Cheese on grilled scallops? Gross, right? However, it was surprisingly delicious! I loved the savory and richness of the cheese on the the scallops. Plus, you have the amazing aroma from the scallion oil (Mo Hanh), light crunch from toasted peanuts and/or fried pork fat (Tep Mo), and the incredible flavor of the holy mother sauce, Vietnamese sweet chili dipping sauce (Nuoc Mam Cham).
Read MoreThis Vietnamese green seafood sauce has one ingredient that you wouldn’t expect: sweetened condensed milk. The taste is surprisingly delicious with so many different flavors: sweet, sour, spicy savory and the newest of them all, rich from the condensed milk. This sauce is perfect for any seafood lover. Simply boil, grill, or steam your seafood and serve this sauce on the side.
Read MoreNothing reminds me more of traditional Vietnamese home cooking than caramelized catfish. Gently braised in fish sauce and coconut juice, this classic sweet and savory side dish is the taste of home.
Read MoreA traditional Vietnamese family meal usually comes with a vegetable soup dish. Not only is it a healthy side dish, but having soup to slurp helps with the digestion of the food in a multi-course meal. One of the simplest traditional Vietnamese soups is mustard green soup or Canh Cai Be Xanh.
Read MoreSườn Xào Chua Ngọt is a Vietnamese sweet and sour pork ribs stir fry. Bite-sized pieces of pork spare ribs are pan-fried, then simmered until tender in a sweet, savory, and sour tomato-based sauce. It’s often stir-fried with vegetables such as bell peppers, mushrooms, and pineapples and eaten with steamed rice for a complete and well-balanced meal.
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 MoreIn Vietnamese cooking, we always clean bones first before making stock. Either rubbing them down with salt and giving them a good rinse with water, or parboiling the bones with salted water, cleaning the bones will get rid of all the impurities to keep the stock clear. In other words, boiling the bones first will remove all the gunk and make the stock pretty. In Vietnamese cooking, a highly prized stock is a clear stock.
Read MoreBun Thang is an elegant chicken noodle soup of Hanoi in Northern Vietnam. It is a noodle soup that is particular in all the toppings being cut the same beautiful thin strands. It consists of rice vermicelli noodles in a chicken and sometimes pork broth, salted dried shrimp floss, and delicate thin strands of shredded chicken, Vietnamese ham (Cha Lua/Gio Lua), scrambled eggs and shiitake mushrooms.
Read MoreIf you've ever been to a Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant, chances are you tried the salt and pepper chicken and fell in love with it. Who wouldn't? It's crunchy fried chicken coated in a seemingly boring yet flavorful salt and pepper mixture.
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