking beef looks luscious. I don't have "Pleasures of..." Is there a lot more to the recipe/ingredients or is your brief description pretty much how it is? I could probably run with that, but perhaps there's something else I should know? I like the idea of serving tomatoes with it. I used to think the pairing of pineapple and tomato was weird, but now I've grown to like it. There are some interesting soups that make use of that combo. (I sneered at pineapple pizza but I've come 'round on that one too!)

[C. sapidus]

I don't have "Pleasures of..." Is there a lot more to the recipe/ingredients or is your brief description pretty much how it is? I could probably run with that, but perhaps there's something else I should know?

Thank you, Katie. Here is the recipe, I hope you enjoy it - shaking beef (click).

[nakji]

I like the idea of serving tomatoes with it. I used to think the pairing of pineapple and tomato was weird, but now I've grown to like it. There are some interesting soups that make use of that combo. (I sneered at pineapple pizza but I've come 'round on that one too!)

In Vietnam, I found pineapple was just as often used as a savoury vegetable as it was a sweet fruit. For example, thin slices of pineapple were always included on plates of lau (hotpot) ingredients. They were also often present any time things were getting wrapped up in rice paper. The pineapples used for the savoury dishes were smaller than the ones you find in a North American supermarket, however, and much drier, although they were just as sweet, I found. They provided a sweetness and crispness that balanced spicy flavours.

One thing that I'm really enjoying as I learn to cook more and more Asian cuisines, is that putting sweetness into savoury dishes can be very harmonizing - and I crave dessert a lot less.

[Katie Meadow]

That pineapple sounds interesting. Our pineapple choices in this country are going the way of the banana. I find Mexican-grown pineapple is more flavorful than the ubiquitous and very bland Dole Hawaiian, but it isn't always available.

Yes, tropical fruits seem to have an affinity for savory and hot, as in salsas and chutneys; of course they grow where the season is long enough to grow hot peppers and tomatoes, so it make sense. I like pineapple the way I first had it as street food in Mexico--with a squirt of lime and a sprinkle of ancho chili powder (in a lovely paper cone!) And I admit to liking it grilled or broiled, with sea salt and brown sugar. Ooh, I 'm having a Sunset Magazine moment.

[Ce'nedra]

I've recently discovered a really intriguing 'new' (to me) Vietnamese dish -mi quang! I believe it's from Central Vietnam.

Does anyone have a recipe for it puh-leaseee?

It's served with some rice crackers sprinkled on top.

For your viewing pleasure: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=mi%20quang&w=all

[BonVivant]

i'm afraid to click on this thread backpacked from the deep south to the far north in january 2005 and am still dreaming about the outstanding food since! unfortunately in Hoi An i ate Cao Lau instead of this Mi Quang. i would have enjoyed Mi Quang more. someone translates the recipe here, and this one is only in Vietnamese.

i've seen those Mi Quang cubes. until i return to Vietnam to eat some more the best option now is maybe to try the cubes since i like making photos more than doing the actual cooking

[BonVivant]

i know this thing you're describing...i did make some photos of it. it's a side dish but i'm not sure to go with what exactly. sometimes i eat it with something Vietnamese-ish. the aubergines are crunchy, the taste of fish sauce is very strong, eat it along with a big tray of leaves and herbs.

also nice with lots of beer

I recently purchased an intriguing ingredient from a Vietnamese supermarket in my area, and couldn't find reference to it anywhere on eGullet.  (Or the Web at large, for that matter.)  I hope this is the right place to ask: what is Ca Phao Tom Chua, pickled eggplant with shrimp in brine?  It looks like a sweet, sour, and spicy pickle of unpeeled headless shrimp and slices/chunks of small Thai eggplant.  I don't have a camera, but could probably find a way post a picture if my description is insufficient.

Pertinent questions: Is it a condiment or a dish?  Must it be cooked?  Is it stir-fried and used as a sauce?  (It looks like it'd be great with some sticky rice.)  Is there a specific dish that it goes with?

Thanks!

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[Katie Meadow]

I don't have "Pleasures of..." Is there a lot more to the recipe/ingredients or is your brief description pretty much how it is? I could probably run with that, but perhaps there's something else I should know?

Thank you, Katie. Here is the recipe, I hope you enjoy it - shaking beef (click).

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Made the recipe pretty much as written, except my flanksteak seemed a little tough, even cutting into it raw, so instead of cubing the meat I decided to slice it very thin and marinate if for half an hour in the soy, oyster sauce, garlic and an addition of a little rice wine. Then I wok-seared it hot and fast. This is a great dish (and so simple!), especially in warm weather, now that real tomatoes are starting to appear. Immensely satisfying combination of strong flavors. Thanks!

[Ce'nedra]

i'm afraid to click on this thread    backpacked from the deep south to the far north in january 2005 and am still dreaming about the outstanding food since!  unfortunately in Hoi An i ate Cao Lau instead of this Mi Quang.  i would have enjoyed Mi Quang more.  someone translates the recipe here, and this one is only in Vietnamese.

i've seen those Mi Quang cubes.  until i return to Vietnam to eat some more the best option now is maybe to try the cubes since i like making photos more than doing the actual cooking

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Thanks for the link

What do you mean by Mi Quang cubes? As in the flavoured cubes that you throw into a pot of water?

I haven't seen any seasonings/cubes for Mi Quang around here unfortunately. I've spotted pho, bun bo hue and other popular/common noodle soups but no Mi Quang anywhere!

Anyhow, here's vermicelli noodles with marinated pork (normally, beef is eaten in this dish; also, I bought the pork readily marinated from a good butcher), pickled carrots, thinly sliced onions, bean sprouts, cucumbers, and lettuce all topped off with peanut sauce, the crushed peanut themselves, nuoc cham, and a drizzle of chopped spring onion-oil.

Very filling and satisfying indeed.

[C. sapidus]

Looks good, Ce’nedra!

Grilled chicken (ga nuong), vegetable garnish plate (dia rau song), ginger-lime dipping sauce (nuoc mam gung), and basmati rice steamed with chicken stock. We marinated boneless skinless chicken thighs in fish sauce, lime juice, black pepper, salt, sugar, and olive oil. Even skinless, the chicken turned out nice and juicy.

We cooked for seven, but five diners polished off nearly 15 chicken thighs. Teenage male metabolism at work.

[Ce'nedra]

About the bun cha from northern cooking, it seems to me that the meatballs are alot like nem nuong but larger in size?

Would anyone clarify whether there is any truth in this please?

In that case, I have eaten nem nuong with vermicelli and nuoc cham with pickles...which is kind similar I guess...okay maybe not...

[Ce'nedra]

Hi hi, for all those bun cha Hanoi-fanatics, you'd be happy to know that one of the wonderful food blogs I frequent now has a recipe!

Although the most vital part, the sauce-broth-ish recipe, has not yet been included (but will be updated soon -so just keep checking the blog).

http://wanderingchopsticks.blogspot.com/20...mese-hanoi.html

[jmolinari]

I found that blog and the bun cha recipe last week as well. It sounds like the author uses plain nuoc cham as the "soup/sauce" though...

[Big Bunny]

I've recently discovered a really intriguing 'new' (to me) Vietnamese dish -mi quang! I believe it's from Central Vietnam.

Does anyone have a recipe for it puh-leaseee?

http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/features/mi_quang.htm

This is a great site in general:

http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/

BB

[C. sapidus]

Grilled garlicky five-spice pork steaks (thit heo nuong ngu vi huong) and green papaya salad with shrimp (goi du du), both from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. We marinated pork blade (shoulder) steaks for an hour or so, but marinating longer yields better flavor. Served with jasmine rice.

[Andrea Nguyen]

WOW, thanks for the posting! The food looks beautiful and I'm honored and frankly thrilled that you're having so much fun with the recipes.

As for the mi quang -- yes, it's from the central region and it's one of those kind of super fussy noodle dishes -- not quite a noodle soup, not quite an noodle salad. There are numerous garnishes to the bowl (pork, shrimp, a rice cracker shard, among other things) and just a little flavorful broth to serve as the dressing. A strange dish that I've not come across abroad. Even in Vietnam, it's not prepared much at home and outside of the central region, it's not as prevalent as other Viet noodle dishes.

[Ce'nedra]

Thanks for that piece of info Andrea

Such a pity about mi quang -I only wish that somebody will welcome me to their home for a taste of their mother's homestyle mi quang.

Nothing beats the real taste of home cooking.

On to another dish, does anybody know how to make pho cuon? That's something else I'm hoping to familiarise myself with.

[Ce'nedra]

So this isn't my cooking but a family friend brought over fresh banh tet (I think that's the name, according to wiki) which after cutting into thick slices, I pan-fried both sides and served with a dipping of soy sauce. Scrumptious!

[Ce'nedra]

Oh man, nobody contributing to Vietnamese cooking these days? *sad face*

Served 'com tam' today but without the usual shredded pork skin (too dry for my liking). It was simply broken rice, sunny side up, grilled marinated pork chops and sliced tomatoes & cucumbers. The final touch was, of course, nuoc mam.

[melonpan]

Served 'com tam' today but without the usual shredded pork skin (too dry for my liking). It was simply broken rice, sunny side up, grilled marinated pork chops and sliced tomatoes & cucumbers. The final touch was, of course, nuoc mam.

this looks so unbelievably cozy and delicious, you have no idea. there are no places serving any broken rice plates around here. have to make my own.

thanks for posting this