Vietnamese Food

[C. sapidus]

I never make bahn mi, mostly because I can get them for a buck and a half at my local market, but i'm inspired.

As much as we enjoyed the banh mi, I would probably just buy one for a buck fifty if that option was available.

But, the daikon and carrot pickle.  I am loving it, and have decided it is a staple.

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Thanks for the inspiration to make the carrot and daikon pickle. Mrs. C and I loved it, younger son liked it, but elder son continues to prefer raw vegetables (even raw daikon, surprisingly). We nearly finished the whole batch, so next time I’ll double the amount.

Speaking of inspiration, I am still hoping to make the garlicky roast chicken, perhaps this Sunday if our volleyball tournament finishes early enough.

Bruce, this has really got to stop...0700 in the morning and I'm ripping the pantry apart with my fingers crossed looking for ingredients to make char siu (nearest Asian store 40 miles away nooooooooo)

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Thanks, and sorry – I can definitely sympathise about driving 40 miles for an ingredient.

Any leftover char siu for baos?

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No leftovers – the char siu plate was thoroughly cleaned (and, I suspect, licked ). Even if we had leftover char siu, bao-making is probably at the outer fringes of my limited baking skills. Your char siu bao looks so good, though – maybe I’ll make a double batch of char siu some weekend and experiment.

[Dejah]

Yum! Bruce!

Any leftover char siu for baos?

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Dejah, there is a recipe for bao in In the Vietnamese Kitchen, but the dough does not call for yeast, just baking powder for leavening (and it also calls for milk). I'm interested to hear about any experiences with this dough. The Chinese bao dough I've made calls for yeast.

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Susan: Before I found bao mix, I used an old recipe from my Mom. It too had flour, baking powder, sugar and milk in the mix. It made beautiful fluffy baos, and tasted great IF the baking powder was mixed in well. I have never used the recipe with yeast, although one of my Chinese cooks did with the baked char siu bao. My customers preferred the steamed ones, so I never got into baking them again.

The bao mix that I buy now has baking powder mixed into it. Again, just milk and sugar are added. I use my KitchenAid and it doesn't take long, especially with my trusty old tortilla press. But then, to make from scratch doesn't take long either - just a matter of convenience.

[guppymo]

I have been busy goofing around for quite a while and somehow my passion for cooking was gone during that time, but here I am again

The following noodle soup recipe can be quickly prepared in less than 30 minutes (unlike other Vietnamese noodle soups when hours are required). I learned this from my mom growing up, it's probably a Hue's origin our family root is from Hue

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. beef shank

Lemon grass

Shallot

1 Tomato

Scallion

1 can of chicken broth

Shrimp paste (ruoc)

Fish sauce, black pepper, ground chili.

Vermiceli

Cut beef in slices and marinate with minced shallot and lemongrass, just enough for flavor. Add to the mixture fix sauce, black pepper and ground chili

In a soup pot heat some oil and cook the beef for 2-3 minutes.

Add a can of chicken broth and water, enough for a few dinner bowls.

Wait until boiling and add 1/2 teaspoon of shrimp paste, add slices of one tomato

Reduce heat and cook for 10 more minutes.

Pour soup into a bowl of cooked vermiceli and add chopped scallion and a dash of black pepper.

Bon apetit

[guppymo]

While I am at this let me throw in another dish that I love to eat, this can be prepared with tools that you should already got at home, no need to buy fancy steamers

Steamed Rice Flour Roll (Bánh Cuốn)

Purchase a bag of flour (pictured provided) from an Asian market and mix it accordingly to the instructions on the back of the bag

My oil and cotton set-up to oil the pan, also cover the cutting board with aluminum foil and coat with oil for folding

Prepare stuffing by cooking diced carrot, ground pork, black mushroom, chopped scallion (nam tai meo), season lightly with salt and pepper.

Coat oil all over the hot pan by using the cotton then poor enough flour liquid just to cover the pan, do not use to much. Cover and cook for about 1 minute or until cooked

Flip the steamed flour over the aluminum foil - covered cutting board and spread some stuffing and fold it

Arrange on plate and cut it into pieces and garnish with fried shallot, mints, steamed bean sprout, cucumber, Vietnamese sausage (cha lua) and eat with mixed fish sauce. Bon appetit !!!

[jmolinari]

Nice to see you back Guppymo, looking forward to more of your dishes.

[LindaK]

Nice to see you back Guppymo, looking forward to more of your dishes.

Yes indeed! Isn't it nice that this thread you started has continued? I still have not tried my hand at most of these dishes, and dream of finding a local Vietnamese restaurant that serves food as good as what I see here.

[snowangel]

Thanks, guppymo, for the tutorial. I loves these "wraps', and I have seen this same mix, off and on, at my local market. Off to shop tomorrow!

[C. sapidus]

The following noodle soup recipe can be quickly prepared in less than 30 minutes (unlike other Vietnamese noodle soups when hours are required).

. . .

Guppymo: I’m so glad to see you posting again! That noodle soup sounds delicious and perfect for a weeknight. I hope to try it next week.

We made two kinds of shrimp tonight: one was spicy tamarind shrimp from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. This time I cooked the sauce down a bit more than usual. I loved it, but it was a bit too sour for Mrs. C and elder son.

For complete tamarind overload, I also made ginger-tamarind dipping sauce. What can I say, I love tamarind. Mrs. C said that the dipping sauce was like a Willie Wonka candy – the flavors kept changing after you tasted it.

[guppymo]

Wow, those caramelized tamarind shrimps make my mouth watery, I like everything caramelized : shrimp, meat, fish

Okie below is the recipe of Bánh Bèo that I followed and cooked, in Hue there are places where you can eat them straight from the little molding dishes, I think it's fun that way because friends can compete and stack the dishes to see who could eat more (just like when you go to Kaiten Sushi). For me growing up in Saigon I got used to eat them prearranged on the plate with all the condiments but once a while I would eat them from those dishes, just for fun

Banh Beo is very poplar in the Southern part of Vietnam, but in Hue, the central part Banh Beo is eaten from the tiny small molding ceramic dishes, I think it's more fun if the dish is chipped a little bit too. You can either remove them from the dishes or the other way, it's your choice.

150g rice flour

100g tapioca flour

200g shrimp

Light Vietnamese dipping fish sauce

Salt, blackpepper, oil

3 Tbs. chopped scallion

In a big bowl, fix the rice flour, tapioca flour with 3 cups of water, add a pinch of salt and 1/2 Tbs. of oil, mix well.

Bring a two-tier steamer to boil and arrange the ceramic molding dishes onto the steamer. Heat the dishes by leaving them in the steamer for 2 minutes.

Carefully pour in the mixed batter into the dishes, up to about 2/3 of the dish volume. Cover and steam for 9 minutes. Remove them and let cool.

Peel shrimp and devein. Use a motar and pestle to pound the shrimp (you can also use a food processor for this process, but the shredded shimp's texture won't look as nice as if a mortar and pestle are used )

In a medium sauce pan, heat oil and saute the chopped scallion.

Remove saute scallion and pour in the pounded shrimp and cook for 5 minutes, stir constantly, add a pinch of salt, a pinch of black pepper, and a couple dashes of fish sauce.

On each tiny Banh Beo dish, add 1/4 tsp. of saute chopped scallion and 1 tsp. of shrimp.

Serve with light dipping fish sauce.

Below is a plate of Bánh bèo served with Bánh Bột Lọc (banana-wrapped tapioca dumpling with shrimp and pork) and home made Chả (Pork sausage)

[nakji]

home made Chả (Pork sausage)

A co-worker of mine fed me some of this just yesterday for breakfast. I came in to teach an early class, and she asked me if I'd eaten yet. I told her I hadn't had the time, so she gave me some of her breakfast, straight from the banana leaf - a bit of the sausage, wrapped in soft pounded rice - like mochi. It tasted amazing - the best breakfast sausage I've ever had. I washed it down with some fresh roasted coffee and had a great class!

Steamed Rice Flour Roll (Bánh Cuốn)

There's a stand across the street from my house that sells these every morning. When I'm up early enough to catch them (it turns into a bun cha stand at lunchtime), I always walk by and wish I could find a seat - but it's always packed!

[guppymo]

Nakji,

Wow you are lucky to have a co-worker like that, and you are so lucky to have that type of popular food stand across the street from your house. You have to take a picture to post the next time you could land a seat

[C. sapidus]

Tonight we enjoyed garlicky oven-roast chicken (ga ro-ti) from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen; braised cabbage with dried shrimp (pow choy ha mai) from Cradle of Flavor; cucumbers (of course); and jasmine rice. I took a picture, which I am certain was beautiful, but for some reason I deleted the picture before downloading.

Susan – good tip on making extra chicken. The family (mostly elder son) finished more than three pounds of chicken legs. I cooked another two pounds of chicken thighs for Tuesday’s dinner. We will use the thighs for either banh mi or for sticky rice with roast chicken and scallion oil (perhaps both).

I could have made an entire meal out of the braised cabbage with dried shrimp. Seasonings included dried shrimp, garlic, salt, sugar, and black pepper. The whole was far greater than the sum of the parts.

I made the jasmine rice in our small copper sauteuse. The rice had a much better texture than usual, presumably because the copper provided more even heat. Whatever the reason, we will continue using a copper pot for rice. We flavored the rice with leftover tamarind-ginger dipping sauce (which had mellowed nicely) or with pan drippings from the chicken.

[C. sapidus]

With leftover ga ro-ti, we made sticky rice with roast chicken and scallion oil (xoi ga). Daikon and carrot pickle (do chua) on the side, all from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. More about dinner on Dinner! (click).

[jmolinari]

Last night i made chicken with tamarind and chili sauce. Used the recipe from Into the Viet. kitchen, for the same dish with shrimp. It was really good. Also made the asparagus with shiitake mushrooms and oyster sauce from ITVK. Really good as well.

[guppymo]

Sapidus,

That's sticky rice with chicken looked awesome, I loved eating that for breakfast growing up.

Here is a a some illustrations of steps to make "cha" or Vietnamese pork sausage that is used in "banh mi"

Ingredients

(for 2 lbs. of ground pork, if you make a lot just mutiply them accordingly)

• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  1.5 tablespoons vegetable oil
  3 tablespoons sugar
  Shallots, peeled and finely chopped (per taste)
  Garlic, crushed (per taste
  2 lbs. ground pork
  1 teaspoon potato starch
  0.5 teaspoons baking powder
  1 teaspoon salt
  12 tablespoons water
  Black pepper (per taste)
  Banana leaf
  

In a bowl, mix the nuoc mam and oil with the sugar.

Once the sugar has dissolved, stir in the shallots and garlic. Add the minced pork and seasoning, and blend well until thoroughly combined using a food processor. Cover and chill for 2-3 hours.

Process mixture again, this time in the amount just enough to be wrapped individually. Add the potato starch and baking powder and process until smooth and pasty. Mould the pork mixture into a fat sausage, about 18cm long, and place it on an oiled dish.

Lay the banana leaf on a flat surface, brush it with oil, and place the pork sausage across it. Lift up the edge of the leaf nearest to you and fold it over the sausage(you can use a bamboo sushi roller to help with this task), tuck in the sides, and roll it up into a tight bundle. Secure the bundle with a piece of string.

Fill a wok one-third full with water and balance a bamboo steamer, with its lid on, just above the level of the water. Bring the water to the boil, lift the bamboo lid and place the banana leaf bundle on the rack, being very careful of any escaping steam.

Recover and steam for about 45 minutes. Leave the pate to cool in the leaf, then open it up and cut it into slices.

Marinated ground pork

You can ask the persons behind the meat counter to run the meat through the grinder a couple times or for best result, use your own food processor

Ready to be wrapped

A bamboo sushi roller could be used to help shaping the sausage

Voilà

For fun you can make different size chà

Loading them into a steamer

More to go

Behold "chả" home-made

[jmolinari]

I like the pictorial Guppymo, thanks!

[C. sapidus]

Tonight’s dinner: catfish simmered in caramel sauce (ca kho to); asparagus and shiitake mushroom stir-fry (mang tay xao nam huong); and jasmine rice. The kho was delicious, but soupier than intended. Next time I’ll use less water. The catfish absorbed the flavors of the sauce – caramel sauce, fish sauce, garlic, scallions, black pepper, palm sugar, and chorizo (pork fatback was unavailable).

I was particularly impressed by the asparagus and mushroom stir-fry. The mushrooms were still chewy (should have soaked longer), but absorbed the delicious flavor of the sauce, a mixture of oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, oil, and water. A definite make-again, and would probably work with many vegetables.

All from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen.

[C. sapidus]

Grilled chicken (ga nuong) and grilled zucchini from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, with nuoc cham and rice. Details on Dinner! (click).

[takadi]

I love this thread! My grandmother lives with me but she is off in California (I live in DC), so I haven't had any of her cooking for a LONG time. My mom, with good intentions and all, will only cook if it only requires reheating or slapping something in a frying pan. Thus, my daily diet of pork chops, cheap steaks, and chicken breasts is making me miss some of my grandmother's food. Man I wish I had a camera so I could show you the magic she works. I'd have the say her best are Bun Rieu and her infinite combinations of canh (just dollop in a scoop of white rice and it makes a snack that can beat any hot pocket). Man I am so hungry right now...

[C. sapidus]

I love this thread! My grandmother lives with me but she is off in California (I live in DC), so I haven't had any of her cooking for a LONG time. . . . Man I wish I had a camera so I could show you the magic she works. I'd have the say her best are Bun Rieu and her infinite combinations of canh (just dollop in a scoop of white rice and it makes a snack that can beat any hot pocket). Man I am so hungry right now...

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Takadi: We have made canh a few times, but I would love to hear more about your grandmother's "infinite combinations", and the other things that she makes. You may already know this, but Andrea Nguyen's site Viet World Kitchen (click) has a lot of recipes if you want to surprise your grandmother when she returns from California.

[takadi]

I love viet world kitchen. I find the recipes on there are the most "authentic" and have the best balance of ingredients without going overboard.

In terms of canh, the term is pretty generic but for me, it's one of those must haves at every meal to finish off any rice at the bottom of the bowl. It's kind of comparable to miso soup in Japanese home cooking.

I'm not too sure what my Grandmother uses, but she does use a huge variety of unknown leaf vegetables. My favorite one has a slimy texture almost like okra. There's also one that has a red tint to it (I'm not sure if this is the same as the slimy-textured one). She also has her share of "medicinal" canh which she claims to have some healing property. The best tasting ones I've had is one where she uses lotus root and another where she uses those tiny chinese red berries, beef broth, and that herb you use with boiled duck eggs (hot vit lon).

Sorry if I'm a little sketchy with definitions and names, I'm pretty bad with my vietnamese.

[heidih]

I would love to sit at your grandmother's table takadi! As for the greens I know exactly which ones you mean but I do not recall how my local market labels them. The "red tint" I believe is "amaranth" (stains a soup almost like beets), and the slimy one I think is tetragonia or New Zealand spinach. I checked the pictures in Elizabeth Schneider's "Vegetable from Amaranth to Zucchini" and they look right. Time perhaps to sit at grandma's side and watch her cook so you can record the recipes as I am sure like many home cooks she does not use recipes. Good luck.

[helenjp]

Houttuynia cordata or lizardtail, diep ca, is another leaf vegetable used in Vietnamese cooking.

It's used medicinally in Japan. The taste is a little different from the vietnamese type, but I've started using the youngest tips in salads, and would love to know more ways to cook or use this plant.

...and another one in my garden is gynura bicolor (handama, from Okinawa), related to rau tau bay (gynura crepidoides). Looks like a dandelion when it flowers. It's mainly stirfried in Okinawa - how is it used in Vietnam?

Edited May 6, 2007 by helenjp (log)

[takadi]

I love the huge variety of leaf vegetables and herbs in vietnamese cuisine. I find myself sitting there craving to munch on leaves like some giraffe.

I remember my grandmother cooking some leaf vegetable that was TERRIBLE however. It smelled and tasted like urine, but is considered a delicacy. The name of it in vietnamese is translates to something like "dead fish vegetable", but I'm not too sure of it's exact name.

[mrbigjas]

was it fish mint? diep ca or dap ca?

here's a picture (page down a little)

a local place near us always includes that on the herb plate when you get beef in grape leaves. and i always eat a couple leaves hoping that one of these days i'll start to like it, but it hasn't happened yet.