Hu Tieu – Clear Glass Noodle Soup

The more well-known Vietnamese rice noodle soup is Pho. Hu Tieu is also a rice noodle soup but made with pork and seafood stock.  The rice noodle is more transparent (clear glass) and has a slightly sticky  texture than Pho noodles.  Usually on the package, it will say rice noodle and ‘Hu Tieu’ directly underneath.

If you are needing to boil pork tenderloin or similar cuts of meat for salads, the stock from this would be a good base for this soup.  For this dish, I actually am using the stock from the Kohlrabi Salad posting for part of the liquid.

You can purchase pre-made fried garlic from an Asian market and save some time.

Seafood Rice Noodle Soup (Hu Tieu)

(Serves 4-6)

Stock:

• 5 quartz of water
• 3 lb of pork ribs
• ¼ lb dried shrimp, pre-soaked in water
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 lb daikon (or turnip) quartered
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp of black peppercorn or cracked pepper

Fried garlic:

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 8 sliced garlic cloves

Noodle:

• 1 package (1 lb) of rice noodles (Hu Tieu)
• ½ pound of pork tenderloin
• 12 medium shrimps
• 1 sprig of chopped green onion for garnish
• Sliced onion for garnish
• ½ cup fried garlic for garnish
• ¼ lb bean sprouts
• 1 lime, quartered

1.      To make stock, bring water to a boil and add pork, pre-soaked dried shrimp, chopped vegetables, fish sauce and black pepper.  Simmer over medium heat for about 2-3 hours, routinely skimming the foam and any fat off the top.  Strain the stock.

2.       While the stock is simmering, prepare the fried garlic.  Heat olive oil in small fry pan over medium heat, add sliced garlic and fry until golden brown.  Drain the garlic over papertowels.

2.     To the strained stock, add ½ pound of pork tenderloin and bring to gentle boil.  Simmer over medium heat for 20-30 minutes.  During the last 3-5 minutes, toss in the unpeeled shrimp.   Remove both pork and shrimp and let cool on a platter before slicing and peeling.

3.      In a separate pot, bring water to boil.  Add rice noodles and cook until firm, al dente.  Pour noodles into a strainer and gently toss with chopsticks to loosen the noodles.  Divide noodles into 4-6 serving bowls.

4.      Top each bowl of noodles with slices of pork and shrimp.

5.      Laddle broth over the bowl of noodles.

6.       Garnish with sliced onion, chopped green onion, fried garlic.

6.       Serve with bean sprouts and lime. 

Hu Tieu – Clear Glass Noodle Soup, originally uploaded by simpleviet.

 

Kohlrabi Goi

Goi is a Vietnamese salad. Typically, Goi is a light, crispy, and healthy salad. Goi is made with raw vegetables dressed in a sweet fish sauce and can be mixed with seafood or meat.  This can be enjoyed as an appetizer or as one of the main dishes.

In this recipe, I’ve used kohlrabi as the vegetable but you can substitute cabbage or turnip.  Kohrabi can be found in the organic section of the grocery store.  It has similar taste and texture to the broccoli stem.  Remember to peel the kohlrabi well to eliminate the fibrous skin.

Tip: In a boiling salted pot of water, cook ¼ pound of pork tenderloin (unsliced) for about 15-20 minutes, until done.  At the last 3-5 minutes, toss in the unpeeled shrimp.  Let both pork and shrimp cool on a platter before slicing and peeling.

Kohlrabi Salad/Goi

Serves 4-6

Salad:

• 1 ½ pounds fresh kohlrabi (usually 3 to a bunch)
• 10-12 boiled and peeled shrimps
• ¼ pound of sliced cooked pork tenderloin
• 1 tbsp salt
• mint leaves for garnish

Dressing:

• 2 small clove of garlic
• 1 fresh Thai chili (or ¼ tsp of hot chili peppers flakes)
• ¼ cup fish sauce
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice with pulp
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2-4 tbsp shredded carrots for garnish

1.      Peel kohlrabi and slice thinly with a mandoline or a potato peeler, toss with salt and let sit for 30minutes to 1 hour to draw out the moisture.  Squeeze kohlrabi dry and place into a large bowl.

2.      Add to the bowl of sliced kohlrabi, the sliced pork and peeled shrimp.

3.     Next, make the dressing.  Either finely chop garlic and pepper OR use a mortar and pestle to smash both the garlic and pepper.  If you are using pepper flakes, no need to smash.  Place the chopped or smashed garlic and pepper into a small bowl then add the rest of the ingredients for the dressing.  Stir well until sugar dissolves.  If the sauce is not quite sweet enough add a bit more sugar.  If the sauce is too sweet and not tangy enough for your taste, add some more lime juice to cut the sugar.

4.      Toss the salad with half of the dressing and let it marinade for an hour or more.   When ready to serve, garnish with mint leaves.  This salad can be made a day ahead.

5.      Serve the other half of the dressing along side the salad to allow people to use it as a dipping sauce or to dress the salad further.

Kohlrabi Goi, originally uploaded by simpleviet.

 

Chicken and Rice Porridge

For those chilly days or when you are under the weather, Vietnamese rice porridge is the comfort food of choice.   There are many different versions of rice porridge – with beef, chicken or plain.  Chicken porridge is my choice to nurse a cold or the flu.

You can make rice porridge with a whole chicken.  However, going with my simplicity theme, I’ve chosen to use cuts of chicken to speed up the cooking time.  You can easily double this recipe if you choose to make it with a whole chicken to serve a crowd.  I prefer to shred the chicken by hand rather than slicing since it allows you to pick out the fat.  The starch from the rice will naturally thicken the stock – amazes me how little rice is needed.  Some porridge recipes call for fish sauce, but not this one.  Mom says that adding fish sauce while cooking makes the porridge have a ‘sour’ taste.  So, we prefer to stick with salt.  You can always add a few drops of fish sauce to the porridge at the table.  Lastly, if the porridge to too thick, dilute it with some water or chicken stock.

Chicken and Rice Porridge (Chao Ga)

Serves 4-6

• 10 cups of water
• 2 chicken thigh quarters, skin removed
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 tbsp salt
• 1 cup of uncooked white rice (jasmine or long grain)
• black pepper to taste
• 1 sprig of chopped green onion for garnish
• Sliced onion for garnish

1.      Add salt to water in a large stock pan, bring to boil

2.      Add chicken quarters and chopped onion to boiling water to make chicken stock.  Cook on medium/medium heat for 20-30 minutes, until chicken is cooked.

3.     Debone chicken quarter and shred chicken.  Replace chicken bone and ½ of the shredded chicken back to the stock and bring to boil.

4.      Add uncooked rice to stock, stirring regularly over low simmering heat for 45 minutes. 

5.      Porridge is finished once it has reached a thick, creamy white consistency and not watery.  Remove chicken bones from porridge before serving.

6.      Laddle into serving bowl and garnish with the reserved shredded chicken, chopped green onion and sliced onion.  Add crushed black pepper to taste.

Chicken and Rice Porridge, originally uploaded by simpleviet.

Zuchini Soup

This is one of those quick soups for a busy night.   The inspiration for this soup comes from the Vietnamese winter melon soup (canh bi dao).  The winter melon looks like  a very large, light green and thick skinned squash with a soft white center.  It is found in most Asian markets.

I’ve used zucchini instead and find that it is quite similar in taste – and a lot easier to find at your local grocery store.  Typically, the winter melon soup is made with pork or dried shrimp.   I’ve chosen to use pork in this recipe, either pork butt or boneless or country style pork ribs.

Zucchini Soup

(Serves 6)

• 6 cups of water
• 1 lb of sliced pork
• 2 lbs of zucchini, sliced into 1/3 inch thick rings
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tbsp salt
• 5 tbsp fish sauce
• black pepper to taste
• 1 sprig of chopped green onion for garnish

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

2.     Place sliced pork, chopped onions into boiling water, heat over medium heat for 10 minutes

3.     Once pork stock comes to a boil, skim off the top

4.      Add to pork stock, sliced zucchini, fish sauce and black pepper

5.      Gently stir the soup and bring to boil

6.       Soup is done when zucchini is slightly translucent in the center

7.      Garnish soup with chopped green onions.  

Zuchini soup, originally uploaded by simpleviet.

Sweet Pork

A piping hot bowl of rice topped with Sweet Pork is one of my favorite childhood food memories. My mom usually makes this with plenty of sauce, great for drizzling over the rice! Traditionally, this is made with small bone in pork ribs but equally good with the boneless cuts of pork. You can use pork butt or boneless, country style pork ribs. I usually try to trim as much of the fat as possible off the pork but still enough for the meat to brown.

If you don’t like sweet meat dishes, you can skip the sugar and it still is a very nice savory dish.

Sweet Pork/ Thịt Heo Kho

(Serves 6)

• 2 lbs of boneless pork, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 3 chopped cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tsp salt
• black pepper to taste
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• ½ – ¾ cup water
• 2 sprigs of chopped green onion

1. Marinade cubed pork with garlic, salt and pepper for 10-15 minutes.

2. Heat a large sauté pan (~6 quart) on medium high heat.

3. Add marinated pork to hot pan and stir fry until lightly brown.

4. Reduce to low heat, stir in chopped onions.

5. Add fish sauce, brown sugar, and water (3/4 cup if you want it saucy)

6. Cover and simmer over low hear, about 15-20 minutes, until meat is tender.

7. Add chopped green onions in the last 2-3 minutes of cooking.

Sweet Pork, originally uploaded by simpleviet.

Vietnamese Collard Greens with Turkey

Living in the South, collard greens is something you have to try.  During one of their visits, my parents noted how similar it was to a particular greens in Vietnam called, cai lan.  Mom made delicious collard greens dish with ground pork.  Prior to that, I wasn’t crazy about mush collard greens.  I’ve lightened her recipe with ground turkey breast but the ground pork or chicken would be tasty options.  You can spice this up by adding hot pepper flakes.  This collard greens dish can be a healthy yet substantial enough dish with just rice.  If you don’t have collard greens in your area or don’t like greens, Chinese broccoli would be a good substitute.  Unlike most southern recipes for collard greens, you don’t need to strip the center rib of the collard green leaves or simmer for a long period.  For this stir-fry, it’s desirable for the greens to have some firmness.  However, do remember to wash the collard greens well to wash off the sand.

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

 

 

• 1 bunch of collard greens, chopped (~1lb)
• 1 lb of ground turkey breast
• 4 chopped cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 5 tbsp fish sauce
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• black pepper to taste
• 1-2 tsp grated ginger (optional)

1.      Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat

2.      Add ground turkey to hot skillet, lightly season with salt and pepper, stir-fry until lightly brown

3.      Add to stir-fry chopped onions, garlic, grated ginger

4.      Transfer stir-fried turkey mixture to a large 6 quart pan, place over medium heat

5.      Add chopped collard greens to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon to mix

6.      Drizzle fish sauce over the collard greens once it has cooked down a bit

7.      Cover and simmer, about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

 

 

 

Vietnamese Collard Greens, originally uploaded by simpleviet.