Beef Noodle Soup (Phở Bò)

My brother took me to a new phở place during my visit to Mesa, AZ. If you are in the Phoenix area, I would highly recommend a stop at unPHOgettable located at the new Asian shopping center called Mekong Plaza.  They have other Vietnamese fares as well. I can attest to the authencity and cleanliness of the restaurant.  Enjoy!

I’ll be posting a recipe for pho soon, so stay tune!

Below is a link to a story about the plaza:

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/128861

Pho Bo, originally uploaded by simpleviet.

Fish with Sweet Tomato Sauce

This tomato sauce can be paired with most fish.  Today I came across some nice looking catfish filets.  It’s a simple Vietnamese tomato sauce that comes together quickly – great for weeknight meals.

Fish with Sweet Tomato Sauce

(Serves 4)

• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 lbs tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 2 chopped cloves of garlic
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1 tsp salt
• black pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 4 filets of catfish or your choice of fish
• chopped chives or green onions for garnish

1.  Heat 2 tbsp oil in large frying pan on medium high heat and sautee the onions until translucent.  Add the garlic and give it a quick stir.  Add chopped tomatoes to the pan.  Salt and pepper the tomatoes.   Adjust heat to medium-low and simmer the tomatoes, occasionally stirring the pan until the mixture becomes a thick sauce with chunks of tomatoes – about 7-10 minutes.

2.  In a separate large frying pan, add the rest of the olive oil, and pan-fry two of the catfish filets at a time.  When the filets are golden brown on both sides, set aside.  Continue to pan-fry the rest of the catfish filets.

3.  To the thickened tomato sauce, add fish sauce and sugar.  Simmer for another 2-3 minutes to incorporate.

4.  Plate the pan-fried filet of fish and generously top with tomato sauce.   Garnish with chopped chives and serve immediately with rice.

Fish with Sweet Tomato Sauce, originally uploaded by simpleviet.

Lemongrass Chicken Stew

Traditionally, lemon grass chicken is a like a stir-fry.  My version is more like a stew because I love to have plenty of sauce to drizzle over a hot bowl of rice!  To accommodate those who do not like bones and yet have the benefit of flavor from chicken on the bone, I’ve used ½ a chicken and 2 boneless chicken breasts.  Of course you can use the whole chicken by taking the cleaver to the chicken.   I’ve kept the ingredients simple – you can add onion, shallots and/or sugar if you want a little more complexity.

Tip:  To save some chopping time, you can put the onion and roughly chopped lemongrass into a food process and give it a few pulses.  Also, I rinse the food- processing bowl with the 1cup water and then add it to the pan.

Lemongrass Chicken Stew (Ga Kho)

(Serves 4-6)

3 stalks lemongrass stalks, roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic

½ chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces

2 boneless breast of chicken, sliced

1 tsp kosher salt

2 tbsp olive oil

½ tsp crushed black pepper

5 tbsp fish sauce

2-3 whole red chili peppers (optional)

1.5 cup water

 

1.  Pulse lemon grass and garlic in a food processor for until finely chopped.  Set aside.

2.  Place the chopped ½ chicken pieces skin side down into a hot frying pan, medium high heat.  Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper.  Fry until each side is golden brown.  Set aside.

3.  Add sliced chicken breasts to the frying pan, lightly season with salt and pepper.  Stir-fry until no longer pink.   Set aside with the first batch of chicken.

4.  In a saucepan, heat the olive oil.  Stir-fry the lemon grass mixture and red chili peppers until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.

5.  Placed the cooked chicken into the sauce pan and stir-fry for 5 minutes.

6.  Add the fish sauce and water to the pan, cover with lid.  Lower the heat and let simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the liquid is reduced and slightly thick.

7.  Serve with Jasmine white rice. 

Lemongrass Chicken Stew, originally uploaded by simpleviet.

 

Sesame Balls

If you visit a Chinese or Vietnamese market on the weekend, you will likely find sesame balls among the pile of fresh pastries. This is one of my favorite indulgences – a crispy fried dough ball, coated with sesame, and filled with a sweet yellow bean paste.  Because it’s fried, you may want to grab a couple of napkins, wrap it around the sesame balls and squeeze off the excess grease.  It flattens the balls but still just as good and a little less greasy! 

  

Sesame Balls, originally uploaded by simpleviet.

 

Jalapeño Chicken

If you like heat, this is a perfect dish for you.  You’ll be surprised how much flavor you get from such simple ingredients.  To accommodate those who do not like bones and yet have the benefit of flavor from chicken on the bone, you can use ½ a chicken and 2 boneless chicken breasts.  Don’t be afraid by the number of jalapeño, when cooked there is not as much heat.

Jalapeño Chicken Stir-Fry (Ga Kho Cay)

(Serves 4-6)

1 whole chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 tsp kosher salt

½ tsp crushed black pepper

2 tbsp chopped ginger

3 cloves garlic

3-4 jalapeño sliced

5 tbsp fish sauce

1/3 cup water

 

1.  Place 1/3 of the chopped chicken skin side down into a large hot frying pan, medium high heat.  Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper.  Fry until each side is golden brown.  Set aside.  Continue to fry the rest of the chicken in batches. 

2.  Return the cooked chicken to the frying pan.  Stir in the ginger, garlic, and sliced jalapeño.  Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes on medium-low.

3.  Add fish sauce and water to the pan.  Gently stir-fry for another 5-8 minutes.

4.  Serve with Jasmine white rice. 

Jalapeño Chicken, originally uploaded by simpleviet.

 

Eggplant with Thai Basil and Pork

I came across some nice Japanese eggplants at the local farmer’s market this past week. Japanese eggplants are long, skinny, and lavender in color rather than the typical football shape and deep purple eggplant seen in the grocery store.  Also, they seem to have less seeds than the purple eggplant – but feel free to substitute.  Here, I’ve paired it with the Thai basil from my garden that I usually use for Pho, Vietnamese noodle soup.

I’ve kept it simple and light dish with minimal ingredients for summer dinner.  You can make this without meat for a vegetarian side dish or opt to add chicken or pork.

Eggplant with Thai Basil and Pork 

(Serves 4-6)

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ¼ lb of sliced pork tenderloin/pork butt
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1.5 lb eggplant, cut into ½ inch rings
• 4 tbsp fish sauce
• black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup of loose Thai basil
• 1/2 cup of water

1.  Heat oil in large frying pan on medium high heat and then add sliced pork.   Stir-fry the pork until lightly browned, add the chopped onions and garlic.

2.  Transfer the stir-fried mixture into a medium size pot over medium heat.  Add to this the sliced eggplant.  Gently mix the vegetables with the stir-fried pork.

3.  Add to the mixture, the fish sauce, black pepper, Thai basil and water.  Bring to a gentle boil then simmer on medium-low heat with lid on for 20 minutes, occasionally stirring.

4.  Garnish with more basil and serve with rice.

 

 

Eggplant with Thai Basil and Pork, originally uploaded by simpleviet.

 

Collard Greens Stir-Fry

This is a simple vegetable stir-fry that can be used as a side with other main dishes.  Don’t worry, this is not the usual mushy collard greens.  I bet you will like collard greens after you try this.   You can skip the ginger if you would like, but I highly recommend adding it to the stir-fry since it gives it the dish a more complex and bright flavor.

Vietnamese Collard Greens Stir Fry/Cai Lan Xao
(Serves 4-6)

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 4 chopped cloves of garlic
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 bunch of collard greens, chopped (~1lb)
• 1-2 tsp grated ginger
• 5 tbsp fish sauce
• cracked black pepper to taste

1.   Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and slightly auté the chopped garlic and red pepper flakes

2.   Add chopped collard greens to the pan and stir-fry for 5 minutes, until the collards are bright green.

3.    Add to stir-fry, grated ginger.

4.   Add black pepper and drizzle fish sauce over the collard greens once it has cooked down a bit.  Stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes.

    

Collard Greens Stir-Fry, originally uploaded by simpleviet.

 

Cauliflower and Shrimp Stir-Fry

I don’t often cook cauliflower but this is one of the dishes I do like.  The longest cooking time is the cauliflower – very dependent on how large you cut the florets.  I prefer the cauliflower to be on the firmer side with a slight crunch to it still.  Vary the cooking time dependent on how you like your vegetables cooked.

Cauliflower and Shrimp Stir-Fry
(Serves 4-6)

• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 4 chopped cloves of garlic
• 1 lb of shrimp, peeled
• ½ tsp salt
• black pepper to taste
• 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
• ¼ cup water
• 1/2 onion, cut pole to pole
• 5 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tsp chopped chives/green onions
• cilantro for garnish

1.      Heat 2 tsp oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and stir in garlic.  Be sure you have a lid for the skillet.

2.      Add peeled shrimp,  salt and pepper.  Stir-fry for 3-4 minutes until shrimp is half –way cooked.  Set shrimp aside in a bowl.

3.      Add 3 tsp of oil to skillet then the cauliflower florets and stir-fry for 5 minutes.

4.      Add water to pan and cover with lid, cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.

5.      Add onion to the stir-fry and stir-fry for another 2 minutes.

6.      Add the stir-fried shrimp, fish sauce and green onions.  Stir-fry until shrimp is fully cooked.

7.      Garnish with cilantro.

  

Cauliflower and Shrimp Stir-Fry, originally uploaded by simpleviet.

 

Tips on Making Vietnamese Eggrolls

The most visited page on my blog would have to be the Vietnamese Eggroll recipe.  Given the popularity of Vietnamese eggrolls, I thought I would help the newbies to begin the journey of making eggrolls. Here’s the link to the recipe for reference:

http://simplyvietnamese.wordpress.com/2008/04/13/vietnamese-egg-rolls-cha-gio/

Key Asian Ingredients:

I suspect of one of the major barriers to making the eggrolls is buying the ingredients.  It can be intimidating walking into an Asian market trying to find the ingredients without being able to read the labels or know which brand is the good brand.  Attached is a picture of the key ingredients but I will also list it out and share with you my brand preference if applicable:

• Dried vermicilli (Bean Thread) – Red Dragon brand
• Dried black fungus/mushrooms/ – No preference
• Fish sauce (nuoc mam) – One Crab brand (Hon Phan Thiet)
• Oyster sauce – Panda brand
• Rice paper (banh trang) – Red Rose brand
• Rice noodle (bun) – Bun Thap Chua brand

Chopped Vegetables:

There’s a short cut…this should decrase 15 minutes of prep time! Use 2 bags of cole slaw vegetable mix, in the pre-made section. Of course, the jicama won’t be in the pre-made mix but a small compromise for saving time.

Preparation Ahead of Time:

You can make the eggroll stuffing ahead of time as long as you leave out the fresh vegetables (carrots, cabbage, jicama).  This can be refrigerated a day ahead or frozen.  When you are ready to make the eggrolls, incorporate the veggies into the meat mix.

Happy eggroll making! I hope this helps…let me know.

 

     

Vietnamese Eggroll Ingredients, originally uploaded by simpleviet.

 

Mustard Greens Soup (Canh Cải)

If you live in the South, you are familiar with mustard greens.   This is a Vietnamese twist on mustard green.  This soup has very bright flavor due to the ginger and is great for a light summer meal especially during the work week.  Of course, you have to have rice with this…

Mustard Greens Soup (Canh Cải)

Serves 4-6

½ lb of ground turkey or pork

1 tsp salt

½ tsp crushed black pepper

½ cup diced onion

8 cups of water

1 tsp finely grated ginger

1 lb of mustard greens, washed and roughly cut

2-3 tbsp fish sauce

 

1.  Heat a large pot pan over medium high heat. Add ground meat, season with salt and pepper and sauté until slightly golden brown.

2.  Add the grated ginger to the meat and sauté for another minute to release the ginger flavor.

3.  Add water and fish sauce and bring to a boil.

4. Add cut mustard greens and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes.

5.  Serve with hot rice.

 

 

Mustard Greens Soup (Canh Cải), originally uploaded by simpleviet.