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.

 

Pickled Mustard Greens Soup

Pickled mustard greens (cải chua) can be made at home or purchased at the Asian market.  The mustard greens are of the Asian variety – thicker leaves and not curly at the end like the American variety.  The recipe for making homemade cải chua will be the subject of a future blog!  Today, I’m focused on making soup with pickled mustard greens.

The soup will be on the salty and sour side – easy on the fish sauce since the pickling process will have added plenty of sodium.

Any cut of beef you have will be fine, just adjust the cooking time to ensure the meat is tender.  Sliced beef is the best choice I think.  Angus beef stew cut will be fine as long as you slow simmer the meat for about an hour and add two more cups of water – more cooking time with cheaper cuts of meat.  Others, may choose to use ground pork or beef.

Pickled Mustard Greens Soup (Canh Cải Chua)

Serves 4-6

1 tsp olive oil

1 lb sliced beef/beef stew

1 tsp salt

½ tsp crushed black pepper

1 large tomato, quartered

½ cup diced onion

8 cups of water

2 packages or 4 cups of pickled mustard greens, roughly chopped

2-3 tbsp fish sauce

 

1.  Heat a medium size pan with olive oil, braise the beef over high heat and season with salt and pepper.  Braise until slightly brown on both sides.

2.  Add to braised beef, tomatoes and diced onion.  Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.

3.  Add water, pickled mustard greens and fish sauce to the pan and bring to a boil. 

4. Reduce heat to medium to low heat to maintain a slow simmer for 30 minutes. 

 

Pickled Mustard Greens Soup, originally uploaded by simpleviet.