Bora Bora Buffet Spread

Spending a paradisiac vacation in Tahiti... The local specialty is Raw Fish salad, either with a coconut milk dressing, or with a special dipping sauce. Here is a buffet spread at the Sofitel in Bora Bora... Scrumptious!

Hanoi style Grilled Pork and Prawns with Vermicelli - Bun Cha Ha Noi

With the return of sunshine in Los Angeles, we barbecued  some tiger prawns and strips of pork belly and meat balls marinated in a sauce made with fish sauce, caramel, a dash of baking powder, and minced shallots. Typically, the meatballs are served soaked in the dipping sauce made with fish sauce, water, sugar, lemon juice and black pepper. To be savored hot or at room temperature with vermicelli and lettuce, coriander, mint leaves... One of my all time favorite childhood dish!

Tiger Prawns with Salted Duck Eggs, Tiger Prawns with Lemongrass/Chili sauce

Found nice black tiger prawns at the market... Decided to prepare the tiger prawns two ways, Chinese style with salted duck eggs, and Vietnamese style, with lemon grass, chili and shallots...
Also made snow peas and trio of mushrooms as side dish...

First shell and devein the prawns and wash them with some salt and water. Dry thoroughly.

The prawns with salted duck eggs were first dipped in flour, then in a batter, and deep fried till golden.
Melt a tablespoon of butter with a dash of olive oil, fry some garlic, add 2 to 3 mashed salted duck eggs yolks, heat till the yolks bubbles, add the fried prawns to coat evenly. Serve hot. The salted duck eggs yolks add an interesting note and layer to the dish, making it rich and flavorful.

For the Vietnamese prawns dish, marinade the prawns with a teaspoon each of fish sauce, galangal powder, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder. Mix evenly. Heat a little oil, saute chopped garlic, shallots, chopped lemongrass, when the shallots become translucent, add the marinated prawns, saute till bright orange, add chopped scallion. Sprinkle some coriander on top and serve.

Buffet at Terranea

Bruce and Jeremy took me to a seafood buffet at Terranea, a luxury resort located in Rancho Palos Verdes, with a sweeping view of the Pacific ocean.   We feasted on prawns, oysters (but not for me), sushi, Alaskan king crab, snow crabs, and other delicacies...

Lamb Red Curry with brown rice

Suddenly have a craving for curry...  Heat a little oil in a saucepan, saute some chopped garlic, a tablespoon of Thai red curry paste, fry till fragrant, about couple of minutes, add 4 to 5 lamb shoulder cutlets, brown on both sides. Add some chicken stock to barely cover the meat, add a teaspoon of fish sauce, 2 teaspoon of brown sugar, some lemon grass, Thai basil leaves, cubed sweet potatoes, simmer for about 40 mn. Add about 1/2 cup of coconut milk. Simmer uncovered (without boiling) till gravy thickens, about 10 mn. Serce with brown rice.... So yummy and rich!

Roast Duck Leg with Assorted Vegetable and Egg Noodles

This dish is easy to prepare and is very satisfying.  First, marinade the duck legs with sweet soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, and honey. Broil till skin turns golden, about 10 mn
Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a saucepan, saute some minced garlic, add the shitake mushrooms, then the cubed soybean, add 2 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1/2 cup chicken broth, and simmer. Add the broiled duck legs, cover, lower heat to medium-low, and cook till the duck meat turns softer, about 40 mn. Add the Chinese broccoli, stir. Serve over plain boiled noodles.

Chinese Scallion Cakes served with barbecue sausages and meatballs

For a relaxed dinner, I made for the first time from scratch the panfried scallion cakes that I love... It's a specialty from Northern China, and it's great served with vegetable or meat. Tonight we sere them with barbecued sausages and chicken meatballs...

Chicken with lemongrass and chilli (Ga xao xa ot) and Grilled Hue Beef

Last night I adapted two recipes from Into My Vietnamese Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen and the results were outstanding, there was not a tiny morsel left after dinner...
The Chicken wiht lemongrass and chili was deliciously aromatic with complex tastes layers and richly aromatic with the lemon grass and coconut milk... The skewers of grilled beef had a wonderful flavor from the marinade made with shrimp paste, pounded brown sugar, shallots and fish sauce.
Recipes will follow soon!

Vietnamese pancake Banh Khoai

Bruce has been requesting me to make Banh Khoai like those we enjoyed in Hue a few years ago because we could not find this delicacy in Vietnamese restaurants in Little Saigon, Orange County, CA. A similar Vietnamese pancake from South Vietnam "Banh Xeo" is much more popular here. I found a recipe from Andrea Nguyen's Into My Kitchen cookbook and applied to make it. The Banh Khoai batter is thicker than Banh Xeo's, and does not contain coconut milk, also more oil is used to make Banh Khoai to achieve the crispy shell.
It's stuffed with finely sliced pork belly marinated with fish sauce, salt, pepper and sugar, and shrimps, bean sprouts, scallions, and a dash of beaten egg... It's served with hoisin peanut sauce and fresh lettuce and herbs for wrapping. The recipe will be posted soon!

Soup and Salad Dinner

Tonight we feel like having a light supper. I prepared a butternut squash soup, with a tuna salad with avocado, and mixed green salad with miso dressing...

Braised spareribs

This one of our family's favorite spareribs recipe. It's easy to make and delicious, the meat melts in your mouth, and the last drop of sauce will be enjoyed with steamed rice.

Whole wheat Vegetarian Pizza

Tonight we feel like having pizza, to make it healthier, I have been looking for wholewheat recipe and found this one on the internet, and have made some minor modifications to perfectly adapt it to our tastes. It was a breeze to make with the bread machine, and it was absolutely delicious, with thin crisp crust and fresh vegetable toppings.

14 inch round pizzas

• 1 1/3 cups water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons yeast

Directions:

I'm using a pizza stone to have a crispier crust. Put the pizza stone in the bottom rack of the cold oven and turn it on at 450 degrees for about 40 mn, so the pizza stone is well heated. Be careful handling it as it is very hot.

Prep Time: 15 mins

1         Add ingredients in the order given into the bread machine pan.

2.        Start dough cycle. (On my machine this takes 2 hours).

3.        Once the dough is done remove it from the pan onto a work surface dusted with corn meal.

4.        Roll dough to fit the shape of your pizza stone, try to roll the dough out as thin as possible. This recipe makes two 14 inch round pizzas (I'm using half the dough, and put the other half in a zipblock bag to freeze for next time).

      Take the heated pizza stone out of the oven, dust with corn meal. Lay the pizza dough on top. Put in the oven for 3-4 mn. Remove from oven using mittens.

5.         Brush the crust lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with dry oregano, tomato sauce, generous portion of mozzarella cheese, and thinly sliced vegetable (I use onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, black olives, tomatoes, basil leaves), season lightly, sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. 

6.         Bake for 10-12 minutes.

New Year's Dinner Party

What a better way to ring in the New Year than enjoying a perfect dinner with old friends? Crackling skin pork and Crab spring rolls appetizers set the tone for the string of great dishes to come... a delicate balance between Vietnamese and French cuisines: tangy green papaya salad with beef jerky, steamed raviolis stuffed with meat with mushrooms, duck confit with noodles, prawns in tamarind sauce, New York steak with Vietnamese fish sauce, Banana marzipan tart... The setting is Tao restaurant on Guerrero Street in San Francisco, lovingly owned by my friend Hang Thuy.

Home baked bread

My sister gave us a bread machine for Christmas, it's a wonderful gift because I always wanted to bake wholewheat bread and pastries, using wholesome ingredients without any chemical preservative.
You can set the bread machine to finish baking when you get up in the morning. There's nothing more heavenly than the smell of fresh baked bread and coffee to start the day!
To start, I have baked olive bread (top) and German rye bread, both tasted fresh, wholesome, and fulfilling!
They are delicious, spread with some butter with a little sea salt, or with a slice of cheese.
This morning, I have a slice of rye bread with butter and cherry jam, with a hot cup of coffee, such a satisfying breakfast...