Moon Boats

Tuna Avocado with Agave Sauce

Tuna Avocado - 1 (12 oz) can solid white tuna - 1 T chipotle mayonnaise - 1 green onion, thinly sliced - 1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced - 1 ripe avocado - a squeeze of lemon or a dash of balsamic vinegar - 1 T toasted almond ( I used toasted cashew nut, crushed) - 1 head Endive, leaves separated - Salt and pepper to taste Mustard Agave Sauce - 1 T organic Blue Agave - 1/4 T honey mustard (stir until combined evenly) Directions Mix together tuna, mayonnaise, green onion, bell pepper, lemon or vinegar, 1/2 avocado. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon mixture into Endive, garnish with sliced avocado, crushed cashew nuts, and a dash of black pepper. Drizzle Mustard Agave sauce over and served.

Trứng Nhồi Chả Cá

Fish Paste stuffed Eggs

5 hard boiled eggs, cut in half lengthwise
1/4 lb fish paste
4 fresh water chestnuts, julienned
2 green onions, chopped
1 sprig cilantro, chopped
vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste

Combine fish paste, water chestnut and green onion in a bowl, add salt and pepper to taste. Remove the egg yolks from the egg halves. Stuff the egg whites with the mixture, forming a slight mound. Fry in hot oil, deep enough to cover the mixture, fish side down until golden brown, turn over and fry the egg side until golden crisp.
Sprinkle chopped cilantro and grated egg yolk on top. Serve with sweet and sour sauce or cucumber fish sauce.

Bao Tử Làm Nguội

Andouille Sausage

Cuốn Diếp

Lettuce Roll

Bong Bóng Cá Dồn Thịt

Stuffed Fish Maw

Rau Muống Chiên Xù

Water Spinach Tempura with Peanut Sauce


2-3 cups water spinach, cut into 3-inches length
Tempura mix
Oil to fry
1 green onion, cut into 2-inches length
1/4 onion, cut into strips
Carrot strips to garnish

Water Spinach: Just leave some young leaves, cut and wash thoroughly.
Mix tempura batter as directed in the box, dip water spinach in, turn to cover evenly. Deep fry over high heat, remove when it turns lighly yellow. Drain on paper towel. Stir-fry onion and scallion to garnish the dish. Serve with peanut Sauce.

Peanut Sauce
3 T creamy peanut butter
1 T coconut milk
1/2 T lime juce
1/2 T soy sauce or to taste
1/2 T sugar
1/4 T siracha hot sauce
1/2 clove garlic, minced

Mix all in a small bowl, add water if needed.

Xôi Chiên Phồng

Fried Sticky Rice Ball

2 cups cooked sticky rice
1/2 cup cooked mung bean
2 T vegetable oil
2 T sugar
1/4 t salt
Oil to fry

Mix them all together and knead until smooth (I use clear polyethylene food handling glove and it makes this job so clean). Divide dough into small patties.
Put oil enough to deep fry (cover the balls). When oil is sizzling hot, put balls to deep fry. When the down side seems harden, turn and use your spoon or spatula to press around the ball to make it puff up. Continue to fry until golden brown.
Serve with roasted chicken or duck.

Sticky Rice: Soak sticky rice in water for 4 hrs. Put in electric rice cooker and add water just enough to cover the rice (same level). Let it cook.

Shortcut: If you're not making these balls from left over sticky rice, you can soak rice and mung bean together and put in electric rice cooker to cook them.

Khoai Mì Cuốn

Cassava Roll

2 cups cooked mashed cassava
2 T scallion oil
8 red lettuce leaves
1/3 cup mint or basil
1 green apple (optional), cut into match-stick strips
12 rice papers (6 inches)
salt, sugar

How to boil cassava: Make a vertical slit on cassava tuber's skin, deep enough to see to white meat. Soak in water for 1 hour. Peel off the skin with your hands or with a knife. It should come off easily. Change water and soak for another hour.
Boil cassava in lots of water for 20-30 minutes, until soft. Discard water and remove inner core, don't use this water because cassava contains the potentially toxic compounds, cyanogenic glucosides which can cause acute cyanide poisoning. Mash cassava with a wooden spoon.
Mashed Cassava with scallion oil: Season scallion oil with some salt and sugar, add to mashed cassava and mix well.
Make a roll: Roll cassava mixture with lettuce, mint or basil, and green apple strips. Dip with sweet and sour fish sauce.

Bò Bía

Vietnamese Pohpiah

1 fresh Chinese sausage, pan seared and cut into thin strips
1 large egg
1 medium jicama, peeled and juliened
2 T fine dried shrimp
1 bunch Taiwanese lettuce, washed and cut into 3-inches length
1/2 cup mint or basil leaves
1 t fried shallot
Vegetable oil, salt and pepper
15 6-inches rice papers


Soak dried shrimp in a bowl with water.
Make a thin omelet then cut into thin strips.
Drain shrimp, save the liquid for later use in dipping sauce. Saute shrimp with some oil, sugar and pepper. Set aside.
Saute jicama over high heat until almost cooked but not soften. Add fried shallot and sprinkle with some pepper. Drain excess liquid if there's any. Save for later use in dipping sauce.
Use method #2 to prepare wrapping paper ahead.
When you are ready to roll, put jicama back on low heat to cook and keep it warm. This roll should be served while jicama still warm.

Arrange your wrapping with lettuce, mint, jicama on top. Roll up paper halfway into cylinder then add yellow egg strips, red sausage strips and a row of orange shrimps. Fold sides of paper inward and continue to roll paper into cylinder.

Serve with bean dipping sauce.

Note: Don't cut the tips of the roll like I did in the picture. I have bad habit to cut off the extra wrapping :) This will allow the oily juice from the roll to drip out.

Samosa

On the street in New Delhi

Dough
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 t salt (or to taste)
2 T vegetable oil
oil to fry
6-8 T ice water

Filling
3-5 medium size boiled potatoes
1 cup chopped onions
2 hot green chilli peppers, minced
1/2 t minced fresh ginger
1/4 t turmeric powder
1/4 t salt
red chili powder to taste
1/2 t aniseeds, dry mint powder (or 2 t chopped fresh mint leaves)
1/4 t garam masala (hot spices)
1/2 cup par-cooked and drained green peas
2 T chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 t fresh lemon juice

Sift the flour and salt into medium bowl. Add 1 T oil and rub the mixture between the palms of your hands to evenly distribute. Add 6 T water, mix, and work until the dough comes together. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes into a medium firm dough. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

Put 4 T oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add onion and fry until golden brown. Add all the spices and potatoes, mix well and cook until potatoes start to color and become dry, about 5 minutes. Add the peas and cook for 1 more minute. Remove from the heat and add the cilantro and lemon juice.

Take a piece of dough little bigger than a betel nut, roll into a thin circle, about 6-inches in diameter. Cut in half. Make each semi-circle into a cone (using water to seal it), fill 2 t of filling in. Brush the edges with water and fold the dough over, press the edges together to seal.

Preheat the oil in a large pot until bubbling. Add the pastries and deep fry at 300 degrees F, turning, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels. Serve hot with chutney.

Chutney
1 bunch of coriander
4 oz of curd
1/4 t ginger
1/2 t salt
1/2 t curmin seeds
2 t green chilli

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend well. Add 1/2 t lemon juice then serve.
Variations: Instead of curd, you can use tomato or mango. This chutney can serve with any snack.

Kiki learns how to make Samosa in Udaipur


Samosas are similar to bánh gối, bánh xếp (Vietnam), pierogis (Russia and Poland), jiaozi (northern China, Japan, and Korea), momos (Nepal and Tibet), pasties (UK, particularly in Cornwall), empanadas (Latin America), calzones (Italy), knishes (Jewish) or turnovers (America).

Samosa origins

Vietnamese Samosas (Bánh Gối) in Hà Nội

Chạo Tôm

Grilled Shrimp Paste On Sugar Cane

1 lb raw shrimp in shell
2 ounces pork fat (optional)
1 egg white
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 scallions (white head only), crushed
1/2 T sugar
salt and grounded white pepper to taste
1 can (12 ounces) sugar cane in light syrup

Shell and devain shrimp, sprinkle salt over and let stand for 15 minutes, rinse and dry.

Boil the pork fat for 5 minutes, drain and finely dice.

Put shrimp, garlic, scallion, egg white, sugar, salt and pepper in a food processor. Process until the paste is fine and sticky. Add pork fat and mix well. If not using pork fat, add 1 T vegetable oil and mix well.

Split each section of the sugar cane lengthwise into quarters (or in half). Oil your fingers. Mold the paste onto the sugar cane, leave about 1 inch each end of the sugar cane exposed to serve as a handle. Press firmly so that the paste adheres to the cane.

You can grill over medium charcoal for 6-7 minutes, or broil in the oven until browned, or pre-steam for 3 minutes (until the color turns pink) then pan-fry them for 3 more minutes.

Served with peanut sauce:
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 T tamarind paste, soak in warm water, remove seeds and pouches
1 T peanut butter
Siracha chili sauce
2 T roasted peanuts, finely crushed
sugar to taste

Combine hoisin sauce, chicken broth, tamarind juice, peanut butter in a small sauce pan, stir well and bring to boil over medium heat. Add sugar to taste.
Top with ground peanuts and chili sauce.

Cải Thảo Nhồi Đậu

Tofu and Chicken rolls


1 block firm tofu
8 oz chicken meat, julienned
1 Napa cabbage
1 bunch spinach, cooked
1 cup chicken broth
fish sauce, salt, pepper to taste

In a mixing bowl, combine tofu, chicken, 1 T fish sauce, salt, sugar, pepper. Mix until the tofu mixture is smooth. Set aside.

Wash cabbage throroughly and drop the cabbage leaves in a medium pot of boiling salted water and cook for 1 minute. Remove the leaves.

Fill each leaf with 1 T of filling mixture by the stem end. Flatten the mixture with the back of the spoon, add 2-3 cooked spinach leaves on. Add more mixture if needed. Roll up the leaf to hold the filling.

Add chicken broth into a medium pot, add the rolls in, leap side down. Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes.

Serve with rice and fish sauce or serve alone as an appetizer.

Tàu Hũ Ki Ram Mè

Sesame Bean Curd Sticks


5 oz dry bean curd sticks
1 T toasted sesame seeds
1 T caramel sauce
1 small piece fresh ginger, minced
2 T vegetable oil
soy sauce, salt, brown sugar, pepper to taste

Soak dry bean curd in warm water for 30 minutes, drain well.
Heat oil in a medium pan over high heat, add ginger and stir fry until translucent and fragrant. Add bean curd sticks, stir-fry. Add caramel sauce, stir evenly. Continue to cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add soy sauce, salt, brown sugar, and pepper to taste. Add toasted sesame seeds when served.

Toasted Semsame Seeds:
Place sesame seeds in a skillet over medium low heat and stir constantly until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Cool.

Caramel Sauce:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup fish sauce or soy sauce
Cook the sugar in a small heavy saucepan over low heat, swirling constantly, until brown and slighly smoked. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in fish sauce (soy sauce)into the caramel. Be careful for its splattering. Return to heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved, about 2-3 minutes. Cool this sauce throroughly before using. If using hot over cold food the sugar will harden instantly.

Bò Lá Lốt

Grilled Beef in Wild Betel Leaves


1/2 lb rump steak, chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 onion, minced
1 pack wild betel leaves (20 leaves)
1 T vegetable oil
salt, pepper, sugar to taste

In a bowl, mix together steak, lemongrass, garlic, onion, 1/2 T oil, salt, pepper, sugar. Leave to marinade for 2 hours.
Wash wild betel leaves thoroughly.
Place a leaf on a board, upside down, put 1 teaspoon filling on about 1/3 of the way up. Fold the sides and roll the leaf. Repeat with the remaining leaves and filling.
Brush some oil over. Grill on each side from 2-3 minutes.
Serve with pounded roasted peanut and anchovy and pineapple dipping sauce.

Anchovy and Pineapple sauce:
1 small can crushed pineapple
3 T anchovy sauce (mắm nêm)
2 T fish sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red chile pepper, minced
2 T sugar
3 T fresh lemon juice
1 T rice vinegar
1 stalk lemon grass, thinly sliced

Strain anchovy sauce, pressing the solids to extract all the liquid. Discard the solids.
Stir in pinapple, anchovy sauce, fish sauce, lemon juice, sugar, garlic, chile pepper. Stir to blend. Add lemon grass when served.

Nem Nướng

Grilled pork balls

1 lb fresh ham
3 oz pork fat
2 T roasted rice powder
2 shallots, sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 T rice wine
fish sauce, pepper, sugar, oil
food color
scallion oil
pounded roasted peanut
Peanut sauce

Chả Tôm Trộn Sầu Đâu

Sadao and shrimp cake in tamarind sauce

1 pack frozen sadao
1 cup raw shrimp in the shell
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T tamarind paste
2 T sugar
fish sauce and pepper to taste
1 T vegetable oil

Shrimp Cake: Shell and devein the shrimp. Sprinkle some salt over the shrimp and let stand for 15'. Rinse throroughly, drain, and dry with papper towers. Finely chop the shrimp or use food processor to process the shrimp paste. Season with some fish sauce and black pepper.

Pan fry the shrimp cake on each side for 3-4 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a cutting board to cool off and slice.

Sadao: Remove wooden stem, wash and drain.
Add 3 cups of water in a small pan, bring to boil, add sadao and drain quickly. Set aside.

Tamarind Sauce: Put 1/3 cup of water and tamarind paste in a small saucepan, bring to boil. Add 1 T fish sauce, 2 T sugar, garlic and stir until the sugar dissolved.

Pour the sauce over shrimp cake and sadao.

Giò Thủ

Hog's Head Cheese





2 pork's ears
1 pork's snout
1 pork's tongue
2 wood ear mushrooms, julianed
1/4 cup shiitake mushroom, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic
2 shallots
1/2 T whole pepper
1 T vegetable oil
fish sauce, salt, pepper to taste

Ốc Bưu Củ Sắn Cuốn

Apple Snail Roll





14 oz apple snail meat washed and sliced
1 big jicama, julianed
5 green onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T vegetable oil
fish sauce, pepper to taste
4 heads taiwanese lettuces, cut into 3 crosswise
1 cup mint leaves
20 6-inches diameter rice pappers

Heat oil, add garlic and fry until fragant then add apple snail, stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Drain excess liquid to a small bowl (for dipping sauce) and remove snail meat. Add more oil and stir fry jicama for 3-5 minutes or until soft and translucant. Add snail meat and green onion. Fish sauce and pepper to taste.

Moisten rice paper with warm water. Place on flat surface until soften. Top with 4-5 piece of Taiwanese lettuce, several mint leaves, 1/2 T apple snail mixture.

Roll up paper into cylinder. Trim both ends to make your rolls even.

Dipping sauce:
2 T fish sauce + 5 T apple snail juice + 2 T fresh squeeze lemon juice + 2 T sugar (or to taste)+ 2 clove minced garlic + 2 minced red hot chilli pepper + 1 T minced ginger.

Bì Cuốn

Pork Skin Roll

1/2 lb pork skin mixture
10 8-inches diameter rice paper
8 large lettuce leaves, chopped
1 cup mint leaves
1 T finely shredded carrot
1/2 cup sweet and sour fish sauce

Moisten rice paper with warm water. Place on flat surface until soften. Top with 1 T lettuce, several mint leaves, 1 T pork skin mixture
Roll up paper halfway into cylinder. Fold sides of paper inward, continue to roll paper into cylinder. Cut each roll in half and serve with the sauce.

Sweet and Sour Fish sauce: 1 T fish sauce + 2 T hot water+ 1 T sugar+ 1/2 T vinegar+ 1 clove minced garlic. Mix well.
Add shredded carrot and chilli sauce(optional) when serve.

Pork Skin Mixture: 1/4 lb cooked shredded pork skin + 1/2 lb cooked shredded pork ham + 2 T roasted rice powder+ 1 cloves minced garlic+ salt and pepper to taste.

Ốc Giác Hấp Sả

2 lbs conch snail
2 stalks lemongrass
2 T white wine
1/2 cup ginger fish sauce

Steamed Conch

Soak conch in salt water, wash and drain.
Lemongrass: Cut the woody tip, remove loose, dry outer layers, trim off the fibrous end. Cut into 3-inches length. Smash with the back of the cleaver to release the aromatic oil. Put conch,lemongrass and white wine in a medium pot, covered over high heat. Cook until all the wine vaporated (3-5 minutes) add water if needed.
Serve with ginger fish sauce.