Pho-mplings (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup-Spiced Dumplings)

You guys! Why did this not occur to me sooner? A couple of years ago, I had the bright idea of making Pho Burgers, by grinding the spices I used for making Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup) and adding them to ground beef. You'd figure that after making Pho Burgers with Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup Spices and Banh Mi Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup-Spiced Sandwiches), it would have dawned on me that I could use the spiced meat to make dumplings too...

But it wasn't until last fall when I stumbled upon this Gothamist article about Phumplings in Brooklyn that the pho-spiced dumplings started to take shape. Phumplings are larger and filled with soup, closer to xiao long bao (Shanghai soup dumplings). A bit too much work for lazy old me. Not that I probably won't try that at some point.

Instead, I decided to make regular dumplings with pho spices. I had a rather lean cut of beef, but if you use fattier ground beef, you can get juicier dumplings. I used the same proportion of spices and aromatics as my Pho Burgers -- pureed onion, garlic, and ginger with ground cinnamon, cloves, and star anise spices. Then topped the dumplings with green onions (actually, chives from the garden) and basil, small squirts of Hoisin Sauce and Sriracha, and squeezed a bit of lime. With all the components in place, it was like eating pho in one bite.

Mi Xao Toi Bo (Vietnamese Noodles with Garlic Butter) Maggi Seasoning Sauce

Shortly after getting back home, I was still thinking of the simple, but oh so good garlic noodles that I ate at Swamp - San Francisco. Years ago, when I first heard about Crustacean's garlic noodles, I quizzed my friend DP who had eaten there and asked her what she thought was in the dish. Garlic and butter were a given. The saltiness, could it be Maggi Seasoning Sauce, the not-so-secret favorite for Vietnamese kitchens? She said possibly, but it was creamy too, and suggested Parmesan cheese.

Since Crustacean is so expensive, I tried making a version at home and thought the garlic butter noodles were rather ho hum. But paired with Vietnamese Cajun seafood like I had at Swamp, or any other seafood dish with sauce, and the simple garlic butter noodles really shine through.

O/Kho Qua Xao Trung (Vietnamese Bitter Melon Egg Stir-Fry)

Since I was on a quest to find ways to reduce the bitterness of bitter melon, I remembered that my ba noi (Vietnamese paternal grandmother) had taught me to do just that long ago. At the time though, I didn't realize it was to reduce the bitterness, I just figured it was another step in cooking as she instructed me the kitchen. Afterward, she taught me to stir-fry the bitter melon with eggs.

For this version, I added the fish sauce to the eggs first, like I do with my Scrambled Egg Omelet recipe since the flavor would be retained more in the eggs than in the bitter melon. The bitter melon was still crunchy, only slightly bitter, a perfect foil to the soft, saltiness of the scrambled eggs.

How to Make Bitter Melon Less Bitter

Every few years, I attempt to eat Canh O/Kho Qua Nhoi Thit (Vietnamese Stuffed Bitter Melon Soup) again, hoping that this time, it'll grow on me. And every other time, the bitterness of bitter melon is just too much, but I keep trying because it's pretty much the only Vietnamese food that I can't eat.

So I thought I'd try to lessen the bitterness. Not remove it completely, but at least tone down it enough that I can eat it. I figured if I parboiled the bitter melon and dumped the bitter brew before making it into soup, that might reduce the bitterness a little.

I turned to my Wandering Chopsticks Facebook page to ask if any of my readers had tried that and whether it worked and received another tip to salt it as well. So here you go, two ways to lessen the bitterness of bitter melon.

Snow Monster - Westminster (Little Saigon)

After dinner at Da Nang Com Tam Tran Qui Cap - Westminster (Little Saigon), my friend Ivan and I went across the street for dessert. Actually, I was heading toward TeaZone Lollicup - Westminster (Little Saigon) for their matcha green tea snow bubble when we spied this crowd from across the street.

Ah! So that's where Snow Monster is located! In February 2013, I received an email from someone from Snow Monster who mentioned that she was a fan of the blog "for many years now" and inviting me to try a "fairly new dessert called Taiwanese shaved snow."

"Fairly new"? Really? Because I first blogged about shaved snow back in 2007. She wasn't sure if I had "tried or heard about it." I think I have when I've blogged about shaved snow not once, but twice, thrice, and a fourth time.

Look, I don't expect everyone to remember every blog entry I've ever written, but I do clearly state on my contact page to use my searchbar before emailing me. Don't pretend to be a fan or try to sell your product as something I don't know about when I've blogged about it multiple times and years ago. A simple search before contacting me would have cleared that up. She offered a large shaved snow and a Belgian waffle sundae, and asked that if I had anything negative to say to tell them in person. And to blog within two weeks after my visit. Geez, I can buy my own shaved snow, thank you very much! Pet peeves aside, at least the Snow Monster name was now on my radar?

Anyway, I wasn't going to hold that minor annoyance against them, especially since shaved snow sounded like just the thing on a hot summer evening.

Canh Ga Xa Xiu (Vietnamese / Chinese Char Siu-Style Barbecued Chicken Wings)

Lazy post. Lazy recipe. :)

Unless you specifically want to make Chinese barbecue-styled chicken wings, the easiest thing to do is to toss in a few pounds of wings in the same pan that you're making Xa Xiu/Char Siu (Vietnamese Chinese Barbecued Pork).

I mean seriously, why make more work for yourself than necessary?

But just for you, I've included the recipe for the marinade below in case you love wings that much, or don't eat pork, or what have you.

Trung Hap Va Chien Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese Fried Hard-Boiled Eggs with Fish Dipping Sauce)

I was introduced to fried hard-boiled eggs when I made a Burmese Golden Egg Curry last year. I knew about the general idea of deep frying hard-boiled eggs from a Thai Son-in-Law Eggs recipe in one of my cookbooks, but hadn't actually tried making it until that point.

The Burmese egg curry was followed by Indonesian Fried Hard-Boiled Eggs Sambal that I ate at my neighbors' twins' birthday party, which prompted me to attempt an at-home version.

Then came the Thai version with tamarind sauce and fried shallots.

So I figured I should come up with a Vietnamese version. Nothing fussy. No curries or difficult sauces, just deep-fried hard-boiled eggs with chili fish dipping sauce. I did borrow the Burmese trick of adding some turmeric to the frying oil to turn the eggs this gorgeous golden color. My trick for easy hard-boiled eggs is to put them in my electric steamer for about 12 minutes if I'm going to further cook with them, or 15 minutes if I want them harder-steamed to eat immediately. Seriously so easy.

And if you're an egg fan like my brother's wife is, she couldn't resist asking if she could try a bite before I had finished making Hoanh Thanh Thit Heo Bam, Dau Hu, Hanh La (Vietnamese Wontons with Ground Pork, Tofu, and Green Onions) for dinner.

Hoanh Thanh Thit Heo Bam, Dau Hu, Hanh La (Vietnamese Wontons with Ground Pork, Tofu, and Green Onions)

If I could impart only one kitchen wisdom, it would be this: have fun.

Sure presentation matters since a dish that is visually appealing makes you more likely to eat it. And of course, there are ingredients and preparation and all that.

But what it really comes down to is that familiarity in the kitchen, working with ingredients, preparing food to feed your loved ones, none of it happens really if you don't enjoy yourself first. My favorite childhood memories in the kitchen were spent listening to my Ba Noi (Vietnamese Paternal Grandmother) tell stories while wiping banana leaves for her famous Banh Nam (Vietnamese Steamed Flat Rice Dumplings with Pork and Shrimp). As I got older, she'd assign more tasks, teaching me little tricks along the way, such as deveining shrimp with a toothpick or adding salt to kill any bugs when I rinsed herbs. When I cooked, she always praised what I made, no matter how simple.

In contrast, my mother was very exacting about presentation without a lot of explanation about the process. And while there are lessons to be learned there too, I found this method makes cooking seem more like work. Through the years, I've heard from friends and readers who hated being in the kitchen for precisely that reason, that cooking seemed like drudgery, that they were rebelling against the expectation that women had to do the cooking. Or since cooking, especially Vietnamese food, seemed like such a vague process, with instructions being to add a little bit of this and that, that they didn't know where to start. Or that the slicing and folding they did wasn't pretty, so they were shooed away from preparation. All of which makes being in the kitchen no fun at all.

I've been cooking with my niece for a while, and also now with my nephew since he turned 2 years old. I hope they're enjoying themselves as much as I am teaching them. While we've made plenty of baked goods, the niece's favorite foods are noodles and dumplings. I make the filling and separate the wonton skins, but leave the folding all up to them. Sure, their technique needs a bit of work, but after being boiled, you can't even tell.

Lobster Roll with Sriracha Butter

A while back, Albertson's had a sale on lobster tails for $3.99 apiece. Granted, they were pretty small, but I couldn't pass up that price and purchased three of them. I froze the lobster until I could come up with a good recipe. Not that lobster needs a good recipe. I like lobster plain, grilled or boiled, and dipped in butter sauce or even, mayonnaise.

Which then got me thinking. If I'm perfectly happy with plain lobster and butter, then I might as well keep it simple and make a lobster roll. I'm always tempted to order one when I see it on the menu, but at upwards of $12, I haven't been able to justify spending that much for a sandwich. Even though my version cost the same, I got two lobster rolls for that price. And because lil' sis doesn't like lobster (I know!), she only had one bite and the rest was all for me.

The recipe is really simple. Baked lobster tails lightly sprinkled with salt, tossed in Sriracha butter, served on toasted hot dog buns. So if you love lobster and Sriracha, this recipe showcases both ingredients wonderfully.

Banh Pa Te So Nhan Banh Mi (Vietnamese Pate Chaud (French Hot Pastry Pie) with Sandwich Fillings)

Shortly after trying the special at Au Coeur De Paris Patisserie & Boulangerie - Westminster ( Little Saigon), basically a Banh Pa Te So (Vietnamese Pate Chaud (French Hot Pastry Pie)) with Vietnamese sandwich fillings, I knew I would recreate this at home. Such a brilliant idea!

I made my usual Vietnamese puff pastry pies, then stuffed them like Au Coeur De Paris does with homemade Xa Xiu (Vietnamese Chinese Barbecued Pork), Cha Lua (Vietnamese Steamed Pork Loaf), and Do Chua (Vietnamese Pickled Stuff). Tucked in a few sprigs of cilantro and little hand-sized snacks were perfect.

I was trying to come up with a name to call these, but couldn't come up with anything shorter than what they are Banh Pa Te So Nhan Banh Mi (Vietnamese Pate Chaud (French Hot Pastry Pie) with Sandwich Fillings). Ha! If you're in the Little Saigon area, I highly recommend checking out Au Coeur De Paris' specials, but otherwise, they're easy enough to make at home, they just have a lot of components.

Hot flaky puff pastry stuffed with three kinds of meat and pickles? Perfection.

You Are the Sriracha to My Pho

Isn't it awesome?

I was admiring the Hong Kong food-inspired Valentine's Day illustrations from Mochachocolata-Rita when it occurred to me to make a Vietnamese one. Well, except my drawing skills are limited to stick figures, and pretty sad stick figures at that.

So I asked Rita if she could draw an illustration for me that said, "You Are the Sriracha to My Pho." She came back in less than an hour with the above. I looove it!

Au Coeur de Paris Patisserie & Boulangerie - Westminster (Little Saigon)

This story is a bit rambling, so bear with me. It starts several decades ago, when I was in high school and attended a weekend retreat sponsored by the Rotary Club. Our guest speaker was Bob Farrell, co-founder of Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour and Restaurants, who sold the chain and became a consultant and motivational speaker. He talked about customer service.

The story goes that a man, who wasn't dressed so finely, walked into a bank to cash a check. He asked the bank to validate his 50-cent parking ticket. The teller refused. He asked to speak to a manager. The manager backed up the teller and also refused to validate the customer's parking ticket. So he said he wanted to withdraw all his money and close out his account.

Sure. Because how much money could this scruffy customer possibly have?

The teller's face paled.

Apologies were rendered.

And refused.

The customer withdrew $1 million.

He promptly took his money and deposited it in the bank across the street.

Decades later, the story stayed with me. I thought it was just a story. Turns out, the story is true -- in October 1988, John Barrier, who made his money renovating houses, went into Old National Bank (now U.S. Bank) in Spokane, Wash. to cash a check and had his 50-cent parking validation refused. So he withrew $1 million. He took his money across the street to Seafirst Bank, who made it a point to treat Barrier well. But whether he had $1 or $1 million, was charging 50 cents for parking worth losing any customer? Farrell's pickle principle is about businesses doing what they can to make things right for the customer. Don't be so tight-fisted about the small stuff, that you lose loyal customers.

Now, my story is on a much, much smaller scale.

Canh Ga Chien Nuoc Mam Kieu Pok Pok (Vietnamese Pok Pok-Style Fried Fish Sauce Wings)

After trying the much-hyped Vietnamese fried fish sauce wings at Pok Pok - Portland - Oregon, I knew I could re-create a similar version at home, but tone down the amount of fish sauce used. The first few wings I ate at Pok Pok were pretty good, but then the saltiness of the fish sauce became really apparent as I kept eating. The Do Chua (Vietnamese Pickled Stuff ie. Carrots and Daikon) that were served with the wings were supposed to balance out the saltiness and spiciness, but I didn't find the wings very spicy, just very, very salty. Anyway, the good thing about making this at home is that you can adjust the fish sauce and chile peppers to your liking.

Pok Pok's wings are addictive because of the double marination, before and after frying. I marinated the wings in fish sauce, salt, sugar, and garlic. I used mostly the same ingredients, but added vinegar and chile peppers, like I would with Nuoc Mam Cham Ngot (Vietnamese Sweetened Fish Dipping Sauce) and simmered it on the stove top to thicken. The wings were only lightly battered, so I used a combination of rice and tapioca flours, and only one coating before frying. If you want to eat low-carb, you can skip the coating and just fry the wings after marination if you wish. Then the wings were tossed in the sweetened fish dipping sauce afterward.

I served up my version at Christmas dinner with my siblings, and again later with friends, and they found them pretty addicting. But then, who can resist fried chicken wings that are crispy, salty, sweet, and spicy?

Mimosa LA Nursery - Los Angeles

The day before Thanksgiving, my mom said she wanted to buy a Meyer lemon tree for the house. We have plenty of fruit trees given by my uncles, but none of them were lemons. My youngest uncle's Meyer lemon tree isn't producing as much as it had in the past and my parents wanted to plant one in the front yard. Less likelihood of anyone stealing our fruit since so many people in SoCal have lemon trees in their yards you see.

So I took my mom to Mimosa LA Nursery, where lil' sis had purchased the persimmon tree for my parents' garden the year we drove up in 2008. It's also where my uncles bought their fruit trees until they started grafting or planting seedlings from existing stock.

Mimosa Nursery is owned by a Vietnamese-American so there is a pretty large selection of tropical fruit and flower trees spread across three acres.

Sriracha Buffalo Roast Chicken

Considering that my Sriracha Buffalo Wings recipe is one of my older recipes on the blog, and considering how many roast chicken recipes I've already featured, I'm surprised I hadn't made the leap to this Sriracha Buffalo Roast Chicken recipe sooner.

I mean, I dip chicken in Sriracha all the time, but using it as a marinade is different. I used half a cup of Sriracha for a 5-lb chicken; obviously, you'll want to use less if you can't handle the heat. But as the Sriracha is mixed with butter and vinegar and sugar, and will mingle with the chicken juices as it cooks, the chicken actually won't be very hot, if at all, after it's done.

Like traditional Buffalo wings, I served the chicken with celery and carrot sticks and ranch dressing, although Blue Cheese Dressing is preferred. I also experimented with a Jicama Slaw with Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette, but that recipe's for another post.

Umami Burger - Anaheim

After finishing the Disneyland Half Marathon, I was staaarving. While racing, I teased Valerie Chinn and her husband about taking them to Quan Hy Vietnamese Restaurant - Westminster for the best banh beo (Vietnamese steamed rice discs with dried shrimp) in town. But Little Saigon was too far away when they still needed to get back to their hotel to get ready before check-out.

Then I remembered that Umami Burger opened in Anaheim last year and a bit of Googling turned up that it was only 1.1 miles away. The clincher was when I told them that the burgers were made with Nuoc Mam (Vietnamese Fish Sauce) and that people waited for three hours for tables when Umami Burger opened this summer in New York City.

Banh Mi Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup-Spiced Sandwich)

Since my brother said I was overthinking the Pho Burger with Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup Spices by making noodle "buns," I also sliced some beef and seasoned it with Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup) spices and made a Vietnamese sandwich. Added the usual pho garnishes of cilantro, basil, bean sprouts, and scallions, drizzled some Sriracha and hoisin sauce, and it was pho bo in a banh mi.

Since there was plenty left after dinner with my brother's family, I figured lil' sis and oldest nephew would like to try too. So I packed everything up and drove down to San Diego to share. The verdict? Everyone liked it and I had no leftovers.

Pho Burger with Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup Spices

After Keizo of Go Ramen moved to Japan to pursue his ramen dream, he apprenticed at several ramen shops before moving back to the United States and inventing the ramenburger. The ramenburger! Seasoned meat sandwiched between ramen noodle "buns." Needless to say, the ramenburger instantly caught the country by storm. I haven't been to New York City to taste the ramenburger from Keizo himself, but it got me thinking...

What if, instead of a ramenburger, I made a Pho Burger with Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup Spices? I could grind star anise, cinnamon, and cloves, add some minced garlic and ginger, to ground beef. The pho noodle "buns" would be a bit of a challenge, but as rice noodles tend to clump anyway, I could use that to my advantage. Topped with basil, cilantro, scallions, and bean sprouts and a couple of squirts of sriracha and hoisin sauce. It was literally Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup) in a burger.

The only problem was that while I got the rice noodles to clump into "buns," they fell apart when holding them to eat like a burger. Pan-frying the noodle "buns" held them together, but was greasy. My brother and his wife and kids came over to test my experiment. They liked it! They liked it! My brother said I was overthinking. I already had good flavors, why didn't I just do the obvious and put the pho-spiced meat in a hamburger bun? Of course! I had also spiced some sliced beef, to see if ground beef or sliced beef was better, and he suggested making a Banh Mi Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup-Spiced Sandwich), but that's saved for another post.

I've included directions for making the pho noodle "buns," but ordinary hamburger buns work just fine for this recipe.

Goi Bi Soi Tom Thit Heo (Vietnamese Spaghetti Squash Salad with Shrimp and Pork)

Before Goi Bi Soi Chay (Vietnamese Vegetarian Spaghetti Squash Salad), there was actually this savory version I made back in February with shrimp and pork. I initially encountered Vietnamese spaghetti squash salad more than a decade ago, when I was back in Chicago for a visit and staying with a college friend. I had just flown in that day, and was taking a brief nap before a potluck my friend was throwing that evening, when her mom woke me up to help in the kitchen. Still a little groggy, I vaguely remember her fishing the spaghetti squash out of a pot of boiling water and being instructed to separate the strands. I've long since forgotten what my friend's mom included in the spaghetti squash salad, just the sense of urgency as she hustled me to finish before guests arrived.

Now, of course, in the privacy of my own kitchen, the only urgency was trying to cook before darkness set in so I could photograph the dish in daylight. I didn't make it. Not that the recipe is difficult, just that it takes a bit to wait for the spaghetti squash to steam and for the pork and shrimp to boil. I didn't add the thinly sliced cabbage or pickled onions like I did to the vegetarian version so that the shrimp, pork, and spaghetti squash would get central play, although you could certainly add some if you'd like. Just added some chopped herbs and tossed with fish sauce dressing. It's best served warm, as cold, congealed pork fat doesn't taste very appetizing. Though if you omit the pork, a cold spaghetti squash shrimp salad is quite crunchy and refreshing the next day.

Incidentally, when I was looking up how to translate spaghetti squash into Vietnamese, a light bulb went off when I made the connection between soi as the classifier for fibers, such as thread, string, etc. Huh. Learn something new every day.

Thit Suon Nuong (Vietnamese Grilled Pork Chops)

While grilling up Thit Heo Nuong Xien (Vietnamese Grilled Pork Skewers) for my Memorial Day luncheon, I decided I could toss in a few pork chops into the marinade and re-do the photos for my Basic Vietnamese Marinade for Chicken and Pork. Well, I re-did the chicken pictures several years ago by making wings, my favorite meat for the recipe, but never did get around to making pork chops.

I ended up leaving the pork chops to marinate overnight, although you can get away with doing it for only about an hour or so. You can also cook them in the pan, like I've done many times before in the pictures with the basic marinade recipe. They grill up rather quickly if you choose pork chops that aren't too thick.

I served the pork chops simply with rice, steamed cabbage, and an egg doused in soy sauce and Sriracha chili sauce.