Bun rieu cua (tomato and crab noodle soup)

Tomatoes are sensational and in season at the moment. That means not only does it taste better but also cheaper as well. To celebrate this wonderful ingredient and take full advantage of the great value, we made bun rieu cua. This soup is best made when tomatoes are in season and at their best. There are so many different layers of flavours in this soup. The combination of tomatoes and crab meat coupled with the aromatic broth is unbelievable. The accompaniments of herbs and cabbage adds another dimension in flavour and texture. This is definitely great for those cold winter days, but like me you'll probably want to have it all year round. Sandra's mum makes the best bun rieu cua, this is an easier and simple version of her recipe.

Recipe

4 litres of pork and chicken stock
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 kg tomatoes, cut into quarters
1 packet of fried tofu, cut into half
1 packet of vermicelli noodle, cook according to manufacturer's instructions

Crab meat balls

5 eggs
200g or lump crab meat or can crab meat
200g mince pork belly
1 handful of dried shrimp, optional
1 jar crab roe sauce,
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp cracked white pepper

Accompaniments

Mix herbs (mint, perilla, Vietnamese mint)
White cabbage, shredded
Coriander, chopped
Spring onion, chopped
Chilli, sliced
Lemon, cut into wedges
Shrimp paste, optional



Method

To prepare the crab meat balls

1. Soak the dried shrimps in hot water for 10mins and mince it in a food processor.
2. Mix all the ingredients together until combined and set aside in fridge until needed.

To prepare the tomatoes and crab meat broth

1. Bring stock to a gentle simmer
2. Using a tablespoon, scoop and lower the crab meat into the soup.
3. Wait until it's cooked, it will raise to the surface.
4. Then add in the tomatoes with the fried tofu and simmer for half an hour.
5. Season with sugar and fish sauce.

To serve

1. Add a handful of vermicelli noodles to a large bowl.
2. Top up with the soup along with crab meat balls and tofu.
3. Enjoy with accompaniments.





This is my entry to Delicious Vietnam #18, a monthly blogging event celebrating Vietnamese cuisine which was started by Anh of A Food Lover’s Journey and Hong & Kim of Ravenous Couple. Thanks to bonniebella
of bonniebella for hosting this month.

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."

Mi Vit Quay (Roast duck noodle soup)

Often when I do the grocery shopping at my local Chinese grocer, I find myself stopping by the Chinese roast duck shop next door. Most of the time I would takeaway half a roast duck to have on it's own or with crusty bread. My craving for Chinese BBQ roast meat comes from my father who used to make it to sell at the market in Vietnam. The maltose lacquered and wafer thin skin of the duck is amazing. The combination of mix spices (cinnamon, ginger and star anise) stuffed into cavity to infuse an unique and irresistible flavour like no other.
Mi vit quay is adapted from another classic noodle soup Mi vit tim. This is a much easier recipe to prepare and with very few ingredients. The broth is amazingly aromatic and fills the whole house with the smell of cinnamon, ginger and star anise. It will have your friends and guest thinking you spent many hours preparing this soup.

Recipe

1 Chinese roast duck, reserve the sauce from the duck's cavity
2 onion, peeled
1 dozen dried shaitaki mushroom
4 Lt chicken stock or can chicken stock
1 tsp five spice

500g fresh egg noodles
1 bunch of gai lan (Chinese broccoli)
or choy sum (Chinese flowering cabbage)
1/2 cup spring onion, chopped
1/2 cup coriander, chopped
1/2 cup crispy Asian shallots

Method

Duck broth

1. When buying roast duck, ask the seller to reserve the sauce from cavity and cut it into 8 portions.
2. Soak the dried shaitaki mushrooms into in hot water and set aside.
3. In a large stock pot, bring chicken stock to simmer and add the onions, shaitaki mushrooms, five spice and reserve duck sauce. Skim off any impurity that rises to the surface and let it simmer for 1/2 an hour. Check for seasoning, add little more salt if needed.

To serve

1. Add the duck pieces to the duck broth.
2. In a stock pot, bring 3Lt of water to a rolling boil and cook the gai lan and set aside.
3. Using a wired noodle strainer, add a handful of egg noodles into the strainer.
4. Lower it into the boiling water and stir the noodle for about 30 seconds to a minute.
5. Remove and strain the egg noodles into a large soup bowl.
6. Add the duck, mushrooms, gai lan and top up with the soup.
7. Enjoy with some spring onions and coriander.

Note: If using can stock, use 2Lt of can chicken stock to 2Lt of water.





This is my entry to Delicious Vietnam #17, a monthly blogging event celebrating Vietnamese cuisine which was started by Anh of A Food Lover’s Journey and Hong & Kim of Ravenous Couple. Thanks to Phuoc of phuocndelicious for hosting this month.

Sup banh canh cua (Crab meat soup with Prawn dumplings)

Clearly, noodles and soups are very popular among Vietnamese people. Growing up in Vietnam, we where very blessed to have various hawker stall vendors just outside our doorsteps. With each vendor specialising in a particular dish and recipes that has being handed down from one generation to the next. As you walk by each vendor, the aroma would entice your senses and induce you to stop by. And perhaps hand over some money for sample of their offering. Without a doubt, banh canh cua is definitely one of my weakness and will have me reaching into my pocket every time I walk by. Banh canh cua is an aromatic crab meat noodle soup, which has been thicken slightly with tapioca starch and it's among one of my favourite noodle soups. I learnt this recipe for Sandra's mum, whom is without a doubt in my opinion, one of the most knowledgeable people in Vietnamese cuisine. I have played around and made a few minor adjustments to the original recipe. As I have said before, I believe recipe should only be used as a guideline. Hope you give a try and perhaps put your own spin on it. This soup is packed with flavour and has a luxuriously silken texture. It's brilliant as a main or can easily be made into a starter or entree size soup. Serve it which ever way you like, it's delicious that I promise you.

Recipe

3 ltrs of chicken stock
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp annatto seeds
2 cup crab meat, or can crab lump meat.
2 egg
1 bag of fresh banh canh (tapioca udon noodles)


Prawn dumplings

1/2 kg prawns, shell remove and deviened
6 shallot, white stem
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper, grounded


Accompaniments

bean sprouts
shallots
coriander
crispy fried eshallots
white pepper
lemon wedges

Method

To make the prawn dumplings

1. Remove shell, head and devein the prawns. Frozen prawns are also great because the work is already done for you.
2. With the flat side of a clever, smash the prawns a couple at a time and set aside.
3. Chop and add the shallot to a mortar with the salt and white pepper. Pound to a rough paste and add in the prawns. Pound for a couple of minutes to until it becomes a uniform prawn paste.
4. Put into a container and refrigerate until needed.


To make the soup

1. Put the annatto seeds in a large bowl and add a cup of boiling water. Set aside for an hour to let the colour infuse into the water.
2. Bring the chicken stock to a boil.
3. With a tablespoon, scoop the prawn paste into a ball and drop it into the chicken stock. repeat with as many as needed
4. Strain in the annatto water, add to the stock and stir in the crab meat. Season with sugar and fish sauce, adjust seasoning to taste.


To serve

1. Beat the eggs lightly and set aside.
2. Bring soup to a boil and drop in the udon noodles. Stir a couple of time to separate and prevent the udon noodles from sticking to each other. (cut udon noodles into 1 inch long if serving as an entree or starter). The starch coating the udon noodles will thicken the soup slightly.
3. While stirring, drizzling slowly in a thin stream the beaten eggs into the soup to create what is called an egg flower.
4. To serve, add a little bean sprouts to a bowl and top up with the soup.
5. Enjoy with freshly cracked pepper and a touch lemon juice. To finish, sprinkle on some crispy fried eshallots, chopped coriander and spring onions.

Note: I like to use fresh banh canh udon noodle, it has a coating of tapioca flour on it (unlike Vietnamese banh canh udon noodles). It not only thickens the soup but to me has a softer and more silken texture.

Chao ca nam bao ngo (Congee with fish and abalone mushroom )

Often when the weather is cold and miserable, there is nothing more comforting than a big bowl of congee. Congee is a delicious rice porridge that is often enjoyed with Yar char kway (Chinese fried cruller). It is also often eaten when one is sick or unwell to nourish back to health. I used to remember without fail, mum would make a big bowl of plain congee often with salted duck eggs when I was sick. Congee is made with the most basic of ingredients, mainly rice and water. The secret to a great congee is to pre-soaking the rice and a long rolling boil until the rice breaks down and disintegrate. Resulting in a deliciously creamy and silky texture. On it's own congee is quiet plain but however, it's a great carrier of flavours. You can pretty much add any flavours you like, chicken, pork, fish or seafood, the combinations are endless. I just love congee to bits, no matter if it's breakfast, lunch or dinner. I used to have to make the journey to superbowl, a very popular destination for congee in Sydney. Not any more, this is a simple and delicious recipe anyone can replicate and enjoy at home.


Recipe

1 cup of Jasmine rice
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp salt
1 can chicken stock, optional

1/2 kg fish fillets, sliced into 1/2cm thick.
1 can of abalone mushroom, sliced into 1/2cm thick.
1 knob of ginger, julienned

Accompaniments

Yau char kway (Chinese fried cruller)
shallots, finely chopped
coriander, finely chopped
roasted peanuts
crispy eshallots
white pepper

Method

1. Wash, rinse and drain the rice a couple of times. Add salt, olive oil plus a cup of water to the rice and set aside for 1/2 an hour.
2. Bring 4 litres of water to the boil and add the soaked rice. Stir occasionally to stop rice from sticking to the bottom.
3. Let it boil for about an hour, until the rice grains starts to breaks down and disintegrate. Top up with more water or chicken stock if congee becomes too thick.
4. Before serving add in the fish, abalone mushroom and ginger. The fish shouldn't take long to cook at all.
5. To serve, top up a large bowl with the congee and enjoy with the accompaniments.

Tom sot ca chua (King prawns with tomato sauce)

I often like to try out new ways and techniques on classic recipes. The results haven't always turned out the way I hoped or imagined, while other times, I get pleasantly surprised. Sot ca chua is a classic Vietnamese tomato base sauce for many popular Vietnamese dishes. Ca chien sot ca chau (pan-fried fish with tomato sauce) and dau hu sot ca chua (pan-fried tofu with tomato sauce) are couple of my favourites. In Asian cuisine, most of the time if not all the time, sauces are thicken with cornstarch or tapioca starch. Inspired by an episode on Masterchef, I came up with an idea to use flour to not only thicken the sauce but give it richness and body. I know many of you reading this post right now are probably saying 'that's not how you make sot ca chau'. It's certainly not the way my mother would make it either. But to me cooking is not always about following recipes. Cooking should also be an outlet for your creativity and recipes should be used merely as a guideline. So if you like to try something a little different, give this a try. Although this isn't an authentic way of making sot ca chua, it's definitely tasty.


Recipe

500g king prawns, shelled and deveined
1 large tomato, finely diced
2 tbsp shallot white stem only, chopped finely
1/2 onion, finely diced
1 tbsp of garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 cup water
1 tsp tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp olive oil

Accompaniments

coriander, finely chopped
shallots, finely chopped
French style baguettes

Method

1. In a large non stick pan on medium heat, add a tbsp of olive oil and saute the onions, shallot and garlic until fragrant.
2. Stir in the flour and cook it for 30 seconds before adding the tomato paste. Quickly stir in tomato paste, then gradually add in the water and stir.
3. Then add in the dice tomatoes, chilli powder and season with sugar and fish sauce.
4. Let the sauce reduce and thickens a little before add in the prawns. Taste and test for seasoning.
5. When prawns a cooked, take off heat and serve.
6. Garnish with coriander and shallots, enjoy with hot crusty Baguettes.





This is my entry to Delicious Vietnam #16, a monthly blogging event celebrating Vietnamese cuisine which was started by Anh of A Food Lover’s Journey and Hong & Kim of Ravenous Couple. Thanks to Door to my kitcken for hosting this month.

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.