Stuffed Cabage Roll Soup

This is one of childhood dishes that my mom use to make for us. The simple filling for this dish is ground pork and onions. My version of cabbage rolls is much better tasting than the original recipe because I use Gio Song instead of ground pork. It helps the broth to be clearer. I make my own sausages, Gio Song, by using chicken meat instead of pork. This makes the cabbage rolls a healthier, less-fattening dish.  Ingredients:

The filling:
1 oz bean thread noodles (cellophane)
3 dried wood ear mushrooms or shitake mushrooms, soaked
1 cup uncooked Vietnamese sausage, Gio Song, or ground pork
3 garlic, minced
1/2 cup white onions, minced
1 tbs fish sauce
1/2 tsp salt, pepper

Cabbage and Broth:
1/2 small white cabbage or about 10 outer leaves
10 onion chives or scallions, green part only
1/4 cup minced onions
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbs fish sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
4 cups water that use to blanch cabbage leaves
4 cups chicken broth
Garnish
Sliced green onion and chopped cilantro

Directions:
Soak cellophane noodles and wood ear mushrooms in warm water for 20 minutes. Drain. Coarsely chop these ingredients.
In salted boiling water, drop the cabbage leaves and cook for 1 minute. Remove.
In the same pot of boiling water, blanch the onion chives or green onions for a few seconds. Refresh both cabbages and onion chives with cold water. Drain.

To make filling:
In a mixing bowl, combine the filling ingredients and mix well.
Assembling the cabbage rolls:
Fill each cabbage leaf with a generous tbs of filling mixture.

Roll up the leaf to seal the filling.

Use the onion chives to tie around each roll to secure the leaf. Continues until all the cabbage leaves are rolled up.

Making the broth:
Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic. Sauté for 1 min. Season with salt, pepper. Add water and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add cabbage rolls. Turn the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with fish sauce and sugar.

Ladle the soup into a bowl. Garnish with green onions and cilantro. Serve with a bowl of rice or noodles.

Red Bean Congee

Red bean soup is the preferred soup in Asian cooking. Growing up with bean soup made me believe that this soup is Bean Soup for the Soul. The red bean soup traditionally uses Azuki bean. Asian people consume this soup during the winter season; My mom told me the mysterious red color of this soup had a power to chase evil away because the red color is a symbolic positive energy that can defeat negative energy. As an ancient medicine, this soup was believed to help cure the cold and also will be a good dish after overeating or drinking. Chinese restaurants serve this dish at the end of meals as a dessert. For me, Azuki red bean soup is very healthy for breakfast or anytime of day. Nothing is better than waking up to a bowl of piping-hot red bean soup.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup dried Azuki red beans, washed and drained
1/2 cup brown rice, washed and drained*
5 cups of water
1/2 tsp salt
A few strips of dried orange peels

Directions:
Put all the ingredients into a 5 qt crock-pot. Turn the crock-pot on low heat. Let it sit cooking overnight. Add more water in the morning if soup looks too thick. This soup can be eaten either sweet or savory.

*Replace with white rice or sticky rice, if preferred

Vegetarian Pizza

No matter what kind of pizza will be served, pizza dough should be made the day before because the flavorful, chewy quality of the dough develops more overnight. It also allows time to think about the toppings to be used. Guests will be impressed with different toppings for pizza. Just relax and enjoy the process.

Ingredients:
1 homemade pizza dough (6 inch or 8 inch diameter, your choice)
1/4 cup tomato sauce (homemade or store bought)
1/2 cup blanched, drained broccoli florets, 1 inch across
1/2 cup thinly-sliced white button mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomato
1/2 cup thinly-sliced red or white onions
1 cup mixed shredded mozzarella, fontina and Parmesan cheese
2 tsp chopped oregano leaves

Directions:
Place the pizza stone in the center of the oven and preheat to 500° 1 hour before cooking the pizza (I learned this tip while working at CPK).
Roll pizza dough out to about a 7 inches diameter.

 Spread 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce evenly over the surface of the dough (leave 1 inch around the rim). Cover the tomato sauce with 1/4 cup cheese. Distribute the onions and mushrooms on top of the cheese. Sprinkle about 10 strips of sun-dried tomato over the onions. Place about 10 broccoli florets over the other topping. Place 1/4 cup of cheese in the middle of the pizza.
Transfer the pizza to the oven. Bake until the crust is crisp and golden and the cheese at the center is bubbly--about 10 to 15 minutes.
Remove the pizza from oven and sprinkle with chopped oregano.

Pizza

Everybody loves pizza. As far as fast food goes, pizza is probably the most nutritious, especially when made at home using healthy ingredients like low-fat cheese, fresh vegetables, homemade tomato sauce, and whole-wheat flour for crust. Italians are proud of the ways they make pizza, and the experience for making pizzas can be somewhat overwhelming. Working at California Pizza Kitchen gave me a chance to learn how to make pizza dough and pizza sauces. A basic pizza is Classic Pizza Margherita, but pizza is a versatile food that allows for much creativity, such as experimenting with dough ingredients and different toppings. By using a bread machine to make the pizza dough, and then choosing the toppings, there are endless varieties of making pizzas.

Basic pizza dough
1 cup water
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
2tsp sugar
3 cups bread flour
2 tsp active dry yeast

Directions:
In a bread pan, place all the ingredients listed above in the order presented or follow the bread machine's instructions. Choose the pizza dough function, and press start. At the end of the kneading and rising cycle, remove the dough. Punch down on the dough with your fist and let rest for 10 minutes before shaping. Even though dough can be used immediately, the flavor will taste better if dough can rest in the refrigerator a few more hours or over night. Two hours before pizza is ready to assemble, remove dough from the refrigerator. Pizza dough will freeze well too.

Vietnamese Grilled Pork Chop

The Vietnamese pork chop has a signature just like Chinese Kung Pao chicken or BBQ sauce for Westerners. Of all the Asian sauces for marinating any kind of meat, I am most proud of the Vietnamese way of making this sauce. By adding a few more spices not found in other original pork chop recipes out there, I am especially confident, after countless combinations, that the recipe below achieves the best taste. Following this recipe will please the taste buds of even the most skeptical critics.
Ingredients:
3 lbs pork chops
Marinade sauce:
3 tbs sugar
3 tbs honey
3 tbs cooking wine (dry sherry, sake)
3 tbs fish sauce
3 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp salt
3 tbs teriyaki sauce
2 tbs oyster sauce
2 tbs chili sauce
2 tsp chili flake
1 tbs five-spice powder
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tbs mushroom seasoning
3 tbs shallots, minced
3 tbs garlic, minced
3 tbs lemongrass, minced
2 tbs black pepper
1/2 cup canola oil
Garnishes:
Cucumbers, tomatoes, pickled carrots, scallion oil*

Directions:
Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl. Place the pork chops in a Ziploc® bag, and pour the marinade over the chops. Put in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.
Grilling the pork chops:
When the marinating time is over, remove the pork chops from marinade. Turn on the charcoal grill and start grilling, or pork chops can be cooked indoors in a heavy sauté' pan. Serve with steamed rice or baguettes.

To make scallion oil:
2 scallions, green part only thinly slice. Put the oil, pinch of salt and onions into a frying pan and cook gently for 1 minute until the onions has wilted but not browned.

Blackberry Pie

Another free gift from nature if you are living in the Pacific Northwest is the blackberry, and making blackberry pie is as easy as pie.

Ingredients:
Two circles of pie dough*
5 cups blackberries
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
In a bowl, mix blackberries with tapioca, flour, 3/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Set aside.

Roll one dough into a 12-inch diameter circle. Then center it over and press into and filling a 9-inch pie plate. Pour the blackberries mixture into the pie plate. Roll another dough into a 9-inch circle. This dough can be placed on top of the pie either by making a criss-cross pattern by cutting the 9-inch circle into strips or simply covering the blackberry mixture and cutting a few split to vent. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of sugar on top, brush with egg wash, and use a piece of foil to cover the edges of pie to prevent from burning before the cooking time is done (see photo below).

Bake blackberry pie in pre-heated oven set at 400° for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the foil around pie 10 minutes before cooking time is done.

Homemade pie dough:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar (optional)
1/4 cup cold shortening
1/2 cup cold butter cut into cubes
1/4 cup ice-cold water
1/4 tsp salt

Whisk flour and salt a few times. Put flour and the rest of the ingredients, except the cold water, into food processor. Use the on and off function to mix. Add cold water and pulse a few times until the mixture forms into a ball. Turn dough out onto countertop. Use hands to shape into two 6-inch round balls. Use plastic to wrap the dough. Chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour or until ready to use.

The key to making a flaky pie is to keep everything cold. Just relax and enjoy the process; even though I failed so many times, I finally got it right.

*Roll one dough into a 12-inch diameter circle, and the other into a 9-inch diameter circle

Quick and Easy Refried Beans

What I have learned about the Mexican cuisine is that it is diverse and extraordinary. It has evolved from a complex of cultures. It began with the native Indians, who were later influenced after the Spanish conquest as well as other European rulers and influences. Most of the spices that are used for Mexican cooking are similar to what is used in Asian cooking. I love to make some simple Mexican dishes, and refried beans is the easiest one to make at home, which is preferable to buying a can in the store. Also, it can be made with any bean desired. If dried beans are used, then the beans need to soak overnight. They can be cooked with onions to flavor the beans until done and then blended in a food processor. Or the easy way is to use a can of beans.

Ingredients:
One 15 oz. can of beans (black, kidney or pinto)
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tbs fresh chopped thyme
1 tsp fresh chopped sage (optional)
1 tsp salt and pepper.
2 tbs olive oil
Directions:
Drain the beans and reserve 1/2 cup of the liquid. Blend the bean in a food processor. Set aside.

In a saucepan over medium heat, add oil, chopped onions, garlic, thyme, sage. Sauté' until fragrant. Add cumin, paprika, salt, pepper and bean stirring constantly until the liquid evaporates and the mixture has thickened. Remove from the pan and store in a container. Refired bean can be served as a nacho or corn chip dip or use it to make cheese and bean quesadillas.

Cheese & Bean Quesadillas

This recipe will satisfy hungry kids in the morning and is a good dish to get children to get involved in cooking. This cheese & bean quesadillas dish will be a star as a party appetizer.

Ingredients:
4 to 8 flour tortillas
Olive oil as needed
1 cup homemade refried beans
1/4 cup warm water
8 oz mix Mexican blended cheese
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup salsa
Directions:
In a bowl, place the refried beans into 1/4 cup of warm water.
In a light nonstick skillet, warm tortillas one by one. Remove from skillet and quickly spread with a warm layer of beans. Top each tortilla with another layer of cheese, onions, green onions, cilantro and a spoonful of salsa. Roll up tightly.

Just before serving, heat the nonstick skillet over medium meet and spray with some water. Add the tortilla rolls, cover the skillet, and heat thoroughly until the cheese melts. Tortillas can be a little brown (your choice).
Remove from skillet and slice each roll diagonally into 4 bite-size pieces. Serve with more salsa on the side.

The children might want to eat their tortillas without cutting them.

Croissants Dough

Although making croissants is so intimidating and time-consuming, it is well worth the effort with lots of Oohs! and Aahs! from your friends. No one has to be an expert to make this flaky, buttery dough. There are many good lessons on the Internet showing how to make croissants, but the secret that I learned from failing many times is the longer the dough is refrigerated before the final shaping, the flakier the croissants will be. Using a bread machine definitely helps making this croissant dough much easier than you think. Believed me, I am not an expert.

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
2 tbs dry milk powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbs soft butter or shortening
3 cups bread flour
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 sticks cold butter, thinly cut
1 egg white beaten

Directions:
In a bread pan, add all the ingredients in the order listed above except the 1 1/2 sticks of butter and egg white. Select the dough button on the bread machine and press start.
When the dough cycle is done, remove the dough from the bread pan. Place dough into an oily bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 40 minutes.
Roll dough out onto lightly floured surface into a 11" x 12" rectangle.

Place the cold butter in the center of the dough.

Fold dough over to cover butter completely.

Fold dough in half. (See photo).

Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for 40 minutes.

Place dough onto lightly floured surface. Use rolling pin to roll dough out again as previously. Then fold dough the same as the photo above. Refrigerate for another 40 minutes. Repeat these steps a total of five times, and this will result in flakier dough.
After these procedures, there are two options available: put the dough in the freezer for future use (it can be stored for a long time), or use the dough immediately to make croissants. Before baking, do the following:
First, roll the dough into a 15" x 12" rectangle.

Second, cut the rectangle in half lengthwise, resulting in two 15" x 6" rectangles.
Third, cut each of the 15" x 6" rectangles into four equal sized 3.75" x 6" new rectangles (8 total).
Finally, cut each of the 8 new rectangles diagonally, resulting in 16 triangles.

Roll each triangle into a crescent shape(see photo below).

Brush the croissants with the egg wash. The croissants can be baked immediately or covered with plastic wrap and kept in the refrigerator to be baked in the morning. 

Pre-heat oven to 400°. Bake for 15 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 325° and bake the croisants further for another 10 minutes

Kung Pao Chicken

Kung pao is a classic dish in the Szechuan cuisine, originating in the Szechuan Province in western central China. Kung pao chicken, beef, or pork is traditionally very popular in both Chinese and Westernized versions. Chicken is the primary ingredient marinated with shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and cornstarch. The marinated chicken is then cooked in hot oil in a wok with added Szechuan peppercorn, hot chili, and some vegetables, such as green onions, sweet peppers, and some peanuts or cashew nuts. The taste of this dish varies from sweet-sour, to salty, and all the way to very spicy because of the chili and Szechuan peppercorns. There is no substitute for the ingredients if you want to go traditional kung pao chicken because they do own their name. However, the Westernized version is very good too. Also, typical Chinese cooking is very oily. For that I have to make some changes to create a healthier version of Kung pao so my family can enjoy this dish without feeling guilty by consuming too much fat from oil. The first step in creating this dish is making some Kung pao sauce. Then this sauce is used to make Kung pao chicken.

Kung pao sauce ingredients:
1 cup good soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup minced garlic
1/4 cup minced ginger
2 tbs hot sauce (chili sauce)
2 tbs olive oil or peanut oil
3 tbs sesame oil

In a small sauce pan, sauté ginger, garlic until fragrant. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for another 10 minutes. Let the sauce cool, and store in a glass jar with lid in the refrigerator. It will be good in a month (you don't have to stand and watch it).

Kung pao chicken Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, skin off, cut into 1/2 inch dice
1 egg white
1 tbs cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt and pepper
2 tsp cooking wine (sake, shaoxing wine or dry sherry)
1/2 cup kung pao sauce
1/4 tsp Szechuan peppercorn
2 cloves garlic smashed
1/2 cup carrots cut into 1/4 inch rounds
1/2 cup celery cut into 1/2 inches dice
1 cup green onions sliced diagonally
1/4 cup roasted peanuts
3 dry chili peppers
1 jalapeno pepper cut 1/4 inch rounds (optional)
1 tsp cornstarch

Directions:
For the marinate:
Mix cooking wine, egg white, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Toss in the chicken and set aside for 30 to 60 min...
Combine kung pao sauce with 1 tsp cornstarch. Mix well and set aside.
Place oil in a wok over high heat. Add chili peppers and Szechuan peppercorn (if used). Sauté' until fragrant, being careful do not let it burn. Add chicken and cook until the chicken is golden brown. Use a wooden spoon to break the chicken apart. As soon as the chicken is separated, add carrots, celery and garlic. Sauté' for a few minutes or until the chicken is cooked thoroughly. Add kung pao sauce. Toss around until thickened. Throw in green onions and peanuts. Remove from heat and serve with steamed white rice.

Steamed fish

I love this recipe because it is healthy, fast and delicious!

Ingredients:
8 oz of fillet of fish(tuna, salmon, catfish)
1/8 tsp salt and pepper
1 tsp cooking wine(dry sheery, sake)

Sauce for steam fish:
3 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs black vinegar or balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp mushroom seasoning
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp canola oil
hot pepper(optional)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger, julienned
3 green oinions, cut 3 inchesirections:

Directions:
Marinate fish with salt,peper and cooking wine, set aside for a few minutes.
Place fish into large steamer over hight heat, steam fish for 15 minutes.
Combine soy sause, black vinegar, mushroom seasoning, set aside.
In a saute' pan, heat canola oil, add garlic, ginger cook until fragrant. Add sauce,green onions and sesame oil,and pour this mixture onto fish. Remove fish from steamer, and serve with a steam rice.

Bean Sprouts (Gia dau xanh)

Bean sprouts are generally germinated by soaking mung beans in water over night and keeping them in a dark place for a few days. The whole mung bean or green bean is used to make bean sprouts. They are very popular in Asian cuisines – from garnishes for almost any salad plate (dia rau song), for soups, for stir-frying, or for a filling in some fresh spring rolls or Lumpia (Filipino egg rolls). Because bean sprouts are not widely served in Western cuisines, they are quite expensive in American supermarkets. After many failed attempts to make bean sprouts from mung beans at home, by using simple equipment, I finally succeeded!
 
Ingredients:
1/4 cup dried whole mung beans
Enough water to cover the beans

Equipment:
One 10 inch black plastic bowl
Two 8 inch plastic colanders
2 pieces of white cloth or wash cloths
1 heavy object weighing about 2 lbs

Directions:
Soak the mung beans for 18 hours with enough water to cover them.
After soaking the beans overnight, wet both white cloths.
With one of the cloths, line the bottom of the colander.

Arrange the soaked mung beans in one layer.

Cover with the other white cloth.

Put another colander on top of the white cloth, and put the 2-lb. weight inside the top colander.

Find a dark place in your kitchen – perhaps the sink cabinet. Keep the mung beans there for 3 days. Twice each day, bring the mung beans out and water them with warm water. The result is amazing – 350 grams of bean sprouts. That is it!

Jelly Roll Blackbery Cake

.Jelly roll cake is sponge cake baked in a thin layer using the jellyroll cake pan. This basic jelly cake is super easy to make. This thin layer cake can then be filled with any kind of jam or ice cream to make a wonderful dessert to impress your friends. Blackberry is now in season here in the Pacific Northwest. Therefore, I will make this cake with blackberry jam.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour sifted
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs separated
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup blackberry jam

Icing:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter softened
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Pre heat oven to 375°
Grease a 15x10x1 inch jelly roll pan. Line with parchment paper and grease again. Set aside.
Divide sugar equally into two portions.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt.
With an electric mixer, whisk egg yolks and adding alternately the sugar and milk until achieving a pale yellow color. Add vanilla. Then sift flour into the whisked egg mixture.
In another clean bowl, with the electric mixer, whisk egg whites with sugar until stiff. Using a folding motion, fold the egg whites into the egg yolks. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Lift pan and tap lightly on countertop. Put in oven to bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the cake is golden.
Sprinkle powdered sugar on a kitchen towel. Invert the cake, remove the parchment paper, and roll up.

 Let the cake cool off.
Unroll the cake. Spread the icing and blackberry jam, and then roll up again. Put plastic wrap around the jelly cake, and refrigerate for 7 hours or overnight before serving. Sprinkle more powdered sugar on top.

Teriyaki Fish Stew

In my native country, Vietnam, stew recipes are quite salty because my large family of 12 would share about 16 oz of any kind of fish. My mom always made sure that all of us got fair share of the fish stew. Fortunately, we all now live in the United States where food is relatively inexpensive. Therefore, the stew recipe can be modified by using less salt and adding teriyaki sauce to bring more flavor out from the fish.

Stew liquid:

1/4 cup teriyaki sauce (homemade or store-bought)

1/4 cup Kombu stock (seaweed stock)

Ingredients:

One 8 oz. fillet of fish (tuna, salmon, or catfish)

1 tsp garlic, minced

1 tsp ginger, minced

2 tbs canola oil

1/2 cup sliced white onion

2 green onions cut 3 inches long

1 tsp black pepper

2 dried chili

Directions:

Heat oil in small clay pot over medium heat. Sauté' garlic, ginger and dried chili until golden brown, but not burned. Add the white onions at the bottom of clay pot. Top with fish and stew liquid. Sprinkle with black pepper, and let fish marinate for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, bring the stew to a boil. Simmer with the pot covered for 10 minutes. Remove the lid to cook fish for 10 more minutes or until the stew liquid is reduced in half. Just about 3 minutes before the cooking time is done, top with green onions and serve with a bowl of rice.

* This recipe serves 1 person. You can double or triple the stew liquid and fish for additional people as needed

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Cream of mushroom soup is an easy and delicious soup that both adults and kids love. The leftover soup, if any, can easily be transferred to different dishes, such as
baked chicken, fish or simple green bean casserole that will be enjoyed on Thanksgiving day. Learning to prepare this soup at home beats any brand of canned cream soup. Also, home preparation allows for controlling the amount of cream desired or using skim or low-fat milk to reduce calorie intake.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound of white mushrooms, cleaned, roughly chopped
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs butter
1 shallot minced
2 cloves garlic
1 tbs fresh thyme chopped or 1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt, black pepper
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup cream or half and half
1 cup milk
2 tbs all-purpose flour
Garnish with fresh chopped parsley

Directions:
In a food processor, add the coarsely chopped mushrooms and lemon juice.
Melt butter in sauce pan and sauté' shallot over medium heat. Add mushrooms and stir for 5 minutes or until the liquid released from mushroom disappears. Add flour to make a roux. Stir to keep the flour get burning. Add chicken stock, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add cream and continue over low heat. Cook mushroom soup for another 10 minutes . Taste the soup again. Add more salt, pepper or lemon juice as desired. Sprinkle chopped parsley and serve.

The Four Traditional Days of Buddhisim #4 (Bun bo Chay)

Seiten (mi can) and tofu are the main ingredients for meatless recipes. Seiten is a mock meat very common in Asian cooking. It takes quite some time to make mi can. Since more Americans are becoming vegetarians for healthy living, seiten has been introduced to this diet's recipes. You can make all kinds of meatless recipes by mastering the making the seiten first.
Here is a website that shows how to make seiten: http://vegetarian.about.com/od/cookingtipstools/ss/HowToSeitan.htm

Beef noodle soup or Bun bo chay is one of my favorites, and the secret to creating good soup always comes from the broth. Because this soup is not "real" beef, the seiten needs to cook in flavor broth with a lot of lemon grass, garlic and ginger. After the seiten is cooked, the broth drained can be used later.

Ingredients to cook seiten::
3 cups water + 2 cup vegetable broth
3 cloves garlic mashed
1 knob of ginger (about 1 inch)
2 stalks of lemon grass bruied
1 tsp salt
3 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
Add seiten to this broth. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until the seiten floats to the surface. Now you have the mock beef. Slice the beef and set aside.

Ingredients for beef soup:
10 cups of good vegetarian broth
4 stalks of lemongrass about 10 inches each, bruised
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs mushroom seasoning

Ingredients to make color:
2 tsp Korean chili powder
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
2 shallots chopped
3 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 hot dried chili
3 tbs oil

Ingredients for a bowl of soup:
Cooked rice noodles (follow direction from the package)
fried tofu
Fried  bean curd ( tau hu ki)
Vegetarian sausages(cha lua chay)
Thinly sliced onions
Green onions

Salad plate (dia rau song) with variety of fresh herbs such as: fish mints, basils, mints and cilantro

Directions:to make beef broth
Bring the vegetarian broth and lemon grass to a boil. Season with soy sauce, and then simmer for 50 to 60 minutes.

To make color for the soup:
In a 5 quart pot over low heat, add oil, shallots and dried chili powder. Sauté' for a few minutes. Add chopped tomatoes, sugar and salt. Let it cook until tomatoes release their color. Add sliced beef. Sauté' this mixture for another 5 minutes.

Assembling the soup:
Remove the lemon grass from the broth. Add the beef mixture to the broth, and let it simmer for another 10 minutes. Season again with soy sauce and salt before serving.

Assembling for a bowl of soup:
On the bottom of a bowl, put the cooked rice noodles. Top with a few slices of beef, fried tau hu ki, vegetarian sausages, thin- sliced onions and green onions. Ladle the broth and serve.

Cream of Brocoli Soup

Broccoli is in the cabbage family, high in vitamin C as well as fiber. Recently, some studies show that broccoli contains multiple nutrients, which are antibacterial and reduce the incidences of cancer. I love broccoli, but I don't think that all the good nutrients contained in this plant will help this vegetable be more appealing to children or some adults. However, cream of broccoli soup should definitely appeal to many broccoli skeptics. 
Ingredients:
1 lb broccoli florets
2 tbs butter
1 tbs canola oil
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped sweet onions
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups of cream or half-and-half
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbs soy sauce

Garnish: chopped parsley

Directions:
Melt butter and oil over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and carrots. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent browning. Add chicken broth and bring to boil. Add broccoli florets, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes or until broccoli is tender. In a food processor, blend the broccoli in batches. Return broccoli to the pot and add cream. Season with salt, pepper and soy sauce over low heat. Further cork for a few minutes. Ladle into soup bowl and garnish with parsley.

The Four Traditional Days of Buddhism #3 (Okara bread)

Okra oak wheat bread

Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm milk
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tbs sugar
2 tbs margarine, oil or butter
1 egg
1 cup Okara (the soybean cooked after making soymilk or tofu)
1/2 cup oak meal
1/2 cup wheat flour
3 cups bread flour
2 tsp active yeast

Directions:
Place the ingredients in the water listed above into a bread pan and press dough cycle to start, or you can follow your bread machine's instruction manual.
After the machine finishes mixing, kneading, and rising, remove the dough from the bread pan. Use your fist to punch the dough to remove some air. Shape the bread dough and lightly oil a 13 x 4 in. or 10 x 5 in. loaf pan. Cover with damp kitchen towel and let rise for another 40 minutes or until it nearly doubles in size.
Pre heat the oven to 375° and bake bread for 30 to 40 minutes.

Crab and Mini-Scallops Fried Rice

Every time I am feeling lazy, crab fried rice is the dish that I want to prepare. Also, it is a dish that can be prepared from the left over rice cooked a day or two before. Because the crab meat is already cooked, the mini scallops will not take to much time to prepare; therefore, dinner will be severed in flash!

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked crab meat
1 cup mini scallops
2 eggs lightly beaten
3 cups day-old cooked steamed rice
1/4 cup carrots cut into small cubes
1/4 cup frozen corn thawed
1/4 cup sweet onion cut into cubes
3 garlic cloves smashed
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbs soy sauce
1/4 tsp white pepper
3 green onions thinly sliced
2 tbs canola oil
1 tsp butter
Garnishes:
Tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro and Vietnamese dipping sauce*
Directions:
In a large wok over high heat, add 1 tsp of butter and cook the scallops for a few minutes. Add cooked crab meat. Mix to combine. Remove and set aside.
In the same wok, add oil, white onion and garlic. Sauté' until it releases the fragrance. Stirring occasionally, throw in carrots and corn and continue cooking for a few minutes. Adding seasoning throughout each step will ensure all the mixture has been seasoned.
Remove and set aside.
Use a paper towel to wipe the wok clean. Add the rest of the oil into the wok. Add rice. Using a wooden spoon, coat every grain of rice with oil. Cook for a few minutes. Then move the rice off to the side of the wok. Pour the beaten egg into the wok. Turn the heat down, and let the egg set for a few seconds before scrambling. Put the rice back to coat with the scrambled egg. Bring back the crab, scallops and the carrots, corn mixture. Cook together with rice for a few more minutes. Sprinkle with green onion and serve.

*To make the dipping sauce, you need:
2 tbs fish sause
2 tbs water
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp lime juice
1 Birds Eye chilies thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced

Quick Banana Bread

When you're looking for something quick, easy, and delicious to prepare for a treat or for breakfast, quick banana bread is one of the easiest to please most people. Because quick bread doesn't require yeast, instead use some other leavener, such as baking powder or baking soda, and you don't have to wait for the bread to rise so that you can make this bread very much any time of the day. Also, this is one of the recipes that the beginner cook, such as me, should try without fear of failing or discouragement.
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
4 oz apple sauce
1/3 cup oil or margarine
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
1/4 cup chopped walnuts optional)

Directions:
Pre heat oven at 350°, butter a 10 x 5 inch loaf pan and set aside.
In a medium-size mixing bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
In another mixing bowl whisk egg, sugar, apple sauce and oil together.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until they just combine. Do not over mix it.
Pour batter into the prepared pan, and bake in the oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until the toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Serve warm

The Four Traditional Days of Buddhism #2

Vegan pâté (pâté chay)

Ingredients:
1 lb firm tofu drained (about 1 block of tofu)
2 cups chopped mushrooms (use baby portabella, button, and king oyster)
1/2 cup white onion rough chopped
1 leek sliced (white part only)
2 tbs dry milk powder
1 tbs cocoa powder
1 tbs cornstarch
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp sugar
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp salt and pepper
1 tsp mushroom seasoning
2 tbs melted butter

Directions:
In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté' the onions and leak until golden. Add the mushrooms. Season with salt, pepper, and mushroom seasoning. Cook for a few minutes until the mushrooms begin softening. Remove from skillet and let it cool off.
In a food processor, combine the mushroom mixture, tofu, dry milk, cocoa powder, cornstarch. Blend until all the ingredients are mixed well.
Pour the mixture into a small baking dish or bowl. Sprinkle with black pepper on top.
Spray oil over the tofu mixture. Cover with plastic. Steam over high heat for 15 minutes. Pour the melted butter on top. Serve the pâté with baguette. This pâté freezes well