PHO for the PHO-NATICS! (yes, i went there with the puns)

Lets cut right to the chase! Pho is pho-king amazing!(excuse my french) I mean one can't go wrong with broth, noodles and meat. It is so simple, people think "ohhh I can make that!"AHEM WRONGG!! EVEN Vietnamese people can get it wrong. I am pretty picky with Pho. I mean I was practically born with pho broth in my veins. Please do not get PHO at any place with a 50% off sign, or  places with a PUNNY PHO name, you will probably die from MSG, or your eye will twitch off your face. Personally, I believe if you can master making soup, any soup, then you are a great cook! People think soups are so simple and easy, just put it in the pot and let it simmer..WRONG AGAIN! Soups don't take as much prep work but it takes the right palette to season it well. Pho originally comes from the Northern Region of Vietnam "Bac". As this beautiful majestic broth moved down the country, different spices and seasoning were added and there were different versions of Pho. I would have to say my FAVORITE DISH that my mom makes (and there are many) is Pho. Though it isn't like the original northern region, it's her own adaptation to this HOLY BROTH! I mean the woman can make BOMB SOUP! It's pretty famous in "THE NUT". It's made at every special occasion, anytime we are sick, and anytime anyone requests it. I've realized as I write this, the Pho has become a celebrity. Yup, it's that good! I guarantee it! If not, basically my whole childhood just crumbled into a million different pieces.....

So onto the recipe...

Ingredients for the Broth (The Le's prefer chicken) 

2 whole chicken (my mom thinks she's fancy and gets organic from "WHOLE FOODS")
*why we need two: we leave one chicken in the pot for flavor, the other to poach and eat!

AROMATICS:

2 whole medium sized onions

6-7 large sized shallots (if they are the itty bitty ones please use more maybe like 10)

1 piece of ginger 

1 whole piece of nutmeg

1 stick of Vietnamese Cinnamon (you can find them at the asian supermarkets or even costco)

5 pieces of star anise

3 pieces of cloves (very pungent, do not put a lot, the one you use in that holiday ham)

5-6 coriander seeds approx.
Cheese cloth or this metal strainer that you can hang into your pot and keep in the spices (asian market)

SEASONINGS:

2 medium pieces of rock sugar (asian supermarkets, do not use sugar, its gives a different sweetness) 

Salt (season as you go but you can use about 2 tablespoons at the beginning)

Fish sauce (DUHH! season as you go, but approx. 1 cup)

Everything else that would usually go in Pho. (all of which are optional, you put what you like)

Pho Noodles (asian market, rice noodles)

Asian Beef meatballs

Thinly sliced beef (usually use a Round Eye steak)

Shredded Poached Chicken from the Broth

Garnish with the Holy Trinity(Thinly sliced white onion, green onion, and cilantro)

Thai Basil

Bean Sprouts

Dip With Hoisen Sauce and Sriracha

*Holy Trinity- why do I name it this, because in almost every Vietnamese Soup Dish, we use this garnish, and yes, we actually eat the garnish! It's not just a sad piece of curly parsley, next to your entree!

NOW WE START!! The recipe list may look daunting but the prep work here is very simple!

1.Bring a half filled large stock pot full of water to a boil. Salt the water. 

2. Wash the chicken thoroughly, keep the gizzards and neck for the broth. DON'T BE A WUSS ITS FLAVOR! Pat it dry and toss that bird in the HOT TUBBB! (Depending on the size of your chicken 4-6lbs it should take 45-50 mins)

3. Now we begin charring our aromatics. I literally take the onions, shallots and ginger and put them on the burner for a nice char. Takes about 5 mins. If you burn them just peel off the burnt areas.

4. Place all the spices on a small pan, and let it roast for about 2 mins. When you start smelling something funky, that's when you stop. LOL

5. Before you take the chicken out, please make sure you skim off the foamy grit and oils from the pot. This keeps the broth clear.

6. After 45-50mins, we take that chicken out and plunge it in an ice bath. (water and ice in a big bowl lol,)*why we need an ice bath: it stops the cooking process, and doesn't overcook the chicken)

7. We now put all the aromatics in a cheesecloth or a little metal strainer that looks like a ball. You should always put in the spices after the chicken has left the hot tub. We don't want the chicken to smell. Chicken should taste like chicken. Only the broth should have the smell of all the spices.

8. Drop in the onions and rock sugar.

9. Season with salt and liquid gold.
10. At this point, I would let the pho simmer for another hour. The longer it simmers, the better the broth!

11. Boil some noodles, layer on the meats and veggies.

      Voila! ZEE PIECE DE RESISTANCE!

THE ALL MIGHTY GUACAMOLE FROM THE GODS! jk..but i think its pretty good!

Being raised in beautiful Southern California, we have the luxury of eating really AWESOME authentic hispanic food (KING TACOO)!! I mean really down home mexican food!! I always like to get a little SPICY and make a LATIN THEMED MEAL once in a great while (all the TIME!) and the one thing I always make is GUAC! Not sure, if guacamole is really part of the authentic hispanic food club, but it served at chipotle..thats pretty authentic right? LOL  It's SO GOOD and FACIL (EASY)!

So onto the recipe...

Ingredientes ( dam my spanish is good lol took 4 years of spanish in High School all i learned was how to say food items LOL)

4 beautifully ripen avocados 

1/4 cup of cilantro roughly chopped (optional if you like it, but is a staple in latin cuisine) 

1 jalapeno minced (if you like it spicy seeds and all, if you don't want fire shits i would do one w/o seeds)

2 limes juiced

1/2 cup of diced onions (red or white)

1 tsp of garlic powder (takes it to THE NEXT LEVEL trust)

salt (season as you go)

*optional items: I love adding grilled corn, sometimes I'll add tomatoes..up to you!

1. Mash avocados in a bowl. Leave one of the avocado pits in the bowl ( I guess it keeps it from getting brown? ) 

2. Mix in onions, cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice, garlic powder, salt and your other optional items (please add the grilled corn you won't go back!!!!)

 Let it chill for 30 mins, let the flavors mingle and chat and BOOM your GUACAMOLE ES FINE!! 

My aunt bought this mortar and pestle from costco to mash and make GUAC.OMMGGAWDDDD SO AWESOME..i mashed some fresh garlic then added avocados...OY VEYY!

ENJOYYY!!!!!!!

Banh Nam (aka The Vietnamese Tamale)

 I love my Vietnamese heritage and am so thankful for the amazing food it brings. Both of my parents were refugees from Vietnam, literally they were "fresh off the boat"(its totally ok i can say it jk no don't) My dad is like #8 I think in a family of 13..I forget there's too many of us. My mom is like #2 of 7. (More on our families later) Any who, with such a big family, there is always a celebration for EVERYTHING..with celebrations and parties, there's always THE FOOD..YUP awesomely awesome super asian food made from delicious LIQUID GOLD (fish sauce, my cousin named it) that always packs so much flavor. Our parties can never have only 5 dishes, it always has to feed the minimum of 20 hungry Vietnamese people. So at every Vietnamese party, you gotta have your BIG ASS POT OF SOUP ( like a pot that u can fit a 2 year old in), at least 2 different kinds of salad ( when i say salad i don't mean like lettuce tomato and shit, I mean like  A LOT OF MEAT and very little veggies and its always sour and spicy), fried rice, egg rolls, some kind of grilled meat, some kind of stir fried noodles, and BANH NAM.

What is BANH NAM?

Banh Nam is a dish from the central region of Vietnam called "Hue". It is ultimately, just like a tamale but made from rice flour rather than masa. The filling is made with pork and shrimp, and it is wrapped in banana leaves. It is thinner than a tamale, so you can eat like 10!!

There are so many different awesome versions and ways to make Banh Nam, I am going to try to make it a little bit easier and a little bit healthier. ( I know I am not really health conscious but I guarantee you, you cannot tell the difference) Also, I have a couple of aunts from the central region of Vietnam, and they gave me their stamp of approval. WOOOO!

So on to the recipe....

Makes about 80 banh nam (LOL YEA ITS A LOT) adapted from a lot of Aunts and my mom

Ingredients

6 Bags of Banana leaves washed and cut (buy it at any Hispanic or Asian Grocery Store)

Filling ( EASIEST PART) 

1 lb of shrimp cut in to small pieces

1 1/4 lb of turkey or chicken (pork if you are doing it the OG way)

2 large shallots minced (small purple onion)

6 cloves of garlic minced (i always add more garlic, I LUB GARLICS)

5 stalks of green onion. minced (optional)

1 Tbsp of salt

2 Tbsp of sugar

1/2 Tbsp of pepper

2 Tbsp of Liquid gold (fish sauce, a good kind, I use one with a flying fish on it with weird writing, don't buy a brand with English on it or at like Vons or Albertsons, go to an asian supermarket)

2 Tbsp of olive oil (any oil will do)

1. Sautee the shallots and garlic till golden and fragrant in a large pan

2. Add your meat and dry seasonings to the pan, make sure you break up the meat into small pieces.

3. After the meat has cooked through and there are no meat juices left (about 5 mins), add the shrimp to the pan and LIQUID GOLD!!! 

4. Again sautee until all the juices have evaporated and all the protein is cooked through.

5. Let the filling cool for 5-10 mins

6. In a food processor,  add the shrimp and meat mixture, grind it up into small bits. ( I would personally do it in batches so that the mixture is ground up evenly)

7. Fold in the minced green onions

Ingredients

Rice Flour Mixture (This is a ratio of how much flour to water you should use, follow the ratio and then just quadruple  the recipe, sounds confusing but it works)

3/4 cup Rice Flour (can be found at any asian grocery store)

1/4 cup & 1 Tbsp Tapioca Flour

1 Tbsp salt

1 Tbsp olive oil (any oil will do)

4 cups of water

(For the amount of filling we are making, I would 4x the Rice flour mixture recipe, but if you don't want your arm to fall off from whisking I would do the recipe in 2 batches per pot)

1. Mix rice flour, tapioca flour and salt in a large pot (preferably non stick)

2. Add water and oil to the flour mixture and whisk until everything is smooth and combined

3. At a low heat, slowly whisk the mixture (CONSTANTLY) until you feel like it thicken and feel more resistance as you are whisking. Once you see the mixture start to thicken, take it off the heat and finish whisking until it becomes a paste and the mixture can almost stand by itself (kind of like making whip cream). If it is still too watery, put it back on the low heat and continue to whisk it till it is a nice paste.

(This was a picture of the first time I made it, I made too much dough in one pot and the filling I used  had shrimp heads)

Now lets put it together!

1. Lay down the clean banana leaf ( should be the size of a piece of paper)

2. Scoop about 1 Tbsp of the Rice Flour Mixture, smear the rice flour in the middle of the banana leaf

3. Sprinkle about 1 Tbsp of the filling all over the rice flour mixture

4. Fold the sides of the leaf to cover the rice flour and filling and fold the ends leave a little bit of room at the end.

5. Once you've folded the ends smooth out the dough, so it is nice and flat and it cooks evenly.

6. After you've made a good amount, steam the Banh Nam for about 10-15 mins or until the leaves change color.

VOILA!

The key to this recipe is making small batches of the rice mixture at a time, otherwise you might be overwhelmed like I was the first time I tried making these. Asian food can be very tedious and time consuming but the end result is DELICIOUS!! I personally eat the banh nam with liquid gold but with this recipe you won't need the extra salt. 

ENJOY!!!!!!!!