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

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.

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.

Gà Nướng Chao - Fermented Bean Curd BBQ Chicken

As I mentioned in the previous post (for the vegetarian mung bean noodle dish), one my sister's favourite dishes is Gà Nướng Chao, or fermented bean curd BBQ chicken. My mother uses the red bean curd, which leaves a nice red hue on the chicken. This recipe is quite simple as the bean curd is the main ingredient. The chicken is then grilled on charcoal.



Gà Nướng Chao - Fermented Bean Curd BBQ Chicken - Makes 12 drumsticks
Red Bean curd can be purchased at Asian grocery stores in jars. My mom likes making this recipe with drumsticks but any part of the chicken will work.

* 3 cubes of red fermented bean curd, and 1-2 spoonfuls of the liquid from the jar
* 1 Tbsp sugar
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 12 skinless drumsticks, sliced to the bone but not cut through

In a large bowl, add the red bean curd cubes, the liquid, sugar and garlic.
Mash the cubes with a fork and mix, creating a paste.
Add the chicken drumsticks into the bowl and slather the paste into every nook of the chicken drumsticks (that is why the drumsticks are sliced so there is more surface area for the marinade).
Marinate overnight (ideally) in the refrigerator or at least for 5-6 hours so the flavours seep into the chicken.
Take out the drumsticks 30 minutes before grilling so the drumsticks come up to room temperature.
Grill the drumsticks (not on too high heat, so on the periphery of your grill), about 5 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
Serve with bún.
Tada!



(1) Red bean curd jar (2) Red bean curd marinade ingredients (3) Red bean curd paste (4) marinating the chicken.

Not only does the red bean curd leave the chicken drumsticks with a red colour, it also imparts a distinctly bean curd flavour: salty and fermented. As my sister really enjoys this, it usually is a BBQ staple of ours when grilling Vietnamese food!


It's really finger licking good and I love the char from charcoal!

I am submitting this to the July 2011 edition of Delicious Vietnam, a blogging event featuring Vietnamese food and created by A Food Lover's Journey and Ravenous Couple. It is hosted this month by Lan from Angry Asian creation. (For my other Delicious Vietnam recipes, click here).

For other Vietnamese BBQ recipes:
* BBQ Corn with Scallion Oil
* Bò Lá Lốt (Ground Beef stuffed Wild Betel Leaves).
* Bún Thịt Nướng (Grilled Meat with Rice Vermicelli)
* Gà Nướng Xả (Grilled Lemongrass Chicken)
* Nem Nướng (Pork Meatballs)
* Sườn Nướng Xả (Grilled Lemongrass Ribs)

Bún Tàu Chay (Vegetarian Mung Bean Noodle)

I have yet again neglected my little food blog. No excuses, but I do have a few posts planned. I have been making this vegetarian mung bean noodle (bún tàu = Chinese noodles, which refers to mung bean noodles and chay = vegetarian) dish fairly regularly recently. This is my mother's go-to dish during Lent, when we abstain from eating meat on Fridays. This is actually a vegan dish as it contains no meat products!

I love the combination of the savoury soy ingredients: fermented bean curd and fried gluten. Fermented bean curd, soft salty cubes of soy found in jars, is often used in Asian cuisine; we often have it in plain congee. My sister loves my mom's chicken marinated in fermented bean curd. Fried gluten, which comes in cans, is used to make faux/mock meat in Asian cuisine. Mung bean noodles (or cellophane noodles), another Asian ingredient, are made out of the starch of... mung beans, what else?

Bún Tàu Chay (Vegetarian Mung Bean Noodle) - Serves 4
One of the reasons it took me a long time to write this post, was that I wanted to figure out how to best cook the noodles. I've tried soaking them and they get too soggy so you just want to rinse them and have them a bit wet. You can add any vegetables you prefer. Mushrooms would be a great addition! Fermented bean curd is quite salty, so you probably won't need to add salt.

* oil
* ¼ or so of a napa cabbage, sliced ½" thick
* 3 or 4 small bundles of mung bean noodles (I like to buy mung bean noodles in a package of small little bundles)
* 6 cubes of fermented bean curd, or to taste
* cooked/thawed frozen vegetables of your choice (I sauteed some green beans, corn and carrots beforehand)
* 1 can of fried gluten, drained (I don't rinse it because I like the flavouring)

Heat up oil in a large pan.
Add the napa cabbage and cook for a few minutes; it will release some liquid.

Quickly rinse the mung bean noodles and add to the cabbage.

Mash the fermented bean curd so it becomes a thick paste, adding a bit of water if needed.

Pour the bean curd paste on the noodles and cabbage, and mix.

Once the cabbage is cooked, add the vegetables and fried gluten.
Taste and season to taste, adding salt or more bean curd.
Tada!

From top left clockwise: (1) jar of fermented bean curd and can of fried gluten (2) cubes of fermented bean curd (3) mung bean noodles and (4) straining the fried gluten.

When you have excessively eaten meat, this is a great dish to get back to eating healthy and light! It has quickly become a new savoury favourite dish for dinner.

Another mung bean noodle recipe:
* Vietnamese Chicken Bean Thread Noodle Soup

Canh Xà Lách Son (Vietnamese Watercress Soup)

I really love canh. What is canh? It's the Vietnamese term for soup. Most Vietnamese meals never go without any canh. It accompanies rice and the main dishes. You can have canh as a side, or I sometimes scoop some canh into my bowl of rice. What's great about canh is that it's actually quite simple to make. It's usually a basic soup and so doesn't require many ingredients. One can make a canh with only a vegetable, a protein, some salt and water. It's a great way to try and taste new vegetables!

It's common to make canh out of greens and one canh that my mom makes is canh xà lách son, xà lách son being watercress. I like watercress in its raw form in salads, but it's pretty tasty cooked too. Try it out!



Canh Xà Lách Son (Vietnamese Watercress Soup)
This soup can be made in under 15 minutes.

* oil
* 1 Tbsp very finely diced onion
* 1-2 Tbsp ground pork
* salt and pepper, to taste
* watercress, washed and cut in 3" sections (I just use scissors)
* 2 cups water

In a small pot, heat up oil.
Add onion and pork.
Season with salt and pepper.
Once the pork is cooked through, add 2 cups of water
Add the watercress.
Bring the water to a boil.
Turn off.
Taste and adjust seasoning to taste.
Tada!


Ground pork and watercress.


Canh xà lách son - Vietnamese watercress soup.

Other canh recipes:
* Canh Khổ Qua (Bitter Melon Soup)
* Canh Hến (Baby Clam Soup)

Delicious Vietnam #7 Round-up

As mentioned previously, I got the opportunity to host the seventh edition of Delicious Vietnam, a food blogging event featuring Vietnamese food, created by Anh from A food lover's journey and Hong & Kim Ravenous Couple.

The submissions ranged from an outing to a Vietnamese restaurant to Vietnamese recipes, both traditional ones and with new twists! Without further ado and by order of submission, here are all the delicious posts:

* First off, my friend Cathy from Gastronomy shared her visit to Thiên Ân Bò 7 Món, where she and her friends enjoyed Vietnamese-style roasted catfish (cá nướng da dòn). I so wish I lived in California because that fish is calling my name!

* Julia from Beginner Mom on the Run made Vegetarian Vietnamese Egg Rolls. Her version like my mom's has tofu, but also has the added mung bean and taro root. I remember eating egg rolls in Vietnam with taro, a substantial addition. There is no fried egg roll that doesn't call my name, and I wish I had some right now!

* Lan from Angry Asian Creations submitted Butternut Squash Braised in Coconut Milk. This looks like the perfect fall weather recipe. I can imagine the coconut milk being sopped up by rice. In addition to the butternut squash, Lan added fresh bamboo shoots and beech mushrooms, which I had never heard of!

* Next up is last month's host Doug from Javaholic. He submitted a Vietnamese Ahi Carpaccio recipe. Doug replaced the tradition beef in bò tái chanh with sashimi grade ahi tuna. Sounds like a tasty idea in my books!

* My submission was Tofu with Tomato Sauce. It's a great vegetarian recipe, quick and easy to make!

* Hong and Kim from Ravenous Couple made Vietnamese blood sausage this month. I have to admit that I avoided blood in my soups when I was in Vietnam but this blood sausage really intrigues me. The fresh herbs make it less scary to me and I'm so impressed they made sausage from scratch, casing and all!

* Anh from A food lover's journey, whipped up Vietnamese beef meatballs in tomato sauce, a beef version of xíu mại in her new kitchen (and you must check out her red kitchen bench and beautiful tile backdrop). These meatballs would be oh so good in a crusty bánh mì!

* Finally, Deb from Bear Head Soup, submitted a dessert recipe Chè Chuối Chưng. Oh my, I could see my mom heading straight to the kitchen to make this version of chè with banana, tapioca and cassava.

Thank you to everyone for your delicious submissions! If you'd like to submit a recipe for the eighth edition, it will be hosted by Deb from Bear Head Soup. For more information, click here.

Đậu Hủ Sốt Cà Chua (Tofu with Tomato Sauce)

I wanted to make a Vietnamese dinner for my boyfriend A and me. Since he's vegetarian, I decided to make đậu hủ sốt cà chua (tofu with tomato sauce). This is a dish my mom often made with rice. It consists of fried tofu, topped with a tomato sauce. It's funny because in Western cuisine, tofu has become an alternative for meat. In Asian cuisine, tofu is just another ingredient so it is often paired with meat. However, this dish is vegetarian (although my mom makes a similar dish with tofu stuffed with meat).

I am hosting the 7th edition of Delicious Vietnam, a monthly food blogging event created by A Food Lovers Journey and Ravenous Couple, to highlight Vietnamese cusine. Look for the round-up next week!



Đậu Hủ Sốt Cà Chua (Tofu with Tomato Sauce) - Serves 4

For the tomato sauce
This sauce is super easy to make. It has a bit of sweet (from the added sugar) & sour (from the tomatoes) flavours going. My mom also likes to serve fried fish with this tomato sauce.

* oil
* ½ onion, diced small
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 4 plum tomatoes, diced
* salt, to taste
* black pepper, to taste
* 1-2 tbsp sugar, or to taste

In a pan, heat up some oil.
Add the onion and garlic until softened.
Add the tomatoes and cook on medium heat.
Season with salt, pepper and sugar to taste (I like the sauce on the sweet side so I do add a good amount of sugar).
Cook for 10-15 minutes, until the tomatoes are cooked and have broken down a bit, resulting in a thick tomato sauce.
Taste and adjust seasoning.



For the tofu
You can prepare the tofu while the sauce cooks down.

* 1 package (1 lb) firm tofu
* salt
* minced lemongrass (I buy it frozen)

Slice the tofu into ½" thick slices.
Pat each slice of tofu dry with a paper towel (it will help the tofu crispen when you fry it).
Season liberally with salt and lemongrass. (Since tofu doesn't have much taste, I try to coat each slice to make sure each is properly seasoned.)
In a pan, heat oil.
Fry the tofu about 3-4 minutes on each side, until nicely golden brown.
Top the tofu with the tomato sauce.
Serve with rice.
Tada!



Preparing the tofu.

If you would like to join in this blogging event, please e-mail me at Miss.Adventure[at]live[dot]com, making sure to include “Delicious Vietnam” in the subject line before the end of the day on Sunday, November 15 (sorry for the short notice!). Please include the following information:
• Your Name
• Your Blog Name/URL
• Your Post URL
• Your Location
• Attach a photo (300 pixel wide, please)

Entries to Delicious Vietnam must be written specifically for this event only. Of course, do submit your photos to photo sites and events. Please make sure that your post contains the phrase Delicious Vietnam with a link to the host (Miss.Adventure at Home), and to the two founders (A food lover’s journey and Ravenous Couple). If you use Twitter, please include the tag #deliciousvietnam in your post.