Leftovers? Roll them!

Posted on March 14, 2012 by The soup lady

Ever since the birth of our first-born nearly 7 years ago, we have learned to love leftovers. As new parents, having enough for another meal without shopping, cooking or cleaning was an unimaginable luxury–doubly so now that we have two children to wrangle every evening. And with a little creativity, some leftovers can be reframed in delightful ways. Take the vermicelli with beef and lemongrass from a few nights ago, with the addition of rice paper and some hot water, the meal-in-a-bowl becomes delicate salad rolls.

I am not particular about the brand of rice paper, though my mother swears by the Rose Brand. In any case, wet both sides of a sheet thoroughly with hot water–either by dipping in a bowl or holding under the faucet for a few seconds. Place the sheet of rice paper on a plate; it will soften in about a minute. Add lettuce/cuke/herbs, noodles, beef, scallion oil, and fried shallots. Be careful not to use too much filling and keep everything towards one side of the sheet. Roll tightly (think cigar rather than burrito) taking care not to break the rice paper. Repeat. Keep rolls moist under a damp paper towel or dish cloth. Eat rolls immediately, dipping in nuoc cham.

This will work with nearly any kind of leftover–from stir fry to roasted meats. I like to use the vermicelli noodles, but there are no rules against other kinds of noodles or even rice! Just make sure that you balance out soft textures with some chewiness (beef, shrimp, etc.), crunchiness (lettuce, cuke), and herbiness (mint, thai basil, cilantro). And of course, nuoc cham is a must.

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Multi-culti breakfast

Posted on March 11, 2012 by The soup lady

One of the many uses of fried shallots: on a bagel with cream cheese!

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Bun Bo Xao — Vermicelli with Beef and Lemongrass

Posted on March 11, 2012 by The soup lady

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This is one of my favorite go-to dishes during the week. It is relatively easy to make and can be eaten at room temperature so there is less rushing around at the last minute.  But more importantly, the ingredients are readily obtainable from my pantry, fridge and local markets. Now, I say this knowing full well that not everyone stocks fish sauce, oyster sauce, fried shallots, rice noodles, and lemongrass. But if you follow my blog, you soon will stock these items too!

Beef:
2 lbs steak tips, thinly sliced against the grain into bite-size pieces
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/4 cup finely minced lemongrass, about 2 long stalks using the white and pale green sections
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced

Noodles:
1 16 oz. package rice vermicelli (look for the word “Bun” on the package)

Lettuce and herbs:
8-10 leaves romaine lettuce, sliced thin
1 cup fresh mint leaves, rinsed and dried (Thai basil would also work)
1 1/2 cups cucumbers, julienned
1 cup bean sprout, rinsed and dried

Scallion oil:
3 scallions, thinly sliced
a couple pinches of salt
4 tablespoons neutral oil, like canola or sunflower

Nuoc cham:
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
one Thai bird chili, minced or sliced if you don’t want too much spiciness
5 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1 cup water
1/2 cup fish sauce

1/4 cup fried shallots

Beef: Lemongrass is very fibrous and must be minced finely, as in the picture. Combine sliced meat, minced garlic, lemongrass, and 2 teaspoons fish sauce in a large container or bowl.  Mix well and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes but no more than 1 hour.  When everything else has been completed and the bowls of noodles and veggies are assembled, then the meat is ready to be cooked.  First, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy pan or wok (I prefer regular to nonstick), add onions and saute for about 1 minute until they are nearly translucent.  Remove onions from pan and add 1 tablespoon oil.  Allow oil to heat, then add marinated meat and oyster sauce.  Saute for about 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently to ensure that beef cooks evenly.  Add onions back into the pan and combine with meat.

Noodles: Make the noodles while the beef marinates.  I am including pictures of the package, though the brand is not important. You want to get the variety that comes in a block-shaped package but has several (usually 8) “pieces” inside. Having pieces allows you to control how many servings you want to make at a time; I usually estimate about 3 pieces for 2 large portions. Thin rice vermicelli is very easy to overcook, especially if you follow the instruction on the packaging.  As with kung fu movies, the translation on noodle packages is far from accurate so don’t even bother following them. Place 3 quarts of water in a pot (enough to completely cover the noodles, use less if you are making less noodles) and bring to a vigorous boil.   Add dried noodles and make sure they are entirely submerged.  Bring pot back to a boil and then immediately remove from heat and cover pot.  After five minutes, drain noodles and rinse thoroughly under cold water, shaking them to remove excess liquid.  Noodles should be room temperature, though not cold, for serving.

Lettuce and herbs: Combine lettuce, mint, cucumber, and bean sprouts in a medium bowl.  Divide into individual bowls.  Leftovers can be refrigerated for a couple of days.

Scallion oil: I absolutely love this stuff.  Easy to make and keeps for a week in the fridge. Make more if you want to keep some around for use on sandwiches, pasta, scrambled eggs, etc. Heat oil in a small pan until very hot.  You can test the oil by dropping in a slice of scallion, if there is sizzling, then you’re good to go. Place scallions in a ramekin or other heat-resistant dish, add a pinch or two of kosher salt and pour hot oil over.  Allow mixture to sit for at least 5 minutes for the flavors to mesh.

Nuoc cham: Every Vietnamese family has a jar of this sauce in their home and every one makes it a little bit different.  Some like it bit sweeter, spicier, saltier or more tart.  Use this recipe as a base and tweak to suit your own taste.  To avoid too much spiciness, slice the pepper into 2-3 chunks instead of mincing. Combine minced garlic, chili peppers, lime juice, sugar, water and fish sauce in a small bowl.  Stir to make sure sugar dissolves completely. Keeps in fridge for 10 days.

Fried shallots: I buy these ready-made at a Chinese supermarket but you can make your own by thinly slicing shallots and then frying them in oil until crisp. They are also excellent on bagels with cream cheese!

Assembly: Place a small handful of lettuce/cuke/herbs in a bowl, then place roughly 1 to 1 1 1/2 cups noodles on top.  Add about 1/2 cup meat atop noodles, garnish with scallion oil, fried shallots, crushed peanuts and a couple spoonfuls of nuoc cham. Makes 4-6 servings.

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Karma can be a b-tch

Posted on March 4, 2012 by The soup lady

My mom still periodically brings up her memories of me as a picky eater–the skinny, tiny Vietnamese girl who wouldn’t eat much meat or poultry. She remembers being overwhelmed with concern for my health–though I must point out that it really doesn’t take much for my mom to be overwhelmed with concern for her children’s health. Case in point: she nearly flew cross country when I had a case of shingles during college. Another case in point: she nearly flew across the Pacific Ocean when my brother fell from a bike and knocked out two teeth. But I digress. Throughout the years, she has spoken about the parental burden of raising a picky eater, and of course, I usually responded rather dismissively. Now, I finally get it.

It is no secret that Soup-er Boy is not the world’s best eater. For the first two years of his life he wouldn’t touch any starch–no bread, no pasta, no rice. He also didn’t care much for meat, fish or poultry. Heck the boy wouldn’t even eat cake, cookies or ice cream! He subsisted on a diet of mostly fruits and vegetables. As he got older, he learned to like the usual kid favorites–pizza, pasta, fish sticks, chicken nuggets. And to my utter delight, he actually likes bulgogi, dumplings and miso soup. Slowly, very slowly and with increasing threats of no dessert, his repertoire is expanding. And yet, he doesn’t eat very much and is ridiculously particular about food: pasta must be served plain with some olive oil and a generous sprinkling of grated parmesan (shaky) cheese; fish should only be rectangular and deep fried; and potatoes can only be french fries, etc. ACK! How could I have raised this boy? Oh, I guess he must’ve been raised by the skinny Vietnamese girl who wouldn’t eat. Right. God help me.

And so with a great deal of irony and some small amount of sheepishness, I find myself repeatedly reminding my young son that one day, he will be living away from home and missing that awesome soup that his mother used to make and he refused to eat. And one day further along, he will have a child of his own who will refuse to eat that Vietnamese stuff that he loves so much. Ahh, karma, you just keep on going!

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Canh: the wonder soup

Posted on March 1, 2012 by The soup lady

Nearly every Vietnamese meal is accompanied by a steaming bowl of canh–a clear-broth soup often made with a protein and some vegetables.  Vietnamese aunties and grandmas will urge you to have some canh to rebalance your chi, chase away colds, prevent blemishes, cure laryngitis, increase fertility, and a host of other maladies, real and imagined.  But what I always liked best about canh was its ability to round off a meal and cleanse the palate.

Unlike Vietnamese noodle soups, which are meals in a bowl, canh is served as part of a multi-course family style meal.  It can be made with pork, fish or even tofu but almost always includes some kind of vegetable, from leafy mustard greens or fuzzy squash and bitter melon.  One particularly well-known version is canh chua, which hails from the South and usually features catfish, tomatoes, pineapple, okra, bean sprouts, tamarind paste and a variety of herbs.  Another popular canh features cylinders of bitter melon stuffed with ground pork and shrimp.

For an easy, no fuss canh, I like to use pork spare ribs, mustard greens, and king oyster mushrooms.  Other easy and equally excellent combinations are pork/tofu/mushrooms, fish/tomatoes/ong choy, pork/fuzzy squash, pork/butternut squash.  And in addition to pork ribs, ground pork or shrimp (mixed with chopped scallions, salt and pepper) and fish heads also make very tasty canh broth.  So look in the fridge and see what fabulous combinations you can come up with!

3/4 lbs. pork spare ribs, preferably cut into 1-2 inch chunks
3 cups water (more if needed to cover the ribs completely)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 cups mustard greens, cut into 1.5 inch sections
2 cups king oyster mushroom, cut into 1 inch cubes
a few stems of cilantro, chopped
one scallion, thinly sliced
dash of black pepper

Bring a small pot of water to a boil (enough to cover the pork ribs), add ribs and boil rigorously for a couple of minutes to remove any impurities.  Drain, rinse ribs place into a pot with 3 cups clean water, salt and fish sauce and simmer (do not boil) for 1 hour, skimming any impurities as needed.  Add more water periodically if needed to keep ribs submerged.

While soup simmers, prep mushrooms, mustard greens and herbs. Add mushrooms 15 minutes before serving and mustard greens 3 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with herbs and a dash of black pepper.  Serves four as part of a multi-course meal.

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A dash, a pinch, a squirt

Posted on February 25, 2012 by The soup lady

Before we get to the cooking, I need to warn everyone about my utter inability to measure while I cook.  I don’t mean that I don’t know how to use a measuring cup or spoon.  I am perfectly capable of following recipes–packing brown sugar into measuring cups, leveling off a teaspoon of baking soda–but when I cook Vietnamese food, even when I am consulting a recipe, there are no measuring cups or spoons.  I sprinkle/dash/squirt, taste, repeat, repeat, repeat.  In this way, I’ve discovered that Vietnamese food is incredibly forgiving, allowing flavors to meld and rebalance during cooking and even at the table with an assortment of sauces, aromatic herbs and pickles.

I did not set out to cook like this.  In fact, during my early 20’s when I first tried to make the food of my childhood, I consulted numerous cookbooks and adhered to every measurement.  But things didn’t taste right.  And so I learned to improvise, to tinker with the recipes and to trust my taste buds.  Nowadays, I almost always use more fish sauce and less salt than most recipes, and often, I consult recipes just for the list of ingredients and ignore the quantities entirely.

All this means that I am very bad at writing recipes.  With that in mind, recipes that I post here should not be taken too literally.  If you have 3.4 lbs of oxtail when the recipe only calls for 3 lbs., don’t fret just throw it all in!  And if you like fish sauce as much as I do, then by all means add more!  But just keep in mind that I can take the heat better than most, so when I say that something is spicy, be forewarned.

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Soup-er Mom!

Posted on February 11, 2012 by The soup lady

Yes, yet another food blog.  I have resisted the idea of a food blog for years, thinking that it just wasn’t my style to share personal thoughts in such a public sphere.  But here I am.  So, be gentle as I find my blogging voice.

Who is Soup-er Mom? And why am I doing this? Well, I am a stay-at-home mother of two, a six year old boy and a one year old girl.  And I like to eat and cook.  I did not always like to eat or cook.  My mother has many stories of me as a picky eater—she even appealed to my elementary school teacher to “make me eat more.” I don’t remember being super picky but do remember liking to eat odd things: bitter melon, chicken hearts, blood cubes, tripe, dried squid, jellyfish, fish eyeballs, and hot, hot peppers.  I also remember being incredible resentful of having to help out in the kitchen while the boys got to play outside.  But like many immigrant children, I really didn’t appreciate food from the motherland until much later.  Thankfully, it’s never too late to cook what you love and to share it with family and friends.

And so this blog will be a place for me to share my Vietnamese concoctions with those of you who cannot make it to our table.  I’ll do my best to explain ingredients and cooking techniques, and provide useful pictures.

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