February 2009 Chuối bọc nếp nướng, lúc ăn chan nước cốt dừa.Phải gói bằng lá chuối rồi mới nướng vì mùi lá chuối nướng làm tăng hương vị của món này rất nhiều.
In Vietnam, ripe bananas are pressed and wrapped in a blanket of sticky rice and grilled over a hot coals. We just put these in the oven.
Tuyết bên ngoài, trong nhà ăn cơm với gà xào xả ớt.
This is a favorite weeknight meal. Chicken, caramelized with sugar, fish sauce, and seasoned with lemongrass and chilis. Perfect with white rice that's kind of dry.
Orange clivias are more common. Until a few years ago, we couldn't find a yellow clivia. The first yellow clivia we saw was at Cal Orchid in Santa Barbara almost nine years ago. Now they're much easier to find.
Cà tím nướng, rưới mỡ hành, rồi chan nước mắm tỏi pha đặc.
We took Japanese eggplants, roasted them in a high heat oven for about half an hour, scraped and lifted the insides off the skin, and then poured scallion oil and fish sauce with garlic over them.
February 2009 Thịt kho vởi nước dừa phải mềm, thật mềm, dùng muỗng chứ dùng đũa gắp sẽ vỡ. Ăn kèm với dưa giá, muối với hẹ, có điểm vaì sợi cà rốt, vài sợi ớt thái nhỏ.
Pork belly and hard-boiled eggs stewed in coconut juice until the pork is tender enough to flake off with a fork and the eggs develop a caramelized sheen. We eat this with white rice and pickled chives, bean sprouts, carrots and chilis. For the Lunar New Year in Vietnam, we roll the pork and eggs with some of the pickled veggies in rice paper for a celebratory meal.
February 2009 Chè đấu ván, bao nhiêu năm ở đây mới tìm được đúng loại đậu này.
After searching for decades for cutlass beans in America (some Vietnamese grocers do carry them, but the ones we've tried all failed to turn out a good pudding), a posting on the Internet gave us a hint: buy your beans from Indian supermarkets. After a 50 mile-drive, we found them at an Indian grocer in a barren strip mall. The pudding conjured up delicious memories from our youth - even C., who never eats sweets, asked for a tiny serving. Ask for Vall Dal - no one knows them as "cutlass beans" in barren stip malls - and apparently no one remembers what an Oldsmobile Cutlass is, either.