yummy pad Thai

Pad Thai Recipe

This dish is one I love because it’s packed with flavor and color. I’ve been eating this for a while now and never considered how to cook Pad Thai. I decided to give it a go (or four)! After dancing with this recipe for a while I learned a few things. There are very many recipes for Pad Thai available…

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Quinoa with Black Beans and Corn

I was searching for a healthy, vegetarian alternative to the meals I usually eat when I stumbled upon this recipe. I absolutely love this dish because it tastes great and it’s quick and easy to make. It’s also pretty healthy too. Quinoa is a superfood–It’s king of the grains in terms of protein content, a whole grain, and gluten-free. It’s…

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Pumpkin Pancakes Recipe

This tasty pumpkin pancake recipe is a simple and delicious choice for Fall. Mix up your morning routine a bit for this recipe that smells great even before you cook. There were a lot of ingredients for this recipe that I did not have, so I to did a quick supermarket run. The original recipe actually calls for ground ginger…

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How To Cut Kabocha Squash

Kabocha squash is a winter squash that I like to keep around for various recipes. I mostly use this in soups and stews, but you can do a lot of other things with this lil guy. When it’s more orange on the outside the flesh will be more red inside and it is sweeter. However, when it’s green outside, the…

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ga kho / Vietnamese caramelized chicken

Gà Kho Recipe (Vietnamese Caramelized Chicken)

Gà kho is an aromatic, sweet, spicy, and pungent yet balanced combination of flavors that pair amazingly well with chicken. It’s quite easy to make too! I’ve had the chance to try different recipes of ga kho back at home. When I think about thịt kho (dishes with caramelized meats) from my family’s meals, it covers a lot of dishes.…

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Easy Hot Cocoa / Hot Chocolate Recipe

The holiday season is upon us and when it’s cold outside, nothing’s as nice as cozying up with a nice, hot beverage (while donning your Snuggie). When you want a cup of hot cocoa, making it at home is really not that hard. It sure beats the packaged instant mixes too. Using chocolate will give a bit of a richer…

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boiled cabbage / bap cai closeup

Vietnamese Boiled Cabbage Recipe (Bap Cai Luoc)

This recipe is for Weekend Wokking, a world-wide food blogging event created by Wandering Chopsticks to celebrate different ways ingredients are used across cultures. The host this month is Erbe In Cucina (Cooking with herbs). If you would like to participate or to see the secret ingredient, check who’s hosting next month. This Vietnamese Boiled Cabbage recipe is incredibly simple.…

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How to Make: Lechon Kawali (part 2)

Ok my firep 1 attempt at the Filipino Lechon Kawali (pan fried pork belly) did not turn out as expected… haha. I figured since the pork was already cooked, this final pan-frying was just to brown it and puff the skin in hot oil. I placed it in the pan to fry and seriously started to worry for my safety.…

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How to Make: Lechon Kawali (part 1)

I’ve been wanting to take a whack lechon kawali for a long time now. The first one I tried was made by the GF’s mom about 18 months ago and it was soo addicting. Lechon kawali is a Filipino dish literally meaning pan-fried pork. Technically, it is first braised, then pan-fried pork belly. I’ve looked around for recipes and finally…

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brewed vietnamese coffee

How To Make Vietnamese Coffee (Cà Phê Sữa Đá)

Vietnamese coffee is an intensely strong and sweet coffee, that’s sure to dissolve your morning daze and perk you up for the day. Its dark roast coffee and potent condensed milk, slowly dripped through a metal filter (phin) make this a unique coffee. In Vietnam, coffee, whether it’s brewed and served at home or in restaurants, is brewed leisurely (i.e.…

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goi cuon / Viet spring rolls

Vietnamese Spring Rolls Recipe (Gỏi Cuốn) w/ Peanut Sauce

This traditional Vietnamese Spring Roll recipe (gỏi cuốn) is full of fresh veggies, herbs, soft slices of pork, and shrimp all brought together with a super flavorful hoisin and peanut dipping sauce. What are Vietnamese spring rolls or gỏi cuốn? Gỏi cuốn literally means salad rolls, and for the longest time I never made that connection. I just assumed it was a random…

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bowl of tofu in tomato sauce

Vietnamese Fried Tofu w/ Tomato Sauce – Đậu Sốt Cà Chua

This is a very simple fried tofu and softened tomatoes (dậu sốt cà chua), seasoned with fish sauce and quickly simmered, topped with sliced scallions and served with hot fluffy rice. It’s a dish I enjoyed a lot growing up, that mom and grandma could whip up in half an hour. And if you can buy pre-fried tofu, you can…

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