Pork, Peppers, and Vermicelli

Lemongrass Tofu with Cabbage Stir Fry

Easy side dish: Shredded Cabbage and Red Pepper Stir Fry

Spicy Crispy Lemongrass Tofu

I like to score the tofu, so that the flavor can get inside too.  Some people like to deep fry this, but I found that the lemongrass would fall off to the bottom of the pot and burn.  Just a little bit of oil in the pan is fine for me, and I don't have to any waste oil either.  The time consuming part is to turn them on all sides to get every surface crispy.  But that's just me- I like crispness. 

Steamed fish

I have no idea what I made.  This was from some time ago.  Think this was ginger steamed fish with 3 kinds of salads and relishes on top.

Jícama Spring Rolls

One is broken.  Oh NOOoz..

One of my favorite summer food!  Loves it with hoisin dipping sauce.

Banh Cong & Banh Tom Chien-(Fried Shrimp and Chips Cluster)

Fried shrimp cakes with clusters of fries.  Sorry, I have no idea what to call these in English.  But this is one of the traditional and lesser known Vietnamese dish.  Wiki doesn't even have a page for me to link you! :(  There is a video on Youtube showing you how to cook it, if you can understand Vietnamese.  It's much better if you can make it at home, because you get more filling, rather than dough.  I don't like when restaurants try to cheap out and give you more dough and a smaller grade of shrimp, which would dry up during the cooking. 

The coconut milk batter and mung bean filling is filled into small muffin shaped ladle, topped with a raw shrimp, and then lowered into hot oil to be fried.  The fried cakes kind of magically release themselves from the mold after they've been cooked for a while.  You know they're ready when they're crispy and golden brown!  These are eaten with seasoned, preferably spicy, sweet and sour fish sauce and wrapped in lettuce and herbs.  

Another version of the shrimp cakes would be replacing the muffin shaped cakes with clusters of potato sticks (or french fries).  I used sweet potato here, because they taste better.  The sticks of potatoes are coated in a tapioca-rice batter and a shrimp would stick to it, forming a cluster when fried up.  I actually love eating the battered cluster of fries sans shrimp, because they'd stay crispy for some time and then turn chewy after.  But chewy in a good way!   Great to snack with hot sauce.

Back in business!

Pink Cat's Bakery is open again!  Let's get rolling with some egg-rolling!  These are traditional Vietnamese egg rolls, called chả giò.   To be honest, this is one of the only Vietnamese food that's not good if you make it vegetarian.  Has to be made with PORK and has to be crispy!  Or else, it's not even worth eating.

Here's a secret if you're making them:  Roll these egg rolls ahead and freeze them in a single layer.  After they're hard frozen, you can stack them up and wrap in foil paper.  Then when you're ready to eat, SLOWLY and carefully drop the still frozen egg rolls into hot oil.  Once they float up, and golden brown.  They're ready!

Best part- The egg rolls will stay crispy for a long time if you fry them this way.  Because, who wants to eat a soggy egg roll?

Flat noodleees!

Veggie-tofu stir fried flat noodles.... with a fried egg!

Coconut Sticky Rice

On the right (green): pandan-flavored beaten sticky rice with fresh grated coconut.  

On the left (yellow): sticky rice cooked with split mung beans and fresh grated coconut too.

Festive looking, aren't they?  I used to make a pink color sticky rice too!  You eat these as snacks with sweet and salty roasted peanuts on top.

Congee and pot sticker dumplings

Warm congee on a chilly day.  Here, this congee is accompanied with homemade veggie pot stickers and sauteed cabbage and carrots.  I actually enjoyed making pot stickers, and it might be something that I'll play around with on a rainy day.

So some additional add-ins that I used and you may also like in your congee too: sesame oil, scallions, fried tofu puffs, hot sauce, parsley, thousand year old eggs, quail eggs, chicken eggs (yolk only), etc.

I used the Shanghai Style dumpling wrapper, because it's the right thickness and the right texture too.  They're crispy and chewy at the same time.

Braised pineapple chicken

How do you select a pineapple? And how do you tell if it's ripe and ready to use? You sniff it! If it has the sweet smell of pineapple, then it's ready to use. When you buy it in the store, it's probably not ready to be eaten, so just store it in a cool and dry place for a few days.

Pineapples are one of those fruits that will continue to ripe after being cut off from the tree. Well, not really. Pineapples don't grow on pineapple trees,, but on short bushes about two feet tall.

If you must... then use canned pineapples. If not, then definitely go the fresh route. It doesn't take much work to slice into one. There are recipes for orange chicken, so there's nothing strange about chicken 'n pineapples together. ^-^

Sticky Rice Cake- Baby Banana Filling

This cake is called 'banh tet' and you have it with tea during the Vietnamese New Year (Tet). However, I felt like drinking chai, so I made a REALLY spicy chai to have with the sticky rice cake. Even though I used regular Tazo chai mix, the brewing, the milk, and the ginger made it into a great drink. The sticky cake had a banana/tea flavor on the outside, and had freshly grated coconut and black beans mixed into the sticky rice part. Baby bananas made up the filling, and it became red from braising for hours.

This is one of my favorite things about Vietnamese New Year- making AND eating sticky rice cake. I prefer this sweet banana filling to the dense savory filling of mung beans and pork.

Though, the savory version is also very good when pan-fried up and served with pickled shallots, thai chili peppers, and pickled crunchy cauliflower. Mmm!

Sunday Crepes

It's been over a year since I last made crepes, I think. I made these again a few weeks ago, and they were very good with chili sauce and herbs. The cucumbers were there to cool me down, in case I couldn't handle the spice. :D

NO, no! Actually, you eat crepes with cucumbers, mustard greens, and herbs. I love having them with mustard greens, because you get the different kinds of spice in just one bite. Hot and sour from the Sriracha-garlic-lime sauce and a peppery wasabi taste from the mustard greens.

The crepes were awesome, but I made too much... Took 3 days for 2 people to finish them. I think I'm all creped out 'til next year. Too bad I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the meat crepes my sister also made side-by-side on the stove next to me. Those meat crepes had minced pork, shrimps, bean sprouts, and mung beans in them. She, too, was sick of crepes, still having to finish them 5 days later. Next time, we'll scale back the portions. :)

Pink Cat's Special 3-Rice Fried Rice

Red jasmine rice, regular jasmine rice, and basmati rice.

What's in it: tofu, scallions, eggs, green beans, corn, chili flakes, broccoli (or whatever veggies you have on hand... carrots, peas, etc.) Remember to finish it off with some sesame oil at the end. I added some almond slices for additional crunch too.

Lunch: Vietnamese Quiche and Buttercup Soup

Vietnamese steamed quiche with minced pork.

I made this to have with a crab and tomato noodle soup. Some people eat it with rice. Vietnamese quiche are not as heavy as American or French, filled with lots of cheese. This one was just mixed with pork, but I can also make it with mushrooms! I used to loooove putting in shrimp paste, which would make the house smell for hours! Not anymore.. ^-^

Buttercup soup with tofu and Vietnamese rice paddy herb.

The herb's flavor is really complex and hard to describe. But it adds a depth to soups, especially Vietnamese spicy and sour fish soup. You can find this herb easily in Vietnamese groceries, and even Chinese supermarkets too. Just remember to use them fresh.

Dried Bamboo Shoots Soup

You can actually eat this with either noodles or rice. I prefer noodles. Good with egg noodles, big flat noodles, or thin rice noodles. There are few ingredients in this soup, only dried bamboo shoots, soft tofu, and scallions.

Dinner: Braised Smelt and Stir Fried Gai-lan

Braised smelt in caramel sauce.

This is a savory caramel sauce, not the sweet kind that you usually associate with. The caramel adds a depth of flavor to any Vietnamese braised meat or fish dishes. I don't like smelt, because the fish breaks up too easily during cooking and there's too many tiny bones in it to eat. These were cooked with ginger, garlic, chili and fish sauce too. And you eat these with rice!

Pork and gai-lan stir fried.

Braised Bitter Melon, Tofu, and Plantains(!)

I love bitter melon, I love tofu, and I love plantains! So, why not the three together in a pot?

It's actually very good, with the right seasonings, by yours truly. :D The key is to choose a slightly ripe, but not too ripe, plantain. This way, it'll not be mushy in the pot.

Braised Pork, Pork Belly, More Pork, and Eggs

Another go at the braised pork in coconut juice for dinner! Well, it's been a while since I made this again. Partly, because I've been busy and lazy. You have to simmer for a very long time for the flavors to come together, and the meat to be very tender. The pork is braised in coconut juice with spices like star anise, chinese five spice powder, garlic, and ginger. The eggs go in the pot towards the end, and will take on a caramelized color. You eat this with rice and a crisp salad (lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and mints).

A Summery Vermicelli Dish

Damn! Forgot the peanuts! (-____-)

I don't know which I prefer eating- soup noodles (pho) or dry vermicelli (bun). Both is really popular in Vietnamese cuisine. I guess it depends on the weather really. In the summer, I don't pho as much, and would prefer the cooler and more refreshing dry noodle dish.

Dry vermicelli is usually eaten with grilled meats, herbs, cucumbers, and a diluted seasoned fish sauce. This is vegetarian version I made is with stir fried jicama, fried tofu, cucumbers, herbs, and spicy soy sauce.

This dish is like an unrolled version of a summer roll. ^-^ So, if you have rice paper, roll it up!

Choose your sauce!

Lunch: Peanut Buttered Tofu and Long beans

Spicy sauteed long beans with carrots and peppers.

I like cooking them with lots of chilies and garlic, and another version with shrimp paste. They're crisp and tender when eaten young, which is what you should be looking for when shopping for them. The Chinese long bean, also known as the yardlong bean, is actually only about half a yard long.


Heheh.. Such a messy bowl. This is fried tofu in peanut butter sauce (nothing special). Hey, I kind like it... Eat with some noodles or rice.