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.