Happy 1st Anniversary!

Thấm thoát đã một năm trôi qua kể từ ngày Vietspices blog thành lập. Gia đình và bạn bè tôi được thưởng thức nhiều món mới lạ, ngon có, dở cũng có. Nhiều lần, tôi phải làm đi làm lại một món cho đến khi thành công mới thôi. Những lúc đó, cả nhà tôi lại được dịp ăn tới ăn lui hoài một món liên tục cả mấy ngày, dù ngán đến tận cổ nhưng không ai than phiền, còn hết lòng ủng hộ. Một năm qua, ông xã tôi lên cân không ít nhưng cũng nhờ vậy mà anh siêng tập thể dục hơn. Hai nhóc tỳ của tôi vì hiếu động, hoạt động chân tay liên tục nên có ăn nhiều một chút cũng không sao.

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Trong năm qua, sự động viên của gia đình, bạn bè và blog fans đã giúp tôi ngày càng đam mê nghiên cứu về ẩm thực. Nhiệt huyết đó dường như truyền sang cả hai cô con gái bé bỏng. Gian bếp của tôi dường như lúc nào cũng tíu tít tiếng nói cười của mẹ và con gái, lúc nào cũng ấm áp tình thân. Cảm ơn vì tất cả.

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I made these candy, fruit sushi for my daughter's 4th birthday.

I used fruit roll-up as seaweed to wrap around the sushi roll.

Instead of using just plain steamed rice, I used coconut sweet rice.

 

This beautiful castle cake made by my sister-in-law.

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I can't believe it's been a year since the inception of my Vietspices blog. My family and friends have experienced many new dishes including both good and not so good ones. Many a time I have to repeat a recipe over and over until I have succeeded. And during this period, my family has the opportunity to taste so much of the same dish ad nauseum, but without any complaints and yet has given me so much support. A year has gone by, my husband is heavier by a few pounds, but as a result has become more diligent with his workouts. And my two munchkins who's hyperactive by nature could stand to gain a few pounds.

Over the past year, the support of my family, friends, and blogfans has given me the confidence to continue my passion for food. And it seems that this culinary love has rubbed off to my two mischevious daughters. My kitchen always seems to be filled with a mother's laughter and that of her daughters, always full of love and warmth. For this, I'm indebted to all.

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Kids loved those colorful coconut flavored sticky rice  cake that I  made for  my youngest daughter's 2nd birthday.

Another beautiful cake made by my sister-in-law.

She can't wait to lick her yummy cake.

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Throwing a surprise birthday dinner for my husband with his favorite food.

Garlic Scallop and Prawn Butter Noodles.

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Halloween treats

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Summer is a great season to enjoy these delicious seasonal fruit.

Fresh tropical fruit with coconut sauce in dragon fruit shell.

Tropical fruit in a pineapple boat with bell pepper palm tree.

Fruit watermelon basket with hearts handle.

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Roti Quail (Chim Cút Rô Ti) served with steamed bun

Roti Quail (Chim Cút Rô Ti) served with fried yam

Caramelized Sweet Yam (Khoai Lang Nướng) 

Roti Quail and Caramelized Sweet Yam are always my favorite Thanksgiving and Christmas dishes.

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My favorite Summer dish - grilled beef, shrimps and salmon rolled in lettuce or rice paper.

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I like to prepare this Bê Thui (Vietnamese Roast Veal) dish to enjoy during the summer time.

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Thai Seafood Hot pot is one of our another healthy summer outdoor meals.

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Bánh Chín Tầng Mây (Nine Layers Cake)

One of the Christmas presents my daughters received was a tea set. So, they've been anxious to have a tea party. Tonight, they're waiting for me to finish making a cake for their tea party.

Bánh Da Lợn, which is another name for Chín Tầng Mây translates to "Nine Layer Cake" in Chinese which apparently is due to the number of layers on the cake. According to the Chinese, nine is a lucky number and it is an auspicious word to signify longevity. 

In Vietnamese, the meaning of "Da Lợn" is "Pork Skin" as the cake is chewy and has texture like pork skin. In addition, the cake has many layers, resembling of the pork belly (thịt ba chỉ) as the meat and fat form multiple layers.

All the ingredients that created this cake compliment each other well. The rice flour and tapioca are added to give a soft, more bouncy and chewier texture; mung bean is added to enhance the starchy taste; fresh pandan leaves (Lá Dứa) gives a sweet taste and a unique aroma to the cake; and coconut milk gives a sweet and nice rich flavour. Each layer of the cake can be separated and my kids love to peel them off to enjoy.

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RECIPE: Bánh Chín Tầng Mây

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Ingredients

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Making Flour Mixture 

1 1/2 cups Tapioca Flour

1/2 cup Rice Flour

1 can 13.5 oz Coconut Milk 

1 1/4 cups Sugar 

1 cup Water, for dissolving the sugar 

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In a sauce pan, heat water and sugar until dissolved.  Set aside.  In a bowl, mix the rice flour and tapioca flour.  Add coconut milk and sugar mixture to the flour mixture until it is smooth.  Divide flour mixture into 2 bowls.

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Making Mung Bean Paste and Mung Bean Mixture

1/2 cup Mung Bean

1 cup water

1 bowl of Flour Mixture

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Rinse, drain and bring mung bean and water to boil. Reduce the heat to simmer with a pot lid on until soften. Make 1 cup of mung bean paste.

In a food processor, process 1/2 cup of a flour mixture bowl and 1 cup of mung bean paste until smooth. Mix mung bean paste mixture with the remaining flour mixture.

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Making Pandan Mixture

6-7 Pandan Leaves (can be found at any Asian grocery stores in frozen section) or substitute for a few drops of pandan extract
6 tablespoons (3/8 cup) Water
1 bowl of Flour Mixture

In a food processor, blend pandan leaves and water. If it's too thick, add 1/2 cup of a flour mixture. Drain the pandan through a fine strainer and discard the pandan residue. Add the pandan mixture to the flour mixture. For a darker color of green, add just a drop of pandan extract to the mixture. I didn't use it in mine, therefore, the cake has a very light yellowish in color.

Mung Bean Mixture and Pandan Mixture

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Steaming Cake

Add water in a steamer and bring to a boil. Line parchment paper in a 8” pan then oil the pan. Place the pan into the steamer. Low the heat to Medium.

Start with the Pandan layer then Mung Bean layer. The nineth layer should be a Pandan layer, if the measurement is correct.
Pour about 2/3 cup of the pandan mixture to cover up the surface of the pan. Cover a pot with a kitchen towel then place a pot lid on top. This will prevent steaming water droplets from getting into the cake.
For each layer, steam for 4 minutes until the layer is just hard enough to support the next layer.
After the last layer, steam for another 10 minutes to make sure all the layers are cooked thoroughly.
Remove the pan from steamer and allow the cake to cool completely before slicing them.

Enjoy!

Canh Bún (Water Spinach Noodle Soup)

At first glimpse of a pot of Canh Bún, many people may mistaken it with Bún Riêu (Crab Noodle Soup).  Similar to Bún Riêu, they both originated from Northern Vietnam but this dish is definitely different in taste and texture.  Canh Bún's broth and riêu (crab mixtured) are much lighter.  Canh Bún's riêu is soft and  fluffy while Bún Riêu's riêu is sturdy.  In addition, it doesn't have tomatoes; the noodles are thicker and they have the reddish color once cooked in the broth and eaten with boiled water spinach or rau muống.   

This is one of the dishes that I used to enjoy in the afternoons in Saigon as a kid.  I couldn't recall all the condiments in Canh Bún but I do always remember a distinctive reddish broth, thick noodles, fried tofu, huyết (conjealed blood), fried tofu and the main ingredient riêu made of field crab  paste (cua đồng xay) and rau muống.  As you know these are usually sold as street foods on carts or carried throughout the neighborhood in đồng gánh (bask̀ets). Everytime the lady with Canh Bún came by, the  extremely fragnant broth would turn in me into Povlav's dog.  

The other morning, I woke up and it was cold and immediately I wanted a comforting dish that would warm up our tummies.  Sure enough my senses lead me to the aroma of canh bún.  

Since I didn't have field crabs to make riêu, I used the combination of shrimps, dried shrimps,  crab meat and crab paste with Soya Bean Oil instead.  The riêu turned out not as fluffy as I had hoped but it was tasty.  I used Annatto seeds to get the color instead the red color powder which I wonder if any Asian grocery stores carry it; therefore, it didn't have the reddish color that you would see in canh bún.  I also added  escargot (ốc bưu) which is my husband and surprisingly my daughters's favorite.  My husband didn't care much for canh bún the first time he tried it in southern California, but after trying my recipe,  he requested it again a few days later.   This time, I went to an Asian grocery store to hunt for field crab paste.  I came upon the last 2 jars.  

Bare in mind that the smell of field crab paste is quite pungent but has a mild taste.  I remember seeing my friend's family preparing this paste from grounding whole field crabs in a mortar. 

Canh Bún made with crabfields takes less time to prepare as it's already made into paste.  In the recipe below, there are directions for both riêu cua (crab riêu) and riêu cua đồng (field crab riêu).  Authenticity would favor the recipe with field crabs.

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RECIPE: Canh Bún

 

Canh Bún with  Riêu Cua Đồng (Field Crab Riêu)

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Ingredients

Pork Bones or Chicken Bones, to make broth

If used Chicken Broth, mix 1 part broth and 1 part water

1 jar of Crab Paste with Soya Bean Oil (I prefer this one since it's less pungent than the jar of shrimp or crab paste labeled as Gia Vị Nấu Bún Riêu)

2 cups Shrimps, shelled, deveined and minced finely
Dried shrimps (washed, soaked until softened, then mince finely), optional
2 containers Field Crab Paste (Cua Đồng Xay), if used
2 Eggs, for riêu cua đồng
Salt

Fish Sauce

Shrimp Paste (Mắm Tôm)

Rock Sugar

1 large bunch of Water Spinach, cleaned and cut about 3 inch lengths (use Cải Xanh/Mustard Greens if water spinach is not available)

A bag Fried Tofu Pouches

Cooked Pork Blood, cut into cubes
Large Rice Noodle (I used Bún Tầm Bì noodle)

Annatto Seeds (Hột Điều), substitute for red color powder

Lime or Tammarind paste (Nước Me) 

Chili Sauce (Tương Ớt)

Spring Onion, finely chopped

Fried Shallot, optional

Cooking Rau Muống (Water Spinach)

Blanch Rau Muống with half teaspoon of salt, transfer into a bowl of ice water for a few minutes  to keep it crunchy and it won't lose the color.  Drained and let dry.

Cooking Noodle (Bún)

Cook the noodle until al dente, drained and then let dry.  If used Bún Tằm Bì noodle, soak it for a few hours since the size of these  noodles is big and it takes a long time to cook if unsoaked.  Then cook it at medium heat until soft.

Making Annatto Oil (Dầu Hột Điều)

In a small saucepan, bring annatto seeds and 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat.  Stir constantly, until the oil becomes a rich, orange-red color, about 3 minutes. Add a piece of garlic to eliminate the annatto seeds smell.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Strain the oil and discard the seeds.

Making Tamarind Paste (Nước Me Chua)

Mix a tablespoon of tamarind with a couple tablespoons of hot water.  Smash it then strain it and discard the tamarind remains.

You can also buy tamarind paste (Nước Me Chua) in a container from any Asian grocery stores. 

Making Crab Mixture (Riêu)

Combine dried shrimps, if used, crab paste with Soya Bean Oil, shrimps and about 1/2 tablespoon of shrimp paste. Mix thoroughly and set aside for later. 

Making Field Crab Mixture

Mix eggs with field crab paste.  You can also combine the crab mixture with field crab paste if you prefer.  Pour the mixture into a strainer and in to the semi-boiling broth. Make sure the broth is not boiling otherwise  the field crab mixture will break apart. Once the field crab mixture conjealed into a big clump, remove it and set it aside. When ready to eat, just hack a piece off the big lump for each serving.

Making Broth

Rinse and wash bones. Bring bones to boil to get rid of scums then rinse again.  Simmer bones in a pot of water with salt and rock sugar.  Let simmer for an hour.  Remove the bones.  If using chicken broth, ignore the step above.

Turn the heat to medium.  Add a spoon of crab mixture in the broth one at a time. 

Add fried tofu pouches and conjealed blood cubes. Add at least 2 tablespoons of shrimp paste,
additonal sugar, salt and fish sauce for flavor, be careful not to over salt the broth.  Without shrimp paste in the broth,  it wouldn't be canh bún. 

Canh Bún Presentation

Canh Bún with Riêu Cua (Crab Riêu)

In a separate pot, bring broth, a couple teaspoons of annatto oil and noodle to boil. 

Transfer to a bowl.  Top with riêu (crab  mixture), fried tofu, huyết (conjealed blood) and rau muống (water spinach) on a side of the bowl.  Garnish with spring onion and fried shallot.

Annatto oil still doesn't give noodles the reddish color. 

Red color powder (bột đỏ)would be best for Canh Bún.

Serve with a side dish of rau muống, lime or tammarind juice and chili sauce. 

Enjoy!