Winter Soup

This is my version of a hearty, winter soup, Vietnamese style! Great by itself or with some white/ brown rice. I prefer to start with a whole chicken to make the stock but you can opt to use the boxed or canned chicken stock.

To make the stock, bring a large pot of water to boil, add salt and the whole chicken and lower the heat to medium-low for a slow simmer for 1.5 hrs. Remove chicken from stock and let it cool on a large plate. Check that the chicken is done by poking a fork/chopstick into the side of the chicken to make sure that the juice is clear and not pink or red. Once chicken is cooled, shred chicken into thin strips. Note, you will have leftover chicken. Before using the chicken stock, skim off the top with a laddle remove scum and grease.

Winter Soup

(Serves 6)

• 8 cups of chicken stock (homemade or purchased)
• ½ cup chopped onion
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 1 lb Yukon gold potatoes, roughly chopped
• 2 leeks, cleaned and roughly chopped (optional)
• ½ head of cabbage, roughly chopped
• 2 cups of chopped or shredded cooked chicken
• 5 tbsp fish sauce
• black pepper to taste
• 1 sprig of chopped green onion for garnish

1. Bring chicken stock to boil and add onions, carrots and potatoes.

2. Season the soup with fish sauce and black pepper. Lower heat to medium-low and cook until carrots and potatoes are cooked, about 45 minutes.

3. Add to the soup, the chopped or shredded chicken, the leeks and the cabbage. Bring soup to a simmer for 10-15minutes until the cabbage is soft and bright green.

4. Garnish soup with chopped green onions to serve.

Winter Soup, originally uploaded by simpleviet.

Stir-Fry Beef and Potatoes

Making this dish brings back my childhood. Now, I know why Mom used to make this when we were kids! It’s a hearty dish, perfect to feed five growing kids. A plus also, is that it’s simple to make for every day meals – few ingredients that comes together quickly. The part that takes a little bit of time is frying the potato. You can make the potatoes ahead. Just re-heat it in the oven on 400 for about 10 minutes and they will crisp right up.

The most traditional way of making the stir-fry is that the last step would be to return the fried potatoes back into pan with the stir-fry beef. I find that this wilts the potatoes. I like the potatoes on the crispy side so I fry the potatoes more on the crispy and golden brown side and prefer to pour the stir-fry beef over the crispy potatoes and then serve. Your choice.

Note that the sliced onion is added at the end so that it doesn’t cook all the way and still has a little crunch to it.

Stir-Fry Beef and Potatoes (Thit bo xao khoi tay)

(Serves 4-6)

• ¼ cup canola oil
• 2 lbs small Yukon potatoes, sliced ½ inch thick rounds
• 1lb of sliced beef (Beef Top Round)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp of crushed black pepper
• 3-4 chopped cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce (optional, if not available increase fish sauce by another tbsp)
• ½ onion, sliced pole to pole

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

2.  Add some of the potatoes to hot oil and fry until golden brown and crispy on both sides. Do not crowd the pan. Removed golden potato crisps and drain on plate layered with paper towels. Continue frying the rest of potatoes and set aside.

3. Pour off the all the oil except for 2 tbsp. Add sliced beef to hot skillet, lightly season with salt and pepper.

4. Stir in the chopped garlic, sliced onion, fish sauce and oyster sauce. Remove stir-fry from heat when the beef is pink, medium to medium rare.

5. Layer the fried potato crisps on a platter and then pour the stir-fry mixture over the potatoes. Serve immediately.

Stir-Fry Beef and Potatoes, originally uploaded by simpleviet.