Vietnamese Food

By: Angela, Erin, Mengxin

Classes: 806, 804, 817

»–- Phở --«

Pho is a Vietnamese dish that has gained immense popularity all over the world. It is a hearty, comfort soup made with clear broth, rice noodles, herbs, and a variety of meats and vegetables. The soup is known for its unique flavor profile, which is achieved by simmering beef or chicken bones for several hours along with onions, ginger, and a blend of aromatic spices such as cinnamon, star anise, cloves, and cardamom. Pho has a long history in Vietnam, dating back to the early 20th century when it was first served in Hanoi. The dish quickly became popular among locals and was often sold by street vendors who would set up small stalls to serve hot bowls of Pho to hungry customers. Today, Pho is a staple in Vietnamese cuisine and is enjoyed in restaurants and homes across the country.

Ingredients + Instructions:

Place the beef bones on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until browned and fragrant. In a large stockpot, combine the roasted beef bones, onion, ginger, cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, cardamom pods, and water. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 4-6 hours. Once the broth has simmered, remove the beef bones and strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve. Skim any excess fat from the surface of the broth. Add the fish sauce, sugar, and salt to the broth and stir to combine. Prepare the rice noodles according to the package instructions. Divide the cooked noodles among serving bowls. Arrange the sliced beef on top of the noodles. Ladle the hot broth over the beef and noodles. Serve the Pho with bean sprouts, Thai basil, lime wedges, and sliced chili peppers (if desired) on the side.

⋘ Cơm tấm ⋙

Com tam is a popular traditional Vietnamese food that is often eaten for breakfast or lunch. The dish is typically served with grilled pork chop, shredded pork skin, and a fried egg on top. It is also accompanied by pickled vegetables such as carrots and daikon, and a sweet and salty dipping sauce made with fish sauce, sugar, and lime juice. Cơm tấm is a dish that is often associated with street food culture in Vietnam, and is widely available in small food stalls and markets throughout the country. Despite its humble origins, cơm tấm has become a beloved dish in Vietnam and beyond, and is a testament to the delicious and inventive cuisine that is found throughout the country.

Ingredients + Instructions:

Rinse the broken rice several times until the water is clear, then soak it in cold water for 2-3 hours. Drain the rice and cook it in a rice cooker or on the stove according to the package instructions. In a bowl, mix the fish sauce, soy sauce, minced garlic, and sugar until the sugar has dissolved. This will be the marinade for the pork chops. Marinate the pork chops in the bowl for at least 1 hour, or overnight in the refrigerator. Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat, and grill the pork chops until cooked through, about 4-5 minutes per side. In a small pan, heat the vegetable oil and fry the eggs to your desired level of cooked egg. To assemble the dish, place a scoop of broken rice in a bowl, and add a grilled pork chop, some shredded pork skin, and a fried egg on top. Serve with a side of pickled vegetables and a lime wedge.

-ˋˏ  Gỏi Cuốn/Nem Cuốn  ˎˊ-

In South Vietnam it is called Goi Cuan, while in North Vietnam it is called NemCuon. Goi Cuon is also known as salad roll, summer roll, fresh spring roll, spring roll, rice paper roll. Compared to China’s spring rolls, Vietnamese spring rolls are made with  rice paper. The spring rolls are usually served fresh at room or cool temperatures. This is a popular dish normally served as an appetizer in Vietnamese restaurants. This dish is traditionally made with pork. Prawn, vegetables, and made with any filling of your choice, wrapped in rice paper.  

Ingredients + Instructions

Ingredients you will need is rice paper wrapper, leafy lettuce–red or green, herbs–primarily mint– but optionally chives and cilantro– or whatever you have on hand,  traditionally you use thinly sliced pork (belly preferred) and boiled shrimp but there are many different options now. First you need to cook your pork, add the pork, onion, salt and sugar to a small pot and add enough water to cover about 1 inch above the pork. Bring to a boil on high heat and then lower to medium and cook for about 25-30 minutes or until pork juices run clear when poked at the thickest part, or it registers 145 F with an instant read thermometer at the thickest part. Now, you cook the shrimp by defrosting the shrimp and removing the vein of the shrimp. Then cook the shrimp by adding shrimp, salt, and enough water in a small pot to barely cover your shrimp. Boil on medium-high heat for only about 1.5 to 2.5 minutes or until the shrimp is no longer translucent. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Add warm water to a plate and soak the rice paper sheet for about 5-10 seconds. Soak the rice paper just enough so that it is pliable and easy to handle, but remove the sheet before it gets too soft and sticky. Lay rice paper on a plate and begin to assemble your roll.Add lettuce towards the bottom of the rice paper. Leave 1 to 1½ inches of space on either side of the rice paper. Layer with mint and chives. Try to not add too many items because it will be harder to roll and might tear your rice paper.Add shrimp in the middle of the rice paper with the orange skin facing down.Layer the sliced pork on top of the shrimp.Add the noodles across the vegetables, spread evenly across.Fold the left and right sides towards the middle so that it's snug. Lay some chives lengthwise with one end poking out. Then fold the bottom up to cover the noodles. You want to keep the roll tight, so lightly squeeze it together as you roll. Continue to roll upwards to complete the spring roll.

༻ Bún bò Huế ༺

The Bun bo Hue is a type of vietnamese spicy beef noodle soup. It has balanced spicy and salty and sweet flavors and it has predominant flavor of lemon grass.  Bun bo Hue was originally from a village in Vietnamese called Van Cu village that was close to the ancient Hue city. This city was the center of Vietnam during the Nguyen dynasty. This specific city was well known for producing rice noodles or vermicelli. The Bun bo Hue was created in the 16th century and people say that a very talented young lady who was amazing at cooking invented this dish.

Ingredients + Instructions 

The ingredients that is typically used for this dish is, rice vermicelli or rice noodles for the noodles as for the meet people typically uses beef, oxtail, ham hock, beef shank or pork with vegetables like chili pepper, garlic, onion, scallion ginger ,Thai basil, coriander. Some other side ingredients include lime, salt, oil, fish sauce, and shrimp paste. The typical recipe depending on which type of ingredients you are using is, 2 lb of beef shank or 907.2g and same for oxtail and pork hocks as of pork you use 1lb or 453.6g. For the broth you can use 8 quart of water to cover the meat with 24 oz of chicken broth, 12 stalks of lemongrass with the tops removed and roots smashed 2 yellow onions, 3 tbsp of salt, 2 tbsp of sugar, 2 tbsp of shrimp paste, 3-4 tbsp of fish sauce, 2 tsp of MSG (if not using oxtail use 4 teaspoon ). As for the aromatic and color, use 3 tbsp of annatto seeds, 3 tbsp of natural cooking oil, 2 tbsp of shallot slices, 2 tbsp of garlic minced.The herbs and vegetables that could be used is mint,basil,bean sprouts and chili or jalapeno, and some lime sliced. To make the spicy chili condiment you have to use 20 g dried Thai chile crushed, 1/2 c neutral cooking oil, 80 g shallot or white onion minced, 40 g garlic minced, 30 g lemongrass minced , 2 tbsp Korean chili powder (gochugaru),1 tbsp fish sauce. 1 tbsp of sugar,⅔ tea spoons of salt, 1/2 tsp MSG (monosodium glutamate).

'*•.¸ Bánh Mì ¸.•*'

The banh mi is designed to be an on-the-go street food, it is affordable and delicious. This sandwich was inspired by the colonization of French, just like Vietnamese coffee is as well. Banh mi in Vietnamese is translated to bread. The banh mi is something similar to their simple homemade white bread sandwiches. Banh mi can be bought from stores but handmade banh mi is so much fresher and delicious. For the banh mi, the quality of the bread matters, so it can taste good. 

Ingredients + Instructions

The ingredients you will need is 2 cloves garlic 1 carrot, 1 small cucumber or ½ a large cucumber½, cup of cilantro, 2 green chili peppers, ¼ cup sugar, ⅛ cup rice wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 cup, hot water, 12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken thighs, 1 ½ tablespoons sesame oil, 1 tablespoon, honey, 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 (13-inch) baguette, 3 tablespoons, mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon Maggi Seasoning. First you will Mince the garlic, peel the carrot and chop it into matchstick pieces, peel and slice the cucumber into ribbons, pick the cilantro leaves off the stems, and slice the green chilies. Mix the sugar, rice wine vinegar, and salt with the hot water until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Pour the mixture over the carrots and let sit to pickle for 1 hour. Chop the chicken thigh meat into bite-sized pieces and place them in a large bowl. Mix the minced garlic, sesame oil, honey, hoisin sauce, and soy sauce, and pour it over the chicken. Refrigerate the chicken for 15 minutes. Heat a frying pan over medium-high and sauté the marinated chicken until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Drain the pickled carrots.Now slice open the baguette and scoop out some of the soft bread inside to create more room for the sandwich fillings. Spread mayonnaise on both sides of the baguette, then sprinkle it with Maggi Seasoning. Place the cooked chicken inside the bread followed by carrots, cucumber, cilantro, and chili peppers. Slice the bánh mì in half to make two servings and enjoy! 

 ୨⎯ Rau Muống ⎯୧ 

Rau muong is a type of Vietnamese water spinach, it is popular in the southeast. Water spinach or Rau muong typically taste savory, mild, and have a mineral taste to it, however when the spinach is cooked it would have a taste of sweetness and the stem of the water spinach taste crunchy and have a refreshing taste. Water spinach may sound nice but it is illegal in many states because it is considered an invasive species. Water spinach or Rau muong was first found during A.D 300 in the chin dynasty the first water spinach found was called the Ipomoea and Aquatica originating from India and southeast Asia. The plant was rich in iron and was mostly best grown by waterways and even growing across ponds, lakes, and rivers.

Ingredients + Instructions

There are many different ways to cook a water spinach but you always have to prep the water spinach to be cooked before actually cooking it. To prep the water spinach to be cooked you have to wash it, and then trim it to a manageable length just trim the lower 1-2 inch. After trimming the stalk, cut it into 3 inch lengths, soak in large basins of cold water to get rid of the sand and dirt, change the water 3 times before lifting out of the water, don't pour the water onto the spinach or you're just getting the sand back onto the spinach. There are three ways to cook water spinach. The first way is to stir fry it with some salt and a hint of garlic to get the taste of sweetness. The 2 way is garlic stir fry to get the garlic taste on the vegetable. The third way is fermented tofu stir fry. The taste of the tofu could complement the taste of the water spinach and then the water spinach is ready to be served.