Bahn mi

Okay this is the egg version of banh mi since we all know I'm secretly Asian on the inside. This gem has been in my rotation for about 2 years or so, and even those it's supposed to be grilled Chris and I still love it. The best place to get your pork tenderloin is trader joes. It will set you back about 10$ but its got two strips in there and usually lasts Chris and I at least 6-8 full meal sandwiches. And everything else is cheap. Adi, I'm looking at you. Lien, everything's super fast too! Truth be told this recipe has some what ruined me for real banh mi too. So lets get down to business.

Ingredients:

1 pack of port tenderloin, very thinly slices. 

1/4 cup Asian fish sauce (is there any other kind?!)

1 tbs honey

2 tbs sugar

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

6 (or more if you like sautéd onions) green onions [scallions]

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 baguettes (if you aren't eating it all tonight cut the other baguette into sandwich size portions, freeze, reheat in the oven/toaster and slice in half)

Hoisin sauce and Sriracha chili sauce

1/2 seedless cucumber cut into matchstick pieces or thinly sliced width wise

1-2 grated carrots

1 cup chopped kale leaves, torn and massaged with a little salt

Cilantro for serving

1. Mix together the fish sauce, honey, sugar, pepper, scallions, and garlic. Transfer to a bowl with the pork and mix till the pork is coated. Refrigerate for 2-4 hrs.

2. Heat a skillet on high, and add the pork cooking until heated through and opinions are soft. There should still be some sauce. About 3-5 minutes.

3. Assemble your sandwiches. Drizzle hoisin and Sriracha on wag half of your bread. Put carrots, cucumber, and kale on the bottom half. Load up with pork, and top with cilantro. Then eat!

Braised pork belly

Hello everybody! It's been a long time since Rachel and I have updated this cooking website. You thought it was dead, huh? Well now that I have fewer distractions in life, what with wedding planning being done and all, I hope to update the site more often. 

...Starting with pork belly. Delicious, luscious pork belly. While this recipe does take a while to make, it it worth it in the end. It also makes lots of leftovers, leaving you with many no-cooking days ahead.

Braised pork belly:

2 to 2 1/2 pounds pork belly

1 cup water
6 tablespoons fish sauce
6 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 cinnamon stick (or substitute 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder)
1/2 tablespoon whole peppercorns
1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
1 inch piece of ginger, sliced
8 cloves garlic, peeled
2  large chili peppers
4 pieces star anise
3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 bunches green onions, thinly sliced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Quick Red Thai Curry

I just realized I had never posted how to make thai curry before and that is one of the simplest dishes I know! As a result I sadly do not have any pictures at the moment, but I will definitely add some soon.

Lien, you could easily recreate this and it wouldn't be a problem to season it exactly to your taste. You also don't have to worry about it being spicy if you don't add too much curry paste. Sound good?

All you need are as follows:

2 chicken breasts
1/2-1 onion sliced thinly
1 bell pepper
1 small head of broccoli or cauliflower cut into bit size pieces
1 can of coconut milk
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons thai kitchen red curry paste
2 teaspoons thai kitchen roasted red chile sauce
1 package of tofu (optional)

1. Slice your chicken into bite size pieces and cook over medium heat until no more pink shows.

2. Add the can of coconut milk, fish sauce, brown sugar, curry paste and chile sauce. Mix until the curry paste is mixed in.  Season with the sugar/curry paste/fish sauce till it suits your tastes. I usually always add more fish sauce and curry paste than required but depends on the person. Bring to a boil.

3. Add your veggies and cook until the broccoli is cooked through, about 10 minutes over low heat. Add tofu at this point with your veggies if desired.

4. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Cassava Cake (Banh Khoai Mi)

Here is my mom's recipe for cassava cake. It is gooey, coconut-y and good. Cassava is also known as yucca.

Cassava Cake:

3   16-ounce bags of frozen, grated cassava. You could also buy fresh cassava and grate it yourself
3 eggs
1   12-ounce can evaporated milk (not condensed!!)
1   14-ounce can coconut milk (also advertised as coconut cream)
2 cups sugar (1 1/2 if you want it less sweet)
5 tablespoons cornstarch
3 drops yellow food coloring (optional)

Just mix everything together in a big bowl. Pour into a 13"x9" pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven uncovered for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. The bake time depends on what pan you use. If the batter pours out very shallow, it may finish baking in one hour. The top should start caramelizing and may be burnt a little bit, that's okay.   Let it cool in the pan. Dig in and enjoy.

Variations: put strips of fresh coconut in the batter, pour caramel or dulce de leche on top.

Bo Luc Lac (Vietnamese Shaking Beef)

I didn't cook this, but my mom did and I took notes! Incidentally, Lien had also make Bo Luc Lac in the same week that my mom did. How funny. Let's see how my mom's version compares.

Bo Luc Lac:
1 pound beef (more tender cuts work better, like filet mignon or rib-eye)
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 small onion
1 head red-leafed lettuce

1. Cut the beef into cubes. We just cut a thick piece of rib-eye steak into pieces. Into a medium bowl, add finely minced garlic, sugar and pepper. Add the meat and add enough oyster sauce so that the meat is coated. Cover, place in the fridge, and marinate for at least 30 minutes.

2. Slice the onion into wedges. Separate the leaves of the lettuce, wash, and rip into palm-sized pieces. Allow leaves to drain.

3. Cook in small batches. If you cook all of the meat and onions at once, the meat doesn't get to caramelize and may release a lot of liquid. I'm going to estimate how many batches to make. Basically, the meat should not crowd into the pan and have about 1/2 inch space. I'm going to guess two or three batches.

4. Heat up the largest pan you have with some oil on high heat. Add the first batch of onions and stir frequently. When the onions are starting to brown, add the first batch of the meat. Allow the meat to cook undisturbed so that the sugars can caramelize. Stir about every 15 seconds. When the meat looks browned on the outside, it will probably be fully cooked. The meat should about 3 minutes.

5. Lay leaves of lettuce on a plate. Lay the meat on top of the bed of lettuce. The lettuce will be slightly wilted, and yummy.

Panko Chicken with Broccoli and Rice

So on my way to Irvine for my Fulbright interview I decided I needed some magazines for the plane ride in case I got bored. Of course by magazines for entertainment I mean food magazines, what else would entertain me. This next recipe is adapted from and courtesy of Bon Appetite, the October 2009 issue I believe. It is a breaded chicken recipe and is really quick, easy and delicious. I have even made it twice now.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1/4 cup of chopped Italian Parsley (It is also called flat leafed parsley, and it is not the parsley that is scrunched up and looks like the garnish you get on plates at restaurants.)
2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard (I just used deli mustard.)
1 egg
1 cup of panko (Japanese bread crumbs) If I can find them in Missouri you can find them in CA.
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter

1 head of broccoli

1 cup of rice
2 cups water

Serves 4

This is random after so many recipes with chicken but I realized Tammy and I have not said this yet. If you are cooking with frozen chicken it is ideal to take the chicken out of the freezer around lunch and place in the sink to thaw. If you cannot do that the take it out the night before and place it in the refrigerator. Worst comes to worst you can place it in a bowl of warm water about an hour and a half before you want to cook. This just isn't ideal because it is not the healthiest way to thaw chicken because it breads bacteria more easily as well as thaws the chicken unevenly but I still do it all the time.

First take your chicken breasts and cut them in half horizontally, so the shorter way. Then place all of them in a big ziplock bag or taking turns put one in a smaller ziplock. Take a pot and smash them till they are about a 1/2 inch thick. Technically you should use a meat tenderizer (which is a wooden mallet) or a rolling pin but my father and I have both discovered the quick nature of a big heavy pot for this task. Its great at home because my dad puts the chicken on the floor to do it and then you hear this giant crash. Anyways, here is what the chicken should look like afterwords.


Then combine your "coating" for the chicken. That is take your chopped parsley, your egg, and the 2 teaspoons of mustard and combine it in a big bowl. Mix it so the egg is broken, like you are making scrambled eggs with this stuff. Then add the chicken and completely coat the pieces.



Then chop your broccoli into bite size pieces. There is a picture below. Place it in a pot and fill it with water so that way the broccoli is at least floating in the water, probably put at least 1 1/2 to 2 inches of water below the broccoli so that way when the water boils it does not boil off leaving the broccoli on the bottom of the pan. You don't want a ton of water in the pot though otherwise it takes forever to boil. Put on the stove over medium high heat.



Now is also a good time to start your rice since that takes on average about 15 minutes to cook. If boiling on the stove then you need 1 cup of rice and two cups of water. A nice thing to remember is that the never fail ratio for rice is 1:2 with the rice on the left and the water on the right. Place that in a pot and put on medium high-high heat. High heat means turn it down once it starts to boil.

Then place the 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. While the oil heat bread your chicken. Take in out of the bowl one at a time and place in the Japanese bread crumbs, the panko. Turn over so that way as much of the panko as possible sticks to it. It is easy to do this on a large plate. You probably cant do this to all of the chicken at once unless you move the chicken some where else. So once you have fit as much chicken as possible and covered it with panko on that plate put that chicken in your skillet. The oil should be hot now. Cook the chicken about 4 minutes on each side or until cooked through. You want the panko to be nice and golden on each side. Once the chicken pieces are cooked through remove from the heat and place them on another plate. Repeat with the rest of the chicken.



Then check your broccoli and rice. Turn the rice down if it is starting to foam to the top. Stir it as well to make sure the rice is not sticking to the bottom of the pan. The broccoli should cook about 5 minutes from the time the water starts to boil. This way it will still be crunchy. A fork should go easily in it but the broccoli should not be falling apart or mushy, granted you can cook it longer if you like it like that. Once it is cooked to your liking, strain it with a strainer or by using the pots lid to keep the broccoli in the pot while pouring out the water. This is what my broccoli looked like.


Also while your chicken is still cooking combine the chicken broth, syrup, salt, and the rest of the mustard in a small bowl or a measuring cup and wisk it till the mustard is no longer in clumps. Once the chicken is all cooked. Add the syrup mixture to the pan.


Once the mixture has reduced to about 3/4 of a cup, so basically cook it for about 4 -5 minutes so some of the liquid cooks off and it gets thicker, add 2 tablespoons of butter. When the butter is melted pour the sauce into a small bowl and the chicken is ready. Check the rice as it should be done. Keep an eye on it from once the first batch of chicken is done. Some people like wet rice and some people like completely dry rice. I like to cook mine until it is still slightly wet and then take it off the heat, stir it, and place the lid back on. This way the rice still cooks a little since it is in a hot pot, but the steam helps to get the stuck rice off the bottom of the pan. Once everything is done place on plates and eat.

Here we go: