What did I make in the summer?

Crawfish

 Spaghetti

Oysters

3 hours braised pork belly (in other words Thit kho)

Mash potato puff (yam, potato,  mozzarella, polished dog, salt, pepper and milk)

Fried squid

Mixed potato and radish

Chinese celery with beef (rau can)

Vietnamese Loofah (muop xao)

How to clean geoduck/horse clam

 

Horse clam

 

Geoduck

For the horn, I thinly sliced it to eat it as sashimi.  For the body,  you can make porridge or any soup you desire.

 The horn

Giant Surf Clams

Check out my sister's blog for recipes at http://ickybinky.blogspot.com/

Thai Papaya salad

Once again, I have to give my sister credit for introducing me to this dish.  I didn't plan on making this dish until a friend asked me to show her how to make it because she wanted to surprise her boyfriend. This is a wonderfully tasty dish and it's simple to make.  I challenge you to make this for your boy/girlfriend.

My take on Thai Papaya salad

Serves 3 to 4
Ingredients:
-about 2 lbs of freshly shredded papaya (this means buying a whole papaya and shredding it yourself)
-1 *TBS* shrimp paste
-1 *TBS* fish sauce
-1 tsp sugar
-1 hot pepper
-about 20 cherry tomatoes
-1/2 cup dried shrimp
-6 oz of water with about 2-3 oz of tamarind
-2 gloves garlic
-1 lime
-basil for garnish
-add peanuts as desired

What to do with leftovers

It was a beautiful Easter Sunday and kids were hunting for eggs in my in-law's jungle backyard while I was BBQing.  Everyone had a great time enjoying all the great food.  Unfortunately, there were a lot of leftovers.  Normally, I would just microwave the leftovers but this time I decided to spice it up a little by sauteing it with whiskey and butter.  I hope you enjoy the video.

Creme Brulee

The first time I ever had Creme brulee was when I was at my sister's house for dinner.  Her husband took out this torch and started to torch sugar that was sprinkled on the creme brulee.  Boy, that first bite was amazing!  So creamy and rich.  Thanks sister.  It's time to make my own.   Now here is my recipe on how to make creme brulee.

Ingredients:

- 6 large egg yolks

- 1/4 cup and 2 tbs of sugar

- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

- 3 cup heavy cream

- 6 to 8 (5 to 6 oz) ramekins

- don't forget the torch

Instructions:

Preheat oven at 325 degrees.  On medium heat, pour the heavy cream in a saucepan.  Once you see bubbles on the edge, turn off the heat.  In a bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla extract, and sugar.  When you think you've blended all the ingredients, slowly pour little by little the heavy cream while whisking everything.  Then, fill the ramekins with the mixture.  Place the ramekins in a large cake pan then pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Before you put it in the oven, my friend Jimmy recommended that I use the torch to get rid of any bubbles.  Now place it in the oven for 30 minutes.  Remove the ramekins from the pan and refrigerate for at least 4 to 6 hours. Here comes the best part...

 

Tuna crunch roll and Sardine roll

 

Sardine roll

 

Tuna crunch roll

What to eat on a Friday?  No meat.  Somehow I decided to make tuna crunch roll (can tuna) and sardine roll.  Sounds weird right?  Well, it turned out good.  Here is the video that I worked on.  I'm still experiencing how to show people to cook on video.  Please bear with me and I will try to improve my video.  

 

Chinese Mustard green

Nothing fancy today,  I just want to make Chinese Mustard green (Gai Choy).  CMG is another vegetable that I enjoy eating.  All you need is 5 cloves of garlic, salt, sugar, chicken stock from the soup I made and CMG.  It's that simple.  Drizzle some EVOO and garlic on high heat, once the garlic slightly turn brown add in the CMG.  Add salt and sugar and stir it.  Then add in some chicken stock and cover with lid for a minute.  Then stir until done.  Yes! It's that simple.  I served this with rice, caramelized chicken with ginger, and CMG soup with ginger.

 

 

 

Yes! With chicken and CMG, I ended up making 3 dishes.  Having soup, salty dish, and veggie dish is a Vietnamese tradition.  It's about balance.

Pea sprouts

Pea sprout is one of my favorite vegetable.  It's inexpensive and easy to make.  All you need is pea sprouts, 3 cloves of garlic, salt and oyster sauce (mushroom is optional).  Yep, it's that easy.

Tofu soup