Chickpea and watercress salad, lemongrass ribs and boiled okra

Chickpea and Watercress Salad

This salad isn't typically Vietnamese, but our family loves a good salad! You can adapt it and it makes a good lunch the next day mixed with some cous cous.

INGREDIENTS:
Watercress
Onion
Chickpeas
Egg
Toasted sesame seeds
Lime juice
Sugar

In a salad bowl squeeze half a lime and then add sugar to take away the acidity. Thinly slice some onion and add it to the bowl. Wash the watercress and add to the bowl. Add half a can of chickpeas and toss. Hard boil an egg and slice - add to the bowl. Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds on top.

Lemongrass Ribs

I actually missed my mum making these so I had to find a version I wrote down instead.

INGREDIENTS:
Ribs
Oil
Garlic
Chilli
Lemongrass
Nguoc mam
MSG
Water

The ribs need to be chopped into 1 inch pieces. Finely chop the garlic, chilli and lemongrass. Fry the garlic and then add the lemongrass and chilli. Add the ribs into the mix then season with Nguoc mam and MSG. When all combined add around 2 cups of water. Simmer until the meat on the ribs are tender and come away from the bone easily.

Boiled Okra

Ladies fingers as they are also known. Slimy and tasty! It reminds me of a trip to New Orleans where a friend pointed out the Okra Man and his van!

INGREDIENTS:
Okra

Cut the tops off the okra and boil in water until they are soft!

Fried fish in tomato sauce, grilled aubergines and Rao Ma

Fried Fish in Tomato Sauce

You can substitute the fish for another if you don't like this kind of fish (I don't) - hence the grilled aubergines for me!

INGREDIENTS:
Fish
Oil
Nguoc Mam
Salt
MSG
Garlic
1/2 Onion
1/2 Pepper
Spring Onions
4 medium tomatoes

Fry the fish on a medium heat to make it crispy. Finely chop the garlic and spring onions. Chop the tomatoes, onion and pepper into small chunks. Heat the oil and fry the garlic until slightly golden. Add the onions and cook until golden. Add the tomatoes and cook until they break down into a sauce. Season with nguoc mam, salt and MSG. Add the pepper and leave to simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the spring onions and fish when you are nearly ready to serve.

Grilled Aubergines

I like this dish because aubergines can be a little flavourless, but the enhanced (I don't what else I can call it as standard fish sauce has the same name as my mum's dipping sauce) nguoc mam adds a little va-va voom!

INGREDIENTS:
Aubergine
Garlic
Spring Onions
Nguoc Mam
Oil

Cut the aubergine lengthways into 1/2 inch slices. Pat some olive oil onto both sides of each slice and set aside. Finely chop the garlic and spring onions. In a pan heat some oil and then add the garlic and spring onions. Cook until the spring onions look wilted. On a grill pan cook the aubergines about 4mins on each side. Place on a dish and spread the cooked spring onions on top. When you are ready to serve pour the nguoc mam on top.

Rao Ma Canh

So "canh" is our version of soup. We eat canh with every meal, but rather than as a starter, we eat it usually at the end of the meal to cleanse the palate. There is no dinner with canh! Rao Ma is a leafy vegetable and looks similar to watercress (it also has the same bitterness). I don't know the English name for it but it looks like a four leaf clover in some ways!

INGREDIENTS:
Rao Ma
Shrimp/prawns

Wash the leaves and roughly chop. Mash or smash the prawns and then season with ab it of salt, MSG and soy sauce or nguoc mam. Boil a pot of water and when it comes to boiling add the shrimp. When the water re-boils add the leaves and simmer for about 5-8 mins.
Rao Ma

Baked Fish and Baked Stuffed Squid

Baked Fish

My mum uses whatever fish there is to hand and she's pretty good at knowing the best way to cook them. She guts and de-scales like nobody's business! When she bakes fish or meat, she uses this old turkey tray we got at Christmas - but its pretty ingenious as it makes for less mess and cleaning! I'll put up a BASICS lesson on scaling and gutting a fish later!

INGREDIENTS:

Fish (Tilapia or snapper)
Garlic
Turmeric
Salt
MSG

Once the fish is prepared score the skin lightly. Rub salt and MSG in for seasoning. Put chopped garlic into the scored parts of the fish. Rub Turmeric onto the fish - Tilapia has a strong taste so the turmeric helps mellow it out. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees C on the fan setting for 20-25 minutes.

Baked stuffed squid

I actually missed the making of this because I was trying to stuff baby squids, which seemed like an impossible task with an opening no more than 2 inches! Try that with a teaspoon! I got it in the end and the meal is worth it - the stuffing bursts out and is super juicy!

INGREDIENTS:
Squids
Pork mince
Mien (clear noodles)
Num Meo (chinese dried mushrooms)
Carrots
Garlic
Tomatoes
Black Beans
Oil

Prepare squids (tentacles used in previous dish). Mix the mince, carrots, mushrooms, noodles and diced garlic together to make the stuffing. Stuff into the squid and piece a toothpick through the top to make sure the filling doesn't come out during cooking. In a pan heat some oil and then add garlic. Add about 3-4 fermented black beans into the pan. Stir and then add the quartered tomatoes. When the tomatoes break down, add the squid to the pan. Turn off the heat and then put in the oven (200 degrees c and fan setting) for 15-20 minutes.

NOTE: We ate this with boiled cabbage and used the water from the veg for the soup.

Stir fried squid and He and tofu soup

Stir Fried squid

I used to be petrified of eating squid or octopus when I was little - especially the tentacles. I used to think that they would come alive in my throat and try to climb back out. Now as an adult, I can appreciate their taste. However, I found out that Korean's have a delicacy which is based on my own food nightmare. They chop up the squid while it is still alive and pop it in their mouth while it is still squirming. Charming eh?


The ingredients in this dish are interchangeable so change the protein or combos of veggies.

INGREDIENTS:
Garlic
Onion
Squid
Celery
Sour mang (bamboo leaves)
Oil
Oyster sauce
Sesame oil

Chop the garlic finely. Cut the onion into medium chunks. Prepare the squid by deboning and cleaning. Then chop into 1 inch pieces, leave the tentacles whole. Chop the celery and mang into 1/2 inch pieces. Heat up oil in a pan and add the garlic then onions. Brown slightly then add the celery and stir till softened. Add the squid until cooked, add the mang and then season to taste. Serve with black pepper on top.

He and Tofu Soup

He is a type of green which looks like a really long blade of grass. You can buy with or without the flowers. This soup can be sweet to the taste if the he is fresh, but can be chewy if dry or old. The ones with the flower tend to be sweeter. You can use seaweed that is dried, just soak before using. You can also use seaweed that you wrap sushi in, but place in the bottom of the bowl and pour the soup on top instead of cooking it with the broth. This better made just before eating rather than in advance as the he can overcook.

INGREDIENTS:
Prawns
He
Nguoc mam
Salt
Seaweed
Water
Soft tofu

Mush the prawns and marianade in salt, pepper and a little nguoc mam. Cut the tofu in small rectangles. Cut the he into thirds separating the flowers from the blades/stems. Heat about4-5 cups of water in a pan and bring to the boil. Add the prawns and leave till they are just cooked. Add the stems of the he and leave for about a minute. Add the flowers and the tofu. Season to taste and then add the dried seaweed (sushi seaweed see above). Serve immediately.

Tomato Tofu, Fried Salmon Steaks and Peanut Pumpkin Soup

Tomato Tofu

I love fried tofu by its lonesome, so my mum always puts a few aside for me to enjoy their crispy shell! Once you fry the tofu, there's no reason you can't just serve them like that with a side dish of soy sauce to dip them in. Simple but tasty. This is something you can do if you have some left over.

In this recipe my mum adds the tomatoes as we have a tonne of them growing in our garden. We started with one small plant which somehow ended up being 3 massive plants in 3 different spots! I have a feeling it was when my fiancee dug up the garden to impress my mum and managed to spread the seeds around her planting spot. We can't complain though, as it means we don't have to buy any!

INGREDIENTS:
Hard or very firm tofu
3 Tomatoes
1 Clove of garlic

Cut the tofu into small rectangles (let them drain as they will spit less when you fry them) and fry on a low heat. Set aside once golden on every side. Put some oil and garlic in a pan, then add the tomatoes. Cook until they break apart and become liquidy. Add the tofu and simmer (with lid on) until read to serve.

Fried Salmon Steaks

We love fish in our family and we try to have it at least twice a week. This recipe is straightforward as the name suggests.

Ingredients:
2 Salmon steaks
Seasoning: salt, MSG and pepper
1 Clove of garlic

Rub the seasoning onto each side of the steak and then leave to marinade. Heat up some oil in a pan and then turn low. Put the garlic in the pan and then place the fish in the pan. Cook on a low heat, about 5-10 mins on each side. Eyeball to see crispiness or golden colour.

Peanut Pumpkin Soup

A family pleaser and my mum makes a 'western' version with peas which she then blends. yum!

INGREDIENTS:
Handful of shelled peanuts
1/4 or 1/2 pumpkin
Coriander or spring onions for garnish
Shrimp (can be omitted or replace with pork or chicken)
Water

Blitz the peanuts before cooking or you can crush them in a mortar and pestle. In a pan of water add the peanuts and bring to the boil. Get rid of the skins that rise to the top and leave to simmer for 10 mins to soften the peanuts. Add the pumpkin and simmer. Check pumpkin is ready by using a spoon to test its softness. When ready to serve pour the soup into a large bowl and sprinkle with chopped coriander or spring onions.

Chinese-style Kho and Leafy Soup

Chinese-style Kho

The Vietnamese version has the same ingredients (minus the dried herbs and water) although the pieces of pork are smaller. The Chinese version has bigger pieces of pork and the water is used to make the pork really soft (almost like pulled pork in a BBQ).





INGREDIENTS:
Pork (chopped into 1 inch chunks)
Hard boiled eggs (two or three should do)
Sugar
Nguoc Mam (fish sauce)
Dried herb (will update)
Water

Boil eggs until hard boiled. Peel shell off eggs and set aside. In a pan put about 2 tbsp of sugar over the heat. Cook until caramelised and once it starts to bubble add the nguoc mam into it. Then add the pork coating it in the sauce. In the V (Viet) version you would add the egg at this stage and leave it on a simmer. The Chinese version you add the herbs and stir, then add about 3 cups of water and leave it it simmer for 60 mins. This should make the pork really soft. Add the egg 30 mins before serving.

Leafy Soup

Years ago, my mum's friend, Co Hai, grew these leafy in her front garden and invited us to pick some to eat. My mum cooked it in a soup and I enjoyed the delicate flavour of them - they also had a somewhat slimy texture (not too dissimilar to okra) which I quite like. Now we grow them in our garden and they are easy growers. The leaves can grow as big as a hand-span and you don't need that many to make this soup. You can substitute the beef for something else, my mum just happened to have this in the fridge left over.

INGREDIENTS:
Beef
Leafy (I don't know its name!)
Water

Wash the leaves and chop across into 1.2 inch strips. Flash cook the beef in oil with garlic and sesame seeds for flavour. Set aside. Boil water in a separate pan and add the leaves. Cook until boiling and turn the heat down. Wait until the leaves are soft (maybe 5 mins) and then add the beef. Serve.

BASICS: Brown Rice

Usually we just use a rice cooker (no faffing around with pots and cups to water ratios) for white rice. The orange light is a sure-fire indication that the rice is ready! A tad more difficult with brown rice. Sometimes you can soak the rice beforehand in water to make to quicker to cook but my mum forgot!

INGREDIENTS:
Brown rice
water
pan

Measure out how much rice you'll need. Wash clean. Put in a pan with double the amount of water you would put for white rice. Cook to a boil and then cover with a lid to simmer. Keep stirring and keep an eye on the grains. Simmer till the water runs out/dries out (but not burn!) Check grains by biting down on one. Turn off when ready to eat! Simples!

New Beginnings

I love Vietnamese food - nothing beats the delicate flavours and fresh ingredients in its dishes. I can never wait long enough to go back to Vietnam and simply have an 'eating holiday'.

Every year I say that I want to learn to cook Vietnamese dishes from my mum but it never seemed urgent enough to actually write them down and have them all in one place. Although right now is not the best time as I'm super busy, my life has taken a turn which means I won't necessarily have my mum there by my side to watch over me. So in order to savour these dishes wherever I am, I have to document them here as I learn them. I feel guilty publishing all my mum's recipes, knowing that it will be accessible to everyone on the interweb, but I hope that this project will be more for me than anyone else.

Formal part aside, I warn that there will be:

1. No snazzy/artsy/creative DSLR type pictures as I have a Fuji Camera with barely any battery life in it - even after hours of charging! I will simply be using my iphone!
2. No real measurements at times - my mum's style is eyeballing and tasting!
3. No Vietnamese/English Translations - just my laziness

Enjoy (and keep this blog a secret!!!)