Mom's Recipes: Bánh Ít Trần (Mung Bean stuffed Dumpling)

Bánh ít trần is a little savoury dumpling (I think, I have never heard it translated) stuffed mainly with đậu xanh (mung beans), pork and shrimp. When I lived in Vietnam, the little restaurant that sold nem nướng (pork meatballs) also sold these. I would always buy one as a side treat.


My mom's version.

I remembered my mom making some purple ones and asked her to make some. The purple colour comes from the addition of purple yam. Purple yam is used in Vietnamese cuisine so don't be surprised if you ever see a bright purple soup made with this.


Bánh ít trần, with some nước chấm, that I would buy in Vietnam.

Bánh Ít Trần (Mung Bean stuffed Dumpling) - makes 23
The filling is similar to bánh bột lọc, with the addition of mung beans. The shell is probably more appealing because it does not have that chewiness of bánh bột lọc.

Filling
* 3 tbsp oil
* 1 small onion
* 200 g pork
* 200g shrimp
* 1-½ tsp salt
* 1 tsp pepper
* ½ lb. mung beans, cooked and mashed

Sauté onion in oil until softened.
Add pork and shrimp, with salt and pepper.
Cook until the shrimp and pork are cooked through.
Meanwhile, cook the mung beans, drain and mash.
Mix the shrimp and pork with the mung bean mixture.
Roll about 2 tbsp of the mixture into balls.

Cubed pork and chopped shrimp.

Mung bean mashed.

Rolled into balls.

For the Shell - Makes 8

* 1-⅛ cup sticky rice flour

* ½ cup hot water

Mix the flour with hot water (boil and let it cool down).

Roll a ball about the same size as the filling.

Flatten the dough with your fingers into a disc.

Cover the filling with the dough by closing it around the ball of mung bean.

Place onto 3"x3" squares of parchment paper.

Steam at low heat for 10 minutes.

Serve with nước chấm (in Vietnam, they also added some dry shrimps).

Sweet Rice Flour.

Dough made into a disc.

Placing the ball of mung bean onto the disc of dough.

Close the dough and cover the ball.

Bánh ít trần ready to be steamed.

For the purple yam dough

* ½ of the dough above

* 1 cup purple yam

* ½ cup sticky rice flour

Make half of the recipe of the dough above and set aside.

Microwave purple yam for a minute.

Mix with flour.

Mix this new purple mixture with the regular dough mixture.

Roll and cover the filling as above.

Cook and serve with nước chấm.

Tada!

Package of frozen purple yam.

Close-up of the bánh ít trần.

Mom's Recipes: Cháo Ca (Fish Porridge)

I realize this is the third "soup" post in a row and I promise it is the last, for a little while anyway. One of my favourite soups that my mom makes is cháo ca. In English, cháo seems to be translated into rice porridge or congee, not sure of the difference between the two. Cháo is pretty much a rice based soup. It seems like most Asians have their own versions.

It's usually served in the morning and my mom would make it when my sister and I were sick. There are many versions, plain white cháo with salted duck egg or fermented tofu, cháo ga (chicken porridge), cháo with meatballs and my favourite, cháo ca (fish porridge). I think cháo ca is actually a Chinese dish since I did not see it in Vietnam and had some of the other versions.

I have never made cháo ca so it's time to learn! The key to this specific cháo is to grind the rice grains so you get a really smooth consistency. I just love the fish flavoured with sesame oil and ginger. It gets quickly cooked from the heat of the cháo itself. I like the addition of century eggs but I can understand it's not for everyone. My sister will toast some Chinese bread sticks, cut it up and mix it in the soup. Top with green onions and coriander. Perfect!

Cháo Ca (Fish Porridge)

For the fish
* 200 g white fish - we used basa
* 1-2 tbsp ginger, julienned
* white parts of 3 green onions, sliced thinly
* ½ tbsp salt
* ½ tsp pepper
* 4 tbsp sesame oil

Slice the fish thinly (it helps if it is frozen).
Mix with all the remaining ingredients and set aside.

For the porridge
* 1 cup rice
* 2 L water, or broth

Soak in water for 15 minutes.
Rinse, drain and crush the rice into pieces with your hands (alternately, you can process the rice finely).
Cook in 2 L water (or broth).
Cook on low heat for 45 min-1 hour.

Serve with
Century eggs, sliced in quarters or sixths
green onions, for garnish
coriander, for garnish

Add the eggs and fish to the cháo and mix.
Alternatively, place the raw fish at the bottom of a bowl and pour the hot cháo, cooking the fish in the process.
Tada!


Sliced fish with ginger.


Fish mixture.


Crushed rice.


There is nothing comforting than a hot bowl of cháo ca.

Mom's Recipes: Xúp Bột Bán (Tapioca and Crab Soup)

Xúp bột bán (tapioca and crab soup) is a recipe I have never encountered other than in my mom's and her family's kitchen. I remember visiting my aunt in California; she made me some with big pieces of fresh crab. How spoiled I am the rare times I get to see family! The main ingredients are tapioca pearls and crab so you have to use a lot of crab.



Xúp Bột Bán (Tapioca and Crab Soup)

Crab paste is used for added crab flavour. If you use enough crab (unlike us chintzy ones) - whole ones ideally, you can skip that ingredient. In Vietnam, they would also shrimp. Tapioca is cooked separately so not too much starch is released into the broth. If you keep it until the next day, the soup may thicken a bit; just add more water.

* oil

* ¼ onion, finely chopped

* 150 g lump crab, frozen of fresh if you're lucky

* 1 tbsp crab paste

* 1-½ L chicken broth, ideally Vietnamese flavoured one

* water

* 1 cup tapioca pearls

* green onion and coriander, for garnish

Sauté onion and crab in a bit of oil until onion is softened.

Add crab paste.

Add chicken broth.

In a separate small pot, bring water to a boil.
Lower heat and add the tapioca.

Stir the mixture so the tapioca pearls do not stick to each other.

Cook for about 5 minutes - they do not have to be fully cooked because they will continue cooking in the soup.

Drain the tapioca pearls.

Add tapioca to the soup.

Bring the soup to a boil and turn off. If you let it sit for a bit, the tapioca pearls will turn transparent, meaning they are cooked. If you want to serve the soup right away, cook until the pearls are cooked.

Tada!

Block of frozen crab.

Add tapioca pearls into boiling water.

Stir the tapioca pearls so they don't stick.

Draining the tapioca pearls.

Ready to enjoy!

Mom's Recipes: Bánh Flan

My mom and my sister love, love bánh flan. Flan, or crème caramel, is a remnant from French colonialism and it's funny how it's common in different cultures including Spain and Latin America. I enjoy it, but not enough to bother making it. I would bother requesting my mom to make it though! While I was in Vietnam, I had never had so much bánh flan in a seven month period. Mind you, the bánh flan in Vietnam are usually very small, compared to the ones my mom makes in ramekins.

Do you like my mom's efforts at being artsy?

Bánh Flan - makes 5

Making the caramel

* 8 tsp sugar
* 2 tsp water

Place water and sugar in a little pot.
Bring water to a boil and let it bubble for 5 minutes, while swirling the whole pot – do not insert any utensil into the caramel or the sugar will crystallize.
Turn the heat down to Medium for another 2-3 minutes until you obtain a golden brown colour – the darker the colour, the more bitter it will be.

Add another ½ tbsp of water. (Sugar can also be added if there is insufficient caramel.)

Pour caramel in a ramekin (my mom even used coffee cups).

Initial water and sugar mixture.

Caramel is starting to colour.

This is a bit too dark and will be a bit bitter.

Pour into containers that will hold the flan.

This is a nice colour for the caramel.

For the custard

* 2 egg yolks
* 1 egg
* 1-⅞ cup (about 470 mL, or a bit less than 2 cups) milk
* 2 tbsp sugar
* ½ tsp vanilla extract, or lime zest instead

Mix milk with sugar.
Heat up milk until it is warm - not too hot or the eggs will curdle when you add them.

Beat the eggs yolks and egg together, and add to the warm milk.
You can add any flavouring you want to the mixture, vanilla or lime zest.

Pour the mixture through a strainer into individual containers on top of the caramel.

Meanwhile, set up a bain marie (My mom uses a deep pan with a lid and with about an inch of water) and turn on the heat.

Place the containers in the bain marie (the water should be barely simmering). Put the lid on but do not completely cover to allow some air out (my mom puts a chopstick in between the pot and the lid).

The heat should be set at Low. Cooking slowly at a low temperature ensures a smooth consistency.
Cook for 30 minutes or until it is no longer jiggly. (You could also bake this but the top will not be as smooth.)

Cool down.

Run a knife around the edge to loosen and flip the custard onto a plate.

Or you can eat it in the container.

Tada!

Pouring the eggs into the milk mixture.

Pouring the mixture through a strainer.

Ready to dig in!

Mom's: Sườn Heo (Spare Ribs)

Since I have moved out of my mom's, my mom has perfected recipes that I didn't grow up with. One of them is her sườn nướng heo (spare ribs). My mom said her husband and my sister's boyfriend love her ribs. So my mom made her spare ribs the same night that she made thịt heo kho; that's right, we really stuffed ourselves with pork that night.

I have to admit, although ribs in general are good, I find them to be too messy to eat. I was happy eating the thịt heo kho. However, you can't go wrong with this sauce. Isn't it always about the sauce? The meat was beautifully fork tender! So here is my mom's Asian influenced recipe for ribs.

Sườn Heo (Pork Ribs)

For the marinade
* 1 kg (about 2 lbs) of ribs
* 1 tbsp salt
* 4 tbsp sugar
* 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
* 2 tbsp garlic powder
* 1 tbsp dijon mustard
* ¾ tsp baking powder - the key to obtaining tender meat

Pre-mix all of the ingredients except for the meat.
Then, coat the meat with the mixture.
Slice meat in 3-4 ribs sections.
Let it marinate overnight ideally, or at least 2 hours.


Rack of ribs in their initial state.


Soaking up ingredients to make it yummy!

For the sauce and ribs
* 3 tbsp oil
* 1 onion, diced small
* 4 tomatoes, diced small (skin removed if you want)
* 1 tbsp ginger
* 2 garlic cloves
* ½ tsp dried chili peppers, or to taste

Heat oil on medium.
Add the ribs and brown on each side.
Take out the ribs and set aside.
In the same pot, cook the onion, ginger and garlic.
When slightly cooked, add the tomatoes.
Add the spare ribs back into the sauce and the remaining marinade.
The ribs should be covered with liquid. If not, top up with some water.
Let it simmer with the lid on for about an hour and a half.
Take out the pieces and broil for 5-10 minutes for a nice, golden finish (optional).
Serve with the remaining sauce in the pot.
Tada!


Browning the ribs.


Onions and ginger make a good base for the sauce.

Tomatoes are always a good addition: natural msg!

Cooking the tomatoes.

Adding the ribs and marinade back into the pot.

Broiling the meat for a nice finish.

The result: tender meat!

Mom's Recipe: Thịt Heo Kho (Braised Pork)

A standard Vietnamese dish eaten with rice is thịt heo kho (braised pork). I've mentioned before that when I lived at home we ate rice every day. I don't do that anymore and there is only a handful of dishes that I really miss. This is one of them. I love the pieces of pork that break easily and the eggs that easily soak up the sauce. We also usually boil cabbage (it doesn't sound appealing... but I love it!) and dip it in a mixtured of mashed up eggs and sauce.



I have never made this dish and have only eaten it. Only when I started reading blogs, specifically Wandering Chopsticks' recipe and Gastronomy's, that I learned the traditional ingredients for this dish. This is because my mom does not use coconut juice and does not make a caramel. My mom takes shortcuts and just uses dark soy sauce. It's still good though and it's the version I grew up eating!

This was a standard lunch dish in Vietnam. The lady who sold lunch in my alley had this every day. I would try to get lunch early so I could request one egg. If you came too late, you risked her running out. However, I never ate pork once. To say it was fatty is an understatement; the meat was pretty much pieces of fat!

Thịt Heo Kho (Braised Pork)

* 5 cups water
* ½ tsp pepper
* 1 tbsp salt
* 4 tbsp sugar (or honey if you have some)
* 1 onion, chopped finely
* 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
* 1 kg fatty pork butt, cut into 1-2" sections
* 6 eggs, hard boiled and peeled

Bring water to a boil.
Add chopped onion, soy sauce, pepper, salt and sugar.
When water is boiling, add meat.
Add eggs.
Cook on medium for about 1-1/2 - 2 hours - the meat should be fork tender.
Taste the sauce and season accordingly.

Piece of pork butt - ideally with a piece of fat attached (that I never eat).

Cut into pieces.

Adding onion and seasoning to the water makes a great base for a sauce.

Throw in the eggs and meat.

After cooking for close to two hours, the pork is so tender!

Serve with

rice

cooked cabbage

Simply boil cabbage, cut into 2" sections.

Mash two eggs and mix with some of the sauce from the dish and a dash of fish sauce to taste.

Dip cabbage in sauce.

Tada!

Mashed eggs.

Eggs mixed with fish sauce and the sauce from the dish.

Cooked savoy cabbage.

Dip the cabbage. So good!