Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese
Date:         Thu, 7 Jan 1993 00:43:41 CST
              USENET." <VIETNET@USCVM.BITNET>
From:         tristan@MARIA.WUSTL.EDU
Subject:      [Misc] Vietnamese Recipes

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 Lemon Grass Chicken
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>From Barbara Hansen's Taste of Southeast Asia

6 chicken thighs, boned, skinned (about 1 1/4 lbs trimmed meat)
2 lemon grass stalks, minced
1/4 c soy sauce
1/4 t salt
2 T chicken broth
1 t sugar
1 t minced fresh red chili or serrano chili or 1/4 t hot-pepper flakes
1/2 t cornstarch
2 t water
1/2 medium-size onion
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 t minced onion
1 t minced gingerroot
1 t minced garlic
Cut chicken into 1-inch square pieces.  Place in a medium bowl.  Stir
in lemon grass, 2 T of the soy sauce, and salt.  Mix well.  Cover and
refrigerate 2 hours or longer.  Bring to room temperature before
cooking.  Combine chicken broth, remaining 2 T soy sauce, sugar, and
chili in another small bowl; set aside.  Cut onion in half lengthwise;
cut each piece into 4 wedges; separate layers.  Heat wok over
medium-high heat.  Add oil and heat.  Add minced onion, gingerroot, and
garlic; stir-fry 15 seconds.  Do not burn.  Increase heat.  Add
chicken; stir-fry 2 minutes.  Add sliced onion; stir-fry 1 minute.  Add
chicken broth mixture; cook, stirring, 1 minute.  Stir cornstarch
mixture to blend in cornstarch that has settled.  Add to the chicken
mixture; cook until sauce is thickened, about 30 seconds.  Spoon onto a
heated platter; serve at once.  Makes 4 servings.

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 Hot Beef Salad
 --------------

>From Barbara Hansen's Taste of Southeast Asia

1 (1-lb) flank steak, partially frozen
2 T soy sauce
1 T vegetable oil
1/2 t sugar
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium size onion
2 small dried chilies
2 T soy sauce
2 T beef stock
5 T vegetable oil
1/2 t sugar
12 red-leaf-lettuce leaves
2 medium size tomatoes, each cut into 6 slices
16 cilantro sprigs

Cut meat lengthwise into 2 or 3 strips; cut strips diagonally into
1/8-inch-thick slices.  Place in a medium-size bowl.  Add 2 T soy
sauce, 1 T oil, 1/2 t sugar, and garlic.  Mix well.  Cover and marinate
in refrigerator at least 2 hours.  Mix again and bring to room
temperature before cooking.  Cut onion in half lengthwise.  Cut each
half into quarters, making 8 wedges.  Separate onion layers; set
aside.  Soak chilies in warm water about 30 minutes or until softened.
discard seeds and stems, and mince chilies.  Combine chilies, remaining
2 T soy sauce, and beef stock in a small bowl.  Heat wok over high
heat.  Add 4 T oil and heat.  Add onion; stir-fry 1 minute.  Remove
onion with a slotted spoon, draining oil back into pan; place onion in
a small bowl.  Add steak to wok; stir-fry 3 minutes.  Remove steak and
any liquid in wok; add to onion.  Heat remaining 1 T oil in wok.  Add
remaining 1/2 t sugar.  As soon as sugar melts, stir in chili mixture.
Return steak and onion to wok; stir-fry 1 minute.  Remove from heat.
Arrange 3 lettuce leaves on each of 4 lightly heated large individual
plates or platters.  Place 1/4 of beef in center of each serving.
Arrange 3 tomato slices around beef.  Arrange 4 cilantro sprigs on each
serving.  Makes 4 servings.

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 Buddhist Monk's Soup
 --------------------

>From The Classic Cuisine of Vietnam by Bach Ngo & Gloria Zimmerman

1 quart water
1 lb pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 c raw peanuts, shelled and red skin removed, soaked for 30
    minutes then drained and roughly chopped
1/3 c dried mung beans, soaked for 30 minutes and drained
3 T vegetable oil
1 square bean curd
1 quart coconut milk, fresh or canned
1/2 ounce cellophane noodles (also called mung bean thread),
    soaked for 20 minutes in warm water, then drained and cut
    into 1-inch crosswise sections

Bring the water to a boil.  Drop in the pumpkin or squash, sweet
potato, peanuts, and mung beans.  Cook over medium heat for 35
minutes.  While the soup is cooking, prepare the bean curd.  Heat the
oil in a small frying pan and fry the bean curd on both sides until
light brown.  Slice lengthwise into strips 1/4" wide and reserve until
needed.  After 35 minutes of cooking, check to make certain that the
mung beans are soft.  If they are, add the coconut milk.  Add salt.
Bring to a boil and drop in the cellophane noodles and fried bean
curd.  Serve with rice and Buddhist Nuoc Leo (see below).
Buddhist Nuoc Leo:

1 T granulated sugar
2 T tuong (Vietnamese soy sauce; tastes just like La Choy brand
    in the U.S.)
2 T water
Fresh hot red chili slices to taste (optional)
1 T roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Mix the sugar with the tuong and water.  Add some slices of fresh red
chili pepper, if desired, and sprinkle with roasted peanuts.


 -----------------------------
 Fish Simmered in Fish Sauce
 ---------------------------

>From The Classic Cuisine of Thailand by Bach Ngo & Gloria Zimmerman

1 T vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 lb raw shrimp, shelled and deveined, tail section of shell
    left attached
3 T fish sauce (nuoc mam; Squid brand is good)
1 T plus 1 t granulated sugar
Sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a small saucepan over a high flame.  Add the garlic and
stir briefly, then add the shrimp.  Turn the heat down to medium and
continue to stir as you add the remaining ingredients -- fish sauce,
sugar, caramelized sugar, and pepper.  After you have added these
ingredients, cover the saucepan and continue to cook for 3 minutes.
Uncover; half the liquid should have evaporated.  Serve with rice.


Caramelized Sugar:

1/2 c granulated sugar
3/4 c water
1 t lemon juice

Put the sugar and 1/4 c of the water into a dry, 8-inch frying pan over
high heat.  When it starts to brown, start to stir and then stir
constantly.  When the sugar turns dark brown and you see steam forming,
stir well, remove from the heat, and add the remaining 1/2 c water.
Continuing to stir, return to high heat for about 5 minutes.  Add the
lemon juice, giving a few quick stirs, and remove from the heat.  Allow
to cool and transfer to a jar.
If you wish to make a very small amount, enough for one dish, prepare
the syrup in a small pan as directed but using:

1 T granulated sugar
1/4 c water
a squeeze of lemon

 Stir Fried Mixed Vegetables
 ---------------------------

>From The Complete Asian Cookbook by Charmaine Solomon

4 dried Chinese mushrooms
1/2 c water
1 T dark soy sauce
1 t sesame oil
2 t sugar
3 stalks celery
1/4 medium cabbage or white chinese cabbage
few leaves of mustard greens or spinach leaves
  (preferably some bok choy, if you can get it)
1 small lettuce
3 spring onions
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 t finely minced fresh ginger
1 T oil
1 1/2 T light soy sauce
1/4 c water
1 t cornstarch

Soak dried mushrooms in hot water for 30 minutes.  Remove and discard
stems, slice tops thinly, then simmer in a small saucepan with half cup
water, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar until liquid is almost all
absorbed.  Slice celery diagonally into bite-size pieces, cut white
cabbage, mustard cabbage/greens, and lettuce into bite-size squares and
spring onion into short lengths.  Fry garlic and ginger in oil over
medium low heat for a few seconds only.  Add stems of vegetables and
stir fry over high heat for 2 minutes, then add leafy parts and fry 30
seconds.  Add sauce and prepared mushrooms and mix together.  Add
water, bring to the boil, thicken with cornstarch blended with a little
cold water and stir until it boils and thickens.  Serve at once with
rice.

--- enjoy this, all are copy somewhere by a friend of my! blame hime
if it does not taste good or any typos!