Fish Balls Soup (Bún Chả Cá Nha Trang)

I got the inspiration for this recipe by reading an article about Nha Trang. This was named by tourists as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. I left Vietnam in 1984 and have not been back to visit. My oldest sister, Phương, has a home at Củ Chi, and she has been frequently a tourist in Viet Nam. She told me about Nha Trang and pressed that I should come back and enjoy the city as a tourist of Vietnam. Most of the people living at Nha trang are fisherman. It does not surprise me because Nha Trang has a 3000 kilometer coastline with a white sand beach, and fishing will be the main job at Nha Trang. Like most meals that are created by all of the fresh seafood that are caught each day, the one that I learned is the fish balls soup. My sister talked about this soup and how wonderful it is to enjoy a bowl of soup with knowing that the fish are fresh from the ocean. Even though I have not tasted this soup yet, having read most of the tourists comments about how wonderful this soup is whether served in a restaurant or simply on the street, I believe it is true because of the freshness of the fish and the ambiance. I can imagine myself walking on the white sand beach, feeling the breeze of the ocean on my face and body, and later being fed with a bowl of Bún Chả Cá Nha Trang. Some recipes for this soup are clear broth and some have a red color that comes from anata seeds. Whichever broth is used, it should not change the taste nor the way to prepare this soup. Most of the time, because of the busy lifestyles that we have created for ourselves, we forget that happiness is a small thing. It is right in front of our eyes. We just need to wrap it up and enjoy, and for me making Bún Chả Cá Nha Trang today is a good thing.

Ingredients:
1 lb. fish paste, homemade or store-bought
8 oz tuna fish and tilapia, cut into chunks
2 shallots, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 green onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 large tomatoes, cut into wedges
2 cups pineapple, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 white onion, sliced
8 cups chicken broth

Serve with:
Cooked rice noodles (follow the instructions on the package)
Vietnamese vegetable plate, adding banana blossoms and ong choi
Lemon, fresh hot chili, and fish sauce for dipping
Green onions and cilantro, chopped for garnish

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, combine fish paste, salt, sugar, fish sauce, garlic, shallots, and chopped green onions and mix well. Roll the fish paste into small balls. Divide the fish balls into two portions and flatten half of the balls into small cakes about 1/4 inch thick.
In a small sauté pan, add some oil and fry the fish balls until golden brown. Remove form the pan.

 

 

In a same sauté pan, add a little more oil, if needed. Sprinkle tuna and tilapia fish with some salt and black pepper. Pan fry them 2 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove and set aside. You can make this step just 5 minutes before the soup is done

In a medium pot over medium heat, add some oil. Add white onion and chopped tomatoes ( take a few wedges of tomatoes and chop them).

Cook until tomatoes are soft, and add some chili flakes to make the red color for the broth. Add the pineapple. Stir and cook for a few minutes so that the pineapple is relieved of its sweetness.

 Add broth to the pot and bring to boil.

Drop the fish balls and the tomatoes into the broth. Bring back to boil and cook for 3 minutes.

 

 

 

Add fried fish balls to the soup. Season the soup with salt and fish sauce. Simmer the soup for another 5 minutes.

To serve the soup:
Place cooked noodles on the bottom of soup bowl. Divide the fried fish equally– some fried fish balls and cooked fish balls – for each guest. Ladle the broth, some tomatoes, and pineapple over the soup bowl. Sprinkle with chopped green onions and cilantro. On the side, serve the Vietnamese vegetables plate and a small bowl of chili dipping sauce.

Baked Hake with Mushrooms and Capers

Hake fish is a mild-flavored white fish that has a similar texture to cod or sea bass. Hake has high protein, and it is rich in potassium, calcium, and phosphorus.  Hake is a lean fish with a delicate flavor. A 5 oz. serving size from the Kirkland brand at Costco is the perfect size for each person with some soup or salad. Eating fish is much healthier than meat, and this fish is economical to add on the family menu. It could easily replace cod, tuna, or sea bass, which are much more expensive. Hake can be baked, grilled, roasted, poached, or even for making fish paste. I have a simple recipe to bake hake today. This recipe never fails and gets a lot of compliments every time I use it.

Ingredients:
Two 5 oz. hake loins (Kirkland)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
1 cup sliced white onions
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp capers, chopped
1 tbs lemon juice
1/2 cup red wine
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs soy sauce

Fresh dill for garnish

Directions:
In a medium sauté pan, add oil. Sauté the onion and garlic until fragrant. Add mushrooms and capers. Cook for 3 minutes. Add red wine. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the red wine is reduced in half. Remove from heat.

Place hake on a baking dish seasoned with soy sauce, pepper, lemon juice, and 1 tsp of olive oil.

Top each fish with mushrooms-capers sauce. B

Bake in preheated oven set to 400° for 15 minutes. When finished, remove from oven and serve.

 

 

Meatballs Soup

My friend is leaving town tonight, and I already invited her to my house for dinner before she goes on her vacation. I am thinking about making some light supper and what comes to my mind is an Italian wedding soup. I read a few recipes for this soup; it is simple to make. My friend has been on her special diet for months now, so I have to create my own recipe for this soup to fit her diet. Most of the recipes for this soup are using ground beef and pork to make meatballs, and some use quite a lot of cheese and beef broth. I came up with this version of Italian meatballs wedding soup to send my friend off on her vacation with a healthy, hearty soup and surrounded with good friends. 

Ingredients:
For the meat balls:
1/2 lb. ground chicken
1/2 lb. ground turkey
1 tbs fresh parley, chopped
1 tbs fresh basil, chopped
1/2 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup white onions, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg
For the soup:
2 quarts of chicken broth
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1 lb. fresh baby spinach, washed
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp chili flakes
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 eggs, beaten

Oil for frying meatballs

Directions:
To make meatballs, combine all the meatball ingredients together and mix well.

Use a small ice cream scoop to form a meatball.

In a medium skillet, add oil. When oil is hot, fry meatballs until cooked, but not too brown. Remove and set aside.

In a medium pot, add some oil, onions, chili flakes, and garlic, until fragrant. Add broth to a pot and carrots. Bring to boil and simmer for a few minutes.

Add the meatballs back into the simmering broth. Season with salt and pepper.

Bring the broth back to boil again.

 Check to see if the ccarrots are tender, then add the spinach.

Let the soup boil for 1 minute and turn the heat off. Pour beaten eggs into the soup using a fork to swirl around clockwise. Let soup sit for a few minutes, and then ladle soup into a serving bowl.

Vietnamese Mung Beans Cake

Mung beans cake is one of the sweet desserts or snacks that the Vietnamese enjoy when hungry. This simple cake is easy to impress friends with and never fails to deliver excellent results.  I recently learned how to bake cakes, and I use this recipe to encourage myself to continue baking. Sometimes, I do not feel like baking, but this cake is one of the desserts that I like to prepare. The nutty flavor from the mung beans and the soft-sweet taste from coconut milk goes well together with the mung beans. This cake has a nice combination of satisfaction for nutrition and fulfills the desire for someone who has a sweet tooth.

Ingredients:
1 cups dry mung beans, soaked in water for 3 hours
2 eggs
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup sugar
1 tbs vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbs coconut oil
2 tbs butter, cut up

Directions:
Drain the mung beans and steam over high heat on a steamer until soft (about 15 to 20 minutes).
Use coconut oil to grease a 9” diameter or 8” x 8” square cake pan and set aside.
In a Vitamix or other blender, combine cooked mung beans, eggs, cornstarch, coconut milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Blend well. Pour the batter onto the prepared cake pan. Top with cut up butter. Preheat oven to 350° and bake cake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Chicken Scaloppine in Marsala Sauce

Scaloppine is a simple classic meal that is quick and easy and never fails to charm. Veal or pork is commonly used in this dish. A good accompaniment to this meal would be potatoes cooked in oil or Italian Risotto. I only have sweet potatoes, so I will make mashed potatoes instead. I added fresh rosemary into this dish even though the recipe does not call for it, but the woody smell of rosemary goes very well with it. Although it is very simple, this classic dish is one of the best Italian meals I have ever known.
Ingredients:
1 lbs  chicken breast (2 large breast)
3 tbs all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs butter
1/2 cup dry Marsala
3 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 sprigs of rosemary
1/2 small onion, sliced

Directions:
Cut the chicken breast into  thin pieces.

Then lay them out on a cutting board with a sheet of plastic wrap on top large enough to cover the meat.

 While being careful not to break the meat, use a rolling pin to press gently on the meat to reduce the thickness of each piece to about ¼ to 1/8 inch.
Combine the flour, salt, and black pepper well and coat piece of meat on both sides with the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess flour.

In a large skillet over high heat, add the olive oil and butter to the pan. When the butter is foaming, add the chicken and cook each side for two minutes.

 Add  onions,garlic slices and rosemary sprigs. When you smell the fragrance of the herbs, add Marsala and balsamic vinegar.

 

Let chicken bubble away in the Marsala-vinegar mixture for 3 minutes, or until the sauce is syrupy.

Season again with salt .Serve on a plate with some of the sauce poured on top of the chicken.

Kombu (seaweed)-Avocado Sandwich Bread

I make kombu (Japanese kelp or seaweed) broth often, and the leftover cooked seaweed I can use for preparing different kinds of dishes. Today, I used the cooked seaweed to make sandwich bread. However, I included a half cup of mashed avocado into the bread to enhance the green color and also to add good nutrition into the bread. I own a bread machine; therefore, making bread at home has become so easy for me. It helps me to create my own bread recipes. I realize that most people do not know how wonderful it is to have a bread machine in a kitchen; in fact, I own several bread machines that I bought at a local Goodwill store, which were most likely unused wedding gifts donated to Goodwill.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup water
1 egg
1/2 cup mashed avocado
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 cup chopped cooked seaweed
1 tbs coconut oil
2 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tsp active dry yeast

1 egg (for egg wash)

Directions:
Place all the ingredients into a bread machine pan in the order listed above. Select the dough function and press start. When the dough has finished the kneading and rising enough, the machine will beep. Use coconut oil to grease a 9” x 5” loaf pan. Remove dough from the bread machine pan and shape into the size of the loaf pan. Cover loaf pan with a kitchen towel and let dough rise until double in size (about 40 to 50 minutes). Break an egg and use a pastry brush to brush the surface of dough with eggwash. Preheat oven to 350° and bake bread for 25 to 30 minutes – baking time can vary depending upon on the variety of oven used. Let cool for 30 minutes before slicing to serve.

 

 

 

Salmon & Tofu in Kombu Broth

I visited my family in California last week, and on the day before I left, both of my nieces invited me and my mother to a Japanese restaurant. This restaurant serves a famous soup in a large pot at the table. The broth is made with kombu (Japanese for kelp), and it is one of many healthy Japanese broths. Each diner orders a different plate of meats or seafood to make his or her own soup with the kombu. Udon noodles and hot cooked rice are served together with the soup. We had a wonderful time, and I was inspired to make a new soup for myself at home.  My version of this soup is much simpler than the one in this Japanese restaurant. I make my own kombu broth with a tablespoon or two of dashi powder (fish powder).  This soup is a quick and healthy meal that I am so glad that I had a chance to create from some ideas spawned from the soup in the Japanese restaurant in California.

Ingredients:
Kombu broth
One 6” x 5”piece of kelp

6 cups water
2 tbs dashi powder
1 tsp salt
Fish and vegetables
6 oz. salmon fillet, cut bite size
6 oz. soft tofu, cut bite size
1 carrot, sliced
1 cup diced Japanese squash or honey pumpkin
Handful of watercress, cut up
4 dry shitake mushrooms, soaked in water and sliced
1/2 cup white onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced

Garnish with chopped green onions and cilantro
Udon or vermicelli noodles

Directions:

Wash kelp and soak in 6 cups of water for one hour.

 

 On very low heat, bring kelp in soaked water to boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes and remove the kelp. Add salt and fish powder. Add carrot, white onions, garlic, squash or pumpkin, and mushrooms. Bring to boil, cook until both the carrot and squash or pumpkin are tender. Add tofu, watercress, and salmon.  Bring the soup back to boiling. Re-season again with some soy sauce and salt. If served with noodles, then place noodles on the bottom of a serving bowl.

 Divide salmon, tofu, and vegetables and place on top of the noodles. Ladle broth over them and sprinkle with green onions and cilantro. Add a teaspoon of sesame oil into the soup, if desired. Serve.