Pate Gan Gà (Chicken Liver Pate Mousse)

One of the dishes I plan to serve this Lunar New Year is a combination of bánh mì pate, thịt giò bó, chả lụa (sandwich with pate and steamed hams).

I don't have yet the pate for the banh mi. So today after carefully reading and learning the process of making pate, I took my first shot at making chicken liver paté. 

Since I wanted to preserve the natural flavor of the livers, I add little salt in pate. Therefore it turned out a little bit plain. My other flaw was instead of using clarified butter on top of the pate, I just melted the butter and poured it over the pate, so the top layer of the pate was white instead the nice golden-yellow I was hoping for.  For more information on how to make clarified butter, click here.

You want to be careful not to overcook the chicken livers because it will harden the liver and it's the tenderness that gives good pate that sublime and silky texture. Overcooked (browned straight through) livers will make a heavier pate that is grainy on the tongue and far less appealing.  As the pate oxidizes, it turns into the unique greyish green color.

When you shop for the livers, look for good quality livers but this is quite challenging.  Ideally the chicken livers should not have any hint of yellowing. They should be a rich light pinkish to dark purple color with little or no white connective tissue on them.

Even though it was a first attempt, the chicken liver pate turned out surprising good. Whenever I work on a new dish, I'd like  to play with it at least a couple of times; I like how this Paté turned out but there's room for tweaking. As I experiment, I will keep you posted. For now, have a crack at it and ring in the New Year  with some fine living . . . at least vicariously!

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RECIPE: Pate Gan Gà (Chicken Liver Pate Mousse)
Printable Recipe

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Ingredients

1 lb Chicken Livers, prefer pastured chicken livers, trimmed off all the gristle and wash

1/4 cup Panko Bread Crumbs or Dried Bread/Sandwich

1/2 stick Butter, room temperture to soften it
2-3 tablespoons Butter, for clarified butter

1/2 tablespoon Sugar

3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt or regular Salt
1 tablespoon Salt, for cleaning the livers

1-1 1/2 teaspoons fresh Ground Pepper 

2-3 whole Shallots, minced
2 cloves Garlic, minced

3 tablespoons Brandy or Cognac

1/4 cup Whipping Cream

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Preparation

In a pot, add water and salt and bring to a boil.  Add livers and bring it to a boil again.  This process is to clean the livers.  Rinse and pat dry.

Cut 1 tablespoon of butter from 1/2 stick butter.  Sauté 1 tablepoon of butter with minced garlic and shallot until fragrant.  Set aside. 

Place livers in a food processor and give it a quick whirl.  Place sauteed garlic and shallot and the remaining ingredients except heavy whipping cream in a food processor.  Process until you have a very smooth mixture.  If you want a super smooth mixture, force the mousse through a fine mesh strainer.

Transfer the mixture into a large ramekin or a shadow plate.  Steam it for about 10-15 minutes or until cooked but still a little bit pink.

Transfer the pate mixture into a large bowl.  Whisk together the heavy whipping cream and pate mixture.
  

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Presentation

After melting the butter, skim off the white foam (which I forgot) 

Cover with melted clarified butter on top of the smoothed surface of your pate. To be extra fancy, float a bay leaf, thyme leave, a prig of rosemary or peppercorns on top which will set right into the fat and give it nice mottled look. 

When butter layer hardens then cover with cling film, lid or and refrigerate. This way the pate will last in the fridge for up to two weeks or in the freezer for a few months. Bring to room temperature before serving.

(If you happen to have an awesome pate recipe, do share)

新年快樂

Năm Mới Vạn Sự Như ý!
May All Your Wishes Be Fulfilled in the New Year!

Dưa Giá (Pickled Bean Sprouts)

It's only one more week to Tết (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) and I am just barely starting to prepare food for the new year. Last year I had made Mứt Tắc (Candied Kumquats), Giò Thủ (Vietnamese Head Cheese), Dưa Món (Pickled Vegetables in Fish Sauce), and Nem Chua (Cured/Fermented Beef). But a new year calls for new recipes to enjoy!

Let's start with something light, crisp, and healthy - excellent for those of us who are weight conscious and needs to lose a pound here and there. Dưa Giá is a refreshing condiment that adds a pleasurable tartness to any braised or simmered dish such as Thịt Trứng Kho Tàu (Vietnamese Braised Pork and Boiled Eggs).

This healthy Dưa Giá is very easy and incredibly fast to make. It is packed with vegetables, herb and spices including bean sprouts, chives, red peppers, ginger, carrot, and your old reliable salt, sugar, and vinegar. This combination produces a special flavor and zest that renders a wonderful side dish.  Dưa Giá is a versatile recipe that can also be enjoyed as a salad!

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RECIPE: Dưa Giá

Printable Recipe

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Ingredients

3 bags Bean Sprout (8 oz per bag)

3 small Carrots

1 bunch Chives

1 piece fresh Ginger

4 small or 1 large Red, Yellow, or Orange Sweet Bell Peppers

8 cups Water

2 cups Vinegar

2 cups Sugar 

3 tablespoons Salt

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Preparing Vinegar Brine

Bring water to a boil. Remove from heat. Add salt, sugar and vinegar then stir to dissolve. Set aside to cool.

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Preparing Bean Sprouts, Carrots, Ginger, Bell Peppers, and Chives

Bean Sprouts - rinse with cold water. Drain.  Carrots - peel, wash and cut into matchsticks.  

Ginger - peel, wash and slice lengthwise with peeler, then cut into matchsticks.

Red Sweet Bell Peppers - wash and cut peppers into matchsticks.

Chives - wash and cut into an inch segments.

In a bowl, add bean sprouts, carrots, ginger, bell peppers, and chives, tossing well to combine.

Pack the vegetables into a clean, dry glass container. Pour vinegar brine over the vegetables to cover completely. It's okay if the vegetables are not submerged. They will shrink in volume in about 10 minutes. Cover; refrigerate at least 1 hour. Pickles will keep for at least two weeks.

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Presentation

To serve, transfer pickled sprouts onto a plate. Enjoy this crisp and cool pickled bean sprouts with bánh chưng or bánh tét (Vietnamese steamed cakes) with braised pork and eggs.  You can also add the touch of tang, sweet and sour crunch and flavor to bánh mì (Vietnamese sandwich).

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!

Cánh Gà Chiên Nước Mắm (Crispy Chicken Wings in Sweet and Spicy Fish Sauce)

It's been a while since my last post. I've been swamped by the holidays and lots of cooking and has not had enough time to take detail pictures and jot down descriptive recipes. In addition, the weather has not been very cooperative. By the time I finished my cooking, it's too dark to provide the right natural lighting for me to take good pictures for the blog. Now, the Christmas lights are down and I just threw away my white fir Christmas tree; it's time to go back to the ranch, my kitchen.

One of the dishes that I served on the Christmas dinner was Cánh Gà Chiên Nước Mắm (Chicken Wings in Sweet and Spicy Sweet Sauce). I turned one part of the wing into a lollipop for the kids to enjoy. Though I much prefer to fry it with skin on which is more crispy and delicious.  When the chicken wings got turn inside out to create a lollipop, the outside of the lollipop is not as crispy though it's still good.

My husband liked it so much he asked me to make it five times in a month. They make finger licking delicious appetizers because they are very addicting!.

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RECIPE: Cánh Gà Chiên Nước Mắm

Printable Recipe

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Ingredients

for marinating chicken wings

1 package, about 6 lbs, chicken party wings

4 shallots, minced

2 whole garlic, minced

for sweet and spicy fish sauce

1 cup good fish Sauce 

2 cups sugar
chili pepper sauce, optional

rice bran oil or vegetable oil, for frying

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Direction

Marinating Chicken Wings

Wash wings and cut into half at the joint if you have whole chicken wings. 

If you want to make lollipop wings, use the drumette part which has one bigger bone like a drumstick or chicken leg. Separate the meat from the top of the drumette and push it down to make a lollipop.  Hold the thin end of the drumette firmly, then cut through the skin surrounding the bone with a small knife. Use a knife to scrape down the meat from the bone. Push the meat down to the other end.

Place the wings and chicken lollipops in a bowl. Marinate with minced garlic and shallots for at least half an hour.

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Making Sweet and Spicy Fish Sauce 

In a sauce pan, bring fish sauce and sugar to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about  a minute.  Avoid cooking the sauce too long to prevent evaporation which could lead to a saltier sauce.  Remove from heat.

Add chili pepper sauce if you want it spicy.  The sauce will thicken as it cool down.  Set it aside.

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Deep Frying Chicken Wings

Add oil in a pot and bring it over high heat. A good way to test if the oil is hot enough to fry is to stick the end of a wooden chopstick in the oil. You can tell with how quickly the bubbles are raising to the surface that it is really hot and ready. Add wings to the hot oil. During the frying process, use a strainer to remove the fried garlic and shallot and set aside.

Fry until wings turn golden and crispy. Remove from oil.

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Mixing Wings with Sauce

Place wings in a sauce skillet.  Add fried garlic and shallot, and mix well.

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Presentation

So there you have some delicious finger licken crispy chicken wings.

Enjoy while it's still hot and crispy!

Thịt Trứng Kho Tàu (Vietnamese Braised Pork and Boiled Eggs)

Món ngon đón năm mới...

Thịt Trứng Kho Tàu (Vietnamese Braised Pork and Boiled Eggs) is a classic dish in Vietnamese's daily meal but it's also a must-have dish to enjoy during the lunar new year. With the new year fast approaching, most of the  families in Vietnam are preparing a big pot of Thịt Trứng Kho Tàu to enjoy for at least the first three days of new year.

The secret of cooking this dish to perfection includes: marinating the pork well, be sure the fat of the pork looks translutent, the meat is really tender but not overly soft to prevent it from breaking apart; and the eggs have a beautiful amber color. Thịt Trứng Kho Tàu has a wonderful light aroma of coconut juice, a hint of saltiness from the fish sauce and the mild sweetness of coconut juice surrounded by the fragrance of garlic, shallots and fresh ground pepper. I am fond of the flavor  of this dish and the crunchy and slightly chewy texture of dried bamboo shoots in Thịt Trứng Kho Tàu as my mother used to prepare every Luna new year in Vietnam. I love to roll rice paper with a piece of pork, egg and a few strings of bamboo shoots then dip it in its earthy, flavorful, and delicious sauce.

The bamboo shoot imparts a strong scent during the preparation and cooking process so if you are not familiar with this be warned! Alternatively you can use fresh bamboo or bamboo shoots from the can.

My first impression of "Thịt Kho Tàu" was that  it originated from China but after careful research, I found out this dish is a hundred percent Vietnamese. It actually originated from South Vietnam (miền Nam Bộ).  Based on a famous writer Binh Nguyen Loc, the word "Tàu" means "lạt" compare to the rivers Cái Tàu Thượng and Cái Tàu Hạ are the two rivers that has saline water (nước lợ). Thịt Kho Tàu translates to "Braised Pork in Light Sauce". So there's my contribution to Vietnamese history for you.  And if you have already committed that to memory, let's cook!

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RECIPE: Thịt Trứng Kho Tàu 

Printable Recipe

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Ingredients 

2-3 lbs Pork Belly or Pork Shoulder or Pork Butt, cut into big chunks about 2 inches

3 cans Coconut Soda (coco-rico brand)

7-8 tablespoons Fish Sauce 

2 tablespoons Sugar

1 teaspoon fresh Cracked Pepper 

2 tablespoons minced Garlic

2 tablespoons minced Shallots

10-12 whole Hard Boiled Eggs, peeled

a bunch of Dried Bamboo Shoots, optional

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Preparing Dried Bamboo Shoots

Rinse dried bamboo shoots a few times and soak it at least overnight or two days.  Next day, rinse it again and bring it with water to a boil.  Reduce the heat and cook it over low heat for at least an hour  or until bamoo shoots are tender.  Rinse again and shred it into thin strings. Set aside.

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Braising Pork, Eggs and Bamboo Shoots

Marinate meat with garlic, shallots, fish sauce, sugar and ground pepper for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

In a wide bottom pot, bring coconut soda to a boil. Add meat, eggs and dried bamboo shoots (if used) to boiling coconut juice and bring it back to boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer it without the pot cover. Covering the pot while simmering will make the broth less clear. Skim frequently will further your chances for a clearer broth.

Continue braising for about an hour or until the meat is tender.   Make sure to swirl the pan and gently turn the meat and eggs occasionally to cover the meat and eggs evenly in broth. The eggs and meat shouldn't break or fall apart after braising.  You will notice the broth will slowly start to turn a natural amber color due the to coconut soda and sugar so you don't need to add caramelize sugar (nước mầu đường) as it will make the color of broth, meat and eggs darker and ruin the beautiful amber color you would other wise get.

Happy the-year-of -the-dragon New Year!.