There are endless variations of nuoc cham (Vietnamese dipping sauce), most of which contain the key ingredient of fish sauce. Fish sauce is widely popular throughout Southeast Asia and varies significantly from one country to another. I like to use top-grade Vietnamese fish sauce such as Three Crabs Brand, which is a product of Thailand that is processed in Hong Kong and tailored to the Vietnamese palette.
This recipe is for the most basic and ubiquitous dipping sauce for many Vietnamese dishes.
To make the simple syrup, bring water to a boil and add sugar. Allow sugar to dissolve completely and liquid to reduce a bit. Set aside to cool. In a small bowl, add chopped garlic and chili and cover with lime juice. Covering the garlic and chili with lime juice first enables them to float in the sauce instead of sink to the very bottom. Once the simple syrup has cooled, add it to the mixture and drizzle in the fish sauce. Stir well and serve. Any extra sauce can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. I prefer to make my sauce fresh every time.
Vietnamese Caramelized Shrimp (Tom Rim)
(Yields 2 Entrée Portions)
Toss shrimp with shallot, ginger, garlic, chili, pepper and fish sauce and set aside.
Place a heavy skillet over high heat with a generous drizzle of oil and granulated sugar. When the granules of sugar have dissolved and turned golden, toss in the shrimp. Cook shrimp until they've turned pink and then add a splash of rice wine, sesame oil and scallion. Toss well and simmer until shrimps have absorbed most of the liquid. Don't worry about the shrimp overcooking and turning dry--this method seals in the moisture and the shrimp always turn out succulent! Adjust seasoning and garnish with rings of scallion. Serve with hot jasmine rice.
When I'm lucky enough to find live shrimp, I will cook them with heads and shell on like my sisters always do. The crispy shell and shrimp fat is super yummy when caramelized! :)
Brassica rapa chinensis or bok choy (Cantonese), bai cai (Mandarin) and cai thia (Vietnamese) is a versatile green that's great for stirfries. It has a generally sweet flavor with a hint of mustard. I prefer the extra dwarf bok choy not only because they are tiny and adorable, but because they are more leafy than the regular bok choy. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on really clean ones without sand, then you can cook them whole. I always find them to be a bit too sandy, so I usually cut off the very ends to separate the stems. Fill up the entire sink with cold water and let them hang out in there till the sand and debris sink to the bottom. After a couple rinses, these beauties can be drained and tossed into stirfries or soups.
Extra dwarf bok choy stirfried with fresh, minced garlic, ginger, chili, sesame seed oil, preserved beancurd and fish sauce. My favorite way to enjoy leafy greens with hot jasmine rice.
Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Cha Gio)
(Yields 25 Rolls)
Ingredients for Rolls:
Ingredients for Dipping Sauce:
Put first set of ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Place a heaped tablespoon of mixture in the center of a sheet of skin, fold one corner over and then fold in sides. Moisten the last corner with egg white and roll over once more and tuck in firmly.
Finish off the rolls and heat up canola oil in pot/wok. Gently lower each roll in the oil to deep-fry until golden brown and crisp.
Fish out the rolls and drain on paper towels to remove excess oil. Allow rolls to cool off for a bit before biting into one--the escaping steam can be painful! :)
For the dipping sauce, bring ½ cup of water to a boil and dissolve sugar into the boiling water. When sugar is dissolved completely, pour this simple syrup into a small bowl to cool. Once cool, add the lime juice, garlic, chili peppers and fish sauce and stir together.
I usually add chopped shrimp in my spring rolls and serve them with a noodle salad, but laziness overcame me. E and I just ate a bunch of these rolls for dinner tonight with some Thai milk tea. :)
Vietnamese Caramelized Pork Riblets (Suon Heo Rim)
(Yields 2 Entrée Portions)
Marinate ribs with shallot, ginger, garlic, pepper, salt and fish sauce in the fridge overnight.
Place a heavy skillet over high heat with a generous drizzle of oil and granulated sugar. When the granules of sugar have dissolved and turned golden, toss in the ribs. Occasionally stir ribs until they've evenly caramelized and then add a splash of rice wine, sesame oil and scallion. Toss well and simmer until ribs have absorbed most of the liquid. Adjust seasoning and garnish with rings of scallion. Serve with hot jasmine rice.
Winter Melon in Pork Riblet Broth (Canh Bi Dao Suon Heo)
(Yields 4 Portions)
Simmer ribs with aromatics in water for 2 hours. Strain broth and season with salt, pepper and fish sauce. Add winter melon and cook for about 15 minutes or until tender and translucent. Sprinkle scallions on top and serve. Super 88 Market
Spaghetti with Clams (Spaghetti alle Vongole)
(Yields 2 Entrée Portions)
If you love seafood and herbs like I do, then there is no better dish during a hot summer than spaghetti alle vongole. A satisfying meal with very little effort!
To make the sauce, place a large, deep skillet over high heat and drizzle generously with olive oil. Toss in the chili, garlic and shallot and sauté until soft and fragrant. Splash in some vermouth (I always use at least half a cup) and add the clams and some parsley. Cover and cook clams until they open up.
Fish out the cooked clams and plate. Toss the cooked spaghetti with the clam sauce and a drizzle of fine olive oil. This dish usually requires no extra salt, but if the juice from your clams is not salty enough, then you can toss with some sea salt to taste at this point. Plate spaghetti and sprinkle some fresh parsley on top. Don't discard any precious clam sauce, just drizzle it along with the yummy bits of garlic from the bottom of the skillet over the entire dish and serve steaming hot!
Chicken Curry
(Yields 4 Entrée Portions)
Like my seared scallop curry, I like to sear the marinated chicken and potato cubes beforehand and then finish the cooking process once the curry sauce is to my liking and almost ready to serve. The potatoes can be given a little more time to simmer in the sauce to create a thicker, creamier texture. Best served with steaming basmati rice. :)
"Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food." -- Hippocrates
This motto was taken very seriously by my family and must be the reason why I was forced to eat bitter gourd as a child. I pouted, cried and threw tantrums to get out of eating this horrible vegetable, but failed every single time. I’ve reluctantly acquired the taste for it over the years, and now bitter gourd soup is one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes.
This gourd is used while immature when the flesh is still juicy and crunchy. I like to remove the pith and seeds and slice it thinly to use in a basic fresh shrimp broth like my opo squash soup and winter melon soup.
My parents planted several dragon fruit cactus vines around my sister’s house, but unlike the other stuff they’ve planted, these have not been very fruitful. These plants have very ornate flowers that bloom only at night, and usually last just one night when pollination is necessary to set fruit. I think we’ve reaped only a few dragon fruits over the past three years.
This morning, I got up unusually early (way before sunrise) and decided to enjoy a relaxing morning outside while I drink my Vietnamese iced coffee. To my utter surprise and amazement, I found a most glorious blossom from the scrawny cactus that my parents have tied to a tree in the front yard. The sun was just peeking over the horizon at the time, so I decided to wait for a little more sunlight before running inside for my camera. When it was finally bright enough, the blossom had already closed up a bit but still breathtaking. It was a beautiful way to start off the day, and I looked forward to the blooming of the second bud.
So, at around 11 o’clock tonight, I was doing my usual round of news reading before heading to bed when my dad told me to get the camera. The second bud has bloomed, and I nearly forgot!
This is the second bud in full bloom, and it has the loveliest scent! I hope some bees will swing by tonight for a nightcap. :)
Hailing from Southeast Asia, the winter melon (bi dao) is considered by many Vietnamese to be a “super food” chockful of nutrients and health benefits. It purportedly clears “heat” and is an anti-inflammatory agent. I’ve seen this melon turned into hot herbal tea, cold drinks, candy and various dishes. Its mild taste, similar to that of a zucchini, makes it a versatile vegetable with many culinary uses, but it’s probably most popular in the form of soup. The flesh is firm and juicy and becomes very tender when cooked. I like the smaller, immature ones of the oblong variety so that the seeds, which adds wonderful flavor, can be used in the soup as well.
My parents are visiting, so my sister, KC, asked me to make winter melon soup for lunch. This was my first time cooking for them, so I had to endure some teasing from my dad. I think he was pleasantly surprised when he took the first bite and realized that his daughter is not completely helpless in the kitchen. :)
Throw shrimp and some of the shallots into a mortar and crush into chunky pieces. Season with freshly cracked white pepper and fish sauce.
Place a soup pot over high heat and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. When oil is hot, throw in the remainder of the shallots and dried red chili. Toss until fragrant and put the shrimp in. Stir quickly and as soon as prawns turn pink, pour in the water. The amount of water will depend on the size of your melon and how watery you like the soup. Throw in the whole chilies. Bring water to a rolling boil and dump the sliced melon into the pot.
The melon is done when the flesh turns translucent. I take it off the burner as soon as the water returns to a rolling boil and allow it to finish cooking with the residual heat. Immediately adjust seasoning with more salt or fish sauce. Stir in culantro and scallion and serve steaming hot.
