MISO HUNGRY!

A moment of zen.  

I'm in love with the Banh Xeo. I'm in love with the Banh Xeo. Nuoc mam, I got Nuoc mam! (Banh Xeo)

Remember that scene in A Christmas Story where they're eating dinner, and Ralphie states that his mom hasn't had a hot meal for herself in 15 years? Every time she sits down someone asks for seconds and by the time she gets to eat, her foods gone cold. Yeah probably not because it seems like I'm the only one that liked that movie.  You should all take some time out of your busy schedules and bring some Christmas joy into your life.

Anyways, it's kind of like that when my mom makes Banh Xeo.  Because they're best eaten as soon as they're taken off the stove, someone has to constantly make them and people eat in turns. Granted, my mom is pretty damn good at it and has 3-4 pans going at a time, but with 8 hungry men (myself, my dad, my brother, and sometimes my uncle and cousins,) as soon as one comes off the stove, it's devoured in minutes and we're waiting for more.  And so, mom doesn't get to eat until everyone else is done.

I should call my mom.

Anyways, Banh Xeo, it's a Vietnamese crepe that kinda looks like an omelette, but there's no egg involved. The yellow color comes from turmeric (guaranteed to stain your clothes so be careful.)   It's served with a ton of vegetables and herbs and nuoc cham.  The name is an onomatopoeia, xeo being the sizzling sound this dish makes when cooking.

Hope you give it a try!

Banh Xeo - Makes about 20 (2-3 per person)

Batter:
400g Rice Flour
2 tsp tumeric
1 tsp salt
500ml water
2 bottles of beer
3 green onion stalks (diced)

Filling:
1 lb pork shoulder or belly thinly sliced
60 shrimp (3 per banh xeo)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2lb bean sprouts
vegetable oil

Accompaniments:
Lettuce or Mustard Greens
Vietnamese mint, basil, coriander (basically any and all Vietnamese herbs)
Nuoc cham

1. Open one bottle of beer, down it.

2. Combine batter ingredients and 250ml of the remaining bottle of beer (drink the rest) and whisk until smooth. Let sit for at least 30 minutes to allow the rice flour to fully soak up the liquid.

3.  Marinade the pork slices in the salt, sugar and pepper for 30 minutes to an hour.

4.  In a non stick skillet over med-high heat, cook 4-5 slices of pork and 3 shrimp for 2 minutes in 1 tsp of vegetable oil.  Then ladle in the batter and rotate the pan to form a thin even layer of batter.

5. Cover pan and cook for 3 minutes. Add a handful of bean sprouts and cover for an additional minute.

6. Remove cover and let crisp up for another 30 seconds, being careful not to let the batter burn.  Fold in half and serve immediately!

Dat Thang, Dat Thang Bun Thaannnngg (Bun Thang)

Apparently Bun Thang is the hardest thing in the world for my non Vietnamese friends. It's not thang, it's thang.  Why is it so hard?!

Anyways, this is a dish that I never liked much when I was a kid, but grew to like it as an adult. It's not as strong as pho, and I always thought it was bland.  However, recently I ordered it at a pho restaurant when I wasn't in the mood for pho and it was a pleasant surprise. It's light, and the different tastes and textures from the toppings really make for an interesting bite.  

Bun Thang is topped with poached chicken, giò (vietnamese sausage/ham), scrambled eggs and sometimes mushrooms, all thinly sliced. As with most Vietnamese dishes, it's served with fresh herbs, in this case - rau ram.  I made this version using some wild foraged mushrooms that my friends picked up for me.  I used a mix of black trumpets, hedgehogs, oysters and chanterelles.  If you can't find these, you can use shitake mushrooms instead.

Anyways, it's really tasty and I hope you give it a try!

Bun Thang

Serves 6-8 

1 4-5lb chicken

4 liters of water

3 tbsp of dried shrimp

4 slices of ginger

1 stalk of green onion

1 yellow onion

1 tbsp salt

4 tbsp + 1 tsp fish sauce

1 cup of mushrooms

1 package of bun (rice vermicelli noodles) - cooked per package instructions

Toppings:

1 roll of giò (Vietnamese Sausage)

4 eggs

Rau Ram

Pickled Daikon (optional)

1. Stuff the internal cavity of the chicken with the green onion and 2 ginger slices.

2. Soak the dried shrimp in hot water for 15 minutes.

3. Fill a pot with 4 liters of water, add the chicken, the shrimp, onion, the other 2 ginger slices, salt, and mushrooms.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.  Add the fish sauce 1 tbsp at a time to taste.

4. Remove the chicken and fish out the mushrooms from the broth. Let the chicken cool and peel the meat off in strips.

5. Beat together the eggs with a tsp of fish sauce.

6. This next step is a little tricky but if you can pull it off, it'll be well worth it.  Pour eggs into a hot non stick pan and swirl to coat, then immediately pour the eggs back into the bowl

7. The egg should cook enough within 10 seconds. At which point you can peel off the egg in a single thin layer.  Repeat this process with the rest of the egg.

8.  Thinly slice the egg and giò.  

9.  To assemble the bowls, start with the bun, top with the chicken, egg, giò, mushrooms, rau ram and pickled daikon.  Ladle the broth in and enjoy!

SUPER SPECIAL FUN TIME BONUS SECTION!!!

My friends went foraging for mushrooms out in the wilderness of California and brought these back for me.  

Black Trumpet Mushroom: This has a similar taste and texture to the wood ear mushrooms that are found in a lot of Vietnamese dishes

Hedgehog mushrooms: I like the texture of this one a lot, firm and holds up well to cooking. Flavor is mild.

Oyster mushrooms: Very large, kinda mushy texture, similar to shitakes that have been overly soaked.  Taste is pretty mild too.

Chanterlles (large and small): These babies are awesome. Super intense mushroom flavor and firm texture.  

When I dip, you dip, we dip. (tsuke-pho)

It's the most wonderful time of the year, when the office is closed and you're working from home. What better way to spend the time in between emails than to make a big pot of pho?

Lately I've been really into tsukemen, or dipping ramen, ordering it every time Amy and I go out for ramen.  It's a relatively new style of ramen, created by Taishoken in 1954.  I first learned of this dish when I saw it on the first episode of Mind of a Chef. In the episode, Chef David Chang (of Momofuku fame) travels to Japan to eat ramen, specifically tsukemen.  Tsukemen is different from regular ramen in that instead of the noodles sitting in the broth, you actually have the broth on the side and you dip the ramen noodles into the broth.  The broth is intensified and has a much stronger flavor, almost sauce like, in comparison to the lighter ramen broths of normal bowls, and the noodles are usually thicker than normal.  It's a really fun and delicious way to eat ramen, and for those that aren't super into drinking down the broth, preferring the toppings or the noodles to shine, this is perfect.

I figured that pho is to Vietnam what ramen is to Japan, so this style should translate well.  The majority of the steps are exactly the same as making pho (and you can find that recipe here), but there are a few key differences.  

So here it is, my Tsuke-pho, I really hope you try it out!

Tsukepho - makes 6-8 servings
For the Broth:
6lbs of beef shin bones
2 lbs of short ribs
2 medium sized yellow onions
1 4 inch piece of ginger
5 star anise
6 cloves
3 inch piece of cinnamon
1 oz chunk of rock sugar (about 1 square inch)
4 tbsp fish sauce
1.5 tbsp salt

For the Bowls:
2 one pound packages of pho noodles, dry or fresh (enough for 6-8 bowls)
1 lb of thinly sliced rib-eye
Limes
Bean Sprouts (can be served slightly steamed or raw)
Thai Basil
Saw tooth herb
Cilantro - diced
Green onion - diced
Sriracha
Hoisin Sauce

1. In a large pot, add the beef bones and enough water to cover, and bring to a boil.  Cook for 3-4 minutes.  Drain the water and scrub the bones under running water to remove all the gunk.  If you're using the same pot, make sure to clean it before putting the bones back in.

2. While the water is coming to a boil, char the onions and ginger over an open flame.  If you're in an apartment with electric stoves, use a portable camping stove.  For maximum smokey-ness, try charring the onions and ginger over a charcoal fire.  Once you get a nice char, rinse off any flakey or black bits from the onions and ginger.  Charring the onion and ginger adds a subtle sweetness and smokey note to the broth, and definitely should not be skipped.

3.In a dry pan, toast the star anise, cinnamon and cloves to release the flavorful oils trapped within.

4. Add 6 quarts of cold clean water to the pot, along with the onions, ginger, spices.  You would normally also add salt, rock sugar and fish sauce at this step, but because we'll be reducing the broth much further than we would with normal pho, save the seasoning until the end, otherwise it'll be too hard to predict the end flavor.

5. Sear your short ribs to develop a nice crust, add this to the pot.

6. Bring the whole thing to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low and simmer for 5 hours. Skim off any gunk that floats to the top, and any of the fat if you'd like.

7.  Now comes the fun part, remove all the bones and meat from the broth and strain.  You should be left with a clear pho broth.  At this point, you can choose to just season it and eat it as normal pho, but normal is boring.  Take your beef bones, and carefully remove the marrow from the bones (these should be super tender and almost falling apart.) Add this marrow and both of the now mushy onions back to the broth.  Using a stick blender, blitz the onions and marrow until no more large chunks are visible, this will help make the broth super rich and thick.  Turn the heat up to high and reduce the broth down by 1/2.  You should be left with about 2 quarts at the end.

8.  Add the rock sugar, salt and fish sauce, and adjust to taste. It should taste extremely strong.  Since the noodles are unseasoned, we need the broth to bring all the flavor here.

9. Cook your noodles al dente, slice up the meat and serve!  To eat, dip your noodles into the broth and slurp it up.