And why not? Caramelization creates a delicious sauce that is savory, sweet, spicy, salty, and thick enough to nicely coat whichever meat you decide to cook.

My cousin came over while I was preparing this dish and asked, “what stinks?!” It was fish sauce and vinegar. A lot of folks shy away from fish sauce because of the smell, but they should give it a shot! I don’t sit around whiffing fish sauce, but it’s a vital flavor component of the dish.

If you are really afraid of the odor in your house you can always cook it outside or as a last resort substitute soy sauce instead, but the flavor will not be the same.

And if you’re strapped for time and cash, this ga kho recipe is the perfect solution (recipe adapted from Food Wishes).

Ingredients:

the marinade
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoons brown sugar

the meat
1.5 lbs chicken drumsticks (you can use any cut desired)

the sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1 shallot, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced

last second additions
2 sprigs of scallion, roughly chopped 1/2″-3/4″ long
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
1 thai chili, thinly sliced

vegetable oil for frying

Method:

1. Marinade in about 2 tablespoons fish sauce and 1 tablespoons brown sugar for a least 1 hour. Rotate and redistribute marinade after the first 30 minutes.

2. Combine for the sauce: 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup fish sauce, 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 1/4 cup water

3. Then add to the sauce 1 tablespoon minced ginger, 1 minced shallot, and 3 cloves minced garlic.

4. Heat a pan on high heat, then add some vegetable oil. Add the chicken and rotate as it browns. This should only take a 1-2 minutes.

5. Turn down the heat to about medium so the chicken can cook through.

6. Add some of the sauce, just enough to color and kind of baste the meat as it cooks.

You could add the rest of the sauce now too, but I find it makes more sense to cook them separately so you can control the doneness of the chicken and thickness of the sauce independently.

7. Remove the chicken. Add the rest of the sauce and cook on medium high heat until it just reaches desired consistency.

8. Add the sliced jalapeno and scallion to cook just slightly as the sauce finishes. If you want more bite to the jalapeno, slice it thicker and don’t let it cook too much (same with the scallion).

Serve with rice.

Using chocolate will give a bit of a richer taste, but you also use cocoa powder and add cream for a similar effect. 101 Cookbooks has compiled a nice list of user-submitted suggestions for drinkable chocolate.

What you need:
4 cups milk
2 ounces cocoa
1/3 cup sugar

heavy whipping cream
cinnamon sticks
whole nutmeg

Method:
Add the cocoa (or chocolate), sugar, and half of the milk to a pot. Heat gently at 50% heat until it starts to boil, then add the remainder of the milk.

Whip with an electric beater until you get soft peaks:

Pour the hot cocoa into a glass and top with some whipped cream. Sprinkle with some cocoa powder, or cinnamon and nutmeg shavings.

This Vietnamese Boiled Cabbage recipe is incredibly simple. What makes it different is the dipping sauce that goes with it!

Ingredients:
1/4 to 1/2 head of cabbage

fish sauce
1 hard-boiled egg
lime

Method:
Boil the egg(s), about 8-10 minutes.
Chop the cabbage into large pieces (about 1.5″ x 2″).
Boil the cabbage for about 2-4 minutes until tender.
Mash up about 1/2 a hard-boiled egg in fish sauce. You can add a squeeze of lime juice and some chile pepper too.
Serve with rice.

I’m not really sure where it went wrong. The skin didn’t blister/puff before it got burned. Again I’m still trying to figure out why.

This second time around I chose some pieces with less meat and baked it instead of trying to fry it. Frying also left the house smelling like oil for a few days.

I prepped the meat the same way as I did in step 1, but this time I rubbed in kosher salt on the top and bottom of each piece of pork. It was probably 1 tablespoon for each 0.7lbs of meat.

Bake at 300F for about 30 minutes.

Then broil the pieces until the skin blisters. You’ll hear some nice hissing. And I actually saw the skin puffing! It was like little puffy clouds given off of active yeast.

At this point, the skin was puffed but I could tell it still had a good amount of moisture in it. I set it to bake again at 350F for maybe 15-20 more minutes.

It came out beautifully!

I still haven’t given up on the frying method though. I’m also exploring some methods learned from the GF’s mom to infuse some more herbage. There are so many variations on this dish. I cant wait!

However, this one came out delicious and is some pretty hefty junk food/comfort food. Serve with a ton of rice if you know what’s good for you.

I’ve looked around for recipes and finally decided on one. For the most part, im trying to follow (and try to quantify) Market Manila’s lechon kawali recipe.

What you need:
-2.2lbs. (1 kg.) liempo (pork belly)
I’ve only had ones with a very low meat to fat ratio so I’m trying to make one with a ton more meat.

-1/2 medium onion
-15 peppercorns
-5 garlic cloves
-2 bay leaves

Prep time: 3 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 25 minutes

First, boil enough water in a pot to cover the liempo (pork belly), about 2-3 quarts.

Split the belly in two. I split it for easier frying. If you want to leave it whole, by all means leave it.

After the water hits a boil, add the belly for about 1-2 minutes just to clean it. Pour out the water and rise the pot and pork well.

Add the onion, peppercorns, garlic, and bay leaves.

Bring to a boil then reduce to heat to about 60% or enough to keep the water at a simmer. I kept adding water to keep the level slightly above the meat. This smells amazing while it cooks!

We’re supposed to let it dry, and I also do not want to try to do that in the oven. I have noticed a lot of lechon kawali I’ved had has the meat part dried out. Maybe it’s because over drying before frying, or because it was over fried… But I’m going to just follow the recipe and find out .

I lightly wrapped it in paper towel and put it in the fridge overnight. This will get deep fried tomorrow. Check back soon for the finished lechon kawali.

I was talking to my Dad about coffee and he was reminiscing about cups from the past. This man loves his cup of joe.

He’s completely happy here in the States, but has an incredibly fond memory of his life in Vietnam. “There was nothing like escaping from the rain–running into a coffee shop with a lightly damp raincoat. I can immensely enjoy a cup in that kind of atmosphere.”

Although we Vietnamese “owe” the availability of ingredients for this coffee to French colonization, this creation is Vietnamese. Vietnamese coffee is uniquely characterized by a combination of French roast coffee dripped through a Vietnamese coffee filter mixed with condensed milk.

French roast pairs exceptionally well with condensed milk. The Vietnamese coffee filter gives a stronger brew than that of an American drip machine and different than that of a French press.

Any French roast can be used, but the most popular brands for Vietnamese coffee I’ve seen are Cafe Du Monde, Cafe’de Paris, and Trung Nguyen. For this recipe, we’re going to stick with Cafe Du Monde.

Notice that Cafe Du Monde isn’t pure coffee! This grind is laced with the ground root of the chicory herb. This mixture originated in Europe during WWII when money was tight and expensive foods like coffee needed to last. Chicory root was used to stretch the coffee supply. After the war, the preference for the chicory flavor became a trend and exists even today!

What you need:
-1 heaping tablespoon (about 4 teaspoons) of Cafe Du Monde grind
-1-2 teaspoons condensed milk to fit your taste

-a Vietnamese coffee filter
-a glass for the brew
-a glass filled with ice

Prep time: 1 minute
Cook time: 3-5 minutes

Start by boiling some water. An electric kettle makes it a lot faster. I’m lucky my tea-loving roommate left it behind when she went back to Australia. I would have never thought to purchase one, but it I’m glad I have it!

Remove the metal filter and pour in 1 heaping tablespoon of Cafe Du Monde (about 4 teaspoons). I love the smell of coffee!

Twist the filter on gently until it just starts to stop. Then turn it little more, a bit less than 1/8 a turn.

If you wanted to drink this hot instead, you can put the brewing cup in a bowl and fill the bowl with hot water. For this recipe, we’re going to stick with the iced version.

Ideally you want to add the condensed milk to the cup before brewing because the boiling water actually cooks it. It does have a slight affect on the flavor. For this recipe we’ll add it after since most readers probably don’t know how much condensed milk they want.

To brew, pour a tiny bit of water in the filter just to wet the grind and to let the grind expand a bit. Also this will help rid of some small grinds that happen to make it through the filter. You can toss it out if you see any.

Then go ahead and fill the filter all the way and let it drip. Ideal brewing time comes to about 3 to 5 minutes so adjust the filter accordingly. Too loose and you’ll just have runny brown water. Too tight and nothing will drip through. The filter will be hot, so use a fork or another utensil to adjust the filter. Place the cap on and watch the coffee drip!

For condensed milk, I prefer Longevity Brand – Sua Ong Tho, because of the sweet graphic.

Personally, I like it a little bitter. About 1 teaspoon of condensed milk does it for me. If you like it sweeter add 2 or 3 teaspoons.

Pour the brew into a glass filled with ice and serve. Now make some for your coffee loving buddies!

Made from just rice and water, the neutral banh trang (rice paper) could be easily used in a variety of ways. At one Vietnamese market, I found no less than five brands of banh trang (rice paper) with multi-lingual packaging: Vietnamese, Chinese, English, and French.

Banh trang gets around. Cambodians have a similar roll also using the same rice paper called nime chow–made without meat and dipped in a vinegar based sauce instead of hoisin. The Chinese have a version with duck and cucumber with a hoisin based dipping sauce. Japanese restaurants are also commonly using regular and dyed versions of rice paper for rolls too.

For the meat you can really use any cut of pork you wish, but leaner works better. The shrimp can also be any size but a medium one helps make rolling easier.

At the bottom of this post you’ll find a Vietnamese Nuoc Cham / Spring Roll Sauce recipe too.

This recipe makes about 10 Spring Rolls.

What you need:
-1/2 lb. shrimp (36/40 size) (453g)
-1/2 lb. pork leg (453g)

-1 head red or green leaf lettuce
-a few sprigs of mint
-chives

-banh trang (rice paper / Spring Roll wrapper)
-bun (rice vermicelli, the starchless variety)

-1 1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon sugar

Nuoc cham recipe (Vietnamese dipping sauce recipe, Spring Roll sauce)
-1 tablespoon Hoisin Sauce
-2 tablespoons water

Prep time: 25-40 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Assembly time: 10-20 minutes

If your shrimp is frozen, thaw it in a bowl of water until it is defrosted so you can cut into them.

Split and devein the shrimp. It helps to have a sharp knife
and a steady hand. I had to pull up a chair to get the hang of this. I also found it helpful to have a bowl of water to dip the nasties into.

Cook the pork: fill a small pot with water about 1.5 inches above the pork, add 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon sugar. Bring to a boil on high heat then lower to 60% for about 30 minutes. It is done when it floats or when it is no longer pink in the middle.

Cook the shrimp: fill a small pot with about 2 inches of water (just enough to cover the shrimp). Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil. Add the shrimp. Boil for about 1.5-2.5 minutes on 70% heat until the shrimp is no longer translucent in the middle. It will be quick so don’t go anywhere!

Remove the shells and tails and clean off any remaining shrimp intestine. Split the shrimp in half along the body. Try to picture how you want to layer the pork inside the roll so you know how to cut it. Slice as thinly as porkly possible so rolling will be easier.

Tortuna brand bun (rice vermicelli), and Flying Horse brand banh trang (Spring Roll wrapper, rice paper).

Get 1 gallon of water boiling. Add 1/3 of the rice vermicelli package and boil for 8 minutes (following the instructions on the packet).

Drain and cool the noodles under cold running water to stop it from cooking.

Wash and dry your veggies! I used an OXO Salad Spinner.

Add some warm water to a plate to dip the banh trang (rice paper).

Dip only before making each roll. It took me about 5-10 seconds of soak. Make sure to remove it before it gets to the desired softness so it’s easier to handle.

Rolling technique is entirely up to you. Do whatever looks good or makes you happy. Put less than what you think you need so the rolls aren’t exploding. Generally it will look better to show lettuce instead of noodles on the bottom. A tighter roll will look nicer and showcasing the meat on top makes it more appealing. Here’s what I did:

Add some lettuce near the bottom and leave about 1″ to 1.5″ space on the sides. Layer with some mint and some chives.

Add shrimp near the middle, color side down.

Add pork on top of the shrimp and some bun (rice noodle) on top of the vegetables. Make sure the rice noodle is spread evenly across.

Fold the sides in so its snug and add some more chives. Then fold the bottom up to cover the rice noodles. You want to keep the roll tight, so lightly squeeze it together as you roll. Once you reach the meat, ease up on the tightness so it doesn’t tear.

Nuoc cham recipe (Vietnamese dipping sauce recipe):
Add 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce and 2 tablespoons water to a small pan and bring to a boil. Pour into a bowl and cool. Add chopped nuts and some hot sauce. I used Koon Chun hoisin sauce, and Sambal Oelek chili paste (the one without garlic!).

Serve!

What I used:
-1lb. ribeye steak
-1 medium onion
-1 handful of mushrooms

-1 tablespoon butter
-1/4 cup red wine
-kosher salt
-vegetable oil

-A heavy pan to sear the steak. I thought of using a cast iron skillet for this, but I didn’t want to deglaze in that, possibly picking up extra flavors… so I used my All-Clad Saute Pan
-An Oven Thermometer

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes

Take your steak out 1 hour before you’re going to cook it. Preheat your oven to 300F.

Heat the pan on high heat *first*, then add about 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Oh yes, it’s nice to be cooking on a gas stove once again.

Liberally season one side of the steak with salt, then place it salt side down on the pan. Carefully! Then season the other side.

Flip once there’s a nice sear, maybe after 1-2 minutes.

Sear on the flip side, then set the thermometer to 140F for medium doneness and insert the probe with the tip in the middle of the steak. Then put it in the oven and wait for the timer to go off then remove and rest the steak.

Meanwhile, prep the onions and mushrooms.

Turn the stove to about 70% heat. Add the wine and scrape the pan to deglaze the fond. Add about 1 tablespoon butter and all the mushrooms. Saute until the mushrooms lose some moisture.

Next, add a little vegetable oil to saute the onions. I like mine still slightly crunchy, so I don’t cook it too long.

Plate and serve!

I had this with some crispy canned corn too. And rice–how Asian, eh?

My parents or grandma would just throw some knives and knock some pans around and like magicians, they made delicious food appear.

Everyone in the family was lucky to have good food all the time.

A few years after my uncle moved out he visited asking my grandma and asked for this recipe he missed. Even incredibly simple dishes such as Dau Sot Ca remains out of reach until you can find one of those kitchen magicians for tips.

What you need:
-1lb. (0.45kg) firm tofu (okay, you can buy pre-fried tofu, but unless you live near a market or factory that pumps those things out daily, I would avoid pre-packaged fried tofu)
-5 medium, ripe, Roma tomatoes

-1 tablespoon tomato paste
-1/2 teaspoon fish sauce (optional, but you SHOULD!)
-1 teaspoon salt
-2 teaspoons sugar
-1/2 cup water
-oil for deep frying

Prep time: 35 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Cut the tofu into smaller pieces and dry on paper towels or in a basket over the sink for 20-30 minutes. We want to remove the excess moisture to avoid oil splatter during frying.

I fried these in vegetable oil, keeping the temperature at 300F (148C) using my Polder Thermometer. Let the temperature hit 300F before adding. It should take 2-4 minutes until they brown. Like anyone else in a hot tub, these guys like to bunch together and stick, so move them around a little after adding to the pot.

Cut each tomato into 4 or 8 even pieces each. I’d cut them all into 4ths next time.

Add everything into the pot: tofu, tomatoes, salt, sugar, tomato paste, water, and fish sauce (optional).

Cover with a lid, bring to a boil on high heat, then reduce to 30% heat until the tomatoes are cooked. About 10 minutes total.

For this Dau Sot Ca Chua recipe, you can add a little more tomato paste for more color, or more water if you like it a bit more… saucy. As always, add extra salt or fish sauce to fit your taste. You can also stuff the tofu with meat before adding to the pot. That can wait for a future post.

Top with red chili flakes or freshly ground pepper. Serve with rice.

What you need:
-2.2 lbs. (1 kg) of country style pork ribs
-6 chicken eggs

-1/2 (6 oz.) can coconut soda
-1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
-1.5 tablespoons fish sauce
-2 teaspoons salt
-4 tablespoons sugar for the nuoc mau (caramel). This is add color and a hint of sweetness. Depending on how dark your sauce gets, you may not need all of it. If you don’t want to make the nuoc mau, you can replace the soy sauce used with dark soy sauce for color.

Approximate prep time: 5 minutes
Approximate cook time: 2 hours 10 minutes

Get about 2-3 quarts of water boiling on high heat. You want enough to cover the pork when it is added.

Cut the pork into about 1″ x 1.5″ (2.5cm x 3.8cm) pieces.

After the pot of water is at a boil, add the pork for about 1-2 minutes to clean it of impurities on high heat. We’re not trying to cook it all the way through here. Then, pour out the water and clean the pork and pot under running water. Use your hands! Then, pour out all the water.

Add to the pot: 1/2 a can coconut soda, 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce, 1.5 tablespoons fish sauce, 2 teaspoons salt.

Then fill up the pot until the water just covers the meat. Return to the stove on high heat. When it hits a boil, lower to about 50% heat and set the timer for 2 hours. Make the Nuoc Mau (caramel) and add to the pot.

Next, boil the eggs.

When they are ready, remove the shells, cool, and poke the eggs all over with a fork. About 8 times on each egg.

When there are about 60 minutes left on the timer, add the eggs. Eventually we want the liquid to reduce to half of the original. So when the timer shows 15 minutes left and you have too much liquid, turn the heat up to concentrate it faster.

Serve with rice.

When I was a kid, I used to mash up the yolk and mix it with the rice, then add some broth. Well…nothing has changed except now I put loads of freshly ground pepper on top =].

A note on the seasoning for this thit kho recipe: you can tinker with the soy sauce, fish sauce, and salt after the liquid has finished reducing, adding more to fit your taste buds.