Pham’s Nuoc Mam

Hello Good People,

OK, to be fair it’s only been a week and 1 day since my last post so I’m still holding to my resolution. I’m on a current Vietnamese food binge at the moment making pickled daikon and carrot and all sorts of asian-y sauces. I’m really craving some Durian fruit. Nothing sounds better than a Durian milk shake right now. A pity that no one at work is as enthused as I am. Le sigh.

Also, apologies for the semi-blurry pics. Bernadette, my DSLR camera, is about to give and I’m looking to replace her lens. They’re a bit scratched up from my last experiment…. Dun dun dun…..moving on.

NUOC MAM

OK so Nuoc Mâm  or properly spelled Nước mắm literally means fish sauce. It’s, “an  amber-colored liquid extracted from the fermentation of fish with sea salt,” as quoted by Wikipedia. Many families eat it straight up, others dilute it with chilies, lime juice, sugar, satay….the options are endless. In Vietnam, nuoc mam is like chocolate; it goes with everything. The sauce that I’ve photographed and photoshopped to the bone is similar to one that Trinh makes minus the cocorico aka coconut soda. Trinh’s sauce is a heavenly secret. Luckily for you I don’t know how to keep one. 😉

RECIPE

• 1 jar (I used an old tomato sauce one)
• 1 cup of cocorico (Hansen’s Cane Sugar Gingerale is a BOMB alternative or Trinh says 7-Up is ok to)
• 1/2 cup of fish sauce
• 1/2  a cup of lime juice ( I tend to put a bit more.)
• 1 cup of granulated sugar (organic cane is the best option)
• 3 tbs of chili garlic sauce
• 3 to 4 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 cup of water

It is quite simple. I will say it in three words. Prepare. Mix. Stir. This is just the guideline that I follow when I make the super-secret-sauce that goes amazing with my spring/summer rolls but remember if you like it more tart add some more lime juice or if you like it more peppery add more chili-garlic sauce. I usually enjoy more chili, lime juice, and garlic. I also enjoy a good run-on sentence. The point is to prepare it and adjust it to the way you like it. Below is the process in English and in French.

It’s really quite simple isn’t it? It lasts awhile too. I would say 2 to 3 weeks. Next time I’ll blog the super secret peanut sauce for you rabbits vegetarians. 😀

ENDING QUOTE.

The optimist says the glass is half full.

The pessimist says the glass is half empty.

The project manager says the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

The realist says the glass contains half the required amount of liquid for it to overflow.

And the cynic… wonders who drank the other half.

I realize the jars are empty but I always aim to see a glass half full.

Thanks for reading!

Christine

Banh Canh

Ho Boy,

What a year it has been. I really have a lot to be thankful for. I’ve got a great dysfunctional family and really awesomely awkward friends. I work in a place that has absolutely no HR and well…. it’s never boring. I think this new year will be a good one for me. I’ve got an odd feeling. And I hope the same for anyone who reads this. I mean reading this is like picking up a penny heads up. If you catch my drift. wink. wink. ;).

A week ago I was in Texas for the holidays with the ‘Phamily.’ We eat. It is our hobby. I actually got a 2 week membership at the local gym called ‘Texas Family Fitness” because I knew I would be over indulging stuffing my face with spring rolls, banh mi, duck, et etc. Needless to say I ate very well for 2 weeks.

Actually, Vietnamese food is quite healthy and my mom is a pretty healthy cook. I think it was my growing affection for a Johnny Walker night cap that was the kicker. My liver hates me.

So….

Banh Canh

A.K.A. Thick noodle soup with crab according to Wikipedia. There are many versions of this traditional soup but the thing that makes it ‘Banh Canh’ are the wide white noodles. My mama, TRINH, makes them fresh from scratch. Henceforth, my mama is sooo much more awesomer and bad ass than your mama. I’m sorry English was not my first language. =/

I am sidetracking way too much. Moving forward, Banh Canh is usually served for breakfast/brunch or lunch. It’s really great if you have a fresh baguette with it too to dip in the broth. Trinh prepares it with crab flavors. I think what I’m most impressed with is that she actually made her own noodles. Please see below.

They have this slight chewy texture and they absorb the savory broth really well. Trinh basically makes this pasty dough texture and then uses a potato masher to create her noodles. I was impressed.

Trinh rinsing her noodles.

Trinh posing with her noodles.

  The following is a detailed display of how we plate when we eat noodle soup. This process is applied to every Vietnamese soup …at least the ones that I’ve eaten. We line the bowls, fill with noodles and toppings, and we top it off with scathing hot broth.

1. Thick white noodles. If you go to the asian market you’ll find the flour packet to make these. It’s actually quite simple.

2. Trinh evening out the noodles.

3. A common topping is pork cut into thin strips.

4. Another popular topping is broiled shrimp. One of my pet peeves is overcooked shrimp. I really don’t know how people can eat overcooked shrimp. I find it almost offensive.

5. Trinh found the time to boil and shred some crab meat. She then sauteed it with some spices. Trinh usually can’t sleep past 6.

6. Trinh evening out the crab goodness.

7. Garnishes for Banh Canh include: fresh chopped green onion, cilantro, and fresh cracked pepper.

8. And finally here we see Trinh topping the bowls with piping hot broth. It is ok to be jealous. 😉

9. More hot broth.

10. Usually served with a nuoc mam sauce and chilli paste.

Additional Pictures of Our Toppings:                 

1. Chicken aka le poulet.

2. Crab aka le crabe.

3. This is the some of the soup flavoring she uses. It’s legit if you’re in a rush.

Sexy Shot 1.

Sexy Shot 2.

My brother and Trinh…posing. My brother tried to be a model. It didn’t work out… Trinh tried too… =/

Thanks for reading guys! Have a great new year! Be good to one another and maybe I’ll write more.

New Years Resolutions:

1. Keep up my awesome Fitness Regime. Kickboxing is my sport in life. Helps with the aggression. ^_^

2. Practice French and learn basic Chinese.

3. Call Trinh once a week.

4. Blog once a week.

5. Learn to meditate.

6. Pending.

Et toi? And yours are?

Ending Quote:

Daydream, delusion, limousine, eyelash / Oh baby with your pretty face / Drop a tear in my wineglass / Look at those big eyes / See what you mean to me / Sweet-cakes and milkshakes / I’m a delusion angel / I’m a fantasy parade / I want you to know what I think / Don’t want you to guess anymore / You have no idea where I came from / We have no idea where we’re going / Lodged in life / Like branches in a river/ Flowing downstream / Caught in the current / I’ll carry you / You’ll carry me / That’s how it could be / Don’t you know me? / Don’t you know me by now?

Before Midnight anyone??!!

Take Care,

Christine

^_^

Steamed Blue Crabs

So I just received an economics paper back over the structure of the automobile industry (you’re probably thinking the same thing I’m thinking.) Apparently I have little to no competence when it comes to using commas and probably punctuation in general. Thank the lord they don’t read this blog because it is written by a 5th grader.

The Blue Crab.

Factoids (According to Wiki):

-A crustacean found in the waters of the western Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Coast of Central America and the Gulf of Mexico

-They pinch really hard. That’s why Trinh stabs them beforehand with a machete.

-They are omnivores.

-The crabs are caught by using a “crab pot.” The crab pot is made out of wire mesh (older designs of wood and wire also exist, as well as all metal varieties) and is cubical in shape. The crab pot usually contains two “entrances” for the crabs that prohibit exit. These are in the form of a tapered aperture that allows the crab to squeeze through in one direction only. A crab pot is baited with any of several types of meat, including bunker, bluefish, chicken or eel and more recently mesh bags filled with razor clams.

-Crabbers sort the crabs into males (“Jimmies”), immature females (“Sallies”), and mature females (“sooks” or “she-crabs”); females bearing eggs are also known as “gravid.”

-Also, Did you know? Female blue crabs mate only once in their lives. I’m a little depressed to hear that.

In this episode today, we are doing a feature on steamed blue crabs with cajun seasoning. It’s not hard at all. In sum, we (as in Trinh) bought the crabs, stabbed and cleaned them, and then steamed them with a little butter and cajun seasoning. I should mention buying blue crabs in an asian market is more like hearing the new gossip around town or meeting a new friend.

The Recipe:

-10 lb. of crab (mind you this is between 3 people)

-a huge dollop of butter (I would say a 3/4 of a cup or more if you love butter)

-2-3 tbs. of cajun seasoning. I use Louisiana Fish Fry Seasoning)

That is pretty much the gist of it.

The Stabbing and The Clipping:

Now the blue crab is vicious if it gets ahold of you with it’s claw. Now see below how Trinh is stabbing them. You want to aim for the middle part of their body where there’s that little triangle. Just stab deep enough until they stop moving, but don’t go all Rambo on them. Secondly, after they’re dead cut off their claws and extra legs. It’s actually quite funny seeing them continue to wiggle without their extremities. Don’t cut their entire leg off, leave about an inch of leg. You’ll get a better picture after viewing the photos.

The Cleaning:

Be sure to scrub all over. You don’t want to be eating delicious crab meat with some weird, grainy fungus. Also, be sure to life that flap at their butt (I have no better way of saying this). Note the 3rd picture below.

Some More Prep Work:

Imagine the 1st photo as a video where the little legs would be wiggling vigorously.

So, put all the crabs in a large pot along with the claws but not the legs. Add the seasoning and the butter. Turn on the heat and be sure to shake the pot from time to time to make sure everything is incorporated.

The Final Product:

Delicious Crab Meat! Serve with some lime juice and S&P. This is fabulosity.

Again this was not difficult at all. Just clean and then pot time. This post makes me feel slightly nostalgic while I’m at school and Trinh is 300 miles away. I think we should pay a little tribute to Trinh. I leave you with an homage. Take care and always eat.

September 11, always remember. Take Care.

-Monrow

A Mini Homage to Trinh:

Look at the beautiful, young, and vibrant girl go.

Friday Night Fried Squid

Home on a Friday night without television and internet (due the random thunderstorm that just hit.) Usually I would be with my dear friend Ardo, but this person has since broken my heart and relocated to New York where my Jdog lives. But there are two certainties to this Friday night: unlimited spring rolls and blogtime.

Squid. It’s hard not to think about probably the only famous talking squid in the world: Squidward Tentacles; Spongebob’s cranky neighbor. I am still amazed by the concept of a talking kitchen sponge wearing square pants who lives in a pineapple under the sea with a pet snail named Gary. I imagine the creator to be somewhere in Fiji right now having a very nice daiquiri. Sidetracking…..

Growing up, Fried Squid or Calamari as you Americans call it (its ok I’m American too) was my favorite dish. Even when I was on a low-carb diet in high school I still managed to enjoy it (without the flour of course.) Please note the word “was.”

Back in the day it was just the 6 of us: Trinh, dad, uncle, Jdog, Goo Machine, and I. Usually on a Friday night Trinh would make something really special like fried squid or fancy spring rolls and sometimes when the mood hit her she’d boil a 38lb bag of crawfish sided with sausages, potatoes, and ears of corn. After that my uncle, Jdog, Goo, and I would go to the movies.

The family dynamic has shifted a bit overtime but it eases my mind each time I see how food constantly keeps us bonded together. Just before I left for school we were at my Uncle’s house eating a hotpot full of goat and other unidentifiables, and that is just another reason why I love food.

Onward. Squid or Le Calmar (in French) or Muc (in Vietnamese.)

The squid is just such an unusual animal secreting nasty black nastiness into the sea as a defense mechanism. Quite frankly they remind me of the aliens from Independence Day. Interestingly enough, I also hear they’re one of the main causes in the decline of Atlantic Salmon because of rising sea temperatures salmon had to migrate into Squid territories. I never knew Squidward saw salmon as food. I always assumed they all ate plankton.

Squid. Personally I would never want to deal with a live one especially after watching Pirates of the Caribbean 2 with the Davy Jones’ tentacles navigating their way through a person’s innards or the Kraken with those big suction cups. Mega O Mega. We’ll just leave this task to the fellows on Deadliest Catch.

Luckily today we have very well preserved frozen squid sold everywhere. Though Ms. Trinh has preferences to where she gets her squid.

Special side note: buy the box that sells the entire squid corpse and not just the one with perfect white ringlets. You’re doing yourself a major disservice in taste. When certain restaurants make “calamari” with those perfect chewy o-rings that is a NO NO NO! The flavor and texture will be 10x better if you stick with the entire body and cut your own ringlets from there. You can send a thank you e-card afterwards.

So here we have a series of Trinh cleaning the squid. Don’t forget to thaw them out first. I don’t think Trinh uses salt to clean the squid I’m quite sure she just uses water and this unknown white powder. Trinh basically separates the upper and lower part of the squid with scissors and removes a single long piece of cartilage which I’m guessing is the equivalent to our spine. She also says you have to remove their eyes, they’re inedible. (I am SO unsure of all my comma usage in this blog…Winnius!)

You can see how she peels off the outer film. The upper part of the squid resembling a purplely white deflated cone is where you cut the ringlets. According to Wikipedia, this is called the mantle (shown left) and by some squirt-gun-like-contraption built within allows them to do the locomotion. Remember in Wall-E when he was up in space with Eve with a fire extinguisher? That’s how he did the locomotion; same theory here.  The second half, where the tentacles are, is a deeper shade of purple with little dark freckles which are called chromatophores. Apparently they’re like chameleons. Slippery little suckers.

After cleaning and cutting it’s down hill from there. It’s the same concept with fried chicken minus the eggs. Season with the Holy Quatro, dunk in white flower and add it to a very hot pot of canola oil and fry on medium to high heat.

Place some paper towels on a large plate and you’re as good as gold.

Condiments: salt, pepper, fresh limes and a side of cucumbers.

Til Next Time. Take Care.

My fortune cookies (because I ate 3) said, ” Life is full of little decisions-like white or brown rice.”  “One who admires you greatly is hidden before your eyes.”  “Honesty and friendship bring you fortune.”  I agree with 1 and 3.  Feel free to take 2.

-Monrow

Dungeness Crab

Le Crab à la Mode

This is Dungeness Crab and probably one of my favorite dishes. It’s sweet and savory and if you like crab meat and don’t mind the MSG kick then by all means.

Now before we go into detail of the murder of these crabs I want to say a few words on behalf of the use of MSG. I can’t really think of a meal that my Trinh (my mama) has prepared that didn’t require MSG. It along with rice is a stable. In most households you see those large containers that hold the basics: flour, sugar, and ,salt. Well we have one for MSG. Yes, too much means your fingers will end up feeling like mini sausages but everything in moderation. ( I still don’t understand this rule but for those of you that do please follow.) As Trinh says, “just a little bit” will do. Later on, and I don’t know when, but I’ll do some “research” and give you them facts. If you have any pro-MSG t-shirt ideas, by all means share.

For now, these aren’t exactly straightforward recipes, one day. One day!

OK Le Crab à la Mode. C’est magnifique.

Step 1: Say Goodbye and Clean. Trinh usually uses a scrubber. You must do this to all seafood like clams/mussels. All you foodies know the drill. Now we’re a family of 3, seeing as I’m the only one that managed to go home this summer. So Trinh got 4 dungeness crabs which is more than enough and then some. So use this as reference, and remember to eat before you shop otherwise you might end up buying 12.

Step 2: Break’em wide open. Imagine someone ripping your skull out to get your brains; same theory.

Step 3: Remove and Scrape out the guts.

*side note: Guts are the most flavorful part and enhance the flavor of the dish along with the spices.

Step 4: Remove Urine organ parts that appear on the outside of the meaty part on the crab. They look like little squishy triangles. They’re attached together so it’s pretty easy.

Step 5: Remove their nails. (pointy claws) Then put all the crab parts and season with what I call the Viet Holy Quatro: Salt, Pepper, MSG, and some SUGA.

Step 6: Prepare garlic and shallots. Rough chop.

Step 7: Prepare the green onions and yellow onions.

Step 8: Spices: oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, salt, MSG, pepper, and I want to say there was some sesame oil as well

So now, Trinh has this movable gas grill that she keeps outside because she doesn’t want to stink up the candle scented house. However I wouldn’t mind if she did.  So we  went outside and I watched the old girl get down.

First she started with some oil. Now she added some flour to the crab to make it delicious with that extra coat of “crust.” So she starts by cooking the crab til their golden and “crusty.” She then removes them. Next she cooks the guts and adds the spices and this amazing sauce forms. The crabs then return to the wok and all the onions are added and voila.

Now what we like to do is take the crab out and put in some rice to soak up the savory juices left in the wok. Serve with a side of cucumbers and a few beers and you’ve got a happy tummy.

Til next time. Check out the photos, my words can only do so much.

-Christine Monrow Pham