Shrimp Salad | Goi Tom

My contribution to this past Saturday's get-together (previous post) was a Vietnamese Shrimp Salad. It was my first time making this and I was hesitant at first, serving shrimp that's only cook in vinegar and lemon juice and no heat might not be such a good idea. I went with it anyway.



Prep the vegetables: cut carrots, seeded cucumbers, red bell peppers, small yellow onion, shallots, and celery into thin and long pieces.


You'll also need lemons, chopped vietnamese coriander (rau ram), and chillies cut into small pieces.


Shrimp, peeled and deveined.


Soak the shrimp in enough distilled white vinegar to cover it, squeeze in some lemon juice. Allow the shrimp to cook in the acidic mixture until desired doneness. I wanted to make sure the shrimp was pretty cooked so I soaked it for a good 15-20 minutes.


Meantime, salt the celery and cucumber, it will rendered the water from those vegetables so your salad is not so watery. After 5 minutes, rinse the salt off and with your hands, ring the water from the vegetables.


Drain and rinse the vinegar from the shrimp; squeeze out any access liquid. Throw ingredients into a large mixing bowl.


Toss the veggies and shrimp with some fish sauce, salt, sugar, pepper flakes, lemon juice, cut chillies, chopped coriander, toasted sesame seeds, and roasted peanuts. Serve!
My dad usually tells the truth when it comes to my cooking. He'll eat it even if it doesn't taste good because he's so awesome. I asked him to taste it and he said it was good (shrimp a little over done for his preference). I thought it was a little too vinegary, but I'll take his approval. =)

Clear Shrimp & Pork Dumplings | Banh Bot Loc

A must have dish at all the family gatherings - reunions, house warmings, death anniversaries, dinner to end the year and welcome the new lunar year, and so on.

This is my first time time making banh bot loc almost all on my own (mom helped form the dumplings). I think this might be my first banh post too, I'm not big on making any kind of banh because it takes so much time to prep all the ingredients. Here, I'm making it bare and boiled - most people I know prefer it this way, so do I. There's also the ones wrapped in banana leaves and steamed - which are more aromatic when cooked because of the banana leaves.

The shrimp and pork filling:


Cut shrimp into small pieces, season with fish sauce, chili pepper flakes, minced garlic, salt, and pepper.


Cut the pork belly into small pieces, also season with fish sauce, chili pepper flakes, minced garlic, salt, and pepper.


Cut leeks into small pieces, fried in a little oil to release flavor. I love the smell of fried leek - smells so good! Remove the leek oil to a small bowl.


In the same pan, saute some shallots in a little bit of oil.


Add the pork. When the pork is cook, add the shrimp, leek oil, and sugar. The sugar will help it to caramelize.


When the shrimp is cooked and everything is nicely caramelized, add cut scallions and more black pepper. Set aside.
The dough, forming the dumplings, and cooking:


Forming the dough seems to be the toughest part. If it's too dry or too wet, it's hard to work with. For each bag of banh bot loc flour (tapioca starch) you use, you'll need 1 cup (give a little) of boiling hot water. Put some oil on your hands so it' won't get too sticky.


I attempted to use the Kitchen Aid mixer I bought for Phuong last year to make the dough, but....FAILED. It was sticky, I added more starch - it got dry, I kneaded some more water into it by hand - it was runny. I ended up making another dough, kneading it by hand. Mom shook her head when she found out I tried to make the dough in a mixer...


To press the rounds out faster, I put a ball of dough in between sheets of wax paper and press down with a glass cup.


Form the dumplings by spooning some of the filling onto the center of the round, fold in half, and seal by pinching the edge together.


In a large pot of, boil the dumplings until they float to the top.


While the dumplings are cooking, make a scallion oil: Heat up some oil and toss in cut scallions. Fry for a few seconds.


When cooked, drain and run the dumplings under cold water or dunk into cold water bath. Let drain. Toss in the scallion oil - which adds flavor and helps the dumplings from sticking to one another. Plate right away.


Serve with a sweet fish sauce (fish sauce, crushed garlic, sugar, water, cut chili peppers). I added fried shallots to mine because i like the texture and flavor.
Slightly overcooked the first batch...this one turned out better, but maybe I should have cooked it just a lil longer.
Yum.

Pan Grilled Lemongrass Shrimp Lettuce Wraps

The lil bro cooked dinner tonight.


Baked chicken drumsticks

I was bored so I made something simple, pan-grilled shrimp for lettuce & herb wraps.


Marinade peeled and deveined shrimp with: minced lemongrass, minced shallots, minced garlic, dash of soy sauce, teriyaki marinade, sesame oil, sugar, salt, pepper, and hot pepper flakes.


I skewered the shrimp...just because... =)


Add butter to a grilled pan heated at Medium.


Pan-grill the shrimp


Serve with soft green lettuce and choice of herbs (mint, vietnamese coriander, and fish mint)

Opo Squash Soup with Shrimp | Canh Bau Tom

A light, slightly sweet, and refreshing soup that basically consists of 2 ingredients, shrimp and opo quash, you can pretty much find the rest of the ingredients in your seasonings cabinet and fridge.



Winter melon can be used instead too, but I like the way opo quash holds up in the soup. Winter melon tends to overcook easily and has a mushy texture. Up until maybe a year ago, I could not tell the difference between these two vegetables. How I distinguish the two: Opo Squash is usually light green in color and has a smooth skin; Winter melon is a little bit of a darker green and has a fuzzy skin.


Lightly pound deveined shrimp; marinade with fish sauce, chili flakes, scallions whites, and minces garlic.


Remove the skin and cut opo squash into thin (not paper thin) pieces. I cut mine into half circles, but you can cut it anyway you prefer - you don't want it too thick either.


As always, I like to start many dishes by infusing the oil and sambal chili paste


Heat on high: Add the shrimp mixture and let cook for about a minute - stirring to break up the clump of shrimp.


Add water and bring to boil. Season broth with salt and fish sauce.


Add opo squash - cook until just almost translucent. Remove from heat and it will continue to cook.


Garnish with chopped scallions and enjoy simply as is or with rice.

Beef & Shrimp Pan Fried in Butter | Bo Tom Chien Bo

I usually don't like eating alone and very rarely do I have to cook for just myself. When the folks don't come home and many of the sibling are out and about, we usually do not cook dinner. We'll just rummage through the pantry or fridge and grab whatever. One night last week when I was home alone and hungry - I made dinner for one, but prepared enough for the whole family just incase.



One of the dishes for our Tat Nien (Pre-New Year Celebration)was mussels baked in a scallion and sambal butter. I found some left over butter in the fridge and decided to pan fry some beef and shrimp in the butter.


Prepare thinly sliced beef


Prepare peeled and deveined shrimp


Throw a heaping spoonful of the scallion and sambal butter into a grill pan.


Cook the meats to your desired doneness. I like a nice browning. Serve with vermicelli rice noodles, mix of lettuce and herbs, and fish sauce. I prepared everything and who ever wants to eat just has to cook up their meat. Mmm!

It's pretty much a small scale version of Hot Pot w/ Butter.

Changed the music playlist. I think I've heard enough new years music to last me the whole year.