Vietnamese Style Fish with Turmeric & Dill 越式黄姜莳萝叶鱼

When i have sufficient amount of home grown fresh dill, time to cook this Vietnamese inspired fish dish.

Thit Kho (Vietnamese Caramelized Braised Pork and Eggs) 越式卤肉



Vietnamese braised pork is slightly difference from the usual Chinese braised pork. The nice golden and brown colour is not provided from the usual soy sauce but caramel sauce (Nuoc mau). There is no soy sauce is added in this recipe but still given nice colour. Anyway, I didn't prepare Nuoc mau ahead, instead I followed the way that my mother taught me when braise pork, also similar like Nuoc mau, cook sugar and oil till caramelized.

Canh Kho Qua ( Stuffed Bitter Melon / Bittergourd Soup ) 越式酿苦瓜

Before CNY, my husband shown me a recipe and requested me to cook for him as he missed this stuffed bitter melon which he took good one at Ho Chi Minh Vietnam last time.

Fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Goi Guon) 越南春卷

We like deep fried Vietnamese spring rolls but sometime I also prepare fresh type like this, it is refreshing and healthy!

Vietnamese Pumpkin flowers stuffed with prawn (bong bi don thit) 越式酿南瓜花

I tried to order this stuffed pumpkin flowers with prawn when we were taking dinner at one of the restaurant at Ho Chi Minh but it was out of stock. Before return home, I was happy to find this edible pumpkin flowers at a wet market nearby hotel, so I brought back some to try out.

Banh Xeo (Vietnamese Crepes) 越南煎饼

After I made the Vietnamese Bo La Lot, I used the leftover bean sprouts and herbs to make another Vietnamese cuisine Banh Xeo. Banh Xeo is a Vietnamese savoury crepes that stuffed with meat, bean sprouts and herbs. A lot of peoples thought the crepes is a egg crepe, actually the crepes is made with rice flour and colour with turmeric powder but no egg is added. The first time I had this was at Quan An Ngon, Ho Chi Minh Vietnam.

Bo La Lot ( Vietnamese Grilled Lemongrass Beef wrapped in Wild Betel Leaf)

Sometime i feel my kitchen is like International café, I cook Chinese, Japanese, Malay, India, Thai, Vietnam, Italian & etc..I am especially like to cook those dishes that I have tasted in a restaurant or foods that I tasted while travelling. I have been cooking few Thai dishes and Vietnamese dishes, hopefully I can post it up soonest since my memory still fresh. I first tasted Bo La Lot was at the Ben Tahn market . The other day when I tried to clean up some of the wild betel leaves wildly spread at the backyard, perfect timing to try this Bo La Lot (Vietnamese Grilled Lemongrass Beef wrapped in Betel Leaf)).

Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Cha Gio)

I went a short trip to Hanoi recently. Vietnamese spring rolls was one of the item i ordered for almost all meals i taken there. I am ok with either deep fried or just plain rice paper wrap with shrimps, both were simply yummy..

Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken rice noodles soup)

Happy International Women' Day to all of you !! I would like to present this light and healthy noodles to all of you.


I like Vietnamese pho, i took pho for almost every lunch when I was in Ho Chi Minh last year. I try to cook this at home recently, also partly due to super hot weather here , I lost appetite to rice which serve in every dinner. As lime juice and fresh herbs are added to pho, so it is very appetite and refreshing.

At first, I was not too sure what spices added to the broth, luckily I found the Vietnamese beef pho recipe in Pig Pig's corner. I always have problem to buy beef in market here, so I changed beef to chicken, and omitted some of the spices..Thanks to Pig Pig's corner for kind sharing.


-From left, coriander seeds, cloves, cinnamon stalk, star anise

Pho Ga / Vietnamese Chicken rice noodles soup
(printable recipe)

The broth
4 Chicken carcasses
1 big onion (cut wedges)
½ tbsp sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp salt or to taste
4 whole cloves
1 whole star anise
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 cinnamon stalk
2.5 litres water

Ingredients
500g Vietnamese rice noodles (rinse in hot water)
500g whole Chicken breast (cook in the broth for 30mins, removed and shred the meat)
200g Bean sprouts (washed and tails pinched off)
Fresh basil leaves
Fresh coriander leaves
Fresh red chilli
Limes


1) To make the Chicken pho broth: Pan fried onion wedges till slightly brown. Place all spices (cloves, star anise, coriander seeds and cinnamon stick) in a cotton pouch. In a large pot, add in chicken carcasses,water, onion and spices pouch, bring to boil and simmer over low flame for 1hour. Season with sugar, fish sauce and salt, try to make it more salty as soup will dilute once added noodles. Strain the broth and discard the solids.

2) To make the bowl: Bring broth to boil, fill bowl with rice noodles and bean sprouts, and ladle the hot broth into bowl. Garnish with the rest of fresh veggie and shredded chicken. Serve hot.

Happy Cooking !!

Thousand Miles Veggie (Thien Ly)

My husband sms me from Ho Chi Minh asked me to buy some beef, then I asked why? He said he will bring back fresh Thousand Miles Veggie all the way from Ho Chi Minh today. This veggie is one of our favorite dish at Hoang Yen restaurant HCM, Vietnam name called "Thien Ly"...I never cook this before, just try to recall my memory and replicate this dish at home..




- Thousand Miles Veggie (Thien Ly) ...

- how a tiny flower veggie..

- want to have some?

-It tasted a bit crunchy and sweet..

Simple recipe to share
Ingredients
Thien Ly (Thousand Miles veggie)
Beef- sliced, marinate with light soy sauce, salt, pepper, Chinese wine and tapioca flour.
Red bell peppers -sliced
Steps:-
1. Heat oil in a wok, add in Thien Ly and little water, quickly stir fry for 1min, seasong with salt.
2. Discard the water and place Thien Ly on a clean plate.
3. Add some cooking oil into the marinated beef, then use a clean non stick pan to quickly stir fry the beef, add red bell peppers, continue stir fry till cooked ( do not over cooked)..
4. Place beef on top of Thien Ly. Serve hot.
Do enjoy cooking !!!

Vietnamese Spring Roll meal

I prepared this Vietnamese spring roll meal for dinner recently, using the spring roll which I brought back from HCM, this was kind of healthy meal because it wrapped with a lot of fresh herbs and vegetables, Teriyaki grilled chicken & etc..

- Fresh basil from my garden, shredded carrot and cucumber, Star fruit slices and limes.

-Blanched Mee hoon (rice Vermicelli) and bean sprout

- Vietnamese Spring roll skin

-Teriyaki grilled chicken

- Vietnamese style of chili sauce (fish sauce, garlic, fresh red chili, sugar, lime juice)

-Fried Spring roll (minced pork marinted with soy sauce, sugar, fish sauce and Chinese wine)