Tomato Chicken Soup

One of my favorite stand-by meals during a busy work week is tomato soup with jasmine rice.   It’s quick, satisfying and light.

First, start the jasmine rice in a rice cooker.  While the rice is cooking, you can make the soup and the meal will come together in half an hour!  This tomato soup can be made with beef, chicken or dried shrimp (found in Asian markets).  I usually make it with chicken, always available in my kitchen.

Tomato Soup With Chicken

• 8 cups of water
• 1 large chicken breast with bone
• 6-8 large fresh tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tbsp salt
• 5 tbsp fish sauce
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 sprig of chopped green onion for garnish
• Sprigs of fresh cilantro for garnish

1.      Add salt to water in a medium size pan, bring to boil

2.      Debone chicken breast and remove skin.  Cut chicken breast into slices.  Place bone and sliced chicken into boiling water to make stock.  Once it returns to a rolling boil, reduce heat to medium.

3.      Add chopped onion to chicken stock.

4.      Cut tomatoes into quarters and add to stock.

5.      Add crushed black pepper, fish sauce to stock.

6.      Cover and simmer, about 10 minutes.

7.      Remove chicken breast bone from soup. 

8.      Garnish soup with chopped green onions and cilantro.

9.      Ladle soup over a bowl of warm jasmine rice to serve.

Tomato Chicken Soup, originally uploaded by simpleviet.

Omelette

Sometimes, a simple egg omelette is all that you need for dinner on a busy night.  This one is savory enough to be satisfying.  It can be accompanied by nice green salad dressed with olive oil, crispy baguette, or hot bowl of rice.

The technique for this Vietnamese omelette demonstrates the French influence in Vietnamese cuisine.  For Vietnamese, an omelette is part of a meal with many dishes.  However, you can simply half the ingredients for an individual portion with 3 eggs.  I like to whisk the eggs with a pair of chopsticks and use the chopsticks to push the omelette around like you would a spatula.  One less utensil to wash!  The omelette is usally left open-faced, a nice presentation with the sprinkling of scallions over a yellow bed of eggs.

Omelette

Serves 4

• 5 eggs
• 1-2 chopped scallions
• Crushed black pepper
• 1 tsp of Oyster sauce
• 2 tsp of fish sauce, depending on taste
• 1 tbsp oil

1.      Break the eggs into a bowl

2.      Add to eggs – chopped scallions, crushed black pepper, oyster sauce and fish sauce.

3.      Heat 10 inch skillet with oil put over medium-high heat.

4.      Whisk egg mixture until it is combined – not frothy.

5.      Pour mixture into hot skillet, adjust heat to medium heat.

6.      As soon as the edges start to curl up, gently lift up with spatula on the edge to allow liquid portion to run underneath the omelette.

7.      Repeat step 6 all the way around the omelette.

8.      Cook omelet until the top of the omelet is soft and a little wet.

9.     Omelette will continue to set after it is taken off the heat.

 

Omelette, originally uploaded by simpleviet.

Vietnamese sandwich (Bánh mì)

I took this picture during our lunch at a cafe in Saigon this past summer.  This is a wonderful lunch or snack any time of the year!  The sandwich is full of flavor and crispy.  A refreshing and smooth iced coffee is a nice topper to this snack.   

Traditionally, this is made with Vietnamese cold-cut meat called  ‘chả lụa’ (mixture of pork/chicken).  It can also be made with chinese-style barbecued pork, lemon-grassed pork, etc.

Here’s my adaptation with all the fixings from your local grocery store.

Vietnamese Sandwich

• 8 slices of ham or roasted turkey
• 1 fresh, crispy baguette of French bread, split lengthwise
• 2 ounces of a good quality pâté
• 1/2 cucumber sliced at diagonal
• 1/2 carrot julienned
• 2 tablespoons very roughly chopped fresh cilantro
• black pepper to taste
• 2 thin sliced rings of a red onion  (optional)
• 1 jalapeño, thinly sliced at diagonal (optional)

1.      Open the baguette and spread pâté on the bottom side of the baguette

2.      Lightly drizzle  soy sauce on the top side of the baguette

3.      Top with cucumber slices

4.      Layer on slices of ham or turkey

5.      Crushed black pepper over the meat

6.      Distribute sliced onion, carrots and jalapeño over the meat

7.      Sprinkle chopped cilantro

8.      Cut baguette diagonally into 4 equal portions  

Hint:   I like my sandwiches warm and crispy – so I usually toast it first.  Toast baguette in 350° oven for 3-5 minutes, just until it is crispy on the outside.  If you dislike pâté, you can replace it with a slather of butter or mayonnaise.  

Vietnamese sandwich, originally uploaded by SV.

Vietnamese Iced Coffee (Cà phê sữa đá)

Awesome any time of the day!  Not to mention the nice jolt you get as well.  Once you have had a taste, no other iced coffee will do!  This is especially good with a nice Vietnamese sandwich (see my recent post on this).

Remember to use very dark and strong coffee, for example, double the amount of coffee grind for your typical brew.    Traditionally, coffee is made with a single-cup brewer placed over a cup.   (My brother tells me that a French press works especially well for this.)  Once the coffee drips completely into the cup, condensed milk is stirred in.  This can be enjoyed as is, hot.  For those who want something more refreshing, it is poured over a glass filled with ice.

 Here’s a link to a place you can purchase authentic Vietnamese coffee or the special brewer: 

http://www.trung-nguyen-online.com/trung-nguyen-coffee-order.php

Vietnamese Iced Coffee 

• 1-2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
• 2/3 cup freshly brewed strong coffee (e.g., French roast, Café du Monde)
• Iced cubes

 1.       Stir the condensed milk into the hot coffee

2.      Pour into a glass filled with iced cubes and stir  

Vietnamese iced coffee, originally uploaded by SV.