Miến Xào Cua (Bean Thread Noodles with Crab)

My mom always likes to cook for me when I visit and this time she made miến xào cua (bean thread noodles with crab). I loved this dish when I tried it in Vietnam at the Crab Shack. I have to admit the crab meat wasn't as fresh as the crab in Vietnam but this dish was still a treat. How can you go wrong with noodles and crab?



Miến Xào Cua (Bean Thread Noodles with Crab)

* 250 g bean thread noodles (or mung bean noodles)
* oil
* half an onion, sliced thinly
* 1 cup crab meat (or more!), picked through for leftover shell
* 1/2 tsp salt
* pepper, to taste
* 3 or 4 ladles of water, or broth
* 1 green onion, sliced into 1/2" sections
* coriander (optional)

Run dry noodles through water.
Cut noodles in smaller sections with scissors if they are very long.
Heat oil in a large pan or wok.
Add onion slices and white sections of onion, and sauté until softened.
Add the crab meat and mix in.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add the noodles, mixing it in until the noodles soften.
If the noodles seem to dry out, add a ladle of water or broth.
Once noodles are nearly cooked, add green onions.
Taste the noodles, and adjust seasoning to taste.
Lower the heat and cover the noodles with a lid, cooking a further 5 minutes, until the noodles are cooked.
Garnish with coriander.
Tada!



Miến Xào Cua (Bean Thread Noodles with Crab).

This dish is easy to make and a good alternative when you want a big bowl of carbs with a yummy accompaniment! It will have to do until I can get back to Vietnam and get my hands on fresh crab dishes!



P.S. My mom served this with wonton soup as a starter and mango salad as a side (ooh, I thought I had a recipe for mango salad - will have to add it!).

Other bean thread noodles:
* Vietnamese Chicken Bean Thread Noodle Soup
* Vegetarian Bean Thread Noodles

Brit & Chips (Montréal, QC)

433 McGill
Montréal, Québec
514.840.1001
website

Still hanging out in Montréal, my sister, her hubby and myself headed for Brit & Chips on a Friday after a hard class of boot camp at Parc LaFontaine. It was a beautiful night. Unfortunately, all the seats outside were taken so we had to find a table inside.



You can order for take-out at the cash or they will take your order at your table if you eat in. The restaurant had an old school, fish 'n chips place, with different sea adornments, like a life float. The fried food is also on newspaper, as it should!



My sister L and I decided to quench our thirst with imported drinks. L got the bitter shandy ($1.50), described by our waitress as a mix of beer and tea. I ordered the Irn Bru ($1.50), which was a sweet drink reminiscent of cream soda. Yum! A perfect accompaniment to the fried food that was coming!


Imported drinks: Bitter Shandy and Irn Bru.

D ordered fish and chips ($11.50), choosing the haddock as his fish of choice. The haddock was covered in a maple syrup batter. Each fish has its own batter; for example, the salmon uses a Guinness batter and the hake an Orange Crush batter (gulp! L and I weren't sure if we'd like that). Both fries and fish were freshly fried and crispy.



L gave me the reigns when it came to ordering for us so I decided to order various nibbles and share. After much deliberation and consultation with the waitress, we decided to go for various small bites from the "Nibbles" section of the menu and ordered the Tandoori Popcorn Shrimp ($6), the spicy whitebait ($4), the salted cod fish cakes - or accras de morue ($6) and a side of mushy peas ($1.50). Oh, and we also had to have our own serving of chips ($3), of course!



Various nibbles from the sea, top left - clockwise: (1) chips, cod fish cakes and mushy peas, (2) popcorn shrimps, (3) fried whitebait and (4) flaky accras de morue.

My favourite of the nibbles was the flaky accras de morue. I just can't resist the combination of salty fish and potatoes, deep fried into fish cake goodness! The popcorn shrimp was good but the Tandoori flavour wasn't apparent on the shrimps. Rather the flavours came from the curried mayo. Lastly, ordering the fried whole whitebait was a risky move; they were a bit fishy for our tastes but good nonetheless. And no complaints in the chips department! L was happy to have malt vinegar available to soak hers in!

Brit & Chips offers a really good selection for fish and chips. A vegetarian option is even offered, with fried haloumi stepping in for the fish (L and I were tempted - maybe next time!). It also offers British fare that could be interesting to try out, such as Scotch egg, pasties and deep-fried "Whatever" in the soda section. It reminds me of when I was in London, England. I thought having fish 'n chips was a must experience and wasn't sure if it was part of the experience that the pub reeked of urine...

Biztrot Crêperie & Gelateria (Brossard,QC)

6705 boulevard Chevrier, local 103
Brossard, Québec
450.443.6000
Facebook page

The last time I visited Montréal, my mom's husband H took us out to his friend's newly opened crêperie. It's hard to turn down a crêpe so we stopped there for lunch to try some out.



H ordered the ham and cheese panini ($7.50) and seemed to enjoy it. My mom ordered the chicken, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes panini ($8.50). I had a bite - the large pieces of chicken were very well seasoned and there was a generous amount of sun-dried tomatoes, which made it a great savoury sandwich.


Ham and chicken paninis.

I stuck with the specialty, ordering a crêpe with apples ($6.50). It was made up of an oversize crêpe folded and filled with large chunks of apples. It was topped of with powder sugar and raspberry sauce.


Crêpe aux pommes.

The sweet proprietress insisted that we try some gelato and sorbet. The most memorable one was the Ferrero Rocher. If you enjoy Ferrero Rocher, how can you go wrong with Ferrero Rocher gelato?



If I lived closer by (on the South Shore of Montréal), I would definitely be visiting Biztrot. It is currently in a rather unassuming spot where nearby store have not yet opened up. However, I would rather stop by for a crêpe for breakfast, rather than the breakfast chains out there. They also offer savoury crêpes and specialty coffees, as well as a daily soup. Check it out if you're nearby!

Tung Hing Café & Sweets (Hamilton, ON)

103 Queen Street North
Hamilton, Ontario
905.527.8333

I've been living in Hamilton for over 10 years but have never been able to enjoy a bánh mì. Enter the new Asian grocery store a stone's throw from my place and the adjacent Café.


Tung Hing Café & Sweets - shelves of Asian sweets.

Tung Hing Café offers typical Asian fares: little cakes, pizza buns, spring rolls and sesame balls. Customers grab a tray and serve themselves with tongs. Bring the tray to the cash and they will bag the treats for you. My favourite item has to be the sesame balls. They are always crispy, a good mark of freshness and come in two flavours: lotus and red beans. Try it out if you've never had it!


Coconut sweets, vegetable spring rolls and sesame rolls (2 for $1.10).

While I can easily get distracted by the display of sweets, it's the bánh mì (Vietnamese subs) that are the real stars here. A variety of bánh mì 's are offered (unfortunately, I was stopped from taking pictures), my favourites being the gà nướng (grilled chicken) and nem nướng (pork patties), which was translated as pork with honey I think. These subs were around $3.25. They also have a vegetarian selection with tofu and vegetables.


Bánh mì nem nướng (pork patty sub).

The meat is served in a crusty Vietnamese baguette. A bit of homemade mayo is slathered on the bread, with pickled carrots and daikon, cucumbers, coriander and if you like it spicy, green chilies.


Pork patty and grilled chicken Vietnamese sub.

If you've never had Vietnamese subs and you live in Hamilton, this is a great place to try them. At less than $4, it's a very affordable option for lunch. I grabbed a couple for my train ride back to Montréal.

Magical Breakfast Cream

I've been enjoying Magical Breakfast Cream (or MBC) as my daily breakfast for a year now, from the French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook. I don't usually follow fad diets but I'm always on the lookout for good and healthy recipes. I really love this recipe because it really includes all that you need nutritionally in one bowl. It's a great start to my day!



Magical Breakfast Cream
Adapted from French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook by Mireille Guiliano. I realized typing this that I don't follow the quantities and suspect I have more yogurt and honey than the quantities below. Of course, ingredients can be improved to taste: different fruit, different oil. One of the suggestions in the book is to sweeten with mandarin juice. I would buy fresh mandarins and squeeze the juice out. It was good but rather tedious so I add honey instead.

* ⅓ cup Greek yogurt, any type will do but I like how thick it is
* 1 tsp flax oil
* 1 tsp honey
* 2 Tbsp cereal, ground (I like to use Grain Shop High Fibre Crisp)
* 1 Tbsp nuts, ground (I use a mix: walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts)
* handful of blueberries
* half a banana, peeled and sliced

Scoop the yogurt into a bowl.
Add the flax oil and honey, and mix.
Add the cereal and nuts, and mix again.
Top with blueberries and banana.
Tada!


Yogurt with honey and flax oil, then cereal and nuts.

This recipe made me start having flax oil, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acid. It has to be refrigerated and ingesting 1-2 tsp a day is recommended.



Clearly, I like this recipe so much that I've been having it regularly for a year. Even on weekends when I allows myself to splurge on breakfast, sometimes I just want to have MBC. My perfect spoonful is having some blueberries and banana, and the crunch of nuts.

White Beans and Mushroom Salad

After having dinner at her friend M's, my sister raved about a white bean and mushroom salad, served with steak. Her instructions were sauté mushrooms, with a lot of onion, mix with white beans and grilled veggies, and toss with a Dijon dressing; serve with steak. I decided to skip the steak and make a healthy and very filling salad.



White Beans and Mushroom Salad

Dressing
Honestly, I throw in whatever looks good for a dressing and adjust to taste. I cheat and rarely follow the 3:1 oil to vinegar usually recommended.

* 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
* 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
* 3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
* salt, to taste
* freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Mix all the ingredients together.

Salad
* oil
* small onion, sliced thinly
* 2-3 good handful of mushrooms of your choice, sliced
* thyme, dry or fresh
* salt, to taste
* freshly ground black pepper, to taste
* dried chili flakes, optional
* 1 can white (cannellini) beans
* grilled veggies of your choice, such as peppers or zucchini

In a hot pan, heat oil.
Add onion and cook for 1 minute.
Add mushrooms and sauté.
Add thyme and season with salt, pepper and chili flakes.
Meanwhile, rinse and drain white beans.
Place beans in a bowl.
Once mushrooms are cooked through and dry, add mushrooms and grilled veggies to the bowl of beans.
Pour the dressing and mix well.
Refrigerate or serve hot.
Tada!


White beans and mushrooms. Grilled Zucchini.

I find that allowing the components to sit in the dressing really help add flavour to the salad. I am happy eating this salad as lunch for a whole week. I like eating it at room temperature so take it out of the fridge and let it warm up a bit. I love the creamy beans, with the mushrooms and grilled zucchini. Tasty eating with no guilt!



For mushroom lovers, more mushroom posts:
* Bacon & Parmesan stuffed Mushrooms
* Chicken and Mushroom Orzo
* Fried Polenta and Mushrooms
* Goat Cheese stuffed Mushrooms
* Mushroom Crusted Tilapia
* Mushroom Pita Pizza
* Mushroom Ravioli
* Mushroom Soup
* Potato Mushroom Bruschetta
* Red & White Quinoa Mushroom Risotto
* Spinach and Mushroom Cannelloni

Corn and Shrimp Fritters

My sister gifted me with six different spice blends from Chasseurs d'épices (Spice Hunter), a Québec company. The spices come whole to maintain the flavours, and you grind up the spices before you use them. The package also came with a little recipe booklet. I had eyed a number of recipes to make, corn and shrimp fritters, made with the satay spices, being at the forefront.



Corn and Shrimp Fritters - Makes 10 fritters
Adapted from Spice Hunters - Ethné and Philippe de Vienne. Add more shrimps if you like or skip them altogether to make this a vegetarian appetizer. If you don't want to make the whole spice mix, just pick a few ones, like a bit of cumin.

* 1-½ cups corn kernels, fresh if they're in season
* 1-½ cups shrimps, roughly chopped
* 1 green onion, sliced thinly
* coriander (optional)
* dried chili flakes (optional)
* ½ tsp salt
* ½ Tbsp Satay spices, ground (cumin, coriander, cardamon, white pepper, bird chili, kaffir lime leaves, dried lemon grass, dried garlic)
* ¾ cup flour
* 1 egg, beaten
* oil

In a bowl, mix corn, shrimp, green onion, chili flakes, salt and spices.
Add enough flour so that the ingredients are somewhat dry.
Mix in the beaten egg to make a stiff batter.
Shape into 3" patties.
In a large pan, heat oil over medium-high heat.
Cook patties until golden brown (about 3 minutes per side).
Serve hot or cold - I like them hot with sweet chili dipping sauce.
Tada!


Satay Spice Mix.



(1) Ingredients, (2) making the batter and (3) frying the fritters.

I was very happy with this recipe. It was easy to put together, and very good. I am loving corn right now, and this was the perfect recipe to showcase this seasonal offering. I enjoyed the combination of the sweet corn kernels with the chunks of shrimps. Let's be honest, the word fritter always win me over and these fritters made for a delectable appetizer!


Perfect bite of corn and shrimp.

Other recipes featuring fresh corn:
* Corn Soup with Dill
* Corn Spring Rolls
* Fresh Corn Salad
* Lobster and Corn Soup
* Sautéed Corn

Trứng Chiên Củ Cải Muối (Vietnamese Omelette with Pickled Daikon)

As mentioned in my previous post, I asked my mom to have trứng chiên củ cải muối (Vietnamese omelette with pickled daikon). I remember having this dish growing up with rice. As it's just an omelette, it's quite easy; I just wasn't sure where to buy the ingredients. Pickled daikon (củ cải muối) can be purchased at Asian grocery stores, in sealed plastic. It is often served with bánh tét for Vietnamese New Year, after being soaked in fish sauce.



Trứng chiên củ cải muối (Vietnamese Omelette with Pickled Daikon)
Củ cải muối is salty so this dish does not need added salt.

* oil
* small onion, sliced
* ⅓ cup dried salted radish (or pickled daikon) - or more if you'd like
* 3 eggs, beaten
* freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil in a large pan.
Add the onion slices and salted radish.
Meanwhile, season the beaten eggs with black pepper.
Once the onions have softened, add the beaten eggs.
Turn over your omelette, once the bottom is cooked.
Tada!


Củ cải muối (pickled daikon) is purchased bagged and not refrigerated but I did refrigerate it once I opened the bag.


Cooking the omelette.

Củ cải muối (pickled daikon) has a distinctly salty and a bit sweet taste. It also has a crunch that combines well with the crunch of the onions. For someone who loves salt like me, this has been my go to recipe for a quick and easy dinner for the past few weeks.


Trứng Chiên Củ Cải Muối (Vietnamese Omelette with Pickled Daikon).

Sautéed Pea Shoots

My mom came to visit for a long weekend a couple of weeks ago. She always asks if there is something I'd like her to make. In the laziness and heat of the summer, I just wanted something simple and easy. So my request was rice with sautéed pea shoots and omelette with pickled daikon (recipe to come on the next post).



Sautéed Pea Shoots
If you can't find pea shoots, you can replace with any other green, such as spinach.

* oil
* garlic, minced
* pea shoots, hard stems removed
* salt

Heat oil in a pan to medium-high heat.
Add the garlic.
After about 30 seconds, add the pea shoots.
Season with salt to taste.
Cook until the shoots are wilted, for just a few minutes.
Tada!


Picked over pea shoots and sautéeing the shoots.



Calling this a recipe seens a bit of an exaggeration. Vietnamese enjoy a variety of greens just simply sautéed like this, served with rice.