Pan fried stuffed Chilli and tofu

One of my earliest childhood food memory is of an elderly man, coming around the neighbourhood late in the evening selling these delectable goodies on his push bike. Sitting right behind him was a big old claypot, filled with an assortment of chilli, tofu, tomatoes, bittermelon, eggplant and string beans stuffed with a mixture of pork and fish paste. The spicy chilli and tofu was our favourite.

Green mango salad (Goi Xoai)- A Thai inspired creation

Sitting in the fruit compartment of the fridge are a couple of beautiful green mangoes. There are two varieties,  the sweet and the slightly sour, both are deliciously crunchy in texture. Slice them up and serve with chilli salt, it has to be one of my favourite fruit. Hmmm.....just thinking about it makes me salivate.

I love to use the sour variety for salads, this is a Thai inspired creation with tomatoes, red onions and dried shrimp. The sweet, sour and salty dressing makes this a perfect accompaniment with BBQ meats and fried food.

Grilled cockles with shallot oil (So long nuong mo hanh). A delectable local delight

During my many visits to Vietnam, one of my favourite place to visit is 'Quan oc', literal translation- snail shops. Where they serve up the most lip-smackingly delicious grilled cockles and sea scollops with shallot oil.

Scattered through out Vietnam, these snail joints offer an extraordinary variety of delectable snails, mollucs and crustaceans. While, what may seem like a strange snack food for most foreign visitors. These delectable delicacies are extremely  popular with locals.

Pippies with XO sauce

Pippies in XO Sauce is a Cantonese classic and one of my favourite dish. In my opinion, anything that ends in 'with XO sauce' is good. The extreme umami flavour from the combination of dried scollops, dried shrimps and ham, coupled with aromatic spices is near impossible to resist.

In chinese cuisine, XO sauce is considered the most luxurious and indulgence of all sauces. Often referred by many as the caviar of the orient, the exact origin of this sauce is still a mystery. Many believed, it originated in Hong Kong in the early 80's. Where is served as a table condiment in higher-end seafood restaurants. With the recipe jealously guarded by chefs and restauranteurs. The popularity of this flavour packed sauce soon spread internationally. XO sauce is  now available in most Asian supermarkets, lee Kum kee brand XO sauce being the most well known. XO sauce is fantastic in stir-fry and especially good with seafood. A couple spoons of XO sauce will add that extra something special to any dish.

Oyster with sweet chilli vinegarette

When it comes to grocery shopping, it's very common for me to go out with the intention of buying two things and come home with a dozen other items. I often stop by the local fish market to check out the fresh seafood that are available. While waiting for my fish to be cleaned, the freshly shucked oysters caught my attention. Straight away half a dozen ways flows to mind on how serve these deliciously amazing oysters. They are simply fantastic just with lemon, salt and pepper. Another way I like to serve it, is with a sweet chilli vinegarette.

Chawanmushi (Savoury steam egg custard)

Sandra and I had this at a Japanese restaurant a while back and it's one of our favourite Japanese dishes. The soft delicate texture of the egg custard coupled with the aromatic flavour of the broth is sensational. It's quiet simple to prepare and with very few ingredients. If you're a fan of chawanmushi, give it a try. It's unbelievably delicious, that I promise you.


Recipe

4 eggs
500 ml water
1 tbsp chicken powder
1 tsp light soya sauce
4 prawns
4 shaitaki mushroom
1 tsp chive, chopped

Method

Prepare the steamer and set on med heat.

1. Mix chicken powder with 2 tbsp of water in a small bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 sec. Stir until it dissolve and add to the rest of water.
2. In a mixing bowl whisk the eggs and incorporate the water and soya sauce. Pour the mixture through a strainer.
3. Add a prawn and a shaitaki mushroom to each ramekins(x4).
4. Divide the egg mixture between the ramekins and cover with foil
5. Place the ramekins in the steamer with lid slightly opened and steam for 10 mins.
6. Use a toothpick and poke it in the centre. It should come out clean when it's cooked.
7. Garnish with chives."

Sui gao (Prawn wonton dumplings)

When I was little, I used to remember my uncle taking me to yum cha on a weekly basis. Like everyone else and almost without fail, we would order what I call the holy trinity of dim sum. Har gao (steam prawn dumplings), siu mai (steam pork and prawn dumplings) and phung chao (chicken feet). It was a ritual I look forward to every weekend. If ever you're a fan of dim sum, you'll love these dumplings. You can steam or deep fry these and enjoy them with chilli sauce. Otherwise, poach them and serve as wonton soup. Whichever way you choose to serve them, they are simply delicious.

Recipe

500gr prawns, shelled and deveined
2 shallots (white part only), roughly chopped
1/2 tbsp Ginger, grated
1/2 tsp white pepper, grounded
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cornflour
1 egg white

1 bag of wonton egg pastry.

Method

1. Roughly cut the prawns into quarters and set aside.
2. Add 200g of prawns into a food processor along with all the other ingredients and mince to form a paste.
3. Mix in the prawn paste with the rest of the other prawns and refrigerate for at least an hour.
4. To assemble the wontons, place about a teaspoon of the prawn mix onto a wonton pastry, fold the two ends together to form a triangular shape. Squeeze out any air pockets and press hard to seal the pastry together. Repeat the process with the others.
5. Bring water to the boil in a large stock pot and add about a dozen in at a time. The dumplings should be cooked when they rise to the surface, it should only take a couple of minutes. Remove with a strainer and repeat with the others.
6. Enjoy with some hot chilli sauce.

Stir-fry pippies with garlic and chilli

It's no secret that I am a huge fan of shellfish and pippies has to one of my favourites. Due to their high demand in recent times, I have seen the price jumped to over $20 per/kg. As Steven Irwin would say 'Crikey', but they are still worth it. There are so many ways you can cook pippies, you can steam it and dip it in nuoc cham. Stir fry with Xo sauce or my favourite is stir fry with chilli and garlic. So, if you're a big fan of pippies and like it spicy like I do, give this a try. It's delicious, that I promise you.


Recipe

500g pippies
2 clove garlic
2 chilli
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp shrimp paste, optional
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp oil

1 shallots, cut into 1 inch long
1/4 onion, thinly slice
1/2 cup Vietnamese mints

Methods

1. Add a cup of hot water to a pot on high heat and steam pippies open. Drain and set aside.
2. Add garlic, chilli, sugar and shrimp paste into a mortar. Pound the ingredients together and set aside.
3. Add the oil to a non-stick pan on high heat, followed by the chilli and garlic paste.
4. Stir it around, be careful not to burn the garlic and chilli.
5. When it starts to caramelise add in the fish sauce and reduce the sauce until it starts thickens.
6. Add the shallots and onions and toss a couple of time.
7. Add the pippies and toss to coat the pippies evenly with the sauce. Then turn off the heat and mix in the Vietnamese mints.
8. Serve and enjoy with a ice cold beer.

Goi cuon (Vietnamese rice paper spring rolls)

This is one of my favourite dishes and one of the most popular with the Vietnamese, Because it's so simple to prepare but so delicious. The combination of pork belly and prawns, coupled with fresh herbs and hoisine sauce is just amazing. It's also a fun dish to eat and it gets everyone involved in the process, this is very typical of many Vietnamese dishes. I Hope you give this a try, it's dead simple and amazingly delicious.

Recipe

Ingredients

200g cooked prawns
200g cooked pork belly
1 bunch mix herbs
1/2 head iceberg lettuce
1 cup of bean sprouts
2 cups cooked vermicelli noodles

Dipping sauce

1 cup of hoisine sauce
2 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 cup hot water
1 tsp vinegar

Crushed roasted peanuts
Ground chilli


Method

1. In bowl of warm water, dip each rice paper and take it out straight away so it's just enough to wet the surface, set aside on plate and repeat the process with a couple more. This allow the rice paper to become gelatinous and pliable (about 30 seconds). Do not soak your rice paper! I repeat, do not soak your rice paper ok.
2. On top 1/3 side closest to you, place little bit of the herbs and lettuce on the bottom. followed by pork, bean sprout and vermicelli noodles. Roll up spring roll about 1/3 way through, then fold in the sides. Finally, add the prawns in and roll up tight.
3. To eat, dip in hoisine sauce with crushed roasted peanuts and chilli.