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Vietnamese Cooking

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Vietnamese Cuisine is Fresh and Healthy Cuisine

What do I know about Vietnamese food and cooking? Well, I'm half Vietnamese. The other half is Irish. It makes for some very interesting family re-unions. That's another story. My mother had a great influence on me as far as how to cook and what to cook. I grew up eating rice daily along with some wonderful delicacies that I totally took for granted. This page is going to cover some staple items you need in your Vietnamese kitchen and one of my favorite all-time food, the Beef Noodle Soup known as Pho.

Stumble It!

Your Vietnamese Pantry

These are items commonly used in Vietnamese Cooking.
  1. Fish Sauce - I know, I know. Ew, right? Well I grew up with this so to me it smells and tastes wonderful. But if the thought of fermented fish is too disturbing for you, you can substitute soy sauce.
  2. Soy Sauce - Use this as a substitute for Fish Sauce if you are a little leery.
  3. Five Spice Powder - This great combination of spices can be used in soups and stir-frys. It has a unique flavor used in many types of Asian Cooking. It contains fennel, anise, ginger, licorice root, cinnamon & cloves.
  4. Star Anise - This is a licorice-like plant. The seed pods resemble stars. It's a strong flavor and very aromatic and almost sweet tasting. Here's what Wikipedia says about Anise.
  5. Powdered Ginger - Made from the Ginger Root. Don't overdo it. Ginger can be very strong. Many Asian dishes use Ginger.
  6. Chile Sauces - So many different hot sauces out there, so little time. But in Vietnamese cooking the favorites are Sriracha and Chili Paste.
  7. Rice and Rice Noodles - Rice is a staple in Asia. Vietnam is the largest rice exporter after Thailand. Rice is a native plant of Southeast Asia.
  8. Hoisin Sauce - This is used in many types of dipping sauces, stir fry sauces and marinades. It's slightly sweet and made from soybeans.
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Fresh Ingredients

These items are commonly used and can be found in most produce sections of the supermarket or in any Asian market.
  1. Limes - Used in soups and sauces. Quartered and squeezed into a bowl of Pho Soup or in a Fish Sauce based dipping sauce called Nuoc Mam.
  2. Asian or Thai Basil - A bit more strong than the sweet basil used in Italian cooking. But if you can't find Thai Basil, you can use the Sweet Basil. Here's the Wikipedia definition of Thai Basil.
  3. Bean Sprouts - This is the sprout of the Mung Bean plant. It's very mild in flavor, crisp and cool. Can be used raw or in stir frys.
  4. Garlic - Everyone knows what garlic is. Garlic is often used fresh in dipping sauces and in stir frys. We love our garlic!
  5. Ginger Root - This root of the ginger plant is also used often in stir frys and sauces. When fresh isn't available, you can used powdered versions.
  6. Cilantro - Also known as Corriander. It's one of those types of flavors you either love or hate. It's used fresh as garnish and flavor in soups such as Pho. You can skip it if you don't like it.
  7. Lemon Grass - It's a grass, it's an herb, it's I don't know what! But it sure has a unique fresh and citrus-like flavor. This one may not be easy to find in your local grocery store, but look for it anyway!

Fresh Lemongrass

If you can't find it in your grocery store, you might be surprised what you can find on Amazon. Here's fresh Lemon Grass you can order online. If you really like it, try growing Lemon Grass in your garden.
6 Fresh Lemon Grass

6 Fresh Lemon Grass

Amazon Price: (as of 02/15/2012)Buy Now

My Favorite Soup!

Beef Noodle Soup - a.k.a. Pho

This is my absolute favorite dish. I could eat this everyday. It's my comfort food when I feel sick, sad or lonely. It reminds me of home and of my mother. The aromas and warmth of the soup is my security blanket. The soup can be made with chicken as well. If you use chicken, cook it in the soup (using chicken broth instead of beef), don't use raw chicken.

Here's what you need to make this soup:

Lean beef such as strip steak or even a tenderloin sliced into very thin strips (uncooked).

Rice Noodles (rice stick)

Beef Broth - you can boil oxtails and beef bones and the trimmings off your beef and add maybe a little powdered beef boullion. Otherwise, cheat and buy some beef broth. Throw in about 4 whole star anise, a very small pinch of Chinese Five Spice and a few slices of fresh ginger. You can make this broth as strong or weak as you like.

Condiments and Garnish:

Hoisin Sauce
Srirachi or Chili Paste
Bean Sprouts
Fresh Lime cut into quarters
Cilantro
Thai Basil
Yellow or Sweet onion cut into thin slices
Chopped Green onion

Make your Beef Broth for the base of this soup. Leave it simmering in the pan.

Make the Rice Stick Noodles according to package directions. Place the cooked noodles into a deep soup bowl.

Take the raw beef slices and spread them out evenly over the noodles. Then pour the HOT beef broth over the beef slices, cooking them in the process. The beef will be pink in the center.

Add the Hoisin sauce, hot chili sauces and squeeze in some fresh lime juice to your liking and then the remaining fresh ingredients to top it all off!
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Vietnamese Cooking - Cookbooks

Give Vietnamese cooking a try and I'm sure you will love it. Here are some cookbooks I recommend to get you started. Cookbooks also make a great gift for someone who loves to cook and would like to try something different.
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Gift Idea!

Get a basket and put some dried spices and sauces in it such as Star Anise, Chinese Five Spice, Hoisin Sauce, Fish Sauce and rice noodles. Add a cookbook to that basket and wrap it up in cellophane and tied off with a bow.

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