Tag: entree

Bò Kho (braised beef stew)

Ingredients

  • beef for stew or shank, cut into cubes
  • chinese five spice
  • garlic
  • carrots, cut in chunks
  • lemon grass, cut into finger length
  • corn starch (to thicken stew)

Directions

  • marinade meat with spices, garlic, ginger, lemon grass
  • use a cast iron pan, sear meat on both sides over high heat
  • add water (3TBs) on sides of pot
  • cover and cook til you hear sizzling sound
  • continue to add 1/2 C of water into the pot (pour on the side)
  • watch to make sure it doesn’t burn
  • keep doing this for ~45 minutes, the meat will shrink & soak in the liquid, spices, and cooked slowly
  • after the 5th time, add enough water to cover the meat about 1″ over
  • in an instant pot, cook while covered, add more water

Notes

  • meat tender and seasoned.
  • add carrots about 10 mins before the stew is done
  • add corn starch to thicken as desired
  • eat with french bread or Hu Tieu noodle

Cá Kho Tô

Ingredients:

  • 1 Catfish
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion
  • Caramel – nuoc mau
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • Coco Rico (optional) – alternatives are carbonated water or just water
  • Non-stick pan, clay pot, or any pot/pan you have

Marinating Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

  1. Cut catfish in half (around its belly button(?))
  2. Take the tail end and slice into 3/4″ slices
  3. Chop onion and layer at bottom of the pan
  4. Drizzle caramel (nuoc mau) over the fish a couple of rounds
  5. Sprinkle salt & sugar over fish and marinate for 30 minutes
  6. If using a non-stick pan, cook on medium high. If using a clay pot, start on low and slowly increase the heat to avoid cracking the clay pot.
  7. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes.
  8. Every 2-3 minutes, check & add about 2 tablespoons of liquid (coco rico/soda/water) around the fish. Use chopsticks to carefully adjust the edges of the fish so it doesn’t stick to the pan. When one side seems done, you can flip to the other side.
  9. Serve with rice and, if desired, veggies (sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, pickled mustard greens, etc)

banh xeo

Ingredients:

Mix in bowl to form a paste (first 3 ingredients first, once combined, you can add the rest):

  • 2C rice flour,
  • 1/2 C yellow corn meal,
  • 1 can coconut milk,
  • 3Tsp of green onions,
  • 1/2 tsp salt, sugar,
  • 1-2tsp turmeric,
  • Tsp oil,
  • 3C warm water

Ingredients for filling:

Shrimp, side pork belly, onions, jicama, mushroom, bean sprouts

Instructions

Heat oil in nonstick wok or skillet, fry pork belly and shrimp, add mushroom, onions, on high heat pour ~1/2 C flour mixture thinly around skillet rim first then swirl around to fill surface, in 1-2 min adjust heat to medium then place jicama and bean sprouts in center, cover with lid with a minute, uncover & check crust around the edge for crispiness sprinkle bit of oil to lift edge, then carefully dish out with like a calzone!

thịt bò xào chấm muối tiêu chanh

This is an easy, lazy and quickly meal of some hungry ,rush rush people who like to eat as well .

Ingredients

  • Prepare a 5-6 oz of meat, steak , tri tips, sirloin whatever you prefer, slice thinly across the grain,
  • salt and pepper
  • Onions slice vertical not too thin ,
  • garlic chopped or minced
  • a few shakes of Maggi if you have it

Instructions

  • add 1 Tbsp of oil of your desire,better use the cast iron skillet to cook this .  then wait for the skillet really hot
  • pour the meat in stir it two rounds add your onions stir it then turn off stove.
  • That’s it .
  • Salad of any kind will work,and to make it more chảy nước miếng is pickled slice onions in vinegar and sugar to add to salad ( prep salad and onions before the meat).
  • You may eat this with bread, rice or just it with croutons.

Bon appétit.

Cơm Rang

Basic

Mẹ can give you a few different recipes: one called cơm rang nhà nghèo , it’s just easy as you can cook only cơm nguội , tỏi muối đường as you can start with a skillet add a tablespoon of veg oil 4-5 cloves of garlic chopped add a bowl full of cơm nguội stir around to avoid burning or sticking about few minutes then add salt and sugar to taste . That’s it .

With eggs

Another one you can mix egg into the rice before cook with chopped onion and garlic then seasoned with salt and sugar to taste .

Fancy

And here’s a fancy, delicious and luxurious one like you all had every time we got together here it is : rice, lạp xưởng , ham , pork meat , onion garlic salt,sugar and mixed vegetables such as carrots, green peas ,corn as desired. You also need to make some scrambled eggs then chop them in small chunks set aside then add to the rice when processing.
It takes long time to finish and also put more attention in order to get it tasty.

Com-Rang-Fried-Rice-Hanoi-Local-Food-Tours-4.jpg

 

Thịt Kho Trứng

INGREDIENTS

  • hard boiled eggs
  • pork (2 lbs), with meat, fat and skin, cut into chunks 2×2 or 3×3
  • coco rico coconut juice (or carbonated drink)
  • onion (halves or quartered)
  • rock sugar (1 chunk, less if using sweetened carbonated drink)

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. place boiled eggs in bottom of pot
  2. add chunks of meat on top
  3. pour coconut juice (or carbonated drink) to cover
  4. add onions
  5. add rock sugar
  6. boil on high, skim foam
  7. reduce heat, cover halfway
  8. simmer 2-3 hrs or overnight
  9. watch pot and add juice if it reduces.  water should always covered meat
  10. when done, season to taste with sugar, salt and fish sauce

 

thit-kho-trung-nuoc-cot-dua.jpg

Curry Chicken

INGREDIENTS

  • chicken
  • curry powder
  • salt, pepper
  • onions (chopped)
  • potatoes (cubed)
  • carrots
  • (canned) peas
  • chicken broth
  • coconut milk
  • cornstarch (optional)
  • cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Marinate cut up chicken with oil, curry powder, salt, and black pepper for about half an hour.
  2. Heat oil, sauté sliced or chopped onions for a couple of minutes,
  3. Add garlic and ginger and sauté well but do not burn.
  4. Add chicken and sauté until barely done.
  5. Remove and keep covered so meat won’t dry out.
  6. Heat oil and barely fry potatoes.
  7. Add carrots and chicken broth and cook until desired doneness.
  8. Remove about a cup of the vegetables, smash well, and add back to broth. (If broth is not thick enough and there is not enough vegetables to smash more, mix about a teaspoon of cornstarch in cold water, add to broth and cook a couple of minutes/until thicken.)
  9. Add coconut milk.
  10. Sometimes I add a handful of peas at this point.
  11. Add chicken and check for seasonings.
  12. Turn off heat.
  13. Serve with a sprinkle of chopped cilantro on top and bread on the side.

    * Don’t cook coconut milk too long or with high heat, it will curdle. Only simmer and for a short time.

Thịt Bằm

Simmered ground pork.

INGREDIENTS

  • If possible, ask for some fat in the ground pork; otherwise you can add bacon as an ingredient.  If you want it lean, that’s fine too.
  • Dice some white or yellow onions (to about a quarter of the size of your pinky fingernail.)  Remember the function of onion is to sweeten the dish.The sweetness lingers unlike with sugar; sugar brings the sweetness to the forefront.
  • Marinate the ground pork lightly with salt, pepper, and diced onions.  You’re ready to go right away.
  • If you use bacon, slice it to the size of your thumb nail.
  • Mix a teaspoon of sugar with a teaspoon of soy sauce (for about a quarter pound of ground meat) in a small bowl.

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Put a pot on the stove on high heat, toss in the bacon (if you only have lean ground pork). 
  2. Otherwise, use some vegetable or corn oil.  Toss in the marinated ground pork.Brown the meat, stirring it frequently to separately it into small chunks (it’s up to you how small the chunk.)
  3. Turn the heat to medium low and add the sugar/soy sauce mixture, a little at a time.
  4. Start simmering the pot. A total of 15 minutes of cooking is enough if you want a quick meal. You can add water if you want more sauce (and more soy sauce/sugar too, to taste.)
  5. Or you can simmer the pot until the onion disintegrates; it’s totally up to you.
  6. Use it for your salad or eat with cooked rice.The sauce is for the rice.  It goes exceptionally well with fresh cucumber.
  7. You can cook once and live with rice and thịt bằm for a whole week.  Just put the leftover in a plastic container and save it in the refrigerator.  When you’re hungry, just take it out, mix it with cooked rice, put it in the microwave for a minute or so.  Add a little fish sauce and few slices of fresh cucumber.  One of the quickest meal ever, and yet very tasty.
  8. Note: I didn’t add fish sauce while cooking so as to avoid the smell; but if you’re going to finish it all in one serving, add the fish sauce toward the end of simmering.

 

Braised tofu

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 container of Tofu, cut into cubes
  • 1/2 onion, sliced thinly1 clove of garlic (optional)
  • 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
  • Fish sauce (if you don’t have, use salt)
  • Sugar
  • Black pepper
  • Oil (canola, veg. Etc… But not olive)

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. heat up oil (about 1/2 cup) in a pan
  2. Deep fry the tofu one side, then the other until both sides are brown
  3. put them on a plate lined with paper towel to plot out the oil
  4. heat up 1,2 tablespoon of oil in a pot
  5. when hot, put in the onion and garlic and sauté for 1,2 minutes
  6. add the tomatoes, sauté a few minutes.
  7. season with a 1/4 teaspoon of sugar and fish sauce according to taste.
  8. add the tofu in. Stir gently to absorb the sauce
  9. lower the heat and simmer for 15 min. Stir occasionally
  10. turn off heat, add black pepper if desired and serve with rice

Canh chua

Simple beef tomato soup.

INGREDIENTS

  • Beef sirloin or beef round, thinly sliced (the pinkish “thit bo tai” in Pho or used to stir fry with common stir fry dishes like Beef with Broccoli, or beef with Gai Lan, or Bun bo xao, etc.
  • Wash and rinse the beef slices and let them dry.If you don’t like gunks in the soup (if you want a clear broth), boil some water and blanch the beef for one quick minute. Use a strainer to wash and rinse the beef.Marinate the beef slices with salt and/or fish sauce.
  • Tofu (optional), soft or medium.
  • shrimp
  • Tomato, cut into wedges
  • Yellow or white onions.
    • If you like onions, use about half of a small onion, and cut into wedges
    • If you don’t care for onion, just use half of a small onion (for about 2 servings) just to add sweetness to the broth. 
  • Salt to taste.
  • Fish sauce or soy sauce (optional).

INSTRUCTIONS

A. For a light broth.

  1. In a pot, add enough water for two servings at high heat.Throw in the onion half (or wedges) and bring the water to a boil.
  2. Throw in the tomato wedges and let it cooked to the near-firmess that you like.Reduce the heat as necessary. If you prefer a medium soft tomato, cook it at medium  low heat.If you prefer a more tender tomato, cook it at medium heat.
  3. Reduce the heat to low and season the broth to taste with salt. Add some fish sauce or soy sauce if you like.
  4. Bring the heat back to high. Once it boils again, add the beef slices, and quickly cut off the heat. Done.

B. For a hearty broth.

  1. Heat up some cooking oil in a pot.
  2. Throw in the onion wedges  (in this case, smaller wedges, or even chopped onions is better) and shear for about 5 minutes at high heat (reducing the heat if it’s too hot.)
  3. Throw in the tomato wedges and do the same, adding chopped garlic if you like.You lose the firmness, but you gain color and flavor.
  4. Add water and continue with (1) as in the first method.

C. You can combine the two methods (use half of the tomato wedges to shear,  and half later)  to have both a hearty broth and some firm tomato wedges.

D. Another variation is to batter an egg or two, season lightly with salt, and add it to the pot before step 4.

I’ve used this broth (and other variations) with Mi Goi (packaged noodle) by adding stuffs like celery, bean sprout, and various herbs like Beef seasoning, Italian herbs, parsley flakes, beef stew seasoning or Vietnamese “Bo Kho” seasoning/paste, fresh parsley, fresh dills, etc.