Mom's Recipes: Cơm Tấm Bì Chả (Broken Rice)

My mother is in town for a visit and I get to take advantage of her. While I was in Vietnam, I got used to eating cơm tấm nearly every week. Cơm tấm refers to the broken rice that did not make it through as quality rice. It is usally cheaper because it's the rejected rice. Here, it is actually more expensive than regular price. Luckily, I had some old rice. My mom made her own cơm tấm by soaking the rice in water for five minutes, draining it and breaking the rice herself. The rice should be cooked with less water, which she forgot to do.

Cơm tấm can be served with an assortment of protein: bì (a mixture of shredded pork and skin), chả (similar to meatloaf), sườn (pork chop) and trứng ốp-la (fried egg). My mom typically serves it with bì chả and that is what I requested. I already had a bag of bì in my freezer so we only had to make chả.



Chả Hấp (Steamed Meatloaf)
This is a basic ground pork mixture. It can be used for spring rolls' filling, with the addition of shredded carrots; hence, spring roll in Vietnamese is called chả giò. It is typically topped with egg yolks to give it a yellow-ey colour. The lady in my alleyway in Vietnam used to top it with whole salted duck egg yolks, which made this dish more decadent.

* ½ onion, minced
* 200 g pork
* 1 tsp salt
* ground pepper, to taste
* 1 tsp garlic powder
* 1 handful of bean thread noodles and nấm mèo (wood ear mushroom), soaked and drained
* 2 egg whites
* 2 egg yolks, beaten
* hành mỡ (scallion oil)

Mix everything together, except for the egg yolks.
Press the mixture into a deep dish.
Steam for about half an hour or until the meat is cooked.
If there is any liquid on the meat, remove it.
Spread the beaten egg yolks on top of the meat and steam until egg is cooked.
Top the meat with hành mỡ.
Slice into pieces.


My mom just places all of the ingredients in one dish.


Meat mixture, ready to be cooked.


Spreading the egg yolk topping once the meat is cooked.


The final product.

Serve with
* cooked rice
* hành mỡ (scallion oil)
* bì (you can buy it frozen and follow cooking directions - mix it with seasoned pork, thinly sliced and bột thính - if I ever make it, I will post the recipe)
* sliced cucumbers
* nước chấm

Top the rice with more hành mỡ.
I like to mix the bì into the rice and add a lot of nước chấm on top.
Tada!

Bahn Thai Restaurant

4490 Fairview Street
Burlington, Ontario
905.631.8868

I'm not sure how many Thai people there are in Canada but I'm pretty sure there are less than Vietnamese people. This has not stopped the popularity of Thai food though. I like Thai food but I find most Thai restaurants here are on the pricey side. Luckily, Bahn Thai Restaurant has a great set lunch menu.

It's next to McDonald's but I'd rather have Thai food any day!


You'd never guess from the outside... I like the interior that is very Thai inspired.

This is actually where I took my mom to have Thai food for the first time and she really enjoyed it. It is different enough compared to Vietnamese food to feel you are having something new, but not too different that she can't handle it. On this occasion, my mom and I stopped there for lunch after I picked her up from the train station. My mom is in Hamilton for a visit and staying until Thanksgiving.

I think Bahn Thai Restaurant is the best Thai restaurant in these parts. Dinner here can set you back a bit. The lunch combo menu is awesome though; it includes a soup (always hot and sour), a spring roll and a dish of your choice. You can pick among 18 items for $9 (it seems prices have increased at every restaurant!). There are also a few more expensive items for $11 that include shrimps.

I personally love the hot and sour soup but it's very sour and hot. I hope that by bringing my mom here, she can figure out the ingredients and I can replicate the soup. The spring rolls are good, nice and crispy. The filling is a boring mixture of cabbage and carrots. I love the sweet sauce that comes with them though. I am really boring; I always order the pad thai and it never fails me. A lot of the other dishes appeal to me but I don't come frequently enough to not crave pad thai. My mom ordered the squid with basil and she really enjoyed it. The sauce was fragrant because of the basil.

Soup and spring roll (I love the blue and white Thai dishes).

The accompanying sweet and syrup-y sauce.

Pad Thai with Chicken.

Squid with basil, served with rice.

Bahn Thai Restaurant is a great destination for dinner because it has a nice decor. If you go as a group, you can order different dishes and share. For lunch, the combo meals are a great deal. It can get quite busy with the surrounding businesses but it's a pretty big restaurant and can accommodate a lot of people.

Mushroom Crusted Tilapia

Dinner was inspired by a couple of things. First, I saw Anthony Sedlak on The Main making Mushroom Crusted Red Snapper. Mmmm, I cannot resist a mushroom recipe! Second, maybe it was fate but I found a huge pack of mushrooms (mainly fresh shiitake mushrooms!!) for $1.49 at Fortino's. I also found two packs of asparagus bundled up together for $1.99. Perfect for dinner!

Mushroom Crusted Tilapia

adapted from The Main on Food Network Canada

Croutons

* stale bread, slice into cubes

* oil

* salt

* dried herbs

Mix everything together.

Bake in the oven around 300C, until the bread cubes are golden.

I rarely make croutons at home but I should. They turned out really well!

Mushroom Topping

* oil

* onion, chopped small

* garlic, minced

* mushrooms of your choice, sliced

* dried thyme
* Marsala wine
* croutons

Heat up oil in a pan.

Stir fry onion and garlic until soft.

Add mushrooms.

Season with salt, pepper and add some dried thyme.

Add some Marsala wine.

Turn off once the mushrooms are cooked through.

Mix the mushrooms with some croutons in a bowl.

My $1.49 pack of mushrooms.

Croutons and mushroom mixture.

Fish

* oil

* salt and pepper

* fish fillet

* mushroom mixture

Season the fish with oil, salt and pepper.

Press some of the mushroom mixture on one side.

Broil in the oven until fish is cooked.

The tilapia filet is hidden by the mushrooms, but it's there!

With the leftover mushroom mixture, I made myself a mushroom pizza! I had leftover pesto from the previous week. I added a generous amount of mushrooms, some sun dried tomatoes and mozzarella. Mmm mmm good!

Pizza for mushroom lovers!

Drying Lavender

I did not have high expectations for my garden when I came back from Vietnam. My roommate G is not really a gardener and he travels a lot (who goes to Africa twice in one summer?). G did weed a couple of times while I was gone and I reapply appreciate it (Thanks G!). To my great surprise, I was happy to see the lavender that The Boyfrend planted last year was doing well and had greatly increased in size. It's lovely; every time I walk by, I get a great lavender scent!

I have a bouquet of dried lavender in my bathroom that my sister got. I really like it. So why not make my own bouquet, I thought. After researching on the internet, I found the simplest instructions on blurit.com and followed them. I pretty much cut the stems that had a flower to a similar length. I tied them with a rubber band because I read that as the stems dry, they may shrink and fall. A rubber band prevents this by contracting with the lavender.

Now, I just have to wait a few weeks until they are dry and find a nice vase to put it in. My house smells great now. If I'm not too lazy, I may dry more lavender to make sachets. We'll see...


Lavender on my table.


Lavender in front of my house.


Hanging lavender on my blinds.

Butternut Squash Soup, Monte Cristo & Raspberry Parfait

My friend L (same name as my sister!) and I made plans for lunch. Then I thought, I should make lunch since I'm not that busy these days. I came up with a simple and hopefully yummy menu:

* Butternut Squash Soup

* Monte Cristo Sandwich

* Raspberry Parfait

Butternut Squash Soup

It seems once fall hits, everyone and every restaurant is serving some version of butternut squash soup. I think it's because it's so easy to make and guaranteed delicious-ness. This version is very basic, just butternut squash and spices.

* oil

* 1 small onion
* 1 garlic clove

* 1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed (or it can be sliced in two and baked in the oven - then scoop out the insides)

* ½ tsp each thyme, basil, oregano, whatever you like

* a dash of dried chili flakes (optional)

* 3 cups water

Saute onion and garlic in oil.
Add pieces of butternut squash.
Add spices and mix.

Add water.

Turn off the heat once butternut squash is cooked through.

Blend in a food processor until even.

Monte Cristo Sandwich - for two

I have never made this sandwich but the combination of ham, cheese and crusty exterior has always appealed to me. Not just that, but I got to use my panini maker for the third time in a month - that's a record! This tasted even better than I imagined. Ask your deli to slice the ham thickly.

* 2 slices of ham (mine was Black Forest ham with brown sugar)

* 2 slices of Swiss cheese

* 4 slices of country bread

* honey dijon mustard

* 2 small eggs

* milk

* salt

* paprika

Spread mustard on one slice of bread.

Top slice of bread with ham and cheese.

Cover with the second slice of bread.

Mix the eggs, milk, some salt and paprika.

Dip the sandwich into the egg mixture.

Grill in panini maker or in a pan (you can press the sandwich with a smaller pan on top).

Oozing cheese is always a good thing and the bread was nice and crusty.

The thick slice of ham added a nice saltiness to the sandwich.

Raspberry Parfait

When I came back from Vietnam, I found quite a few of my roommate G's bananas in the freezer. So I have been making banana muffins. I thought the leftover muffins would make a good base for a raspberry parfait!

* banana muffins - or any cake type of your choice
* plain or vanilla yogurt
* raspberries
* sugar or Splenda
* chocolate
* raspberries and mint, for garnish

Cut up pieces of muffins.

Crush the raspberries and mix into the yogurt with a bit of sugar (to taste).

Layer pieces of muffin, yogurt and shaved chocolate.

Garnish with raspberries and mint.

Tada!

Bún Riêu (Vietnamese Crab Soup)

Bún riêu is a Vietnamese crab based soup that is a meal in itself. It is one of the rare dishes that my mother has never made from scratch (well, in Canaday, anyway). I think it's because the key ingredient is small crabs that you cannot easily find, in Canada anyway. So if you're looking for a recipe for bún riêu from scratch, this is not going to be it; this is the cheater's version! It's really the only version I have ever known.

I had autentic bún riêu in Vietnam and I didn't actually think it was better. What I really remember is sweating buckets (I hard a hard time eating soup in the heat)! In Vietnam, it is typically served with huyết (blood cubes) and fried tofu that I'm not used to having in this soup.

I decided to make bún riêu because of I had leftover bún from the bún thịt bò xào. This turned out to be perfect timing as the weather turned cold and rainy. I'm ready to face a cold, Canadian winter now (I think...)! I usually cook a big pot of soup and eat it by myself for a few days.

Bún Riêu - serves 4

This recipe is easy peasy, as Jamie Oliver likes to say. It uses a canned crab mixture and eggs to make big, creamy lumps of riêu. I add a ridiculous amount of tomatoes so it's a great source of vegetables. I like eating this soup with iceberg lettuce (it's the only time I like it) because I find it can stand the heat of the soup and stay crisp! You also have to add mắm tôm (fermented fish paste); I have a jar at home just for this dish!

For the soup

* oil

* 1 onion, sliced thinly

* 4-6 tomatoes, cut into wedges (I like a lot so you can have less)
* bit of salt

* 1 can of gia vị nấu bún riêu (crab mixture for bún riêu)

* 1 tbsp dry tamarind soup mix

* 4 cups of water

* 3-4 eggs, beaten (or more if you want more riêu)

Heat up oil in a big pot.

Add onions and tomatoes.

You can season with a bit of salt but I don't add a lot because mắm tôm is very salty.

Add about 1-2 tablespoons of the crab mixture to flavour the broth.

Cook until the onion and tomatoes are close to being cooked (they will continue to cook in the broth).

Add water.

Add tamarind mixture according to taste (my sister and I like it very sour!).

Increase the temperature to bring the soup to a boil and then bring down the heat to a simmer.

Meanwhile, mix the remaining crab mixture with the beaten eggs.

Once the tomatoes are cooked, bring the heat further down to below simmer (this is key - if it's too hot, the lumps of riêu will not form), add the egg and crab mixture in one motion around the pot.

Cover the pot with the lid.

Increase the heat just slightly to ensure the crab mixture cooks and let it cook for a minute.

Turn the heat off.

Wait 5 minutes. You should have (hope for) beautiful lumps of riêu! (Don't worry if you don't have lumps, I screwed this up the first few times I tried...)

Tamarind soup base for sinigang (I've had sinigang in the Phlippines!) and shrimp mixture (oops... it should be crab!).


Tomato wedges and onion slices, nearly cooked.

Crab and egg mixture.


Adding the crab mixture to the broth and vegetables.

Lumps of bún riêu.

Serve with

bún, cooked (rice vermicelli)

iceberg, chopped (or any kind of lettuce you prefer)

green onions, chopped

mắm tôm (fermented shrimp paste)

Place bún in a bowl.

I like to top the bún with iceberg so it is covered by the hot soup.

Ladle soup onto the bún.

Sprinkle green onions.

Spoon mắm tôm as you please and mix into the soup.

Tada!

Mắm tôm - shrimp sauce doesn't sound as lethal as fermented shrimp paste, but it still stinks!

Chopped iceberg lettuce and green onions.

A chunk of "riêu".

Bún Thịt Bò Xào (Vermicelli with Stir-Fried Beef)

For my fourth visit at my friends T & R to do my taxes (don't ask...), I promised to bring dinner over too. I haven't really cooked them Vietnamese food so I thought I would make bún thịt bò xào (vermicelli with stir-fried beef).

Bún thịt bò xào is typically eaten in a bowl. You put some bún (rice vermicelli) in a bowl, add beef, some vegetables and nước chấm. This is how Vietnamese eat many dishes, such as chả giò (spring rolls) and thịt nướng (grilled meat). I like to roll my bún thịt bò xào in rice paper instead. I asked my T & R bowl or roll, and they voted roll!

Bún Thịt Bò Xào (Vermicelli with Stir-Fried Beef)
This is really a recipe on how to stir fry beef. You can try this with other meats than beef too; Wandering Chopsticks made it with venison!

Tip #1: To slice beef thinly, freeze it slightly or thaw it slightly. It's a lot easier to slice something hard.
Tip #2: The secret to not having tough meat is adding a bit of baking soda. That's what Chinese restaurants do.

* 250 g beef, such as stirloin tip
* ½ tsp salt
* 1 tsp sugar
* 1 Tbsp minced lemongrass (can be purchased frozen)
* a few dashes of garlic powder
* a bit of dried chili flakes - if you want a bit of a kick
* ¼ tsp baking soda
* bit of sesame oil
* oil of your choice
* ¼ onion, thinly sliced
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* oyster sauce (I actually used the vegetarian kind because that's all I had)

Slice beef thinly - the trick to slice beef thinly is to have it frozen, and slightly thawed, much easier to slice!
Mix sliced beef with salt, sugar, lemongrass, garlic powder, chili, baking soda and sesame oil.
Let it marinate for an hour if you can.
Heat up oil and stir fry onion and garlic until soft.
Add the beef and continue stir frying.
When the beef is almost cooked, add a few dashes of oyster sauce and mix. Add some water if the mixture is too dry.

Serve with:
* lettuce, washed and torn
* cucumber, sliced
* vermicelli, cooked
* rice paper
* nước chấm

Serve everything in a bowl or roll it in rice paper.
Tada!


Sliced semi-frozen beef.


Lettuce, cucumbers and mint to roll with.


Vermicelli. Doesn't look that appealing, eh? But it's good with everything else.


Stir fried beef.

Pesto and Grilled Vegetables

I found myself running out of ideas as to what to cook. I find I tend to get lazier when I cook for myself. I tried to get inspired by shopping at the Hamilton's farmer market. I found a bunch of basil and decided to make pesto. This was a rather weirdly spontaneous decision since I may have made pesto once before in my life.

I also find that when I cook for myself, I tend to go back to eating low fat ingredients. So I'm back to eating whole wheat, high fibre, brown, low fat and skim foods.

Pesto
I needed some pine nuts but realized at the supermarket that it is quite expensive; $5.99 for a tiny pack!! Since I am budget-minded these days, I decided to replace them with pistachios. My Weight Watchers cookbook (yes, I have two!) suggests adding vegetable broth to reduce the amount of olive oil. I did not have vegetable broth but would definitely try it next time.

* 1 bunch of basil (about 2 cups, packed)
* 2 Tbsp pistachio nuts (walnuts are good too)
* 2 Tbsp Parmesan
* 3 Tbsp olive oil
* salt, to taste

Throw everything in a blender or food processor and hope everything is processed (I had some issues with G's blender).
Tada!

Pasta with Pesto, Grilled Chicken and Vegetables
I was initially thinking of making pasta with pesto and really colourful vegetables. I really enjoy it at restaurants and it seems so simple to make. So I decided to grill some vegetables and stretch them out into 2 or even 3 meals.



* 1 portion of pasta of your choice
* 3 tbsp pesto
* olive oil
* dried herbs of your choice
* vegetables (zucchini, red peppers, broccoli, carrots)
* ½ chicken breast

Cook pasta. I added some broccoli at the last minute. Save some cooking water.

Grill vegetables with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, herbs.

Season chicken with a bit of olive oil, salt, herbs, paprika, hot chili flakes.

Grill chicken and slice.

Toss pasta with pesto and a ladle of cooking water.

Add vegetables and chicken to pasta and mix.

Zucchini with oil and seasoning.

Grilling vegetables.

Pita Pizza

I often make pita pizza, using a whole wheat pita for a healthier choice. It's a quick dinner and it satisfied me. I love pesto on pizza and as my sister would say, a ri-DONK-ulous amount of (low fat) toppings. You can use whatever you want though.

* pesto
* whole wheat pita
* toppings of your choice
* mozzarella (it doesn't have to be low fat...)
* oregano
* dried chili flakes

Cover pita with pesto. You can see chunks of unprocessed pistachios.

I covered my pita with pre-cooked slices of potato and low fat spicey turkey sausage...

... then the grilled vegetables and some onion...

... and finally some sun dried tomatoes, mozzarella, oregano and dried chili flakes.

Bake until cheese has melted. The final product without any guilt!

I was able to use the grilled veggies for a third meal: spaghettini with meatballs in a tomato sauce. I also threw in some pesto in an omelette for lunch. The possibilities are endless!

Spaghettini with meatballs.