Coming next : Shrimp Wonton Soup

I have been really really busy and probably this will continue until my final exam ends on March 19th ( 2 more years to go). Stressed out!
So I just post this picture of the Shrimp Wonton soup I made with the attempt to resemble the Wonton soup at Anh Hong Restaurant. Awesome unbeatable dish! If you live in the Bays, you should visit this restaurant and try it out. Make sure it is the one in Berkeley on University Ave.
http://www.anhhong.com/
It is the totally different experience compared to most Wonton soup that you are familiar with in many Chinese restaurants. The broth is so clear and the sweet flavor comes from the shrimp and slightly stir-fried vegetables. Yum!

Vietnamese Omelet (Cha trung)

This is the easiest recipe that everyone can make yet the taste is not a 5-min food at all. If you don't have time to cook or run to the grocery store. This is perfect!!! The look somehow resembles pizza with yellow, red and green color, so your eyes will love it too.
I call this dish Vietnamese food 001 =)


Ingredients: (for 2)
1 tomato, dice into small pieces
1 stalk of shallot, cut into small pieces
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 tbs fish sauce or 1/3 tbs salt if you don't want fish sauce.
1/3 tsp black pepper
1/3 tsp mushroom/vegetable seasoning (optional)
2 tbs of vegetable oil


Directions: 
1. Add fish sauce/ salt, pepper, mushroom seasoning to the already beaten egg.
2.Put oil in pan on high heat. While the oil is hot, put in tomato even on the surface of the pan. Add the egg mixture and reduce the heat to medium for the egg to evenly cook.
3. Sprinkle the shallot around the nearly firm omelet and turn off the heat when all the egg mixture are done.


Serve with warm steam rice.
Easy breezy ^_^
Have fun cooking!

Vietnames king prawns with chilies and lemon grass (Tom xao xa ot)

One of my relatives gave me some king prawns so I made this recipe adapted from the website www.1asianfoodrecipes.com. This dish is delicious for who like spicy foods and it is also very easy to make. Have fun cooking. 

Ingredients (for 4)

• 24 king prawns in their shells
• 1 white onion, slided. 
• 1 fresh green jalapenos chili, slided.
• 1 stalk lemon grass, chopped.
• 9 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tbs pepper and 1/2 tbs of red chili flakes
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3/4 cup fish stock or water
• 3 tsp corn-flour (cornstarch)
• 3 fresh  shallot for garnish, chopped

---

Method:

1. Slit the prawns along the centre back without removing the shells. Gently pull away the dark vein and discard. Trim off the green ends of spring onions and cut the whites in halves lengthwise, then into 2 cm (3/4 inch) pieces.
2. Finely slide the chili and chop the lemon grass stalk into tiny pieces.
3. Heat the oil in a pan or wok and stir-fry the lemon grass with salt, pepper, and red chili flakes until the lemon grass turn light brown coated with the red color of the red chili. Add the prawns until they change color. Add the onions, jalapenos chili and  stir over high heat for 1 minute. Add the fish sauce, sugar, then mix stock or water and corn-flour (cornstarch) and pour into the pan.
4. Serve at once, garnished with shallot.

Snake wine and dishes- Hue, Vietnam

On the trip to Vietnam last summer, my cousin traveled to the countryside of Hue, Vietnam to taste the fresh snake swine. I felt like posting them even it doesn't look anything close to tasty to me, but these picture are pretty interesting/scary/appealing/crazy and definitely fun to have a peek lolz.

It takes two men to prepare the Cobra.

                                       Carefully took about the venom

                                                Poor thing >.<

                                                            Snip*

                                                  Pour the blood into the rice wine

                                              Censor* (scary Cobra's head )

                                          The still-beating heart inside the rice wine.

And you wondered what they do with the rest of the poor Cobra? (These pictures are from a friend of mine since she ordered the rest of the menu. She wouldn't waste time to come there only for the wine.)

 Deep fried Cobra's bone *This one doesn't look bad at all lolz. Look like something I would try *

                                                   Cobra's porridge

 Cobra's meat *She said it tastes like chicken and it does look a lot like chicken*. I have the similar recipe for this but with chicken instead. The taste of onion, lemon, and Vietnamese coriander compliments the flavor of boiled chicken very well. I'll definitely post the recipe for that.

                                                   Cobra's innards

                                  Stir fried Cobra's skin with lemon grass

Mexican chicken stew

 This recipe I found on chefmom.sheknows.com.  I was going through recipes online and this picture attacks my eyes and triggers my saliva gland so much =) that I have to post here even I haven't made it yet. Definitely, after next week ... since I have another midterms is coming next week.  Another thing I like about this recipe is that the ingredients list is quite simple and those are easy to find at any grocery store, which is perfect for a college student like me. 
Enjoy cooking!

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 1/2 tablespoons flour
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 yellow pepper, chopped
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 2 cups water
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 2 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 can kidney beans, rinsed
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

1. Toss the chicken with the flour.
2. In a heavy Dutch oven over medium heat, heat half the oil. Add the chicken and brown, about 5 minutes total. Transfer chicken to a bowl.
3. Heat the remaining oil and add the sweet potatoes, pepper and onion. Cover and cook about 6-8 minutes.
4. Add the water, tomatoes, chili powder, garlic and oregano. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered for 10 minutes.
5. Add the chicken back in and simmer another 5 minutes.
6. Add the corn and beans and simmer another 5 minutes.
7. Stir in the cilantro, remove from heat and serve.

Vietnamese Caramelized Pork Ribs (Suon Heo Rim)

This recipes I got from Tia Nguyen's blogspot. The flavor doesn't taste very Vietnamese to me, yet it is undeniable good. The addition of sesame seed oil at the end has created a very nice flavor to the dish. Enjoy cooking! 

Vietnamese Caramelized Pork Riblets (Suon Heo Rim)
(Yields 2 Entrée Portions)

• 2 lbs pork ribs, cut 1-inch thick crosswise by butcher
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• ½ tsp grated ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• Sea salt to taste
• Vietnamese fish sauce to taste
• Cooking oil
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 stalks scallion, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 tsp sesame seed oil
• 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine

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.

Vietnamese stuffed bitter gourd soup

Since this week is Lunar New Year, I can't get enough with my traditional food. So here it is : traditional bitter gourd/melon soup. This recipe was derived from the South part of Vietnam and it is very healthy and delicious.
As always, I borrowed other's measurement since I don't measure at all during cooking. This recipe came from phamfatale.com and I changed the ingredients a little bit because I have never used tofu in this soup to reserve the clear broth. I also added some mushroom to add a little sweet to the soup. 
Enjoy cooking!

Ingredients

Yields: 8 servings

1 can of Chicken broth

4 fresh bitter melons
2 teaspoon canola oil
2 shallots, finely diced
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped
1 tablespoon green onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
 4 wood ear mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon mushroom seasoning salt (or regular salt)
2 ounces dried bean thread noodles
1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

Preparation

Prepping the bitter melons: Cut the bittermelons in half. Using a melon ball scoop, remove and discard the spongy center and the seeds. Soak the bitter melons in lemon water.

Prepping the bean thread noodles: Place the dried bean thread noodles in a bowl. Don't forget to cut the little cotton threads and discard them! Soak them in cold water for 20 minutes and drain. Cut into 1 inch lengths. Set aside.



In a large bowl, combine the tofu, bean thread noodles, cilantro, shallots, onions, green onions, sugar and wood ear mushrooms. Season with mushroom seasoning salt and pepper.

Remove and discard the liquid from the bitter melons. Pat them dry and stuff them with the  mixture. You can use toothpicks to keep the mixture from falling out.

Bring the water and chicken broth to a boil and Place the stuffed bitter gourds. Then reduce the heat to medium-high. Cook for about 20 minutes. Add some fish sauce and salt to your tastes. When you see the mixture inside is cooked and the bitter gourds should be soft and tender but still firm and slightly green (not fall apart). Turn off the heat and it is ready to be served with a fish sauce.