Snapshot 12

Lele's essential condiments:



These condiments and ingredients are kitchen must haves at all times (from left to right): Sriracha Vietnamese hot chili sauce, Sambal chili paste, La Bo De soy sauce, Three Crabs Brand fish sauce, Panda Brand Oyster sauce, and Hoisin sauce. Quality of the ingredients does make a difference - reason why I'm particular with the brands.

Fried Tilapia with Ginger Scallion Soy Sauce

It's been quite a good minute since I've made a decent update hasn't it? I'm sorry I have not posted much in the past few months. Please bare with me! I'll admit, most of it definitely is due to some laziness, but in the more recent months - work has become overwhelming. By the time I come home, I just want to quickly have dinner prepared. Documenting takes time and these days, there's very little time (or I'm just not using time wisely).

Well, this dish - was inspired by one of my favorite dishes from Golden Harvest, Braised Tilapia - a whole deep fried Tilapia, braised in a flavorful sauce.

One of dad's most treasured moments are family dinners, so I'm beginning to try out new recipes and make the usual dishes more exciting. With everyone on different schedules and not being able to sit down altogether how we used to, I'm beginning to treasure them too!

Well, lets get to the recipe shall we?? :D



Prep: one shallot thinly sliced, 3 cloves of crushed garlic, 1/2 tbsp. of palm sugar (you can used brown or regular sugar), 1 knob of ginger - cut into matchstick size, Scallions cut into 1.5 in. pieces.


The fish: Scaled, gutted, cleaned, scored on both sides, and patted dry with paper towels.


Give the entire fish a dusting of flour (seasoned with some salt). I found it easiest to do this by laying out a piece of aluminum foil that I could toss away after I've shaken off all the excess flour.


For the sauce, start by browning the shallots and garlic in a little bit of oil on medium heat.


Take the sauce pan off the heat and add in chili flakes.


Add the palm sugar, return the pan back to the stove and on low heat, melt the sugar.


Deglazed with 1/4 cup of soy sauce. Add the ginger and let the sauce reduces for a minute or two.


I recommend using this soy sauce. It's light and flavorful.


Mix 1 tbsp of cornstarch or tapioca starch (or flour) with 1/2 cup of water. Add to sauce. Turn heat up to medium high.


After 4 minutes the sauce will have a smooth thick consistency. Taste and adjust to your liking. Add scallions and chopped chillies.


While making the sauce, you can begin frying the fish. I fill a shallow fry pan with enough oil to cover half the fish. When the oil is hot enough, fry the fish on medium-high heat. Give the fish about 3-5 minutes on each side or until golden brown. When cooked, remove onto a shallow plate (to hold sauce) lined with paper towels.


Remove the paper towels and pour sauce over. Garnish with cilantro, fried shallots and more chopped chili peppers. Serve with steamed white rice.

Apologies!

Most of images from almost all the posts are showing as broken links. I will look into the issue. Please visit again, hope to have the images back up and showing again soon.

Thanks,

Lele

Music: Van Mai Huong - Neu Nhu Anh Den

Holiday music search - led to a hunt for new and old viet music - resulted in finding this song:




Loving the song! The guitarist, the voice, the fresh new vibe from the song and video... I had to share. It's been a while since I came across a good new viet song ^_^ Makes me want to dance!

Banana Pudding w/ Chocolate & Walnuts

For Thanksgiving, I was in charge of the making the roasted garlic mash and a dessert. I was a little hesitant with a dessert, since most dessert dishes require baking and I almost always fail at baking. So I log onto Foodnetwork.com for ideas and came across Paula Dean's recipe for 'Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding.' It had good reviews, seemed easy enough, and did not require baking! I followed Paula's recipe, but also incorporated chocolate and walnuts since initially I wanted to make something chocolaty.

(Link: Paula Dean's Recipe)


Ingredients: Semi-Sweet baker's chocolate bar, Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookies, 5-8 bananas, instant vanilla pudding, can of condensed milk, package of plain cream-cheese, chopped walnuts, milk, and a tub of frozen whipped topping thawed (not pictured).


1 bag of cookies lines the bottom of the dish. I took the extras and a few more from the 2nd bag and placed them on the sides.


Cut the bananas into coins like pieces, and layer them on top of the cookies.

Add some chopped walnuts.


Microwave two blocks of the chocolate (with instructions on the box) and drizzle on about half (or more depending on how much chocolate you want)


Combine the milk and instant pudding package, mix and let set.


While the pudding sets, combine the condensed milk and cream-cheese, mix well until smooth. Since I don't have an electric mixer, some chopsticks and a lot of muscles will have to do!


By the time the condense milk and cream-cheese are well mixed, the pudding should be set. Combine the two mixtures together, mix.


Add the tub of whipped topping. Stir until thoroughly blended.


Well blended.


Spread all of the mixture onto the bananas.


Another layer of chocolate and walnuts.


Add the last of the cookies on top.

Refrigerate until ready to dig in!

Fall Potluck 2011

It's been a while since I held a potluck and with no plans for a Saturday night, I thought it would be nice to gather up some family and friends- eat, drink, sing, and just have fun.



The Spread.


Lang whipped up some of my now favorites, Orange-Creamsicles.


Phuong's Banh Bot Loc, always a hit.


Phuong also made Fire-Cracker Shrimp.


Spunks make an awesome Lasagna =)


Vang brought pizza - best crust!


Hue made Artichoke Dip, first time trying it and I like!


Using the rest of the Pate I had left over from my previous post, I made Banh Pate So. I formed them into a different shape and used the whole egg instead of just the yolk for the egg-wash. I prefer the egg-yolk only wash, gives a better color.

Thanks Quang and Khoa for the drinks - might have to have another get-together to finish up the rest. Big thanks to everyone who made it!

Food Venture: Sahara Mediterranean Grill

Groupons are great for saving money, they're bad because sometimes they have you eating out more than you probably should. Phuong bought groupons for Saraha Mediterranean Grill and needed to use it before it expired. This called for a food venture!



Fresh oven-baked bread and garlic sauce. Got to love garlic sauce.


Hommous! I've grown to LOVE this stuff. The best hommous I've had yet.


Cream of Broccoli Soup


Fattoush Salad. Refreshing.


Charboiled Lamb Chops


Chicken Sandwich

All the dishes were delicious, I didn't get to taste the soup and sandwich though. The bread was so warm and fresh, we had two baskets full - and a refill on the garlic sauce too! So good. The lamb was cooked perfectly. I'd definitely go back for sure!

Banh Pate So | Pork Pate Pastry

I was introduced to this pastry by my older brother years ago. During my TVB drama days, Anh Cuong would make weekly trips to the Vietnamese video store to rent the lastest drama series for me, mom, and Phuong. He'd also stop by the Vietnamese store and brought home this pastry for me ever so often when they had them.
It was introduced to me again by his now fiance, Chi Tammy, during their most recent visit here. Incorporating bits and pieces of different recipes I found on the web with some of Chi Tammy's techniques, I baked up some of my own fluffy and flaky yumminess!

18 small pastries:



Thaw a package of puff pastry (2 sheets)






As the sheets thaw, prepare the filling. In a bowl, mix together 1 lb. of ground pork, 2-3 tablespoons of pate, 1 medium onion - diced, 1 small carrot - shredded and cut into small pieces, 2 cloves minced garlic, and 1 green onion - cut into small pieces. Season with fish sauce, salt, and black pepper.


Also prepare the egg yolk wash - beat together egg yolk and toasted sesame seeds.


For small servings: Cut each sheet into 9 squares, fill half of the square with pork mixture, leaving the edge free to be sealed.


Fold over the other half and press edges down with a fork to seal. Brush the yolk over the top of the pastries. Place them on a non-stick baking sheet and pop them in a preheated 325 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.


Serve while they are fresh out the oven.


2nd batch without egg-wash.



I forgot the step of slitting the top of the pies to allow steam to escape. With no place else to go, the steam escaped through the bad seal job, causing the openings hehe Not bad for the first attempt!