Bánh Bò Nướng (Vietnamese Honey Comb Cake)

I just bake a pandan flavor honey comb cake. My sister from California showed me how to make it. Check it out.

After it cool down, you can cut into small triangle pieces and wrapped them in the food wrap.

Can you see the honey comb in this cake? I guess that is why we called it "honey comb cake" :-)

I used sesame seeds for garnish. Pretty huh? This is a great snack.

Ingredients:

-1 package (16oz) of Tapioca starch (I used the 3 elephants brand)

-1 can of coconut milk

-2 + 1/2 cup of sugar

-2 small packages of Alsa baking powder (I used only 1 +1/2 package)

-10 eggs

-1 tsp of pandan extract

Methods:

1) Boil sugar and coconut until sugar dissolves.

2) Mix the pandan extract to the sugar and coconut syrup. Set aside to cool.

3) Beat eggs and add tapioca package slowly. (Don't beat the eggs too much. Just stirring the eggs to blend the yolks with the tapioca flour)

4) Add the baking powder.

5) Add the coconut syrup.

6) Mix everything together until smooth.

7) Grease the baking pan with oil or butter.

8) Put the pan in the oven for about 5 minutes.

9) Pour the mixture into the pan.

10) Bake at 350'F for about 45-50 mins, until golden.

Note: Do not open the oven for the first 30 minutes or so; else, the cake will not rise.

Good luck!

Roasted Sesame Chicken with Sweet & Sour sauce

I got this recipe from Lily's blog. This chicken is awesome. This dish can be served with steam rice and any veggies. Click the link below for the recipe.

http://lilyng2007.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicken-roast-sesame.html#links

This is what the chicken looks like while in the Rotisserie oven. Check it out.

After 45 minutes, I took it out and let the chicken rest for 15 minutes. You don't want to cut it right away because all the juice will come out, and it will be dry.

I put the sweet and sour sauce over the roasted chicken. And served it with rice and slices of cucumbers. You can use any veggies you want. (i.e. brocolli, carrots ect...)

Sweet Hawaiian Bread with Coconut

One my my net pal showed me how to make sweet Hawaiian bread with Coconut. I have a bread machine. Therefore, the machine did all the work. The bread is soft and just right. It's not too sweet which is the part I like the best. Check out the color.

Here is another loaf of sweet Hawaiian Bread. You can taste the coconut too because I put one small package of shredded coconut in the dough as well. This will go well with a cup of coffee in the morning. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

210 gram of milk

1 egg

400 gram of bread flour

120 grams of castor sugar

50 gram of salted butter (about 1/2 of a stick)

2 tsp yeasts

1 egg, lighten beaten for egg glaze

Method:

1. Put all ingredients together in the bread machine.

2. Select the Basic Dough.

3. Cut into 6 pieces then the dough is done.

4. Grease the pan.

5. Put the dough in the pan.

6. Let it sit for one hour.

7. Bake @350 for 20-25 minutes.

8. Put egg glaze on top of the bread before put in the oven.

9. After 25 minutes, brush melted butter on top of bread

And Voila`, you have yourself two wonderful, soft, delicious, sweet Hawaiian Loaves of conconut bread. Enjoy!

Crab Noodle Soup (Bun Rieu)

Since my Mother-in-law gave me the water spinach, I saved some of the branches and shredded into small slender slices. I decided to cook Crab Noodle Soup (Bun Rieu). This is a very good soup. This soup can be garnished with beansprout, cilantro, and shredded water spinach.

I also have other herbs in my garden and can be eaten with this soup.

Big pot of Crab Noodle Soup. Not only it's good, but the color is just beautiful.

Ingredients : Serves 6

1 can of (5.6 oz) of Minced Prawns in Spices
1 can of (5.6 oz) of Minced Crabs in Spices
Pork bones or Chicken Broth or Pork Spareribs
1 pound of ground pork
½ onion and ½ shallot
1 handful of Dried shrimps
Salt, or to taste
Cooking oil
4 gloves of Garlic, peeled and crushed
5 Large tomatoes, each cut into wedges
1 small bag of Firm bean curd, cut into small cubes
2 TB Tamarind pulp
1 TB Sugar
1 TB Fish sauce
1 ts Fine shrimp paste
1 bag Fresh rice vermicelli

Meat ingredients:
Add 1 lb of ground pork in a container.
Add 4 eggs
Add 1 can of (5.6 oz) of Minced Prawns in Spices
Add 1 can of (5.6 oz) of Minced Crabs in Spices
Add ½ chopped onions & ½ chopped shallots
Add Salt & Pepper
Mixed all together
For garnishing:Spring onion
chopped Coriander (cilantro)
leavesBanana but, outer layers removed (optional)
yellow centre shreddedRed chili, thinly sliced
Bean sprouts
Mint leaves
Thai parsley
Limes, cut into wedges
Fermented anchovy paste.
Method :Boiled 2 pounds of pork bones or pork spareribs with 2 litters of water.
Strain and discard residue.Pour strained water into a large pot.
Bring to the boil and add salt to taste.
Leave to boil for 1 hour 20 minutes then strain stock.Heat oil in a pan and stir fry garlic and tomatoes.
Combine with annatto seed oil and pout into stock.Add fried bean curd and tamarind pulp.
Season the pot with sugar, fish sauce, shrimp paste and salt.
Form the meatball mixture into dumplings with a spoon and drop them into the stock.
Add the tofuDivide rice vermicelli equally into 6 serving bowls.Pour stock over and garnish with spring onion.Serve remaining garnishes on the side.

Rau muong xao toi voi chao (sauteed water spinach with garlic and fermented bean curd)

My Mother-in-law gave me some water spinach yesterday. I decided to sauteed them with garlic and fermented bean curd. It has been a long long time since I had water spinach. This is an awesome dish. I used 2 fermented bean curd, a little bit of sugar, and a little bit of soy sauce. Mixed all these ingredients together. Then I chopped some garlic. Once the wok is hot, I added olive oil in , put the chopped garlic in. Once the garlice turn a little bit brown, put the water spinach in. Then added the fermented bean curd sauce. After a few minutes, you have yourself a delicious veggie dish. This can be served with rice.

Chè Trôi Nước - Sticky Rice Dumplings with Caramel Ginger Syrup

Today I feel like making a sweet dish. This delicious sweet rice dumplings and Caramel Ginger Syrup can be served at anytime. I like to sprinke the top with toasted white sesame seeds, and some coconut milk. The sweet caramel is balanced with the slightly savory but sweet mung bean filling. Also, the fresh ginger adds a nice, little kick to entire dish. This is my one of my favorite Vietnamese sweet dessert.

Check out the whole pot. It is fun and easy to make.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups of dry mung beans, soaked in water overnight.
• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4-5 slabs Asian brown sugar
• 8 cups of water
• 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and julienned into small strips
• 3 heaping cups of glutinous [sticky] rice flour
• 1 .5 cups of hot, boiling water
• white sesame seeds
• coconut milk
  

Method:

1) In a large bowl, combine glutinous rice flour and 1 teaspoon salt. Gradually add enough warm water to form a soft pliable dough. Form the mixture into 3 cm balls.

2)Steam green beans until soft then blend (process) into a paste. Stir fry over low heat with remaining salt, 100 g sugar and 10 g chopped ginger. Stir fry until bean paste is dry.

3) Form mixture into balls, slightly smaller than the glutinous rice flour balls.

4) Flatten a glutinous rice flour ball and press a bean paste ball into it. Roll to enclose green bean paste fully.

5) Repeat with remaining glutinous rice flour balls and bean paste balls.

6) Bring 2 liters water to the boil then add balls in to cook. When balls float to the surface, remove then rinse under running water for 2 minutes.

7) Bring another 2 liters water to the boil then add in remaining sugar and ginger. Stir for 10 minutes.

8) Place glutinous rice balls in and return to the boil.

9) Serve glutinous rice balls with sugar syrup in a small bowl, topped with coconut milk syrup and sesame seeds.

Vietnamese Grilled Mackerels & Ribs BBQ

We have fish at least two times or three times a week. We like it because it's healthy, and they are good for us. Last week, we went to grocery store and found some really nice Mackerels. We decided to grilled them.

These are Vietnamese version of grilled Mackerels. I marinated them with lemongrass, fermented tofu, oyster sauce, salt, pepper, sugar, lime juice. Then I garnished them with fried shallots, olive oil with scallions and top them with peanuts. We wrapped them in rice paper and dipped with garlic fish sauce. As you can tell, we love to wrap stuff with rice paper :-)

Then I made Vietnamese grilled BBQ. They were good. Check out the color.

Yum Yum !!!

Chinese Sausage sticky rice with fried shallot

It's time to clean out the fridge. Since last weekend, we had some left over Chinese Sausages and scallions. I don't want the scallions to go bad so I made this dish. We had this for breakfast. This yummy Chinese sausages sticky rice with fried shallots was great. Between my hubby and I, we finished it in less than an hour. It's a great dish for breakfast or lunch. I used my magenta plant for natural purple color, pretty huh?

Vietnamese Yogurt

One of my net pal showed me how to make Vietnamese yogurt. I was so happy that it turned out great. My hubby loved it. They are not too sweet or too sour. They are just right. Infact, it's perfect. After I let them sit overnight in a pot of hot water, I put them in the freezer. They meant to be eaten like popcicles. So far, I made 3 batches. I think I will have to make more this week since it's running out fast :-)

This is a refreshing, great summer dessert. See recipe below.

When you make the first batch, please save one small bag of Vietnamese yogurt for the next time. This way you don't have to buy a plain yogurt from store every time you make it.

Ingredients:
1 can condense milk ( I only use half can )
1 can of hot water
1.5 can of whole milk (I used 2 cans . I used the condense milk can for measurement)
6 oz of yoplait plain yogurt
2 limes juice (for the sour taste)

Method:
1) pour half can or one can of condense milk into a big bowl.
2) pour 1 can of hot water into the same bowl.
3) pour 1.5 or 2 cans of whole milk into the same bowl.
4) use a big spoon and stir everything together.
5) pour the 6 ogz of plain yogurt in the same bowl.
6) add the lime juice from 2 limes.
7) mix everything together
8) put the mixture into a small bags or small jar
9) put all the bags/jars into a big pot
10) fill the big pot with hot water from the sink
11) cover the big pot with the lid
12) use a bath towel and cover the big pot
13) let it sit over night
14) put in the fridge until they are frozen

Bo` Bi'a ( Jicama Summer Rolls)

It has been a while since I had Jicama. Therefore, I decided to make Jicama Summer rolls. The crunchy of the shredded jicama and shredded slices of carrot made this a yummy snack at anytime. This roll is consists of jicama root, carrot, chinese sausage, eggs, and dried shrimps. We use rice paper to wrapp in an egg roll shape along with fresh lettuce and any herbs you like. For me, I used Vietnamese and Thai mints, and cilantro. Usually this snack is dipped with peanut sauce. However, I am too lazy to make it. Therefore, I dipped in regular lemony garlic fish sauce that I still have left over from last night.

Check out the Chinese saussages, slices of fried eggs, and shredded jicama root and shredded carrots. You can put the dried shrimps separate, but I decided to put in together along with the jicama and carrot.

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This is what jicama root looks like after being shredded.

Just in case you don't know what Jicama roots look like, here they are. They are crunchy and delicious. Back in the old country, I used to much on the younger jicama root as a snack.

Enjoy!

Steamboat Thai Seafood - La^u? Thai'

Yesterday we had Thai Seafood hot pot for dinner. It was so good. The Kaffir lime leaves and the Tom Yum Paste made the pot of seafood soup so flavorful. You have to be there to taste it. Check out the color of this soup.

We have shrimps, chicken balls, pork balls, pork kidney, pork liver, squids, snails, tilapia, tofu, beansprout, bacha, tomatoes, pineapple, watercrest veggies, Nappa cabbages, and wonton. For the dipping sauce, we have sa sa sauce. It was the most heathiest, and yummiest dinner ever.

Enjoy!

Pizzelle Cookies - Ba'nh Ke.p

I made some pizelle cookies today since I ran out of snack to munch on. This is a type of Italian cookies. However, I modified the ingredient a little bit and added pandan flavor to make it more Vietnamese style. They are very delicious and crunchy.

Check out different shapes and pretty flowers. Not only they are pretty to look at, but they are good to snack on too.

Rehoboh Beach & Vietnamese Five Colors Jelly Drink

Yesterday the weather was so beautiful. It was sunny, and not too hot. We decided to go to Rehoboh Beach. It was just perfect. The water was not too cold, and the weather was just right to hit the water. Check it out.

We had a blast at the Beach. Check out the waves.

When we got home, I decided to make a 5 colors jelly drink. This is a very good summer drink. Not only it's cold and delicious, and but it's good for you.

I made the whole big pot. This is a very easy dessert. It has different types of bean. I put red kidney bean, black bean, and lotus nuts. And then I made different flavors and colors of Jelly. After I cut them into long slender slices, I added coconut milk sauce with pandan flavor mixed with a touch of Amyel acetate essence (dau hoa buoi). Also, I added simple syrup for sweetness. I wish you can smell the aroma. It is simply delicous!!! This can be served with shredded ice.

Vietnamese Crepes - Bánh Xèo (sizzling crepes)

My sister made Vietnamese crepes yesterday for the whole family. This is a very popular dish in Vietnam. It is made chiefly of rice flour, turmeric and cornstarch. This crispy-chewy Vietnamese crepe - filled with pork, shrimp, straw mushrooms and mung beans. There are many ways of eating this dish. One way is take a piece of lettuce roughly the size of your palm and place a piece of the crepe inside . Then you can add cucumber slices and all sort of herbs. Then use your fingers to bundle it up, then dunk it into the into a bowl of fish sauce spiked with lime, garlic and chile. Another way is to put the crepe on the plate, and then cut all the herbs, and lettuce into small pieces. And then pour the garlic, lemony dipping sauce over the plate. My hubby prefers this way better so he doesn't have to mess with his hands.

This is a typical platter of Vietnamese crepe with various type of herbs. And it is served with garlic, lemony flavor fish sauce. See below.

Enjoy!

Grilled Tilapias garnished with fried shallots and scallions

My sister, Kim, has been in MD for more than one week now. We had a BBQ party yesterday at Tina's house. We have grilled beef, good marinated chicken, hot dogs, corns on the cob, and I made grilled tilapias. See below.

After I drained all the water that came out from the fish, I broiled them for an additional 15 minutes. Then I garnished them with fried shallots, scallions, cilantros, and peanuts. This can be wrapped with rice paper, vermicelli noodles and dip with lemony fish sauce. They are simply delicious and healthy. Check them out. Don't they look good?

Ingredients:

-4 tilapias (you can use catfish, blue fish, ect)

-3 TB garlic powder

-3 TB onion powder

-1/2 cup cooking syrup

-1/2 of an orange and squeeze out the juice

-2 oranges (cut them in slices. Use this for grilling later)

-2 sweet onions (cut them in slices. Use this for grilling later)

-1 TB of sesame oil

-1 ts salt

-1 ts pepper

-3 TB oyster sauce

-1 TB of sugar

- 1/2 cup of fried peanuts (chopped. Use this for garnish)

-1/2 cup of fried shallots (use this for garnish)

-1/2 cup of chopped scallions (use this for garnish)

-one bunch of cilantros

-honey and butter

Method:

1. Marinate the fish with garlic, onion, sesame oil, sugar, salt, pepper, orange juice, cooking syrup, and oyster sauce for 30-45 minutes. Put in refregerator.

2. On a tray, put one layer of slices sweet onions, slices of oranges. Then put the fish. And then another layer of slices of sweet onions and oranges.

3. Put the remainding marinated sauce on them.

4. Covered with aluminum foil and placed them in a 425 degree oven for 30 minutes.

5. Drained the water that came out from the fish. Changed the oven to broil on high.

6. Take off the aluminum foil and let them sit in the oven for 15 minutes or so.

7. Put one layer of butter on top of the fish. And a little bit of honey.

8. After 5 minutes, take them out of the oven.

9. On a separate pan, put olive oil in and add the chopped garlic and scallions. Add a little bit of salt.

Presentation:

1. On a big plate, put 4 grilled tilapia.

2. Garnish with scallions and olive oil.

3. One layer of fried shallots.

4. One layer of peanuts.

5. Some cliantros.

And Voila`....You got yourself a wonderful, and healthy meal. Enjoy!

Review on Hai Du*o*ng Restaurant at Eden Center, VA

Yesterday, we took our parents out for lunch. We went to Hai Duong restaurant. We ordered these items.

My MOM and I ordered Vermicelli noodles with grilled pork and egg rolls and veggies. It was so good. We certainly enjoyed it a lot.

As for my Dad and hubby, they ordered a rice platter with grilled pork, egg, shredded pork skins with Vietnamese ham. The presentation looks very nice. This dish is not hard to make at all.

We have been to this restaurant before, and we loved the food. The price is decent and this restaurant is always filled with people. I guess that is one of the sign which indicated that they have good food.

Dong Gua Tang (Winter Melon Soup)

My friend, Ji, gave me a piece of Winter Melon. Honestly, I don't really know how to cook it. While surfing the internet, I found this recipe from Lily's collection. I made a little of modification to suit my own taste. It turned out great. Thank you Lily.

http://lilyng2007.blogspot.com/2008/06/winter-melon-soup-soup-b-ao.html#links

Instead of scallops, I used chicken balls that I still have left in the freezer. I am too lazy to go grocery just to get all the ingredients and make soup. Therefore, I used what I have in my fridge. As for the white fungus, I only have one piece left which my MOM gave me last month. I also used it in this recipe. Then I garnished the soup with cilantros and pepper. This is a very light and good soup recipe.


This is the whole pot. I think we still have some for tonight :-)

Enjoy!

Steamed Tialipa with Slices of Gingers and Scallions

I missed steamed fish since I had Malaysian food last week. I decided to make Cantonese steamed Tialipa with gingers and scallions. Depending on the size of the fish, it might take longer than 30 minutes. It took 45 minutes for this fish. We almost finished the whole fish yesterday. Yummy.

Ingredients:

-Tialipa fish (this one is almost 3lbs - cleaned both sides and dry the fish)

-sesame oil

-gingers (cut into small long pieces)

-Scallions (cut into small long pieces)

-Cilantros (for garnish)

-5 gloves of garlic (chopped the garlic. This is use for the sauce)

-soy sauce

-white wine

-sugar

Method:

1. Dry the fish both sides, and put the slices of gingers and scallions in the fish belly.

2. Brush seseme oil on both sides of the Tialipia.

3. Put the fish on the plate and steam for about 45 minutes (depending on the size of your fish. If it's big, the steaming time could be longer.)

4. After 15 minutes of steamming, pour out the water that came out of the fish. Discarding this water will make the fish have less fishy odor.

5. Put the fish back, and steam until done.

Sauce:

1. Put olive oil in the wok, and add the chopped garlic. Wait until it is almost golden brown, take out and put on the side.

2. Use the same wok, added more olive oil. Put 3 TS of soy sauce in , and 3 TS of chicken broth in. For every 3 TS of soy sauce, same amount of chicken broth. If you don't have chicken broth, you can use water.

3. Add gingers, sugar, and a little bit of seseme oil in the sauce.

4. Then add a little bit of white wine. Once it's boiled, it's done.

Presentation:

1. Take the steamed fish and put on a plate.

2. Garnish the fish with slices of scalions, and cilantro.

3. Pour the sauce over the steamed fish

4. Sprinkle the golden brown fried garlic over the fish.

This dish can be served with rice. Enjoy!