“Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold” -Judith Olney

Dessert. Che Dau Vang (“Yellow” Bean Sweet Soup)

Mung bean is prevalent in many Vietnamese snacks as everyone can see if they went back to my ‘snack’ entry and dessert is no different.

First I steamed whole mung beans until they were soft. I then got a pot of water and boiled it with sugar. Afterwards, I dumped my steamed mung beans in and a whole bottle of yellow food coloring (mainly to make a really bold yellow and for appearances). It is necessary to stir it sing chopsticks. This doesn’t break up the beans as much compared if stirred with a ladle or spatula. On a separate bowl, I mixed tapioca flour with water and stirred them together. I then added in tapioca flour and stirred it until it thickened and had a jelly-like consistency but not near hard as jell-o….

You can eat the soup warm or cold, and by itself or with coconut milk poured over it.

And there you have!!!! 5 Vietnamese foods to satisfy at least 5 times of eating in your day!

All of these recipes I learned from my mother who measured things using her eye (not a spoon) so I apologize if I couldn’t be specific with the exact amounts of ingredients I used. Many times when I cooked with her, I would always ask to her to give me an objective number of how much sugar, salt, water, fish sauce, etc. she used but she always answered by saying she just knows it’s the right amount. This made realized that many of my mother’s recipes are her own interpretations of these foods that she learned from her own mother. Therefore, cooking with my mother and learning from her has allowed me to inherited my mother culinary genius but I hope as I get older and have my own family, I can have my own interpretations to the recipes I cook that have been a part of my mother and ancestors.

"I haven't trusted polls since I read that 62% of women had affairs during their lunch hour. I've never met a woman in my life who would give up lunch for sex"- Erma Bombeck

Lunch. Pork and Eggs with Broccoli

Because my parents’ villages are near the sea and they spent their childhood and adolescent years fishing to earn money in Vietnam, many meals with my family consist of a fish plate because my parents prefer that over any other protein. However, Vietnamese cuisine isn’t necessarily made of fish only. My mother’s best friend is from southern Vietnam which almost has an entirely different culture from central Vietnam. They have their own dialect, foods, and even social behaviors according to what my mother says. In southern Vietnam, the people rarely eat fish. Instead their cuisine consists mainly of meats especially pork.

I start with a small pot and boil a cup of water with a cup of sugar until it dissolves and becomes brown. I set that aside and placed a big pot over high heat and dump medium sized pieces of pork into the pot, stirring it occasionally, and let it cook. In a different pot I boil some eggs and once they are done, I let them rest. Once my pork starts to brown on all sides, I poured in my cooked sugar water into the pot and add more sugar, salt, and fish sauce (a stable Vietnamese ingredient) onto my meat and continue to let it cook until the pork is fully done. I then peeled my boiled eggs and place them gently into with the pork.

For my simple stir-fried vegetables,  first cut them into bite-size pieces and boil them for around 3 minutes so they can cook but not long enough for them to get mushy. I then strained them and heat up some extra virgin olive oil in a pan and add my vegetables in. I then add salt and lots of pepper before shutting off the heat.

Adding a bowl of jasmine white rice is optional.  Lunch is served……..

“Ah, look what I found....snacks”- Pedro Cabrera

Snacks. Bahn Cam (Orange Sesame Balls or Fried Rice Flour Balls with Mung Bean filling)

I start first with the dough. I mix cold or room temperature water in sweet rice flour and begin to knead it until it forms into a whole solid but still soft enough to work with. I pour in two to one ratio of mung bean and water into a pot and let it boil over high heat with no lid. I then add sugar and a pinch of salt into the mung beans and wait until all the water has evaporated. Once the beans are done and it becomes a paste consistency, I add it shaved coconut to give it texture and more flavor. I then let it sit until it cools completely. I then toast some sesame seeds until they are golden brown and put them aside or later. Once the mung bean paste cools, I use a teaspoon to scoop out the right amount of mung bean and begin to roll them into balls until I have enough or the amount I plan to make. I then take pieces of the rice flour dough and roll it thinly flat and cut it using a rim of a cup (more resourceful). I then place the ball of mung beans in the middle of my round cut flour dough and begin to fold in and close the sides together but still try to keep it sphere-like shape for appearance wise. I started a big pot of boiling oil before and I then fry the dough balls. Once they are brown yellow, I took them out o the oil and rolled them into the toasted sesame seeds.

And viola…….

You can describe them as a Vietnamese version of a "jelly doughnut."

 I have also made these filled with crushed azuki (red) beans and with sweet pork and shrimp with onions. I like to eat them when they are filled with mung beans though because of the health benefits of mung beans which allows me to bypass the amount of rice, sugar, and oil used to make them. They 're delicious, nonetheless!!!

"Never argue at the dinner table, for the one who is not hungry always gets the best of the argument" - Voltaire

Dinner. Special Beef Pho.

When people think about Vietnamese food in the United States, the first thing that pops up in many people’s mind would probably be pho noodle soup. The irony about pho is that it’s a Northern Vietnamese food which many Vietnamese immigrants here in the states would consider to be the “enemy” yet in our country, the entrée represents Vietnamese food to many people. This could be because there are so many pho restaurants around southern California (particularly Little Saigon), from Pho 1 to Pho 85 and from Pho Ha to iPho, and because it’s really delicious. My mom is originally from Hue in Central Vietnam and people there are known make a counterpart noodle soup called bung bo (beef noodle). As a child though, pho was my favorite food. I think it was because of the star anise that my mother used that smelled like Red Vine licorice or because of the sweetness of the plum sauce. Cooking pho can take awhile depending on what protein you are using but in the end it is worth it.

I began by filling a LARGE pot of water and boiling it. I then put in my meat into the pot. I used beef. I also throw in two whole large onions and around 8 star anise with my cow bones and two cans of chicken broth and let it cook for almost an hour. I then open the fresh (still wet) pho noodles that I bought at an Asian store and let them bath in a bowl of water. When I know that my broth is ready, I then took my beef and sliced them really thinly. I strained my pho noodle and put some in my bowl along with sliced onions, cilantro, a squeeze of lemon, bean sprouts and plum sauce. I also place my raw slices of beef on top of everything in my bowl. I then ladle my broth onto my beef and noodle. The heat cooks my meat enough that it is medium rare. Here is the finished product…

"All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast"- John Gunther

Breakfast. A small bowl of white jasmine rice with daikon soup and chopped pork.

I started to prepare the daikon soup by boiling a pot of water. Then I sliced the daikon in ½ inched thick pieces and cut those in half as well for faster cooking and for easier eating. Next, I cut small pieces of pork. I don’t put too much meat into my soup because I try to keep it light due to the bowl of white rice I will already be adding to this meal. Once the water is boiling, I added about a teaspoon of shrimp paste and stirred. I then put in the pork first just so I can make sure it is well done. I then added the daikon and let it cook in the open pot. Salt is then added and a little bit of sugar. When it’s done, I turned off the heat and began to mince green onions and sprinkled it on top. You can also use cilantro.

And there you have it…..

You can eat the dikon soup and rice separately while using a spoon to take sips of the hot broth or you can dump your rice into the soup and mix it together. I personally like to eat the rice and soup separately because I like my rice to be semi-authente and mixing the rice and soup together will only make the rice open up and really soft. 

Introduction

One of the things that I love doing with my mother is helping her prepare meals. Since when I was young to this today, when my parents had family reunions and parties and when they perform their customary and traditional prayer where they offer food and light incents to the Buddha and the Lady of Mercy every month, I would always wake up early in the morning with my mom and help her prepare the dishes and entrees where my duties would be from peeling garlic cloves to cooking some of the side dishes. Because of this, I was able to inherit some of my mother’s culinary knowledge that she gained from her own mother and just through her own creativity and ingenuity.

(Mom with grandson)

This blog is to share some of my cooking knowledge that I inherited and learned from my Vietnamese mother. I will cover the 5 times of eating (in no particular order): breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, and dessert! All are which are Vietnamese influenced.