Recipes. I.Owe.You

Sorry I'm a day late but better late then never right?

Been so hectic with the bankers forum conference and now I really know that I have no power left at the end of a working day. But, there's always something in return. I learned quite a lot as attending some sessions, and met with awesome people! I know, I know. Should stop moaning that I'm exhausted and appreciate everything. You know what I mean

Okay, back to the main point. Recipes!

1. BÚN THỊT BÒ XÀO

300g beef fillet, in thin slices

1 big onion

2 to 3 baby shallots, 3 garlic cloves

500g small rice noodle, rinse with hot water and then cool water to stop them from cooking

I think only Vietnamese know what kind of rice noodle i'm talking about so here's a picture for you who find it confusing

photo on the internet

Some Vietnamese herbs (mint, basil, fish mint, coriander...)

Bean sprouts

3 to 4 small cucumbers

3 tbsp. chopped peanuts (Prepared in advance) 

2 to 3 small chilies

A lime

Fish sauce

Salt

Freshly grounded black pepper

1. Marinade beef slices with freshly grounded black pepper and 1 tbsp good quality fish sauce for 15 minutes. 

2. Rinse and drain the herbs well

3. Make the fish sauce

My family fish sauce recipe for these kind of dishes (Bún thịt bò xào, Bún chả giò, Bánh hỏi thịt quay...) 

"1-2-3-4"(tbsp) stands for "lemon juice-sugar-fish sauce-water", and I always use slightly less sugar. Chop garlic and chilies very well and add them to your fish sauce (it's okay to prepare some and keep them in the freezer as my aunt always does)

4. In a hot pan, stir-fry sliced shallots and sliced onions for 2 minutes, then add the sliced garlics and cook for another one minute. Increase the heat, add beef slices.You may want to add some salt at this step. I added about 1/2 tsp salt and drops of fish sauce. Cook for 2 minutes or just until they turn to a nice light pink color.  Remove from the heat, set aside

5. Chop some herbs, cucumber, mix with bean sprouts. Put rice noodle on top of herb mixtures and then beef of on top of rice noodle. Garnish with coriander leaves and chopped peanuts.

MÌ TRỨNG TRỘN

So, on a lucky day I came across Sóc Trăng egg noodles which according to the saleswomen, she only sells them in Saigon once a year. Otherwise I'll have to come over her place. And, she didn't tell me where her place is! That's it. 

RECIPE

3 patties of dried egg noodles (my patties are bigger than the common size of dried egg noodles)

4 slices of beef fillet. I used frozen American beef so they might weigh around 100g

Slices of half a big onion

Bean sprouts, boiled

2 small carrots, cut in very thin and small trips, boil

3 big garlic cloves

1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 1/2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Coriander

1. Cook the noodles

Cook the egg noodles with boiling water and a pinch of salt. I cooked my Sóc Trăng egg noodles for just 3 minutes and then immediately rinsed them with cool water and drained. You should follow the cooking instruction printed on your noodle pack for time measurement. 

2.Prepare onion mixture

In a hot, heavy-bottomed pan, stir fry onion for 3 minutes until soft, season it with just a little bit of salt and pepper (preferably freshly grounded pepper), salt will help boosting up the sweetness of onions. Remove the pan from the heat and mix with boiled bean sprouts. Bean sprouts are juicy so I boiled them in advance to eliminate water and then mix with stir-fried onions.

3. Making garlic soy sauce

Chop garlic very well and add them to the prepared pan with 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil and cook until garlic turn brown. Just to that point, transfer garlic oil to a bowl and add soy sauce. Let it cool completely then add white wine vinegar.

4. Mix noodles, onion mixture, and slowly spoon soy sauce over the noodle mixture and mix them thoroughly. Add soy sauce to your own taste, you may want to season more or less. Chop coriander and gently mix before plating up

5. Using the chopsticks to form the noodles into an oval shape by rolling them. Sadly i didn't take any photos of how I did it but surely you'll figure it out! 

6. Cut your beef slices into thin strips and stir - fried them quickly, season lightly with salt and pepper then put them on top of your oval shaped noodle. Finally, garnish with chopped chilies and boiled carrot strips. Drizzle garlic soy sauce as shown in photo!

Aww, I'm going to sleep now and will post recipes of the rest tomorrow

Hope you enjoy reading my food blog

Cheers!