Vietnamese Egg Roll, or Chả giò is a popular appetizer. The basic Vietnamese egg rolls consists of marinated ground pork, onions, woodear mushroom and thin cellophane noodles. The roll is then wrapped in rice paper and deep-fried until golden brown and crispy, and served alongside a sweet and spicy dipping sauce. This particular recipe is more vegetable-based with lots of carrots and cabbage.
Read MoreHere I replicated my traditional Vietnamese pork spare ribs recipe using ground pork for a quick and easy recipe. The ground pork is seasoned with fish sauce, sugar, black pepper and bouillon stock powder, then sauteed with lots of garlic and onions over a hot skillet until caramelized. Serve the ground pork over a bowl of steamed rice with sliced vegetables such as cucumbers and tomatoes. What you end up is a delicious meal-in-a-bowl.
Read MoreNem Nuong Cuon or Nem Nuong Nha Trang is a spring roll appetizer that appears in many Vietnamese restaurants. These spring rolls are made with rice paper and filled with Vietnamese grilled / baked pork sausage, lettuce, assorted herbs, a crunchy component made from either fried rice paper wrapper or egg roll wrapper and comes with its signature orange dipping sauce on the side.
Read MoreWhen my kids were toddlers, they were very picky eaters. Meat was the one thing they struggled the most with. This simple pan-fried Vietnamese pork patties helped solve that. No bones. No toughness. Just nothing but tender meat with great Asian flavors.
Read MoreVietnamese Pyramid Dumpling (Banh Gio) is a common breakfast in Northern Vietnam. Banh Gio directly translates to “pork cake” which unfortunately doesn’t sound too appetizing but don’t let the name fool you. It is a tasty banana-leaf-wrapped pyramid-shaped rice dumpling filled with ground pork, onions, minced woodear mushroom and quail eggs.
Read MoreThe Holidays are around the corner and that means one thing. Gaining weight with lots of good food.
One of my favorite dishes to make during the Holidays is Vietnamese shrimp and pork egg rolls (Cha Gio Tom Thit). It’s a combination of traditional Vietnamese egg rolls (Cha Gio) and whole shrimp. Carry a basket of these bad boys to a dinner party and you’ll be the life of the party… or at least until the egg rolls runs out.
Read MoreWhen I feel like torturing the neighbors, I take out the grill and cook up Nem Nướng, Vietnamese grilled pork sausage. I waft the aroma of this tasty Vietnamese sausage into their yard. That is what you get for taking my parking!
Read MoreMắm Chưng, in short, is the Vietnamese meatloaf. It is a steamed or baked Vietnamese dish made of ground pork, chicken and/or crab, mixed with wood ear mushrooms, thin vermicelli noodles, eggs and the mighty Vietnamese ingredient, fermented fish. It is a salty dish to be eaten with steamed white rice and fresh slices of cucumber.
Read MoreXiao Long Bao, also known XLB for short or Little Dragon Buns for a literal translation, are steamed dumplings made of ground pork and pork broth. The common question with XLB is how they get the broth inside the dumpling. The answer fascinated me and many others. Click to learn more!
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