Bo Luc Lac ("Shaken" Beef)

Today, I bring you the recipe of bo luc lac. "Bo" means steak, and "luc lac" refers to the "shaking" method when preparing this steak. You can find this dish in almost every Vietnamese restaurant. It is usually served with steamed rice. However, I like to make this dish as a salad served on watercress and onion that has been tossed with a vinegar dressing. Nuoc mam cham (dipping fish sauce) is served on the side for those who prefer it more of salty taste.This recipe takes 20 minutes to prep and 10 minutes to cook. It is THAT easy.

INGREDIENTS:

Beef Marinade

• 1.5 lbs beef sirloin, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 white onion, sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 tbs sugar
• 1 tbs honey
• 2 tbs oyster sauce
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp olive oil

Vinaigrette

• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 1.5 tbs sugar
• 1/2 tbs salt

Dipping Sauce

• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 tbs sugar (or to taste)
• 2 tbs fish sauce (or to taste)
• 1 cup of water
• 1 garlic, minced well
• 1 chili peppe, minced well

Salad

• 1 bunch of watercress
• 1 tomato, sliced (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Combine the marinade ( garlic, shallot, sugar, honey, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and olive oil) with the beef cubes and refrigerate at least an hour before cooking. I always do it hours before to make sure the beef is well marinaded.

2. Prepare the vinegar dressing by combining the ingredients and toss the watercress. Put aside.

3. In a big wok, heat up 1 tbs of olive (or vegetable) oil over high heat. Add the sliced white onion when oil is hot. Then add in the beef and allow to sear for about 3 minutes.

4. Begin "shaking" to sear all the opposite sides of the cube for another 3 minutes.

5. Transfer the beef to a bed of watercress. You can add a layer of sliced tomatoes in between the watercress and the beef if you like.

6. Make the dipping sauce by adding all the ingredients listed and stir until all the ingredients are mixed nicely. Feel free to add more sugar/fish sauce/lime if you prefer a sweeter/saltier/sour taste.

7. Sprinkle ground black pepper on the beef before serving.

Cha Gio (Vietnamese Spring Rolls)

I am a huge fan of cha gio, Vietnamese spring rolls--not to be confused with goi cuon which are not fried and usually translated as garden rolls. I have tried numerous versions of spring rolls in Chinese restaurants, and to me, the Vietnamese interpretation is what spring rolls should be. I know, I'm a little biased. The filling is made of just the right amount of meat and vegetables. The most refreshing part about cha gio is that they can be served in a number of ways. You can eat wrap them with fresh lettuce leaves and other aromatic herbs such as mint leaves (my favorite) and dip in nuoc mam cham (dipping fish sauce). Or you can eat them with noodles (bun cha gio) or with rice.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb ground pork

• 1/2 lb small shrimp, minced (optional)

• 4 oz crab meat, coarsely chopped (optional)

• 4 big carrots (~1 lb), shredded
• 1 big taro roots (~1 lb), julienne cut
• 
1 clove garlic, minced

• 1 shallot, minced

• 3 big dashes ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon fish sauce

• Salt to taste

• 2 small eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 egg yolk 

• Spring rolls wrapper (see picture below for preferred brand)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, mix the ingredients (except the last 2 listed above) together to form a sticky filling. Since I'm an amateur cook, I always cook a spoon of the filling in the microwave to make sure I have seasoned it to taste.

2. To roll the cha gio, place a piece of rice paper on a clean flat surface (cutting board is great for this).

3. Place 1 heaped tablespoon of filling on the wrapper, tuck in the sides so that they meet in the middle, fold the wrapper over the filling and roll to form a cyclinder about 3 inches long.

4. Use the egg yolk as glue to seal the roll.

5. Heat oil over medium heat in a wok or a large frying pan. If you're fancy, you can buy a deep fryer. Or you can have your assistant does the frying while you blog. :)

6. Fry the cha gio slowly until they turn golden brown. Dish out and drain the excess oil by lining them over some paper towels.

7. Serve immediately with nuoc mam cham or roll it up with a fresh lettuce leaf and some aromatic herbs and then dip into the nuoc mam. Again, we didn't wait for pictures before diving in so I'll update the serving pic next time!

Mam Chung (Vietnamese Meatloaf)

Mam chung is a staple dish in my household, but by a different name. My mom refers to it as "Trinh's favorite dish," because as the name suggests, it is my favorite dish of all time. I would eat it every day for weeks if they let me. One time, my mom made a very big batch and I would eat it day after day to the point where she was afraid for my health. So she gave it away to my sisters just to ensure it would be out of sight and out of touch for me.

Considering the fact that it is my favorite dish, I barely ever make it. That's the beauty of having a mom and older sisters who like to cook for you. :) Let's cut to the chase, below is the recipe and the pictures from tonight's (yes, tonight's) dinner.

Ingredients:

- 2.5 lbs of ground pork

- 1 jar of "mam loc xay" (snakehead fish sauce- pictured below)

- 1 tsp of sugar

- 14 eggs

- green onions (chopped)
- usually served with: rice, cucumber, mint, and lettuce

Instructions:

1. In a big mixing bowl, add pork, 1/2 jar of the fish sauce (refrigerate the rest for next time), sugar, 14 eggs (save 3 egg yolks for the top layer), and green onion. MIX WELL.

2. Transfer the mixture into a baking dish (I used a ceramic one and a glass one - pictured below), make sure to leave about an inch on the top as the mixture will rise when cooked.

3. In a large pot, add water so it is halfway to the bowl. Bring to boil (close the lid) and reduce to low heat. Keep checking on the mixture to make sure the water is not spilling into the mixture. It will take about 25-30 minutes.

4. Use a chopstick/fork and poke holes into the mixture all the way down. If the chopstick/fork is dry, the mixture is almost ready. Use a flat spoon and smear the yolk on top of the mixture. Leave the lid off the pot and cook for another 5-10 minutes (or when the yolk looks well-done).

5. Remove and serve with rice and vegetables. (sorry, we rushed into eating and forgot to take a picture to show how it is supposed to be served, we'll do it tomorrow).

Voila!

Popovers - First Trial

As the title of this blog post suggests, this is my first attempt at making popovers. I followed the recipe (which I got from BLT Steak) religiously, well, except the fact that I used my cupcake pans because I don't have popover pan. My popovers tasted yummy but they didn't look like popovers at all. No inflation, no crust, they just look like some sad-looking biscuits.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of milk, warmed
• 8 eggs
• 4 cups flour
• 1 ½ heaping tbsp salt
• 2 ½ cups grated gruyere cheese
• Popover pan

Preparation:

• Place the popover pan in the oven.
• Heat the oven and pan at 350 degrees.
• Gently warm the milk over low heat and set aside.
• Whisk the eggs until frothy and slowly whisk in the milk (so as not to cook the eggs).
• Set the mixture aside.
• Sift the flour with the salt.
• Slowly add this to the dry mixture and gently combine until mostly smooth.
• Once combined, remove the popover pan from the oven and spray with non-stick vegetable spray.
• While the batter is still slightly warm or room temperature (definitely not cool), fill each popover cup ¾ full. Top each popover with approximately 2 ½ tabsp of the grated gruyere.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, rotating pan half a turn after 15 minutes of baking.
• Remove from the oven, remove from the pan and serve immediately.
  

Che Ba` Ba (Vietnamese Sweet Dessert Soup)

I get random cravings, such as wheat thins in the middle of the day at work, or brownie and ice cream between breakfast and lunch, etc... These kinds of cravings have willed me into waking up at odd hours to make food, or pleading my officemates (hi Sabrina! hi Steph!) to walk with me in the blazing DC summer heat just to satisfy my cravings.

While grocery shopping yesterday, I saw some good looking yuca and instantly craved for a type of Vietnamese sweet dessert soup called "che Ba` Ba." There are many forms of che Ba` Ba, some include mung beans, peanuts, etc.... I like mine pretty simple, with just yuca, sweet potatoes/ yam, and tapioca. The recipe is below, enjoy!

Ingredients (for 8-10 servings):

• 1 lb of yuca (cut in 1 inch chunks)
• 1 lb lb yam (2 different kinds used here, cut in 1 inch chunks)
• 1/2 bag of tapioca flour (about 3 to 4 oz)
• 2 cans coconut milk
• 10 cups water (less or more as you like)
• sugar (to taste)

Direction:

1. Boil the water. Let it brings to boil and add the coconut milk.

2. Once the water and coconut milk mixture comes to a boil, add the yuca in first and leave on medium heat.

3. After cooking the yuca for 5 to 7 minutes, add the sweet potatoes or yam. Keep on medium heat.

4. While waiting, you can prepare the tapioca. Pour about 1/2 of the flour content into a big bowl and add about a tablespoon of hot water and knead the flour. Continue to add the remaining flour and water as needed. Click here to learn how to knead flour into dough.

5. You can shapes the tapioca however you like. I find it quickest to press the dough flat on a surface then use scissors to cut the dough into strips / rectangles / squares / etc...

6. Once the yuca and sweet potatoes are soft and tender, add the tapioca strips.

7. Add sugar to taste when the tapioca turns clear.

8. Let everything comes to a boil.

9. Serve either hot or cold.

Enjoy!

Trinh

Peach Frozen Yogurt

Courtesy of The Chop Stop Confessions

Shout out to my friend, Dieu (check out her blog here), for sharing with me this quick and easy recipe for one of my all-time favorite desserts. I'd love to try this recipe with strawberry but before I do, I need to go get myself an ice cream/yogurt maker (I'm adding this one to my Christmas list)! Enjoy cooking!

Ingredients:

• a bowl
• blender
• a cuisinart ice cream/yogurt maker
• wooden spoon
• about 4 peaches (1-1.5 lbs)
• 2/3 cups of sugar
• 1 cup of greek yogurt or fresh yogurt (Dieu used fage)
• a splash of pinot grigio
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Directions:

1. Start by cutting the peach in small pieces.

2. Combine the peach with the sugar and a splash of pinot grigio, use the wooden spoon to mix and let it sit at room temperature until the sugar dissolves.

3. Pour the peach mix into the blender then add in the yogurt and let it mix together for about 1 minute or so.

4. After it is mixed, transfer it to the ice cream maker and let it do its job. it’ll take about 20-25 minutes for the maker to churn completely into an ice cream/frozen yogurt consistency.

Again, thanks Dieu for being my first contributor!

Pad Thai

In college, I didn't have access to my mom's cooking (on a daily basis that is) so I took comfort in the nearest Asian restaurant on campus, a Thai restaurant. Ever since, I'm hooked on pad thai. I've tried making the dish exactly the way my favorite restaurant does it by combining different recipes I found online and the last attempt was probably the most successful to date. I still need to work on the sauce a little more (can't seem to get that thick peanut flavor just right) but I figured I might as well post it and let others show me what I could improve on.







Ingredients (for 3-4 servings)

• 1/2 lime
• 1 egg
• 4 teaspoons fish sauce
• 3 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 shallot (minced)
• 2 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoon tamarind paste (maybe substituted with vinegar)
• 1/2 package Thai rice noodles
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2-1/4 lb shrimp
• 1/2 cup green onion (cut into 1-in long pieces and separate the white parts from the green parts)
• 2 tablespoons crushed peanuts (optional)
• 1-1/3 cup bean sprouts (optional)
• 2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro (optional)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, soak the noodles in cold water for 15 min; drain. Cover noodles with hot water, and soak for 15 minutes; drain. Rinse with cold water, drain, and set aside.

2. De-shell and de-vein the shrimp. Set aside.

3. Heat half of the oil in a wok or large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute the white parts of green onion, mince shallot and garlic until all is light golden -- about 5 minutes. Add shrimp, and cook until pink. Stir in half of the fish sauce and sugar. Remove from wok and set aside.

4. Add in the rest of the oil into the wok. Add in the drained noodles and stir until the noodles look softened. Add in the rest of the fish sauce, sugar, tamarind or vinegar. Pour in the beaten egg, and while stirring slow to allow the egg to partially set.

5. Add the shrimp back in, along with the green parts of the onions, and mix until noodles are tender. I like the bean sprout to remain somewhat raw so I add these last. If you like them cooked, add them when you add the shrimp and onions.

6. Continue to stir-fry until noodles have flattened and blended with the sauce.

7. Transfer pad thai to serving plate. Top with the cilantro and peanuts. Serve with a wedge of lime on the side.

Optional: Peanut Sauce
Because I am that girl who always asks for extra peanut sauce at the restaurant, I tried to find ways to make this sauce on the side so I can add as much as I like to. Here's how I made it last time.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
• a pinch of minced garlic
• 2 tablespoon of peanut butter
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon of sugar

Directions:

1. In a small sauce pan, heat the oil and add the minced garlic. Stir until garlic is golden. Add in the hoisin sauce and stir well for 3 minutes.

2. Add in peanut butter and mix well over low heat for 5 to 7 minutes.

3. Add water and sugar to desired thickness and taste. Keep heat on slow and stir well for another 3 minutes.

4. Serve as extra for pad thai.