Tag: Vietnamese
Beef Pho
Beef Pho
Pho is the national dish of Vietnam. It can be traced back to the early 1900’s; culturally influenced by the French’s introduction of beef, which is the main flavor component. Today, there seems to be a never ending plethora of Vietnamese restaurants with pho being the specialty.Pho stock is made by roasting beef bones and whole onions, then simmering in a large stock pot of water with star anise, ginger, cinnamon stick, sugar, and salt. Some recipes for the stock will include a small stewing hen as part of the boil. The stock is simmered for at least 4 hours, with some recipes taking 24 hours. Then the stock is strained and ready to serve.Beef is the main protein in pho. The beef is always raw, sliced paper thin, and is cooked when boiling stock is ladled over. Many cuts of beef can be used including flank, eye of round, brisket, and ribeye. Vietnamese love texture, so there are varieties of pho that include tripe and tendons. Other than beef, pho contains rice noodles, bean sprouts, Thai basil, cilantro, green onions, hoisin sauce, fish sauce, and is served with lime wedges; just to name a few ingredients.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Pho Stock
- 5 lbs beef bones femur and neck
- 2 large onions cut in half
- 10 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 large ginger split in half
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp salt
- 6 quarts water
Beef Pho
- 14 oz rice stick noodles prepared according to package directions
- 1 lb beef ribeye sliced paper thin
- Asian style beef meatballs sliced
- 2 cups bean sprouts blanched for 30 seconds
- Thai basil
- cilantro
- green onions chopped
- lime wedges
- hoisin sauce
- fish sauce
- sriracha
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the beef bones and halved onions on a baking sheet.
- Roast for 45 minutes. Set aside.
- Dry toast the star anise in a small skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes.
- Place the star anise, cinnamon stick, and halved ginger in a large pot of water; about 6 quarts. Bring to a boil.
- Add in the roasted beef bones, onions, sugar, and salt.
- Simmer over medium heat for at least 4 hours.
- Strain the pho stock. Return to the pot and bring to a boil.
Pho Assembly
- Assemble the basil, cilantro, green onions, bean sprouts, lime wedges, and hoisin sauce on a plate.
- Place 1 portion of rice noodles in the bottom of a large soup bowl. Place the sliced ribeye and meatballs on top of the noodles.
- Ladle the boiling stock over the beef and noodles.
Cahn Mong Toi (Water Spinach Soup with Dried Shrimp)
Cahn Mong Toi (Water Spinach Soup with Dried Shrimp)
If you are ever down and having a bad day, make yourself a bowl of cahn mong toi. The Vietnamese soup only has a few ingredients, but is jam packed with layers of umami from the dried shrimp and fish sauce. You can substitute the dried shrimp for fresh shrimp, ground pork, or tofu.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup dried shrimp
- 3 cups water
- 2 cups ong choy washed and chopped
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Soak the dried shrimp in hot water for 25 minutes. Drain and chop up.
- Bring the water to a boil. Add in the dried shrimp, sugar, and salt. Cover. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add in the ong choy and fish sauce. Simmer for just 2 more minutes.
BBQ Pork Rice Noodle Salad
BBQ Pork Rice Noodle Salad
There is a lot of food prep in making this Vietnamese rice noodle salad; but it pays off in the end. You will see this on just about every Vietnamese menu, served with various forms of protein. My absolute favorite is char siu bbq roast pork. You can use lemongrass marinated grilled pork or chicken, meatballs, and shrimp as well. I just recently ate this at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant, IPho by Saigon. I ordered their special and almost couldn’t finish it, it was so big. That’s saying something. It was topped with 2 types of pork, chicken, and shrimp. It was so good that I had to learn how to make it. 5 days later…
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 bunch green leaf lettuce chopped
- 8 oz rice vermicelli noodles prepare according to package
- 2 cup bean sprouts
- 1 cucumber seeded, cut into long strips
- 1 cup pickled carrots and daikon
- 1 cup fresh mint
- 2 green onions chopped
- 1/2 cup peanuts crushed
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1 1/2 lb bbq pork
Dressing
- 6 tbsp water
- 4 tbsp vinegar
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 garlic cloves thinly sliced
- 2 thai chilies thinly sliced
Instructions
- Mix all of the sauce ingredients together in a small pot. Bring to a simmer. Make sure all of the sugar is dissolved. Take off the heat and let cool.
- Assembly: Place a good handful of the leaf lettuce in the bottom of a bowl. Place about 1 cup of the rice noodles on top of the lettuce. Then arrange the ingredients around the perimeter of the bowl, with the peanuts in the middle. Pour the dressing over the top. This recipe makes 4 large servings.
Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)
If I was put on death row and asked what the last thing on Earth that I'd like to eat, my final meal, char siu would be on the top of the list. I have loved this bbq pork ever since I was a little kid. My family would order everything with bbq pork in it from the Chinese restaurant that we got take out from. I love this pork so much, I snuck some of the pork in the picture into the movie theatre in a ziplock bag.Char siu is typically made out of pork shoulder. It can be made out of pork sirloin, pork loin, or tenderloin; but they tend to be less juicy than pork shoulder. Fat is a good thing here. You will want a 3lbs. piece of boneless pork shoulder. I purchased a whole bone in shoulder and processed out the coppa roast and the flat iron, If the coppa roast was a beef cut, you'd know it as a chuck eye roast. You don't have to go to this extreme. You can use any part of the shoulder. I just happen to know how to cut these muscles out of the shoulder and use them. Cut the pork shoulder into 2" in diameter chunks with the grain. The char siu gets its color from the red bean curd. If you've ever seen this pork really red, the color will be coming from red food coloring. But I want to avoid food coloring as much as possible. The red color in the bean curd comes from a natural fungus. This pork needs to marinate for at least 3 days.When ready to cook the pork, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Yes, 400 degrees. Normally when you think of cooking pork shoulder, you cook it low and slow. Not here. It will be tender. Trust me. I was skeptical the first time I tried making this. Roast this for 15 minutes. Pull it out of the oven and brush on the glaze. Roast for 7 minutes. You want to do this for 3 times total. The honey will caramelize the outside while the bean curd juice will give it a nice red color. Once done roasting, let sit for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs boneless pork shoulder
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 3 red bean curd cubes + 2 tbsp liquid
- 1 1/2 tbsp Chinese 5 spice powder
- 3 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
- 3/4 tsp white pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
Pork Glaze
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp red bean curd liquid
- 1 tbsp cooked marinade
Instructions
- Take a 3lb. piece of pork shoulder and cut it into a few long chunks with the grain. Each piece should be around 2″ in diameter. In this picture, I cut out the coppa roast and the flat iron. The coppa roast is the center muscle of the shoulder. If this was beef, you’d know it as a chuck eye roast.
- Mix together the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, red bean curd cubes and liquid, 5 spice powder, honey, cooking, wine, white pepper, sesame, oil, and garlic cloves. Mash the bean curds into a paste. Mix everything thoroughly.
- Add the pork shoulder pieces and the marinade to a gallon sized ziplock bag. Marinate for 72 hours. Turn the bag over every 12 hours.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lay the pork shoulder pieces on a rack onto of a foil covered baking sheet. Add a couple cups of water to the baking sheet to prevent smoking. Roast the pork for 15 minutes.
- While the pork is roasting, mix together honey, red bean curd liquid, and some of the marinade. Make sure to cook the marinade in the microwave for a few seconds before mixing in. Now you have your pork glaze.
- After the first 15 minutes of roasting, take the pork out of the oven and brush on the pork glaze. Don’t worry about getting the bottom. Put the pork back in the oven and roast for 7 minutes. Repeat this step 2 more times, for a total of 3 glazes.
- After the final glazing and roasting, let the pork rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
Pickled Carrots and Daikon
These pickled carrots and daikon are used as a topping for banh mi sandwiches. Sweet and vinegary with a nice crunch. These are good in your refrigerator for up to a month.
Ingredients
- 6 oz carrots cut into large matchstick sized pieces
- 6 oz daikon cut into large matchstick sized pieces
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Cut your carrots and daikon into large matchstick sized pieces.
- Place them in a bowl with 2 tsp of sugar and 1 tsp salt. Let sit for 5 minutes. Liquid will start to pool at the bottom. Rinse in cold water and pat dry.
- Mix together the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar until dissolved.
- Place the carrots and Daikon in a mason jar. Pour in the brine. Let pickle for a day before use.
