Last week the weather was gloomy, and I was a little bit under the weather. I just want some soup or something that will make me sweat so I feel better. I decided to make Thai hot pot, aka La^u? Thai'. It was the yummy dinner ever and my cold is gone as well. :-)
When my sister, Kim, was here in MD I really wanted to make wonton soup for her since it's one of her favorite dishes. Unfortunately, I was not well so I did not have a chance to make it. Today, I finally have a chance to make it. It took a while since I did everything from scratch, but I can tell you it's definitely worth while. My hubby had a big bowl for lunch and he loved them.
My Aunt bought me some Vietnamese Bamboo Shoots and I did not have a chance to make anything with it yet. All of a sudden, I have the crave for the Bamboo Shoots and Chicken Vermicelli Rice Noodle Soup. Therefore, I went grocery yesterday and got all the ingredients so I can make the dish today for lunch. It turned out perfectly. I especially love the vietnamese salad with chicken and dip in the ginger fish sauce. They are out of this world. You can't just have one piece since they are quite addictive.
My Bamboo Chicken Broth!
Vietnamese Bamboo Shoot
Check it out! Mmmmm....Hmmm...Yummy in the tummy!
I learned how to make via this youtube. See below. Instead of duck, I used chicken.
It's been so cold for the past few days. I made a pot of Thai chicken curry Saturday. This would definitely warm up the body. It's a great time to have soup. This would be awesome if pair with crunchy French toast. YUM!
As the weather get colder, it's always good to make a pot of chicken with ginseng. Hubby has been quite stressed out lately at work. Ginseng is good for the immune system, relieving stress and make you have a better focus in whatever you are doing.
It was cold yesterday so we decided to have Thai hot pot. We invited our families to enjoy the meal below. Whole Table shrimp balls, fish balls, quail eggs, fish tofu, and baby corn. Have you had fish tofu before? They were awesome!! Seafood platter - mussels, shrimps, squids, clams, and conch scallops Different types of fish balls
Veggies platter - king oysters mushroom, pineappe, bac ha, tomatoes noodles beef napa veggies talapia and steel head fish
Winter is approaching, and what is better to have than a bowl of soup? I usually like to make Vietnamese beef soup, Thai's hot hot, and so on. Bouncing beef balls is crunchy in texture, firm and truly delicious. Below is Mrs. Apple's recipe.
Beef balls soup with cilantro and scallion and black pepper.
Use the food processor and ground the meat. After 3 hours in the freezer, put the meat paste in the standing mixer and add the rest of the ingredients and beat for 15 minutes.
Place the meat paste in the fridge overnight.
Boiled a pot of water, add some garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Then start making beef balls.
Press the beef paste out through the thumb and index fingers into a pot of boiling water.
Remove them as soon as they are cooked, and put them in the ice water.
Final product : Firm, Springy, and crunchy bouncy beef balls.
Put them in the fridge and use later on for hot pots or any kinds of soup.
Ingredients: 2 lbs lean beef 4 TBS fish sauce 6 clove of minced garlic 1 TBS sugar 2 TBS oil 4 TBS corn starch 2 TBS baking powder 8 TBS water 1 tsp white pepper freshly grind
Method: 1. Mince the beef in a food processor until a paste is form. 2. Put in the fridge for 3 hours or more 3. Transfer the beef paste to the standing mixer, and add the rest of the ingredients 4. Use the paddle, and choose # 4 and beat for 15 minutes 5. Put the meat paste back in the fridge and leave it overnight. 6. Boil a pot of water. Scoop the paste onto your wet hand. Push the paste through your thumb and 2nd finger by making a fist. Use a wet spoon to scoop and drop it into the hot water. 7. When the balls start to float, let them cook for 2 more minutes. 8. Remove and let them cool in cold water. 9. Bring the water back to the boil and repeat with the remaining meat 10. Freeze the rest of the beef balls once they are cooled.
It's funny how I ended up making this soup. It's all started when hubby called me on the weekend and he told me that he has bought five pounds of water spinach (aka morning glory). What am I going to do with it? Five pounds ...my god!
I have made crab soup last week (bun rieu), and stir-fried water spinach recently as well. Therefore, I don't want to make the same dishes again. Then some of my net friends suggested me to make Duck and SoyBean Paste Soup. To add more fun while eating, I turned the dish into a pot hot.
What is Duck and Soybean Paste Soup you might ask? Well, literally the name said it all. It's duck meat and soybean paste. The dish has soy bean paste (chao). This spice is just perfect to stew with duck meat. The dish has become popular across Southern Vietnam.
After the soup is cooked, I put it in the hot pot.
Here is my bowl.
The cooked soup is accompanied with rice vermicelli and morning glory veggies.
The duck meat was so tender and yummy!
Morning Glory (aka water spinach)
Taro - I cut them into small chunks and fried them. This way its would not fall apart when you add them to the soup.
Rice vermicelli
I love lime so i added some to my duck soup along with some organic chilli peppers.
Stir occasionally to make sure everything is incorporated.
This soup turned out perfect. The soybean paste is not overpower the flavor of the duck meat.
Put the duck meat into the pot.
Marinade the meat with all the ingredients
Add all the ingredients together and get ready to marinade (shallots, ginger, onion, dried chilli peppers, sugar and salt)
T0 make Vit Nau Chao for four to six people, I bought 6-7 duck legs instead of the whole duck. The whole duck has ton of FAT.
The recipe below is a combination of a few recipes I found on the internet and put them together.
Ingredients:
7 duck legs 1 red onion and white onion
2 TB of garlic (minced)
2 TB of shallot (optional)
2 TB of ginger (minced)
1 jar of white soybean paste sugar, salt, pepper (1 teaspoon)
1 taro (big or small it's up to you)
2 cups of chicken broth
5 cups of coconut soda
1 can of coconut milk
some water
Method:
1) Soak the duck legs in rice wine or vodka and rub it with smashed ginger to remove the smell of its feathers. 2) Chop the duck into big pieces.
3) In a bowl, marinade the duck meat with soybean paste, sugar, salt, pepper, shallot, sugar, salt, pepper and red onion.
4) Marinade the meat in the mixture for an hour or two.
5) Fry taro for a few minutes but make sure it doesn’t break. Fry it quickly so that it maintains its natural flavor.
6) In a pot, stew the seasoned meat and fried taro in chicken broth.
7) Add the coconut soda for sweetness.
8) Add 1 can of coconut milk to make the dish tastier.
9) Cook the broth until it is thick and ensure the duck meat is tender.
10) Add the fried taro.
11) Done
This duck and soybean paste soup is accompanied with bun (rice vermicelli),and vegetables, especially morning glory. You can add extra soybean paste or some chili and lime and use for dipping.
Hoisin sauce and hot sauce
Enjoy!
shrimp balls, fish balls, quail eggs, fish tofu, and baby corn. Have you had fish tofu before? They were awesome!!
Seafood platter - mussels, shrimps, squids, clams, and conch
scallops
Different types of fish balls
Veggies platter - king oysters mushroom, pineappe, bac ha, tomatoes
noodles
beef
napa veggies
talapia and steel head fish
banana flower, enorki mushrooms, bean sprouts
Enjoy!!!
Place the meat paste in the fridge overnight.
Boiled a pot of water, add some garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Then start making beef balls. 
Remove them as soon as they are cooked, and put them in the ice water.
Final product : Firm, Springy, and crunchy bouncy beef balls.
Put them in the fridge and use later on for hot pots or any kinds of soup.
This soup turned out perfect. The soybean paste is not overpower the flavor of the duck meat.
Put the duck meat into the pot.
Marinade the meat with all the ingredients
T0 make Vit Nau Chao for four to six people, I bought 6-7 duck legs instead of the whole duck. The whole duck has ton of FAT.
