Archive for the 'Recipe' Category

Bắp Xào Tôm Bơ – Vietnamese Sauteed Corn with Dried Shrimp, Scallions, and Butter

Published by Gastronomer on May 21, 2012 in Bap, Recipe, Side Dish, Vietnamese and Vietnamese. 7 Comments

When the sun sets in Saigon, the street food vendors specializing in lunchtime rice plates and noodle bowls make way for evening offerings like roasted quail, grilled cuttlefish, and my personal favorite, sauteed corn. It’s impossible to resist the funky, savory, and buttery allure of bắp xào tôm bơ, especially when its enticing aroma cuts through the thick cloud of motorbike exhaust. Only in Saigon does pollution and temptation coexist so harmoniously.

As much as I adored this street side staple, I hadn’t thought much of it recently until I saw corn on sale while grocery shopping this past weekend. I picked up six ears for just over a buck and got to thinking about how to best prepare my loot. With dried shrimp, scallions, and butter ready to go in my pantry, I was all set to recreate my beloved Vietnamese sauteed corn at home.

While the red pepper flakes, fish sauce, and scallions each play an essential part in flavoring the buttery kernels, it’s the minced dried shrimp that take this dish to the next level. These pungent and salty little morsels punctuate each bite, transforming the corn from a very nice side dish to one that is intriguing and completely addicting.

Bắp xào tôm bơ is traditionally garnished with a florescent squiggle of red chili sauce, but I generally prefer mine without in order to fully take in each caramelized and blistered bite. Now that this dish has come back into my life, it’s definitely going to be a summertime mainstay. Hello, corn season!

6 cobs of fresh corn
2 tablespoons butter
4 scallion stalks, trimmed
2 tablespoons dried shrimp
2/3 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/3 teaspoon monosodium glutamate (optional)

Remove the corn kernels from the cobs using a very sharp paring knife and set aside.

Chop the scallions, white and green parts, and mince the dried shrimp. Set aside.

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Vietnamese Coffee Crack Pie

Published by Gastronomer on May 16, 2012 in Dessert, Pie + Tart and Recipe. 6 Comments

I refused to try Momofuku Milk Bar‘s famous Crack Pie for the longest time because I absolutely loath the trend of likening delicious foods to drug addiction. Illegal substances are serious. Dessert is not.

I guess you could say I cracked a few years ago when Renee Lynch of the Los Angeles Times prepared two stunning specimens for the Eat My Blog bake sale. Since the proceeds from the pies benefited the L.A. Regional Foodbank, I let go of my irrational stance and finally indulged in Chef Christina Tosi‘s Momo-fied take on southern Chess Pie. I’ll do anything for a good cause, wink wink.

This Vietnamese-twist on Crack Pie is still as ooey gooey, buttery, and sugary as the original, but slightly more complex due to a shot of dark and bitter espresso. There’s also a generous pour of sweetened condensed milk in the filling that really makes the entire package taste like a tall glass of cà phê sữa đá.

This recipe, which is a combination of crust by the Los Angeles Times and filling by Javaholic, makes two whole Crack Pies. While this might seem like too much of a good thing, you really can’t go wrong. Everyone loves Crack Pie.

Cookie for crust

2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (3 ounces) flour
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) sugar
1 egg

For crust

Crumbled cookie for crust
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 1/2 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
Scant 1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) rolled oats

For filling

14 tablespoons light brown sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons milk powder
1 cup (2 stick) melted butter
1/2 cup espresso or strongly brewed coffee
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
8 large egg yolks, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla

Make cookie crust

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy. Whisk the egg into the butter mixture until fully incorporated. With the mixer running, beat in the flour mixture, a little at a time, until fully combined. Stir in the oats until incorporated.

Spread the mixture onto a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking sheet and bake until golden brown and set, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to the touch on a rack. Crumble the cooled cookie to use in the crust. This makes enough for two crusts.

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Water Grill – Los Angeles (Downtown)

Published by Gastronomer on May 14, 2012 in Downtown, Los Angeles, Restaurant Review and Seafood. 2 Comments

I never had any desire to dine at downtown’s Water Grill until recently, when the restaurant underwent a massive renovation and thoughtful rebranding. Fine dining can be a lovely sport, but here in Los Angeles I tend to gravitate toward inexpensive ethnic food, with a sprinkling of trendy hot spots, rather than white table clothed rooms.

After several months of closure and 1.5 million dollars in investments, the former bastion of fine dining has been transformed into a lively urban seafood shack, complete with an open kitchen and a gorgeous marble bar. The prices are still quite hefty, but the vibe is definitely more upbeat and the menu more approachable.

Curious to check out the new Water Grill, I grabbed my friend and fellow downtown worker bee Darin for a post-work bite. We snagged two seats at the bar with stellar views of oysters being shucked and seafood towers being built. The restaurant was roaring on a Tuesday night.

Our waiter brought over warm bread with butter as we glanced over the menus. Both the coarse salt-topped sourdough and the caramelized onion and cheese rolls were terrific. The butter, though gratuitous, was welcomed with each bite.

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Ruth Reichl’s Old Fashioned Lemon Pudding Cake

Published by Gastronomer on May 11, 2012 in Dessert, Pudding + Custard and Recipe. 8 Comments

When Ruth Reichl tells you to bake a Lemon Pudding Cake, the only proper response is, “I’ll preheat the oven!”

Even though I had never before tasted an old fashioned pudding cake, I immediately bookmarked this recipe when it was featured on her blog back in March. Ms. Reichl has a lovely way with words, and the way she described this classic dessert as “part cake, part souffle, a little bit pudding” sounded absolutely irresistible to me.

With only six ingredients on the docket and little prep required, this Lemon Pudding Cake comes together in a relative snap. The only really daunting part is waiting the full 45 minutes for it to bake up nice and golden. I made the cake as the grand finale to our recent anniversary dinner, and The Astronomer and I could not have been more satisfied with the results.

The whipped egg whites created a souffle-like effect, while the egg yolks anchored everything in a tangy pool of lemon curd. In between the two strata was an ever-so-light layer of cake. We dug in with two spoons just as soon as it came out of the oven. It may have singed our tongues and the roofs of our mouths a little, but man, it was worth it. Pudding cake is overdue for a comeback.

3 lemons
3 large eggs
1 1/3 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar, divided
Salt
1/4 cup cake or all purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350.

Grate the zest from 3 lemons, then squeeze the juice. You should have about 1/2 cup.

Separate 3 large eggs. Add the lemon juice and zest to the yolks, then whisk in 1 1/3 cup of milk. Slowly add 1/2 cup of sugar, a dash of salt, and 1/4 cup of flour.

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Hủ Tiếu Mì – Vietnamese Pork Noodle Soup

Published by Gastronomer on May 7, 2012 in Family Recipe, Hu Tieu Dai, Hu Tieu My Tho, Hu Tieu Nam Vang, Mi / Hu Tieu Bo Vien, Recipe, Vietnamese and Vietnamese. 11 Comments

One of my culinary goals this year was to stop being such a wuss about preparing Vietnamese noodle soups at home. Four months and some change into 2012, I’m stoked to have mastered Bò Kho (Vietnamese beef stew), Bún Riêu Cua (Vietnamese crab and tomato soup), and most recently, Hủ Tiếu Mì (Vietnamese Pork Noodle Soup).

This most recent accomplishment coincided with my eldest cousin moving into town. Hủ Tiếu Mì is his absolute favorite noodle soup, and he requested that I make a huge vat of it just as soon as he arrived. He also asked for wontons to go with it, but that will be for another time. I need to concentrate on and conquer one dish at a time.

To learn the ins and outs of this Chinese-influenced noodle soup, I sought assistance from my aunt Thao. Something that she mentioned more than once was the importance of having a clear soup. To achieve this, the pork bones used to make the broth needs to boiled and cleaned, and one has to be diligent about skimming off any fat or foam that rises to the surface. Clear broth. Full bellies. Can’t lose.

This recipe makes about a dozen bowls worth, which is just about perfect in my mind. My cousin came over twice for dinner along with his fiancee and took leftovers for breakfast the following morning. Making a tremendous amount of food and having family over to enjoy it made me feel like I was continuing our family’s great tradition of nourishing and over-stuffing. This is what Vietnamese food is all about.

For broth

6 pounds pork bones (neck or spine—Grandma says that spine is tastiest)
1 daikon, peeled, trimmed, and cut in half or thirds
1 cup dried shrimp or 2 dried cuttlefish
7 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon monosodium glutamate (optional)

For toppings and garnish

1.5 pounds ground pork
1.5 pounds pork shoulder/butt
2 bunch scallions, chopped
Salt
Pepper

For noodles

2 pounds thin or wide egg noodles (mì) or wide rice noodles (hủ tiếu), prepared according to directions on package

Make broth

Place the pork bones in a large stockpot. Fill the stockpot with enough water to cover the surface of the bones and bring to a boil. The pork bones will have some impurities that need to be washed away, so once the water comes to a boil, discard it and collect the bones in a colander.