Che Khoai Mon

Chem chep nuong mo hanh

Vietnamese Grilled mussels with spring onion's oil:

1kg mussels

100ml stock

3cm length ginger root

1 clove garlic

1 shallot

1 bay leaf 

1 lemongrass

10g butter - melted

1 tbsp fried shallot

1/2 cup Spring onions oil  (Recipe-  http://streetkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/05/vietnamese-scallion-oil.html)

30 - 50g roasted peanuts - croasely crushed ( I used about 1/4 cup) 

Vietnamese dipping sauce Nuoc Mam

 

Wash the mussels under plenty of cold water, de-bearded, discard any mussels that do not close tightly when tapped, ( according to Raymond Blanc do not scrub the shells as, whilst cooking, the colour will transfer to the juices and give a very unappetising grey appearance)

Drain the mussel 

Pre heat the oven's grill to 200c

Thinly slice ginger, garlic and shallot cut lemongrass into 5 cm length

In a large pot, heat oil till slightly hot, add ginger, garlic, shallot, lemongrass, bay leaf stir till soften

Add the stock, bring to boil

Quickly add all the mussel at once, cover tightly with lid, shake the pot a few times. 

Cook the mussel until it just opened about 1-2 mins

Drain the mussels, keep the stock ( this stock is lovely just to serve it along the dish as a soup, reboil before serving)

Break away the empty half shell of each mussel quickly

Place the other half with the mussel on a baking tray

Slightly brush the mussel with butter

Grill 2-3 mins, take them out, place on a serving dish

Add the spring onion's oil to each mussel

Sprinkle with roasted peanut, and fried shallots serve with Nuoc Mam or salt, pepper and lemon juice dipping and I like to accompany this dish with vietnamese style baguette.

Chem chep nuong mo hanh  (Grilled mussel with spring onion's oil)

 Banh Mi

Thit cha Bong

INGREDIENTS:
1kg Pork fillet
*Seasoning: soy sauce,  fish sauce, sugar  (depends on your taste)

METHOD:
Steam the pork fillets until they are cooked.
While waiting for the meat to cool down. Combine all the seasoning ingredients in a small pan and bring to the boil, turn the heat down and mix until all sugar has dissolved.

Once the meat is cool, beat it with a rolling pin along the grain of the meat, so the meat breaks into strands and is easier to shred.

Shred the meat into individual strands about 1.5 mm thick or slightly thinner than the thickness of a cocktail stick.



Heat a heavy based frying pan, after that turn the heat down to very low.
Put the shredded meat on frying pan, with the seasoning
Keep stirring around with a pair of wooden chopstick until the meat is dry enough but not too dry. You can test whether the meat is dry enough by rubbing a few strings of meat between the finger. If the meat is fluffed up without breaking down, then you can take the meat off the heat.

 

Rub a small potion of the fillet against a metal mesh like a sieve or a rough flat surface until it has fluffed up like cotton wool. Keep repeating this step until all the meat is done.

Keep the cotton meat in a air tight jar, don't press the meat in too tight or the meat will lose its fluffy texture.

Bo Vien, Cha Lua

Bo Vien
1kg beef shin/brisket
2tbsp salt
1tbsp fish sauce
3tbsp sugar 
2tsp pepper
0.5 tsp ground garlic
2tbsp water
1tbsp potato starch
1.5tsp Alsa

Cha Lua
1kg mince chicken
2tbsp fish sauce
1tbsp sugar
2tsp black pepper
0.5tsp ground garlic
3tbsp potato starch
3tbsp water
 1.5 tsp Alsa

Vietnamese Baked Banana Cake (Bánh chuối nướng)

CT cua ban lansie, thanks ban lansieu da chia se 1 cong thuc rat ngon nha.
Ingredients:
800 gr banana
1 tbsp rhum or cognac
250 gr bread
400ml coconut milk
200ml milk
100gr sugar

Methods:
Remove babana's skins cut in half, add the cognac, rest 1h.

Dissolve sugar in coconut milk and mil.

Cut bread in small chunks add to the sugar milk mixture, leave rest in 1h ( Depends on the bread , you may have to adjust the quatity of milk and coonut milk, after 1h the bread should be soggy with milk but not complete runny (sau khi ngâm 1h, hỗn hợp ko bị chảy nước lênh láng, khi dùng tay bốc lên 1 nắm, bánh mì nhão nhưng nước cốt dừa sữa ko chảy ra kẻ tay thì được)

In a 22cm cake tin spread half of the bread mixture then follow by one layer of banana, repeat one more time. The last layer should be cover with bananas.

Bake at 180-190°C in 1h.

Leave in cake tin to cool down. Taste best if refrigregate till cold before serve.

Roses Three Layer Flan

I made this flan for a birthday party. The flan has two thins layer of jelly at the bottom which are flavored with pandan and coffee. The roses are made from coconut milk, the clear one are made with water, sugar and little lemon juice.

Mini Banh Flan- Caramel Flan

Banh flan is a Vietnamese version of French Crème caramel but it is steamed instead of baking in a water bath.

 














Ingredients

1 egg
100ml milk
1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp water

Methods:

Gently mix the egg with a fork until combined, don't let any air bubble get into the egg.
 
Warm milk and 1 tbsp sugar, do not let it boil, leave the milk cool down a little but still warm.
 
Mix egg and milk together, pass through a sieve.

Caramel:
Boil 2 tbsp sugar with 1 tsp water together over medium heat until turning brown. Pour a thin layer into ramekin or any mould. Leave it to harden.

Pour the mixture into the rameskin.
 
Steam on low heat, Use a clean towel to cover the pot before close the lid so water won't get into the flan.
 
Open lid every 5 mins to release excess steam.
 
Steam around 12 mins until centers of flans are gently set (insert a cocktail stick to test, if the flan feel almost firm and the chopstick comes out clean)
 
Leave cool then refrigerator for at least 4 hours.