The Coffin

Coffins - One life, all have died

There is a famous morality monk named Vuong thu Trung, the abbot of the temple in Suzhou. He exhibited a small coffin on the reading table.
This coffin lid opened and closed again, about 3 inches long.
The questions asked by his brethren: - What does this coffin mean?

The monk explained:

- People have lived and all of them have died or will die. After we die, we will lie in coffins like this one. I am surprised to see why people spend a  lifetime worrying and strenuously chasing after  wealth, fame, tastes, and talent, but no one tries to know what death is. When things are not like what I want, I immediately look at the coffins. Immediately, my mind is calm, and all anxiety and sorrow quickly vanish.
This coffin provides a valuable lesson about morality.

- When you are suffering from a lack of money, and experience business losses, try to imitate the monk, Viên Thủ Trung, looking at the coffin. The Word of God from 2,000 years ago still echoes somewhere: "Source Oh! If I this night catch your soul, shall the wealth piled up there, whom you'll leave it for?" (Lk. 12, 20-21).

- Whenever you feel bored and disappointed because of the treacherous coast, the coffin reminds us that people will be in there and no one will again be lovelorn or abandoned. 

- When you are intoxicated with the power of winning, or vice versa, or upset by the loss of power or the loss of function, the coffin will remind you that all the kings and governors on the earth must surrender and lie quietly just like the poorest people in the society.
- Whenever you see  unfair, hateful, jealous, or injustice in circles your life imagine yourself becoming a person who lies in the coffin, where there are no longer trumpets, nor scrambling and humiliating one another. These excellent lessons of the casket are for the rich, the poor, and the suffering in the world,  as well as for those who cannot and do not. Death is a symbol of equality and a sign of peace. Look down at the ground in the cemetery. Everyone there, regardless of wealth or civil division, is located in a straight line path, evenly and quietly, so that the body penetrates and dissolves the dirt.

MS Truong Van Sang.
Go to Coi Nguon to read the Vietnamese version
 

A Story of a Streak of Tigers

This story is about a woman fleeing a streak (group) of tigers. She ran and ran forever, but the tigers were closing in on her. When she reached the edge of a cliff, she saw some vines, so she climbed down and clung to them tightly. Looking down, she saw a few other tigers waiting below. At the same time, she found a mouse was gnawing the vines to which she was clinging. At that moment, she saw a small cluster of beautiful fresh strawberries so close. The fresh strawberries emerged from a clump of grass. The woman looked up, then looked down, and looked at the mouse. Then she broke off a strawberry and put it in her mouth and slowly enjoyed the strawberry flavor even though there were tigers below and above her, and her clinging vine was in danger of being broken.
This was the toughest situation of life and death that any of us may ever face. Maybe this might be the only remaining moments of our lives. It might be the only strawberry that we can enjoy. We can choose to despair in that situation, or we suddenly awaken to enjoy the fun and feel the preciousness of every moment that we are alive. Please cherish and enjoy every second of your life.

Life can be filled with great splendor, but it can also be more miserable and unhappy. Feel the beauty and grandeur of gratitude to support and encourage our life and to open for us a wide landscape that is more beautiful filled with but more energy for us to live happily. We should feel inclusive, but if we feel smug and are filled with self-esteem and hold contempt for others, we will feel that we are the center of the universe and want to be like that forever. Then the splendid will be gone and be mixed with craving and addiction. On the other hand, the suffering aspects of our lives will make us more humble, as well as softer.
Knowing and feeling pain is an important factor to be able to be present for someone else. When you are feeling sorrow, you can look straight into the eyes of people because you have nothing to lose - you are just being there. Suffering makes us humble and gentle, but if we only feel bad, we will collapse from a stroke. We will be desperate, depressed, and sad. Therefore, we will not even have strength to bite into a strawberry. Beauty, splendor, misfortune, and misery are adjacent to each other. One aspect was inspired to raise us up, the other was to make us suffer and be softer, both of them are aspects of life in parallel.

Source from the Internet

 

Vegetarian Fried Spring Rolls (Chả Giò Chay)

I previously wrote about these vegetarian fried spring rolls or sometimes called egg rolls, but this time I wanted to change a few ingredients in this recipe. Indeed, egg rolls, whether vegetarian or meaty, are a very easy snack to make that please guests in every party. Vietnamese egg rolls always occupy a special place on the list of the famous dishes of Asian cuisines. My vegetarian egg rolls are always a favorite dish at the start of the party. Also, the ingredients that I carefully chose are used to make these special egg rolls. Even though this is a dish of fried food, I too want to enjoy occasionally its crispy taste and the sweetness of root vegetables that is interspersed throughout to form these unique Vietnamese egg rolls.
 
Ingredients:
2 oz thin rice vermicelli, soaked and chopped
8 oz medium firm tofu , thickly slice 

1 small acorn squash, peeled and steamed
1 large Japanese yam, peeled and steamed
1 cup cooked mung beans
1 cup sweet corn
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 small sweet onion, minced
5 cups mixed fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 cups shredded cabbage
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 shallots, minced
Salt, pepper, sugar, and soy sauce, to taste
2 eggs
Assembling and frying
1 to 2 package egg roll wrappers (about 30 pieces)
Peanut oil for frying
Directions:
To prepare the filling:
In a food processor, Add  sweet corn , then pulse a few times. Place this mixture into a large mixing bowl. Use potato masher to mash steam Japanese yam and steam squash and put into a bowl with corn,

In a large nonstick pan add 1/4 cup of peanut oil and pan fry tofu both side until golden brown, Slice fried tofu into a match stick and add to the corn mixture

 

 

 

In a large nonstick pan, add 2 tbs oil. Add garlic and shallots and cook until fragrant. Add mushrooms and cook until wilted.

Combine the mushrooms with the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Season with salt, sugar, soy sauce and black pepper.

Use the 2 egg yolks add to the filling and the egg white for sealing the egg rolls.

To assemble the rolls:
Peel and separate the egg roll wrappers piece by piece and set aside.

Place one wrapper sheet flat on the countertop.

Put 1 tbs of filling on the center of the wrapper.

 Fold both sides of the wrapper into the center to cover the filling.

 Press and fold the bottom of the wrapper over the center of the folded portion to form a compact rectangle.

Roll tightly from the bottom to the top to completely enclose the filling. Continue until all of the mixture is used.

To fry the rolls:
Pour 2 inches of peanut oil into a fry skillet. Heat the oil to 350°. Work in small batches, and do not crowd or let rolls touch each other.

 Fry over moderate heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown.

Remove the rolls with tongs and place onto paper towels to absorb oil. If intending to serve soon, then keep fried rolls warm in a low temperature oven. 
Traditionally spring rolls are served with a plate of Vietnamese salad and sweet soy dipping sauce.

 

 

 

 

 

Baked Tuna with Orange Juice & Soy Sauce

Having the maximum taste and nutrition with a few ingredients is the goal that I try to reach every time I create a new recipe. Cooking especially for just two is another challenge when preparing a nutritious meal without wasting ingredients when selecting among some ingredients that are on hand before mixing them together. Baked fish is an easy dish to prepare to achieve this task with maximum enjoyment during the process.

Ingredients:
Two 6 oz. tuna or tilapia fillets
1/4 cup diagonally sliced scallions
Sauce Ingredients:
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs soy sauce
1 minced garlic clove
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp hot chili paste (Korean or Vietnamese)
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbs peanut oil

Directions:
Combine all the sauce ingredients and mix well.
Place tuna on a baking dish and top each tuna with scallions. Divide the sauce equally and pour on top of the tuna. Sprinkle each tuna with 1/2 tsp of sesame seeds.

Bake in a preheated oven set to 400° for 20 minutes. Serve with steamed vegetables and hot cooked rice.

Sweet Potato Turkey Soup

I like to prepare this soup after Thanksgiving Day because of all the leftovers from the turkey, and its bones are perfect for this soup. Also, the extra sweet potatoes that we bought will be used to make this soup. The carrots and celery from the tray of vegetables will contribute to this soup, as well.  After a big meal, a cup of this simple soup will make me feel a lot better.

Ingredients:
5 cups turkey broth
1 can of stewed tomatoes, drained and puréed
2 cups of sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup celery, sliced
1 cup sweet onions, diced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tbs fresh thyme, chopped
3 cups of leftover turkey meat, cubed
1 tbs olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt and pepper
Directions:
In a medium nonstick pot, add oil, carrots, celery, onions,mushrooms and garlic.

Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently for 5 minutes or until all the vegetables are wilted. Add Stock,  puréed tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and fresh thyme and stir to combine.

 

Bring to boil, and reduce heat to simmer until the sweet potatoes are tender (about 10 to 20 minutes). Add turkey to the pot and stir to combine.

 Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat soup thoroughly and serve.

The Promise ...

The Promise ...
Both are age 17. As patients in the same hospital, they meet while strolling, and in one eye blink, two young hearts throbbed as one. They read deep emotional feelings in each other's eyes. They read in each other's eyes a passionate love, and from that day they were not alone anymore.
Until one day, both are informed that their illnesses are no longer curable. Before each of their families welcomed them home, they sat together one evening, meeting together to overcome fate ... .They promised to write to each other every week two letters to bless and encourage one another each day. Then they parted.
Three months passed swiftly, and the girl’s health became increasingly frail. One day while holding a letter sent to her by the boy, a peaceful, serene, open mouth smile was fixed on her face while her frantic mother called her name. but the girl was gone. The mother removed the letter from her daughter’s hand and read: "... when fate toyed with your life, you should not be afraid because you are always there beside me and everyone cares for you. I am gradually becoming healthy, and I will come to see you one day soon, and you will not be lonely.”
The next day, the mother opened the daughter’s cabinet and discovered several dozen letters written by her daughter, in addition to envelopes and stamps. On top of these letters is a letter the girl wrote to her mother: "Mom, this is the letter I wrote to my boyfriend when we came together to promise to each other all remaining lifetimes together, but I found myself becoming quickly weaker, and I am afraid that I cannot keep that promise. I have probably already written these letters; however,  every week, please help me to send these letters to him  because I want to leave him thinking that I am still alive and encouraging him to rise above his illness. I just want him to have enough confidence to live”.
Her mother located the address on the cover letter to the boy. When she entered this house, she saw on the table a photograph of a young man, looking full of vitality and vigor, fringed with black ribbon. She was amazed when the young man’s mother said the boy had gone one month ago.
The young man’s mother had tears in her eyes and pointed to all the letters neatly arranged in order on the alter next to his photo and said, "I lost my son one month ago, but before leaving, he spent three days and three nights to write these letters. He asked me send one every week to his girlfriend because that girl was looking forward to encouragement from him to fight her illness. From that day, on requests of my son, I was sending these letters out each month, not knowing that the girl would receive them".
After understanding the meaning of these letters, both mothers cried without a sound. Both of them decided to still send one letter to each other weekly that their children had intended to send. They felt it necessary to do so because of one lofty aspiration.

 

 

Asian Flare Cranberry Sauce

Every year when Thanksgiving comes, I always cook the turkey, and never does my family table lack a cranberry sauce dish. This sauce is very easy to make and hard to get wrong. This year, will prepare this sauce to have the taste of Asia, because, after all, I am Vietnamese. I will introduce a new way to bring this dish to another level with the taste of ginger, cinnamon, and anise, which are the spices that are used in most Asian cooking. I also will cut back on the volume of sugar used in this dish to compromise for the tangy, sour taste of cranberries. By doing that, I added honey, Fuji apples, and Asian pears to bring out a natural sweetness. I hope this cranberry sauce remains the forever sauce, not just for Thanksgiving, but for every day.

Ingredients:
12 oz. fresh cranberries
1 fresh orange, peeled, cored, and diced
1 Asian pear, peeled, cored, and diced 
1 Fuji apple, peeled, cored and diced
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp salt
2 tsp fresh ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground clove
1/8 tsp ground star anise
1 cup water

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, combine all the ingredients and cook on low heat until the cranberries burst and the sauce is thickened. Remove and place in a jar. 

 

24-Hour Essentials, Priorities

24-Hour Essentials, Priorities

CONSCIOUS BREATHING
In the morning when we wake up, we believe that we have twenty four hours to live. It is a precious gift. Learn how to live with peace and happiness in the twenty-four hours and teach others as well, so that there is peace and happiness.
Peace is in our presence right here at this moment, in every material thing we touch, every job we do, or things we see. The problem is that we did not know peace exists. With blue sky in front of us, we do not have to go far to enjoy the blue sky. We also do not need to leave the city, if we can see the beauty in the eyes of a child. Enjoying the fresh air that we breathe can tell us how happy we are then.
By letting ourselves go while standing, breathing, smiling and eating, we are always in contact with the wonderful around us. We properly arrange and prepare for our future life but every day is not good in the way we live. We will easily sacrifice ten years to earn a degree to become engineers or doctors, and are willing to work very hard to get good jobs, to buy a house, buy a car, etc., but we forget to live each present moment and can only truly live in each moment. After just waking up, each of us need to breathe and enjoy every step as a source of peace, which can tell us how to have fun and serenity.

Peace in every step. Let us hold hands and walk one step at a time on the long relaxing road disengaged.

Translated from the Introduction of the book "AN LẠC TỪNG BƯỚC CHÂN" by the Zen master 
  Thích Nhất Hạnh

Knowing about living life

Knowing about living life is not just eating breathing, but we must "learn to live". Living a long and beautiful life is everyone's dream, but how to get there? Want to live a long and beautiful life? We need to practice these following deep thoughts:

- Keep a calm mind before all the changes of life.
- Do not start anger and hatred for anything that happens to us.
- Do not become amorously interested in people belonging to others.
- Do not start in your heart and mind to damage plants and animals.
- Living with truth in your heart, even if life is not perfect.
- Living sober, not competing, even passion about life jostled.
- Eat with moderation.
-Knowing how to practice meditation every day. Meditation is going to walk with your mind calm and quiet. Travel without thinking of the destinations wholeheartedly in every step.
- Practice smiling with flowers and children every day.
- Do not listen and tell the story in vain.
- Make efforts to do what you think is best. Avoid regret and keep the mind relaxed while working.
- Practice smiling at the joys and sorrows of the past when they appear within our mind when we sit alone in silence.
- Do not compare yourself to other people. Since karmic retribution in this world is not the same but it is different from one to another, so we do not have to compare. Always have positive thinking about the good and the efforts that make life so beautiful, and make it become a reality in our lives, in the many different forms of life.
- Do not pay attention to the bad things of other people, because man is not perfect. When you let a bad thought enter your mind, it will create bad seeds, and will grow other bad things, making your mind cloudy and making you lose face in holiness.
- You have to know how to practice listening and learning. Learning from life and listening to the change from the feeling and operate from the seed in  mind, and in every breath of  consciousness have the ability to know, what we do not want others do to yourself,  must never do to others.
- Life usually does not last 100 years and only exists in every breath, so we have to live beautifully, wholeheartedly, and carefree in our every breath. For every breath we have the ability to take us to a noble life. Human lives are considered a waste, because they waste within their own existences.
- We must nurture a sense to live. If not conscious of this, you will be feeling as a lonely fool and will starve to death in that feeling.
- Do not mind struggles start with anyone in this world, because in this world no one is number one, and nobody is even important at all. All numbers of importance and hallucinations just fall out and change.
- Practice to see the impermanence of all things, so know no one lives in the midst of bad and good unduly, because bad things in life are good in themselves and often change as fate. Do not allow one's life to fall into the trap of hope or despair excessively.
- Practice the ability of self-knowledge and its limits in time to treat people and all things, so as not to fall into the regrettable mistake, which later leads to remorse.
-  Do practice what is a good investment in our minds and in our lives, it is well invested, significant, and most enduring.
- Know that the investment and business for our mind is good in our consciousness of investments, making it the only capital to grow out of our lives, before beginning the business in any field of social profit.
- Practice good thinking every day when the sun rises and after it sets.
-Know every day how to spend an hour to practice doing difficult things to do, in order to foster the will and determination in us. Maintain willpower and energy to help us overcome difficulties and to succeed in life.
- Do not canonize yourself and do not let anyone canonize you, but no how to create the conditions for the holy seed in  your mind to express, and  everyday make the holy seed in others arise.
- Do not talk about ethics or compassion, but show compassion and live the moral right of action towards other people and in all things.
- Living a long and beautiful life is always nourished by the simplicity of love.

Source : Internet

Crusty Cranberries Baked Salmon

Most of the delicious dishes are easy to implement by using fish fillets. According to some studies, I just know cranberries have a very good health benefit for the body. For that, why not use this small beautiful bright red fruit every day either fresh in the fall or dried throughout the year. The characteristic of sour and sweet blends very well with the fat in salmon and can help reduce everyday stress that we are dealing in our lives. For casual cooking daily, I always look forward to introducing  a new simple dish from which I can contribute some small advice to everyone to pay more attention to food intake. This fruit could contribute to good mental health as well as physical.

 Ingredients:
Two 8 oz. salmon fillets
Juice and zest of one lemon
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp Cayenne
2 garlic cloves
1 tbs low-fat mayonnaise
2 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley and thyme
1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°.
In a food processor, blend cranberries and garlic. Remove and add green onions (blend a few times).
In a mixing bowl, combine diced cranberries, green onions, garlic, parley-thyme, all the lemon zest and half of the lemon juice, salt, pepper, Cayenne, and mayonnaise. Blend well. Add panko and mix well.
In small bowl, add oil and the rest of lemon juice.
Using a pastry brush, brush fish well on both sides with oil and lemon juice mixture. Divide the cranberries mixture and top over fish. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the topping is golden brown. Serve with steamed vegetables, such as broccoli and asparagus.

 

The Definition of a Wife.

Definition of a wife

-The Farmer: The wife is old barren piece of land that although we continue to plow and try to cultivate, no one wants to buy.

- The Teacher: She is a dull student, asked just one sentence repeatedly, forever.

- The seller of lottery tickets: Wife is a lottery ticket that when first bought, everyone hopes to hit the jackpot.

- The philosopher: She is an independent entity existing outside of me –  my unintended. Wife is categorical, indicating the only fear of man.

- Physicist: She can transform from one form to another, from one form to her husband out of the house to form tassels to bruises, she forms the basis for man to dig a big grave and to jump out of a tall building.

- Economist: She is banking lawlessness, not rules: Send in is easy, it is difficult to withdraw, but what cannot be sued.

- In terms of assets: The wife is something very old that cannot be liquidated.

- Sociologist: She is individual liberty, volunteering to live with us, but always accusing us of losing her freedom, and if we try to return her freedom, she refuses to have it back.

- Archaeologist: She is an antique that devaluates with time.

But ultimately, men cannot live without her.

Seafood & Udon Noodles Soup

Udon noodles soup comes with so many recipes and different dashi stock. While I was waiting at the Japan airport, I order Nabeyaki Udon soup with seafood topping. It is thick udon noodles soup that is topped with a variety of chicken, tempura shrimp or fish cake. After tasting this soup, I thought that I could create this simple soup for myself at home because the dashi stock is the basic broth to make any kind of udon soup. The easiest dashi stock is the one using dried kelp and Katsuobushi powder or Bonito flakes (shaved tuna). I am not an expert in Japanese cooking, but I love the Japanese cuisine for its simplicity and healthy benefits. I hope that someday I will create many more easy Japanese recipes. Today, I will make this udon soup to remember my trip to Vietnam.

Ingredients:
Ingredients for the vegetarian dashi stock:
6 cups water
5” x 5” dried kelp

1/2 cup Bonito flakes

Ingredients for the udon soup:
All the dashi stock
Seafood of your choice: cod fillet, shrimps, squid etc..
1/4 cup daikon
1 carrot, sliced
4 shitake mushrooms, soaked in water, and sliced
1 leek, white part only, washed and sliced
3 eggs
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
2 tbs miring (sweet cooking wine)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 tsp salt
12 oz fresh udon

Directions:
To make Dashi stock:
Soak the kelp in 5 cups of water for 1 hour. After soaking kelp, bring water to just beginning to boil.

Remove from heat and add A needle flakes. Let sit for 1 hour then drain the stock over a coffee filter.
To make Udon soup:
Pour dashi stock into a soup stock. Add carrots, daikon , mushrooms, garlic, and ginger. Bring to boil and season with soy sauce, salt, and miring. Simmer for 5 minutes.

 Add seafood of your choice (if using different varieties of seafood, cut into bite size pieces). Skim off any residue that rises to the top. Add fresh Udon noodles and leeks. At this point, either carefully poach the eggs  or fry the eggs sunny side up and place on top of the serving bowl. Serve.

Coconut Milk Eggs Curtard

Each country has its own recipe for this kind of ordinary quiche. This common type of custard is widely popular among people. The Asian recipes call for this cake to be formed into small shapes, but in the West, the cakes are prepared in the form of a pie and cut into pieces to serve. Whether as a small shape or a pie, this is a cake that I prefer and moreover it is very easy to prepare. There is nothing better than a piece of egg custard served with a cup of fragrant steaming tea.

Ingredients:
1 unbaked prepared pie crust (homemade or store-bought)
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups coconut milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 drops of yellow food color (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°.
In a medium saucepan, add coconut milk and sugar and heat until the sugar is dissolved. Add vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, and food color.
Add the milk mixture into the beaten eggs. Whisk well. Pour the batter through sieve to prevent any lumps. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting. 

 

 

 

Tuna Baked with Teriyaki Sauce

One of many sauces in the Asian cuisine is Teriyaki. This sweet sauce with a hint of garlic and ginger is a must have in the kitchen. Of course, a bottle of teriyaki sauce is always sold in the grocery store, but homemade teriyaki is what I always prefer. It is very easy to make, and all the chemicals that come with the commercially sold sauce are avoidable. Some teriyaki sauces are very sweet, but the one I make at home has much less sugar.

Ingredients:
Two 8 oz. tuna fillets
Green onions, chopped
Sauce ingredients:
1/2 cups unseasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbs sugar
1 tbs honey
Two garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp fresh chopped ginger
1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tsp water

Side dish:
Sweet cucumber and radish pickles

Directions:
Combine all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and bring to boil. Simmer for 5 minutes and let cool.
In a baking dish, place tuna and pour teriyaki sauce on top. Bake in a preheated oven set to 375° for 15 minutes, Top with green onions and bake for anther 3 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with 1 tsp of roasted sesame seeds.
Serve with hot cooked rice and sweet cucumber and radish pickles.

To make pickles:
2 oz. English cucumbers, thinly sliced
2 oz. white radish, thinly sliced
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tbs sugar or more
1/8 tsp salt

Place the cucumber slices and radish slices in a bowl.
Bring the vinegar, sugar, salt, and water to boil and pour over the slices. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Add some chili flakes, if desired.