Ngỗng Nướng Cam

Orange Roasted Goose

Thanksgiving Feast 2007

Vietnamese Pumpkin Soup
Autumn Salad with shrimps
Dijon Mustard Turkey
Homestyle Gravy
Mushroom Cornbread stuffing
Shanghai Cranberry Sauce
Green bean Casserole
Baked Japanese yam with scallion oil
Japanese Scalloped corn
Chocolate Raspberry pie

Vietnamese Pumpkin Soup

6 cups chicken broth
3 cups pumpkin
1/2 cup boiled peanut
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup coconut milk
salt and white pepper to taste

1) Cook peanut, pumpkin, and onion in chicken stock until nicely soft (20 minutes). Remember to soak peanut for couple hours before cooking, it takes much longer to cook than pumpkin.
2) Use mixer to puree soup.
3) Put back to simmer for a few minutes, add coconut milk. Season with salt and pepper.
Option: Use a large hollowed pumpkin for the soup, warm up in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes before serve.

Autumn Salad with Shrimps
8 cups mixed greens
1 cup shredded carrot
1 cup cooked shrimps
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1 can pear
1/4 cup roasted walnut
1/4 cup rasin
5-6 prunes, chopped
French dressing

Top salad greens with shrimps, eggs, nuts, fruits and dressing. Mix well when served.

Dijon Mustard Turkey
1 fresh young turkey, 10 lbs
2 T dijon mustard
2 lemon
1 t paprika
1 T chopped fresh rosemary, oregano and thyme
1 gallon brine

1) Soak turkey in brine for 10 hrs. Make sure you have a big enough container for your turkey and enough brine to cover ans also enough room in you refrigerator for it. If not, use a bag and put in you cooler.
Brine: 4 cups orange juice, 1 cup table salt, 1/2 cup sugar and enough water to cover turkey (about 1 gallon all together). Make sure salt and sugar all dissolved.

2) Rinse the bird throroughly, pat dry and massage the bird with fresh squeezed lemon juice, dijon mustard, chopped fresh rosemary, oregano, thyme. Finish with a coat of papprika.

3) Turn oven to 475 degrees. Cover turkey breast and wings (or you can fold wings back) with foil. Bake for 30 minutes, reduce to 350 degree. Bake for 1 hr 45'. Remove foil. Brush butter or oil on turkey (after basting, if you do). Bake for 30 more minutes.

4) Remove and let turkey stand for 20 minutes before carving. Reserve pan drippings for gravy.

Baked Japanese Yam with Scallion oil

6 Japanese yams
2 T scallion oil
salt and pepper

Bake yams in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. You can prick yams before baking (optional). Make a slit along yam, use a kitchen towel to push the ends to make yam open up. Season scallion oil with salt and pepper, stir in yam with a fork.

Shanghai Cranberry Sauce

4 cups fresh cranberry (1 12 oz bag)
1.5 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cinamon stick
12 kumquat candies, cut in half
1 T port or cognac

Wash cranberry and place in a sauce pan with sugar, water and cinamon stick. Stir and simmer until cranberry bursts (about 10 minutes). Add kumquat candies and cognac in, stir well. Chill and serve.

Gà Ram Hành

Sauteed Onion Chicken

4-5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T caramel sauce (light)
1 T vegetable oil
1 T Vietnamese coriander leaves, schiffonaded (optional)
Salt, pepper, fish sauce, sugar

1) Wash and cut chicken thigh into strips (or any size and shape you want).
2) Heat 1 T oil over medium high heat, add garlic and stir-fry until fragrant. Add chicken and saute for a few minutes. Add onion and cook until liquid is reduced. Add caramel sauce (if you are making it fresh, make it lighter than you normally do). Season with salt, pepper, fish sauce and sugar to your taste.
3) Top with Vietnamese coriander leaves, then serve.

Cải Tây Hầm Tỏi

Stewed Turnip Green

1 turnip green bunch
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chicken broth or water
1/2 T vegetable oil
1 dried banga mary fish

1) Wash and cut turnip green (2-3 inches). Separate stems and leave.
2) Thinly slice garlic (or crush, mince, any way you want) then put into a pot with chicken broth (or water, I used water) and vegetable oil (you can also skip this). Bring to a boil over medium high heat.
3) Add turnip green stems in to cook (partially cover) for a few minutes. Add leave and cook, turn to cook them evently. When turnip is tender, season them with salt and pepper.
4) Pan fry dried banga mary fish (or any dried fish you have in your pantry) while cooking the turnip green. Cool off, remove bones, shred the meat by hand and serve with stewed turnip green.

Petit Pate Chaud

4 sheets puff pastry
1/2 lb ground pork
1 T pork liver pate
1/2 small onion, minced
1/2 T dry sherry
salt and pepper
2 egg yolks

1) Allow pastry sheets to defrost (40 minutes)
2) Mix ground pork, pate, onion, sherry, salt and pepper (to taste) until smooth paste. In a small cup, beat 2 egg yolks evenly.
3) Use small cookie cutter to cut circular pieces from the soften puff pastry.
4) Use a small spoon to put filling in pastry piece, put another piece of pastry on top. Use the back of a fork to gently press both round pieces of the pastry together around the outer edge. Brush egg yolk on.
5) Turn oven to 350-375 F (should do this 5' before you finish filling up the pate).
6) Place the finished pate on an oven tray lined up with baking paper (or foil).
7) Cook in oven at mid position, 15'.

Notes:
- You can make pastry ring and add around the filling, right at the circular edge to make your pate higher but it's not nessecery.
- You can brush egg york on when pate is cooked and move up on higher rack in the oven to finish it.
- Any kind of filling will do, feel free to create your own. And size does not matter, too. I made these "bite size" for milo to bring to potluck lunch so people have room to enjoy other dishes. I prefer bigger one for breakfast.

Đọt Đậu Sốt Chao

Snow Pea Sprout with fermented Tofu Sauce


1 bag of Snow pea sprout
3 cubes fermented tofu
1/2 T vegetable oil
hot chili sauce
sugar

Remove hard or dead leave, wash sprout throroughly.
Bring water to a boil in a pot, boil sprout, drain.
In a small sauce pan over medium heat, stir fermented tofu, oil and sugar (some water maybe added) until smooth, add hot chili sauce (tou your taste)in.
Dress over boiled sprout.

Cá Chim Chiên Sốt Cay

Crispy Pomfret in Spicy Sauce

Cá Tuyết Hấp Gừng Hành

Steamed Sea Bass with Ginger and Green Onion


1 slice Sea bass (10-12 oz)
1/4 T sake (or white wine)
1 T soy sauce (light)
1/2 T vegetable oil
few drops of sesame oil
1 small piece fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
1 green onion, julienned
salt, pepper and sugar

Clean and place Sea bass in a large shallow bowl. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the fish. Add soy sauce, sake, vegetable oil, some sugar, ginger, green onion (white head only, leave green part for garnishing) into the bowl.
Fill some water in a wok or a skillet that deep enough (or one has a big lid cover) to hold the bowl and some room for the steam, place bowl in, cover. Bring to a boil over medium high heat then reduce to medium heat to let the fish steam for 10-15'.
Turn off heat and remove the fish bowl. Drop some sesame oil in, sprinkle some green onions shreds on top then serve.

Bong Bóng Cá Dồn Thịt

Stuffed Fish Maw

Bông Cải Xanh Trứng Cháy

Vietnamese Broccoli Frittata

1/2 cup chopped broccoli
4 eggs
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1/2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 T vegetable oil
salt, sugar, pepper to taste

Heat oil in a medium pan until bubbling hot but not smoky, add garlic, stir until fragrant, add broccoli and green onion, stir fry for 3 minutes or until nicely cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle sugar to the pan and let it melt so it will form a crunchy crust later. Beat eggs evenly in a bowl with some salt and pepper, pour into the broccoli and cook on each side until golden brown. Serve with steamed rice.

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.

Cá Nục Kho Thơm

Mackarel braised in Pineapple Coconut Juice

3 Mackarels, clean and cut in half
1/4 Pineapple, sliced
1 can coconut juice
2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
1/2 cup fish sauce
Vegetable oil

Pan fry mackarel with oil until skin turn golden. Transfer over pressure cooker, add coconut juice, fish sauce, garlic, pineapple, some oil in. Cover, lock lid and cook over medium high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer for 50 minutes. Turn off heat. Let it cook in steam for 10 more minutes. Release steam, open lid. Fish are ready to serve. The bones can be eaten (very soft) too.

Canh Khoai Sọ Rau Nhút

Water Mimosa and Taro Corm Soup

4-5 taro corms (small), peeled
2 cups water mimosa, cut into 3-inches length
4-5 shirmps, shelled, deveined and minced

Water mimosa: remove the white foam and root around the stem, cut into 3-inches length and wash thoroughly.
Put taro corms in a pot, cover with water, bring to boil and cook taro corm until soft. Add shrimp, bring back to boil, skim off foam, add water mimosa. Season with salt, sugar and pepper. Serve hot with rice.

Lẩu Mắm

Mixed Vegetables and Fermented Fish Flavored Hot Pot


1 jar fermented Gourami (mắm sặc)
2 lbs pork neck bone
2/3 lb pork belly, sliced
1/2 lb small shrimp (shell-in)
2 Japanese Eggplants, cubed
15 small okras
2 cups string bean, cut into 3-inches length
2 cans coconut juice
3 stalks fresh lemongrass
1/2 T chopped lemongrass
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 shallots, minced
Vegetable oil, salt, rock sugar

Put pork bones in a pot, cover with water (about 3 quarts), bring to a boil over medium high heat, skim off foam, add some salt and lower heat, simmer for 2-3 hrs. Discard bones.

In a small pot, put fermented gourami (use a whole jar if it's a ready to use paste, 1/2-2/3 jar if it's not a ready to use paste), stalks of lemongrass (crush with side of your cleaver) and 2 cans coconut juice in, simmer over medium low heat until all become a muddy soup. Strain broth to discard bones (If using ready to use paste, just stir in and bring to a boil).

Put some oil in a skillet, add minced garlic, shallot and minced lemongrass in, stir until fragrent, add pork belly in, stir-fry, season with some fish sauce, sugar and pepper.

Add fermented fish broth to the soup pot (not all of it), bring back to boil. Taste and adjust by adding more fermented fish broth or adding rock sugar. Add shrimp, pork belly, okra, string bean and eggplant. Serve with cooked rice vermicelli (medium size) and mixed raw vegetables.
Raw Vegetables

Water Spinach (rau muống bào)
Banana Blossom (bắp chuối)
Water lily Stem (ngó súng)
Water Mimosa (rau nhút)

Bitter Leaf (rau đắng)
Beansprout (giá)
Chive (hẹ)
Herbs: Basil (húng quế), mint (húng nhũi), fish mint (dấp cá) ....

Cá Bông Lau Kho Tộ

Catfish Simmered in Claypot


4 slices catfish (small)
1 small piece pork belly, sliced
1 T fish sauce
1/2 T sugar
1 t pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 T vegetable oil
2/3 T caramel sauce
2 green onions, chopped
1 dried hot chilli, chopped

Put fish, pork belly, fish sauce, sugar, pepper, garlic, shallot, oil, caramel sauce into clay pot. Let it marinade for 1 hour. Simmer with low heat until liquid is reduced 2/3. Garnish with chopped green onion and dried hot chilli.

Canh Chua Cá Bông Lau

Catfish with Vegetables Sour Soup


Live Catfish (2 lbs): They will clean and slice your fish at Asian market. Use head, tail piece and 1 slice from the belly. The rest save up for "clay pot" dish.
1 medium taro stem, sliced
1/2 cup pineapple (fresh or canned, sliced or cubed)
1/2-1 tomato
1 cup beansprount
6 small okras
Tamarind powder
1 T chopped rice paddy herb
1/2 T crisp-fried garlic oil

Put fish head and cover with few cups water. Bring to boil over medium high heat, add fish tail and slice in to cook for 5-7 minutes, remove fish. Add pineapple and tamarind powder in, season with sugar, fish sauce or some salt. Add okra to cook for 2 minutes, then add taro stem, tomato and beansprout. Top with 1/2 T crisp-fry garlic oil and rice paddy herb, few slices of hot chilli if you wish. Serve hot with rice.

Thịt Heo Ram

Caramelized Pork in Shallot Sauce

Mực Xào Cần Cà

Sauteed Cuttlefish with Cucumber, tomato and Chinese Celery

Sườn Ram Tôm

Caramel Spare Rib with Shrimp


1 lb lean sparerib, cut into 2-inches pieces
12 medium shrimps, shelled and deveined
1 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 onion, cubed
1 green onion, cut into 1-inch length
1 T vegetable oil
1 T white wine
2 T sugar
Fish sauce, salt, pepper to taste

Put spareribs + garlic + shallot + 1 T fish sauce + 1/4 t salt + 1/2 T sugar + fresh ground black pepper, mix well, cover and refrigerate overnight or 4 hrs.

Heat oil in a heavy bottom skillet. Add the ribs and cook until brown, about 15-20 minutes. In a small pan, make caramel sauce from 1 T sugar. Add caramelized sugar and stir for 5 minutes. Add 1 T white wine and let it simmer for 5-7 more minutes. Add shrimps and onion, stir for few more minutes until shrimps are cooked (3 minutes. Season with 1/2 T sugar and some fish sauce to taste. Sprinkle with black pepper and green onion then serve with steamed rice.

Đậu Hũ Hấp Tôm Khô

Steamed Tofu with Shallot Shrimp Oil


1/2 block House soft tofu
1/2 T shallot oil
1 T dried fine shrimp
1/2 T scallion oil
2/3 T light soy sauce
1/2 T sugar

Soak dried shrimps in water until soft, pound, and stir-fry with some oil and sugar.
Put soy sauce and sugar in a small sauce pan and bring to boil until sugar dissolved.
Cut tofu in half and lay flat in a bowl. Steam tofu until hot (for 5 minutes), or just microwave it until hot (1-2 minutes)
Pour sweet soy sauce into bowl, top tofu with shallot oil, fried dried shrimp, and scallion oil. Serve.

Tôm Càng Kho Tàu

Prawn Simmered in Garlic Onion Sauce


1 lb frozen prawn (5-6)
2 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1.5 T shrimp paste in soya bean oil
2 green onion, cut into 2-inches length
1 T vegetable oil
salt, pepper, fish sauce, sugar

Use scissors to cut off part of the prawn head, just pass the nose (hard nub above the eyes), the claws and legs part while prawn still frozen (don't defrost them). Remove prawn shell, sand vein, but leave the tail attached for presentation.

Heat oil and add shallot and garlic, cook until fragrant, place prawns and pan sear both sides until golden. Add shrimp paste with soya bean oil in. Season with fish sauce, salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. Simmer for 3-5 minutes (if prawn was frozen).

Optional: You can add 1/2 cup of coconut juice and simmer.

Canh Ngưu Bàng Giò Heo

Gobo Soup with Pork Hock

2 slices pork hock
5 small shiitake mushrooms
1 gobo root (burdock root)
1 carrot
1 small piece daikon (1/2 size of carrot)
1 scallion, 3 sprigs cilantro

Clean pork hock and put in a small pot cover with water, bring to a boil over medium hight heat, skim off all foams. Lower heat to cook until fork tender (about 35-40 minutes).
Soak shiitake mushrooms in warm water for 1-2 hrs, wash and remove stem.
Scrape the thin brown skin of the gobo root with the back of your knife, cut into 1-inch length. You can scrub some lemon on it after scraping to make the gobo whiter. I prefer the brownish color so I just leave it like that.
Add mushrooms and gobo in the soup to cook for 10-15 minutes.
Peel and slice carrot and daikon. Put into the pot to cook for 10 more minutes.
Season with sea salt.
Top with some shredded scallion and cilantro, sprinkle some fresh ground pepper.

Street Foods in Taiwan

Betel Nut Roll
Trầu Têm

Braised Pork Feet in Spices
Móng Heo Phá Lấu

Sticky Rice Sausage
Dồi Nếp

Boiled Black Horn Nut
Củ Ấu Luộc

Chem Chép Kho Tộ

Green Mussel Claypot

1 cup green mussel meat (remove from 1/2 shell)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 scallions, cut into 1-inch length
5 dried red chilli
1 T vegetable oil
1/2 T fish sauce
1.5 T sugar
salt, pepper

Heat 1 T oil in a clay pot over medium heat, add garlic and stir until fragrant, add mussel, dried red chilli, fish sauce, sugar and stir to marinate well. Heat 1 T sugar in a non-stick pan until sugar turn into caramel color, transfer caramelized sugar into clay pot. Simmer in medium low heat until liquid reduced. Add scallion, some salt (if needed) and fresh ground pepper.

Cà Tím Nướng Mỡ Hành

Grilled Japanese Eggplant With Scallion Oil

2 Japanese Eggplants
1 T scallion oil
2 T sweet and sour fish sauce
salt and pepper

Poke around the eggplants with toothpick and soak in salt water for 30 minutes (this is optional, you can skip this part if you don't have time).
Place in oven to broil under 500 degrees Farenheit until skin is charred and inner flesh soft and tender. About 20 minutes, 10 minutes each sides (remember to turn).
Remove from the oven and let the skin cool off for a few minutes. Use a knife or your fingers to peel off the skin, it should come off easily. Place peeled eggplants on a dish and gently run a fork along to make spaghetti strips out of the eggplants. Sprinkle sea salt and fresh pepper on. Top with scallion oil and sweet and sour fish sauce.

Canh Đậu Hũ Hẹ Nấu Tôm

Tofu and Chive Soup with Shrimp

1/2 block soft tofu, cut into bite cubes
1 cup chive, cut into 2-inches length
5-6 shrimps, shelled, deveined and minced
fish sauce, salt, sugar and pepper

Bring some water to boil over medium high heat, add minced shrimp (break into small pieces), bring back to boil, skim off foam. Add tofu, bring back to boil. Add chive and season with fish sauce, a pinch of sugar, salt and fresh ground pepper.

Cá Hồi Chiên Giòn Sốt Cay

Crispy Salmon in Spicy Sauce

Crispy Salmon
1.5 lbs salmon fillet, cut into bite cubes, salt and pepper
oil to fry
Heat oil until hot, deep fry salmon until cooked (inner flesh turns white) about 2-3 minutes.

Spicy Sauce:
1 T vegetable oil + 1 T fish sauce + 2 T rice vinegar + 2-3 T honey or plum sauce + 2 cloves minced garlic + 1/2 seedless minced red chilli (adjust all the ingredients to your taste). Stir this mixture to a boil over medium heat then reduce heat and simmer until thicken.

Pour over crispy salmon then serve.

Cải Thượng Hải Sốt Nấm

Soy-Glazed Bok Choy and Mushroom


4-5 heads bok choy
4-5 small shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t minced ginger
1 T vegetable oil
1 T rice vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1/2 T honey
few drops sesame oil

Soak shiitake mushroom in warm water until soft, wash and slice.
Wash and boil bok choy to cook.
Heat oil in a sauce pan, add garlic and ginger to stir until freagrant, add mushroom and stir-fry, add vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and water if needed. Adjust ingredient to taste. Simmer until thick, add some sesame oil. Pour over cooked bok choy and serve.

Canh Rau Muống Nấu Nghêu

Water Spinach and Clam Soup

1/2 bunch water spinach
10 live manila clams
fish sauce and pepper to taste

Use hand to twist water spinach into 3-inches length (my mom said this will make spinach more tender than cut them with a knife), discard bad leaves and hard end part of the stem. Wash them throroughly.

Put water into a sauce pan, add clams and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Skim off foam. When the clams are cooked (all opened up), remove them. Add water spinach in and bring back to boil. It won't take long to cook this, when the spinach is tender, season the soup with some fish sauce and fresh ground pepper. Add clams back in then serve.

Rau Bí Xào Tỏi

Sauteed Pumpkin Leaves


1 bunch pumpkin leaves
2 T vegetable oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced

Strip and peel away the fibrous cover from stems and leaf veins. Remove hard ends, cut stems into 3-inches length, put aside. Use gloves or your hands to knead the leaves gently to remove the tiny hair from them. Wash them throroughly.
Heat 2 T oil in a large pan, add garlic, stir until fragrant, add pumpkin leaves. Sauteed until tender, season with salt, fish sauce, pepper.

Thịt Kho Măng

Braised Pork With Bamboo Shoot


1 lb pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch thick
4 boiled bamboo shoots, quartered
2 coconut juice cans
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

Put pork and coconut juice in a pot, add water to cover pork if needed, add garlic and bring to a boil over medium high heat, skim off foams. Reduce heat to simmer for 1 hour, add bamboo shoots and 1/4 cup fish sauce and continue to cook for another hour.

Cá Bống Kho Tiêu

Sand Goby Simmered in Pepper Sauce

1 package frozen ready-to-cook sandy goby
3 T premium grade fish sauce (if using regular one, 2 T should be enough)
2.5 T vegetable oil
2-2.5 T sugar
1 t fresh ground pepper
1 small shallot, minced

Run water to wash and seperate the fish from frozen package, pat dry with paper towel.
Heat 2 T oil in a non-stick pan (big enough for all gobies touch the bottom and some room to turn them) over medium high heat, add shallot and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the fish in (they should be partially frozen), add 2 T fish sauce and 1/2 T sugar in. Lower heat to simmer, use simmer burner if you have one otherwise use the lowest mode (partially cover) until all liquid totally absorbed. Turn off heat and let it cool off.
Heat 2 T sugar in a small skillet to make caramel sauce. Just when the sugar turn light brown, remove and add 1 T water to dissolve the sauce. Warning: Fresh caramelized sugar is very hot, so handle it carefully, adding water might spray the hot caramelized sugar in any direction. You can use the ready made one, but making fresh caramel sauce will give better color. Transfer fish into a claypot, add caramel sauce, 1/2 T oil, 1 T fish sauce, 1 t pepper into the fish. Turn the fish so they can be covered evenly. Bring back to simmer, cover first to let it steam for a few minute, then simmer uncovered until all liquid are gone.
This whole simmering in fish sauce-pepper oil process will give the goby a distintive texture like ... fish version of chicken.

By the way, the reason I use non-stick pan to simmer it first because I don't have a 100-years old clay pot. In fact, I just bought 1 when I got the fish yesterday. If you have a well-use, already break-in one, you can just use it to simmer the fish from the beginning.

So I spent 6.99 + tax for the clay pot, plus the fish (I forgot how much was the fish), plus the whole morning simmering these 5 little fish (there were 7 of them, 2 gone for taste-test). I probably gonna serve them in my gold rimmed Rosenthal plate :)))

Cháo Huyết

Pork Blood Congee


2-3 cup of thick congee
1 T small fried shrimp
1 T cooked pork skin (optional)
1/2 cup congealed pork blood
2 Chinese crullers, cut into rings
2 T chopped green onion and cilantro
fish sauce, sugar, salt, pepper to taste

I often make this congee from thick congee, you can make it from left over rice or from uncooked rice.

Soak dried shrimp in warm water until soft.
Put thick congee into a pot and add water to thin it. This congee is much thinner than a typical congee, it's more soupy. Add soaked shrimps in and its water, discard the sandy stuff if any that sinks in the bottom. Simmer to cook for 1/2 hour.
Boil congealed pork blood to cook then cut into small bite cubes.
Add pork blood cubes into the pot. Season with fish sauce, salt, sugar and pepper.
Top some crispy Chinese cruller rings, chopped green onion and cilantro, fresh ground pepper and some minced red hot chilli (if desired).

Gà Nướng Gừng

Honey Ginger Roasted Chicken


4 chicken thighs, skin-on and bone-in
1 T vegetable oil
1 T honey
1 T soy sauce
1 t ground ginger
1 small piece fresh ginger, julienned
salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients and marinate chicken for 1-2 hrs.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, place chicken in a roasting pan, reserve the marinade to baste. Start basting frequently after roasting 15-20 minutes so chicken won't burn before cooked. Check the thickest part, if juice runs clear then it's cooked. Let them sit 5 minutes before served. Remove bone, slice then serve.

Bí Nhồi Tôm Hấp

Shrimp-Stuffed Hairy Gourd


1/2 medium hairy gourd, cut into rings
6-8 shrimps, shelled, deveined, and minced
1 T ground pork
1 shallot, minced
2 heads bok choy
1 T oyster sauce
Vegetable oil, salt, pepper

Mix shrimp, pork, shallot, some salt and pepper to taste.
Remove seeds from gourd rings.
Stuff mixture into rings.
Place them in a small pot, add some water and cover to cook until gourd is translucent and tender. Remove. Add bok choy into the pot to cook. Remove.
Add some oil, oyster sauce into the liquid and simmer until thick. Pour on top stuffed gourd rings and bok choy then serve.

Canh Chua Thơm

Pineapple Shrimp Soup


1/2 fresh pineapple, sliced
12-15 small shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T rice paddy herb, chopped
1/2 T crisp-fried garlic oil
Fish sauce, sugar, oil, fresh red hot chilli

Heat some oil and stir-fry garlic until fragrant, add pineapple in and stir-fry, add fish sauce and sugar to season. Add shrimps and stir-fry to partially cooked. Add water and bring to boil. Season the soup with more fish sauce and sugar if needed. Add crisp-fried garlic oil. Top with rice paddy herb and fresh hot chilli.

Cá Chiên Muối Ớt Tây Ninh

Tay Ninh Chilli-Salt Fish Nugget

Rau Củ Luộc

Steamed Vegetable Platter


I actually boil them, not steam, but we've never wasted the stock so I guess that the way of getting back all the nutrients lost from boling.
Use any vegetable you have in the fridge.
There are many types of dipping sauce, I use Egg York Dipping Sauce this time.

Nước Rau Đánh Dấm

Vegetable Consomme
Few cups of stock from boiling vegetables
1 ripe tomato
1 clove garlic, minced
1 green onion, chopped or julienned

Blanch tomato in boiling stock, peel skin, put back in to cook until nicely soft. Smash tomato in hot broth to serve with garlic and green onion added.

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.