Saturday, June 30, 2007

Gỏi Đu Đủ Khô Bò

Green Papaya Salad with Beef Jerky


1 medium green papaya, peeled and shreded
1 cup beef jerky
Thai basil, coarsely chopped
Roasted peanut, crushed
Black sauce, Sriracha sauce


Black Sauce:
1 part water, 1/2 part vinegar, 1 part sugar, 1/2 part dark soy sauce, 1/2 part regular soy sauce. Add soy sauces, sugar, vinegar, water into a sauce pan over medium heat, bring to boil. Cool off. Add 2 cloves garlic (thinly sliced) into 1 cup of black sauce. Let stand for several hours or overnight.

Top the crunchy green papaya shreds with shreded beef jerky, chopped basil, crushed peanuts. Dress with black sauce and sriracha sauce.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Ghẹ Rang Muối Ớt

Dry Fried Spicy Blue Crab


10 live blue crabs
1 T spicy seasoning
3 shallots, thinly sliced
2 garlic, finely chopped
Butter, oil


Spicy seasoning:
1 part sea salt+ 2 parts minced fresh garlic + 1 part fresh ground black pepper+ 1/2 part paprika+ 1/6 part of dried hot chilli pepper (or depend on how much spicy you can handle).

Prepare the crabs:
Place crab on a large cutting board, belly side up. If it's alive (and it should be), kill it by placing the pointy end of a knife through its belly (right below the apron). Remove the apron. Turn over and pry off the top shell by holding the body in one hand and pulling the top shell right at the rear with the other hand. Make sure you do it gently, not to break off the legs. Pull off the gills at the front of the crab, twist off the mouth parts, rinse over running water. Scoop out the crab butter from the shell and set aside. Cut crab in half.

Heat up some oil and butter in a large wok, add crab and stir to fry, add spicy seasoning, cover to cook evenly, stir occationally and continue to fry until the juice dry up. Meanwhile, use a small sauce pan to heat up some butter and add shallot and garlic in to cook until golden brown, add crab butter in and cook until thicken (1-2 minutes). Pour that fragant butter over the crabs. Stir to coat evenly.

Canh Su Su

Chayote Soup




1 Chayote, peeled and julienned
4 raw shrimp, shelled and deveined, diced
1 green onion, chopped
4 sprigs cilantro, chopped
1.5 cups water
Fish sauce, ground pepper


Put water in a small sauce pan, bring to boil, add shrimps, skim off foam that rises. Add chayote, bring back to boil. Add fish sauce and fresh ground pepper to taste. Add green onion and cilantro then serve.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Gà Rô Ti Nước Dừa

Roasted Chicken Breast in Coconut Juice


2 chicken breast halves (skin-on, bone-in), cut into 6 pieces
6 boiler onions
1 pack baby portabella mushrooms
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 garlic, finely chopped
4 sprigs of cilantro, finely chopped
1 cup coconut juice
1 T white wine
soy sauce, salt, pepper, oil, butter, cornstarch


Soak chicken in coconut juice for 1 hr, remove and reserve juice for later use.
Season chicken with salt, pepper and soy sauce.
Clean and wash mushrooms and bolier onions throroughly.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a large skillet, heat oil and butter and brown the chicken breast over medium heat, 3-5 minutes each side. The coconut juice will give the chicken a nice golden brown color. Place chicken in the oven for 5-10 more minutes.
Meanwhile, add more butter into the skillet and saute the boiler onions until golden brown, set aside. Add more butter in, add shallot and garlic and cook until fragant. Add mushroom and stir to cook until nice and soft, salt and pepper to taste, add boiler onions back in. Pour in the coconut juice, bring to a boil. Add chicken in with the brown juice from roasting. Add wine. Thicken the sauce with 1/2 t cornstarch. Add more salt and soy sauce to taste, turning the chicken to coat with sauce. Sprinkle some chopped cilantro and fresh ground pepper on top then serve.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Đậu Xào Tương Ngọt

Green Bean and Crisp-Fried Tofu in Hoisin Sauce


12 oz pre-washed green beans, cut in half
1 block medium firm tofu, cubed
3 shallots, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 T hoisin sauce
1 T soy sauce,1/2 T brown sugar, salt, pepper
vegetable oil


Deep fry tofu cubes until golden crisp, set aside.
In a large pan, heat 1 T oil and add shallot and garlic, cook until fragant. Add green beans, soy sauce, salt, sugar to taste, stir to cook for a minute then cover to cook for 3 more minutes or until nicely soft. Add tofu, hoisin sauce and stir well to cook for 2 more minutes. Sprinkle with fresh ground black pepper and serve.

Tôm Kho Đánh

Tasty Braised Shrimp


18-20 raw head-on shrimps (36-40 count)
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 green onion, chopped
1 T vegetable oil
1/2 T fish sauce, 1 t sugar, salt, pepper


Count means the approximate number of shrimp per pound, 36-40 count means that there are 36-40 shrimps per pound.

Most Americans probably have never seen shrimp with head on. But, head-on shrimp has much more flavor than shrimp without its head, just like the difference between fish on bone and fish fillet. In this dish, shrimps are cooked in their own butter to make a special tasty sauce so we need to leave that part on.

Remove head shell: Hold the shrimp body in one hand, and the head in the other. Squeeze the tip of the head to twist up the head shell. That will leave the orange butter on the ten-legs part.

Remove the body shell and the sand-vein:

Hold the tail while gently removing the shell around the body. Remove the tail. There are couple ways to remove the sand vein:
- Making a shallow cut lengthwise down the outer curve of the shrimp's body. Remove vein with your fingers.
- Use a toothpick to poke and pick the vein out from the shrimp's back without making a slit.
-Pinch at tail end and pull out with fingers.

Remove 10-legs part: Hold the shrimp body in one hand and gently squeeze off the 10-legs part with the other hand without taking off much of the orange stuffs.

Put shrimps on a bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper.

In a medium sauce pan, heat oil, add shallot and garlic to cook until fragant, add shrimps, stir well. Add fish sauce and sugar and let the shrimp braised in its own sauce for 5 minutes. Add green onion and fresh ground pepper. Serve with steamed rice.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Trứng Chiên Hành Nấm

Mushroom and Onion Omelette




6 eggs
2-3 boiler onions, thinly sliced
small cluster honshimeji mushrooms, trimmed and cleaned
2 green onion, chopped
vegetable oil, fish sauce, salt and pepper


Break eggs into a bowl, add green onion, fish sauce and pepper to taste. Give the mixture a few strong beats.
Heat oil in a pan, stir-fry boiler onion until nicely soft and lightly brown. Set aside. Add mushrooms and cook until tender. Season with salt and pepper, set aside.
Add more oil into pan, pour 1/3 of the mixture in, as soon as it begins to stiffen, draw it away from the edges of the pan or lift up to allow the uncooked egg to reach hot pan.
When the omelette turns golden brown, fold over and top with onion and mushroom. Repeat to finish the mixture, make total 3 omelettes. Serve with steamed rice.

Bông Cải Trắng Nấu Cà Chua

Braised cauliflower with tomato and shrimp


1 medium-sized cauliflower, cut into little florets
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
12 raw shrimps, shelled and deveined
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 green onions, cut into 2-inches length
5 sprigs cilantro, cut into 2-inches length
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 T vegetable oil
fish sauce, pepper


In a medium pot, heat the oil. Add the shallot and the garlic and cook just until fragant.Add shirmps and cook until lightly pink, remove. Add the cauliflower, chicken broth and season with fish sauce, pepper, stir to mix. Add the tomatoes, cover the pot. Cook for 5-7 minutes until the cauliflower is just about tender. Add shrimps back, stir to cook for another minute. Add green onion and cilantro. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Ethnic Grocers in Dallas

Asian

Vietnamese/Chinese
Hiep Thai
3347 W Walnut St Garland, TX 75042 (972) 272-1993
New Truong Nguyen
3555 W Walnut St Garland TX 75042 (972) 276-1185
Hong Kong Market
9780 Walnut St # 360 Dallas, TX 75243 (972) 437-9888
Saigon-Taipei
2334 W Buckingham Rd # 100 Garland, TX 75042 (972) 487-4064
Hiep Phong Market BBQ
10560 Walnut St Dallas, TX 75243 (972) 276-9300

Korean
Shin Chon Food Market
11422 Harry Hines Blvd # 210 Dallas, TX 75229 (972) 243-0733
Korea Mart
10546 Walnut St Dallas, TX 75243 (972) 238-0040
Han Yang
4400 W Walnut St # 130, Garland, TX 75042 (972) 276-9792
Japanese
Nanami gourmet market
17721 Dallas Pkwy Dallas, TX 75287 (972) 818-1488
Kazy’s Gourmet
9256 Markville Dr Dallas, TX 75243 (972) 235-4831
Asian
Asia world market
240 Legacy Dr Plano, TX 75023 (972) 517-8858 
Asia World Supermarket
400 N Greenville Ave Richardson, TX 75081 (972) 235-3888
Indian
India Grocers
15 Richardson Heights Ctr Richardson, TX 75080 (972) 234-8051  
India Imports  
307 W Airport Fwy Irving, TX 75062 (972) 255-5941
India Mart
1008 W Airport Fwy Irving, TX 75062 (972) 438-6865
Taj Mahai Imports
26 Richardson Heights Ctr # C Richardson, TX 75080 (972) 644-1329
Thai
Siam Grocers
2636 N. Fitzhugh Dallas, TX 75204 (214) 823-8676

European

European Market and Deli
11613 N Central Expy # 1118 Dallas, TX 75243 (214) 696-5441 
Elk's market café
105 N Greenville Ave # 11 Allen, TX 75002 (214) 495-0200
World Delicacies
4505 McEwen Rd Dallas, TX 75244 (214) 630-8713

Latin

Fresh & Tender Cabrito wholesale
796 S Floyd Rd Richardson, TX 75080 (972) 644-7224 
Hernandez Mexican Foods
2120 Alamo St Dallas, TX 75202 (214) 742-2533 
Super Mercado Mexico
5535 Columbia Ave Dallas, TX 75214 (214) 698-9986

Middle Eastern

Izmir Market and Deli
3607 Greenville Ave Dallas, TX 75206 (214) 824-8484
Salam Import Co.
214 E Spring Valley Rd Richardson, TX 75081 (972) 235-4846
Worldwide Food Inc.
1907 Greenville Ave Dallas, TX 75206 (214) 824-8860
World Food Warehouse
13434 Floyd Cir Dallas, TX 75243 (972) 480-0290

Organic

Whole foods Market
2201 Preston Rd Plano, TX 75093 (972) 612-6729
60 Dal Rich Vlg Richardson, TX 75080 (972) 699-8075