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

Xôi Trứng Kiến (Ant Eggs)

Ant Eggs with Sticky Rice



2 cups sticky rice, soacked in cold water for 8hrs or more
1 cup ant eggs
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1 T. vegetable oil, or butter
salt and pepper to taste

Fill the pot with about 2 inches of water, place the conical steamer basket in the pot, and put the rice in the basket, sprinkle with salt. Over high heat, bring water to boil. Make sure the water doesn't run dry. Cook for 30 minutes.
Soak ant eggs lightly in warm water to clean out all the ants. drained.
Place a pan over medium heat, add butter (or oil), add shallot and stir evenly until it turns light yellow. Add ant eggs, stir lightly and well until cook, about 3-5 mins. Set aside.
Place sticky rice in a dish, top with ant eggs.

Gỏi Trứng Sam (Horseshoe Crab)

Roasted horseshoe crab eggs salad

Horseshoe crabs (called sam) in Vietnam mate for life. They have found that Vietnamese horseshoe crabs mate from June to August. That is why you often see them in pair, together, come to shore when it is a shiny full moon. While called "crabs", they are not true crabs but more closely related to spiders and scorpions. This ancient creature has been appearing over 350 million years on the earth, more than 100 million years before the dinosaurs. It can be considered one of the oldest living fossils. Each female horseshoe crab lays almost 90,000 rich-protein eggs in evening Spring tides during full moon.

1 female horseshoe crab
1 box of rice crakers or shrimp crackers
2 cup tender bamboo shoot, thinly shredded
1 cup carrot, thinly shredded
2/3 cup Vietnamese coriander leaves (rau răm), finely sliced
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
sugar to taste
1 serrano chile, minced
fresh ground black pepper

Preheat the grill 10 minutes on high, reduce the heat to medium grill the crab for 10-12 minutes each side.
In a small bowl, stir together fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, garlic, chiles, shallot. Let stand.
In a larger bowl, combine bamboo shoot, carrot and herb. Pour the dressing over and toss well.
Place the crab on dish, open up to scoop the roasted eggs inside the shell. Put these delicous eggs on rice cracker and top with the bamboo shoot salad.

Thịt Đông

Pork's Trotter Cheese


It's usually made around Tet (New Year Festival) when the weather is cold, back then we didn't have refrigerator so the weather would help the mixture set.

1 lb pork's trotter or ham hock(fresh)
6 wooden ear mushrooms
1 tablespoon fish sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Place trotter in a medium pot cover with water.(*) Bring to full boil then reduce heat to slow simmer. Skim off scum and keep adding boil water to keep meat covered. Cook until fork penetrates easily.
(*)Soak wooden ear mushroom in warm water for 30 minutes then put in the meat pot to cook for couple minutes, remove.
When the trotter's skin is nicely soft, place the trotter on dish to cool off, strain the stock to another pot, set aside. Remove all bones and fat, dice meat and skin to the strained stock bring to boil and reduce to simmer. Make sure the amount of stock is equal to the amount of meat. Add fish sauce, salt and pepper to taste.
Place each wooden ear mushroom in 6 small bowls, laddle the mixture on top, saran wrap and refrigerate until served. Slightly press on the mold, it will loose off easily.

Tôm Bay (Flying Shrimps)

Pan Fried Grasshopper


2 cups grasshoppers
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vegetable broth
1/4 lime leaves, thinly sliced
1 meaty stalk fresh lemongrass, nicely chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon salt

Place a medium pot of water on to boil, add salt, bring back to the boil, immerse the "shrimps", bring to boil, drain, cool off, set aside, take off their wings. (Note: never wash or rinse them with cold water)
Heat a pan over high heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot (add lemongrass if used) add the shrimps and stir-fry, add the broth and cook until they turn golden brown. Add lime leaves, stir briefly then turn out onto a plate. Serve with drink as Tapas style.