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.

Homemade Chicken Soup

I know I have mentioned I am a big SOUP person. I enjoy soups so much that I wouldn't even discriminate against canned soups - like Campbell's classic chicken noodle soup. However, I will admit that homemade soups taste much better! One of my favourites is chicken soup. Making it from scratch is so easy and totally worthwhile making. Nothing smells like homemade chicken soup when it's heated up. I used to make a big batch of chicken soup and bring it to work for lunch for a whole week. Everyone would be envious!

Like most dishes, I like to start with a recipe. I do not really feel comfortable improvising in the kitchen. But after a few times, I can now easily make chicken soup without a recipe. I like making my own because I can add a chock-full of vegetables and have large chunks of chicken. I also like to use brown rice for a high fibre meal.

Homemade Chicken Soup

Chicken Broth

Using canned broth would be fine but making chicken broth is also easy. I usually make a large portion of broth from 3 chicken carcasses. This allows me to freeze some. Growing up, I remember my mom making broth out of pork. After the broth was ready, we would pick at the pork bones for any remaining super tender meat and dip it in soy sauce. Having learned to be economical at a young age, I still pick at the chicken bones for meat and use it in the soup! I don't usually season the broth; I figure I can season it when I make the soup.

* chicken bones from one chicken

* 1 clove garlic, smashed

* 1 onion, halved
* 2-3 carrots, cut into 3 sections
* 2-3 celery stalks, cut into 3 sections
* 1-2 bay leaves

* a few whole peppercorns

* herbs such as thyme, parsley, fresh or dry

Cook the chicken bones in a big pot, covered in water, until the exterior looks cooked, about 5-10 minutes. This step is just to remove some of the grimy-ness from the blood and marrow.

Rinse and drain the chicken bones.

Add the chicken bones and the remainder of the ingredients.

Cover with water.

Bring to a boil and let it simmer for 2 hours.

If water runs out, just add more water.

Skim out the fat layer on top.

Strain the broth through a sieve.

Chicken broth before being strained.

Chicken Soup

I like to use brown rice for the high fibre. However, any other pasta or white rice can be used. Brown rice takes much longer to cook though. It does add a nice nuttiness to the soup.

* 1 small onion, diced small

* 3 carrots, sliced ¼" thick

* 3 celery stalks, sliced

* 6 cups chicken broth, homemade or store bought

* 1 bay leaf

* herbs of your choice

* ¾ cup of brown rice

* 1 chicken breast, or brown meat of your choice

* 1 cup of peas

Stir fry onions until softened.

Add carrots, and then celery, until somewhat cooked through.

Season with salt and pepper.

Add bay leaf and herbs.

Add broth and bring to a boil.

Add brown rice.

Bring down the broth to a simmer. While the broth is simmering, I like to poach the chicken breast in the broth (you can even throw in a frozen piece).

Once the chicken is cooked through, take it out and shread it into pieces. Throw the chicken pieces back in.

Turn off once the rice is cooked (about 30-45 minutes).

Add the peas and mix.

Season the soup to taste.

Tada!

The vegetables. I had some potatoes and added them too this time.

Stir frying the vegetables.

Poaching the chicken.

Serve hot with freshly ground pepper!

Mom's Ginger Snaps

Not my mom's...! I didn't actually grow up with freshly baked cookies. I'm not even sure that my mom has ever baked cookies in her life. Cakes, most definitely. With flavours like pandan leaf... Since my mom is at my place for a visit I thought I would make her something. However, there's not much that I make that she doesn't make better, but I know she enjoys these ginger snaps and... they're a snap to make!

I definitely have a "salty tooth" rather than a sweet tooth. So cakes and cookies are not my thing. However, I am a sucker for freshly baked cookies! My ex-roommie D got this recipe from her friend K, who got it from allrecipes.com. I have never screwed them up because they are so easy. I also have consistently been complimented on them. Most people assume they are store-bought! They were included in my Christmas treats giveaway last year!

Note: The recipe made about 40 cookies and does not have any dairy (or my mom would not enjoy them!).

The cookie dough.

Rolling the ball into sugar.

Ready to be baked!

Ginger snaps to be enjoyed! I especially like the crater-like cracks...

The insides are perfect: soft and slightly chewy!

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".

With Rice: Cà Tím Dồn Thịt (Stuffed Eggplant)

This is the last post of my mom's cooking for a bit. I am writing back at home, where I have to cook for myself... However, my mom may come for a visit in a few weeks and I'll try to get her to cook up some more things then.

Cà tím dồn thịt (stuffed eggplant with meat) is one of my favourite dishes to eat with rice. I like the pieces of eggplant stuffed with meat. I like the soy sauce that I can drizzle on my rice. When I visit my mom, I usually get a Tupperware (well, not real - that stuff is expensive!) full to take home with me and this visit was no different!



Like bánh củ cải, this is a dim sum dish that I never order at dim sum. I have eaten a very similar dish in my alleyway in Vietnam; they were various vegetables, such as khổ qua (bitter melon), tomatoes, eggplant and tofu, stuffed with a meat filling in a sweet sauce.

Cà Tím Dồn Thịt (Stuffed Eggplant)
My mom first fries the eggplant stuffed with meat, makes the sauce and then combines everything. This is not really a healthy recipe; eggplants absorb a lot of oil. Check Wandering Chopsticks' healthier version that is steamed! She also uses shrimp only! The pork and shrimp mixture is my mom's standard mixture for many Vietnamese dishes that require stuffing.

* 100 g ground pork
* 100 g shrimp, chopped
* ½ small onion, chopped
* salt and pepper, to taste
* 2 Japanese eggplants, sliced on the diagonal, 1.5" thick and then sliced more than halfway again to make a "sandwich" - see picture below
* 2 cups water
* 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
* 3 Tbsp sugar
* oil
* 1-½ tsp salt

Combine the first four ingredients into a food processor until you get an even mixture.
Stuff the eggplant pieces with a teaspoon or so of the filling. (I did a lot of this growing up. If a piece of the eggplant breaks off, just stick it to the meat. That's what I did...)
Fry eggplant "sandwiches" on each side and set aside - it does not have to be cooked through because it will continue cooking in the sauce.
Remove the fried pieces and set aside.
Once all the pieces are fried, add the water, dark soy sauce, sugar and salt to make the sauce.
Bring to a boil and add the eggplant "sandwiches" back in the sauce.
Lower heat to simmering and leave for half an hour.
Serve with rice.
Tada! (And hope for leftovers!)


Meat and shrimp mixture.


Stuff each eggplant "sandwich" with meat filling.


Eggplant "sandwich".


Eggplant "sandwiches" ready to be fried.


Eggplant "sandwiches" back in the sauce.


It does not look great but it's SO good. To be fair, this was microwaved when I got back to my home.

Mom's Recipes: Ram Bắp (Corn Spring Rolls)

Ram bắp (corn spring rolls) is a specialty of Quảng Ngãi, where my mom grew up. Typically, chả giò (Vietnamese spring rolls) are made of pork and crab. These special spring rolls are mainly made of corn instead. My mom usually makes them in the summer when corn is in season but she has been known to freeze some (before frying) and fry them during the off season.

This is a favourite of many friends of mine, including my friends C & R who invited my sister L, her boyfriend D and myself for dinner. So I thought I would bring this for an appetizer and take the opportunity to write about it.



Ram Bắp (Corn Spring Rolls) - makes about 36
A few notes about the ingredients. These are the same ingredients my mom uses for chả giò, replacing the corn with pork, and with the addition of shredded carrots. I remember one of my aunts in California adding mung bean to the mixture and my aunt in Quảng Ngãi adding taro root. Wandering Chopsticks also made it with grated carrots. So you can really add whatever you want. Vietnamese spring rolls are typically rolled in rice paper but we use Chinese wrappers. I actually like the saltiness and chewiness of rice paper, but it requires more work (dipping it in water first).

* 3 ears of corn, thinly sliced (fresh corn must be used to be sliced!)
* 1 little bunch (37.5 g) bean thread noodles, soaked and drained
* 1 handful of nấm mèo (wood ear mushroom), soaked and drained
* 1-½ tsp salt
* ¼ tsp pepper
* 1-½ package (or more) spring roll wrappers of your choice
* a bit of cornstarch mixed into water
* oil for deep frying


Package of spring roll wrappers.

Soak and drain bean thread noodles and wood ear mushroom.
Roughly cut the noodle and mushrooms with scissors.
Thinly slice corn by holding the corn in one hand, and knife in the other. I should have take a picture... but Wandering Chopsticks has a good one!
Mix everything together with salt and pepper.
If the mixture is wet, drain it through a sieve (or it will tear the wrapper).
Roll the filling in a wrapper - pictorial below.
Heat up oil. You can test it by adding a spring roll - the oil is hot enough if there are little bubbles.
Deep fry each spring rolls.
Tada!

Corn mixture.

Step-by-Step Pictorial for Rolling Spring Rolls

Everyone has their own way of rolling spring rolls; Wandering Chopsticks also has posted how-to-roll pictures - she rolls in while I roll out. My mom suggested I cut the wrapper in half diagonally and work with a triangle but I was worried it would be too thin. My mom also wanted to get the smaller wrappers to make cocktail size spring rolls but I was too lazy. I actually did a good job rolling here but I am not always consistent. Also, this represents years of rolling so don't worry if it doesn't come out well - practice makes perfect!

Place wrapper diagonally and fold one corner in.

Lay out about 1 tablespoon of the filling along the edge. Not too much or the spring roll will brake.

Fold the long side of the wrapper over the filling.

While holding the filling secure, fold each side in. This picture isn't accurate because I was taking a picture... I hold the filling with the left hand, pull the right side in with the right hand, hold it with the right hand and pull the left side in with the left hand. Got that?

The two sides folded in.

Once you have both sides tucked in, continue rolling with both hands. I just do it in one movement. Make sure it's tight enough or the spring roll will be limp. Dab the water and cornstarch mixture to the remaining edges so the spring rolls seals properly.

Complete rolling. If some spring rolls do tear, put them aside and fry at the end, in case the filling spills out.

Spring rolls ready to be deep fried.

My mom drains the spring rolls after deep frying.

Yummy inside!

We dip it in nước chấm or Thai chili sauce. I like to alternate with both, which means you can't just have one spring roll!

Mom's Recipes: Bánh Xèo (Vietnamese Savoury Crepes)

Bánh xèo is described in Wikipedia (they have an entry!) as
"Vietnamese crepe-type pancakes made out of rice flour, water and turmeric powder or coconut milk (in the Southern regions) stuffed with slivers of fatty pork, shrimp, and bean sprouts and is pan fried. They are served wrapped in lettuce leaves and stuffed with mint leaves or other herbs, and dipped in a prepared nước mắm (Vietnamese fish sauce) or soy sauce. In the Central region, the pancake is dipped in a special 'tuong' sauce which consists of liver, hoisin sauce and garlic. Southern style Bánh xèo are larger compared to the small pan-fried versions in the Central regions."

Bánh xèo gets its name from the sizzling sound it is supposed to make "Xxxxxxxxèèèèèo!"

As the description above implies, there are many versions of bánh xèo. My mother, being from Central Vietnam, makes them crispier. Central Vietnamese bánh xèo tend to be smaller, but I think the size of my mother's bánh xèo is dictated by her frying pan. Huế has a dish called banh khoai, which seem to be a mini version of bánh xèo. When I was young, I used to ask to have my mom's friend, who came from Southern Vietnam, make soft bánh xèo. They are both good in their own way!

Bánh xèo is one of my favourite dishes since I like savoury, crispy food! I am spoiled so my mother will make these when I go home for a visit (as I am now in Montréal). For some hard-to-explain reason, my mother associates rainy weather with bánh xèo, as in "it's raining, hmmm, I could really go for bánh xèo". I guess it's sort of like PMS and chocolate. Anyway, when this happens, I will get a guilty call from my mother in Montréal. "I made bánh xèo, I wish you could be here. Your sister's enjoying them."

I had bánh xèo in Vietnam and none were as satisfactory as my mom's. I don't know if hers are better or just what I'm used to. First of all, my mom is quite generous with her filling while restaurant ones seemed to be quite spare. She has the traditional ingredients (bean sprouts, onions, shrimp, fatty pork) but she also adds beef and mushrooms (that's another bánh xèo evoking ingredient - "I saw these beautiful white mushrooms and I thought we could have bánh xèo"). Second of all, bánh xèo was always served with lettuce and herbs only. You're supposed to roll the bánh xèo in the lettuce. However, I grew up rolling all of the lettuce and herbs in rice paper and I think it's a much more satisfactory combination!

Bánh xèo is a time-consuming effort. You can only make one at a time and it's best eaten fresh off the pan. You have to be real special to be invited for bánh xèo at my mom's! When my mother makes bánh xèo, she'll make one for each of us (customized to specific tastes, no fatty pork in mine, no pork and shrimp in my sister's... I know. SO spoiled!). While we are stuffing our faces, she'll munch on one while cooking, often while having a beer (this time, it was rosé wine).

Wow, that was a long intro with no recipe in sight. Here it is... finally!

Bánh Xèo (makes 12 bánh xèo)

For the batter

My mother's batter oddly does not contain any of the two common ingredients: turmeric or coconut milk. She just adds some soy sauce for colour.

* 1 cup rice flour

* 1 cup tempura mix

* 2-½ cup water
* ½ tsp dark soy sauce

Mix the rice flour, tempura mix and water.
Add the soy sauce.

Set aside.

Filling

Ingredients for the filling should be sliced and ready to go because once you start making the bánh xèo, you will have to use them quickly.

* mushrooms, sliced

* onions, sliced

* protein of your choice, sliced or peeled (beef, shrimp, pork, or even tofu)

* bean sprouts
* 2 eggs, beaten

Meat, shrimp and mushrooms ready to go. My mom even got a mushroom mix on sale for $1.49.

To assemble a bánh xèo
Heat oil into a pan - my mom's was an 8" pan. This is not a healthy dish -you need to be generous with the oil to make sure the bánh xèo is crispy.

Stir fry the onions with the protein(s) of your choice and mushrooms.
Add a ladle and a half of the batter on top.
Add a generous handful of bean sprouts (I like a lot!)
Cover with a lid to make sure the top of the batter is cooked also.

Spoon some beaten eggs all over the bánh xèo.

Add more oil (yes, more!) on the edges to make it crispy (my mom says this is what differentiates Central Vietnamese bánh xèo from the Southern one).

When the batter looks cripsy, fold your bánh xèo in two by using chopsticks and lifting one half with a spatula.

Stir frying onions, mushrooms, beef and shrimp.

Ladling the batter onto the pan.

The batter should cover the whole pan but it doesn't have to be too thick.

Adding a handful of bean sprouts.

Covering the pan to make sure the batter is cooked through.

My mom added spoonful of eggs all around.

You can see there is a lot of oil!

The flip: chopsticks are holding one end while the spatula flips the other side.

The bánh xèo is done!

Serve with

The bánh xèo is so rich that it is all about balancing the grea-Z-iness with fresh ingredients like lettuce and cucumber. We also like to have it with something tart. When we're lucky, my mom will find trái khế (star fruit or carambola) or green mango. This time, we had to improvise with green apples.

* rice paper

* lettuce

* cucumber sticks

* a tart fruit

* herbs, such as mint
* nước chấm

Lettuce and herbs.

Cucumbers and green apple - we did not find any green mangoes.

To roll in rice paper (this is how I like it)

Dip rice paper in warm water and place on a flat plate.

Take a portion of bánh xèo - I take about a third - and place it on top of the wet rice paper at one end.

Add ingredients as you like - the lettuce, cucumber and herbs add freshness, a tart ingredient adds contrasts to the bánh xèo's greasiness.

Fold the rice paper over the ingredients, then the edges.

Continue rolling.

Dip in nước chấm.

Repeat until your heart (or stomatch) is content!

Tada!

You can also just eat bánh xèo on its own dipped in nước chấm or just roll it in lettuce leaves.

P.S. My mother will usually have a few extra ones, that I will enjoy cold in the morning. Kind of like pizza...

Bánh xèo, ready to be eaten.

Placing a piece of bánh xèo on rice paper.

Placing fresh ingredients on the bánh xèo.

Ready to eat, just dip in nước chấm.