Vegetarian Papaya Salad

Green papaya is the Vietnamese fruit that is used to make salad at most parties. People enjoy this salad with grilled beef.  The version for vegetarian papaya salad is both easy to make and stimulates the taste buds, so it is always a favorite in the vegetarian menu of many restaurants, eateries, and family kitchens. The vegan papaya salad is not too fussy in the way of processing, but the vegetarian papaya salad still has a strong attraction. This rustic, frugal dish helps to change the way people taste when choosing to enter the world of vegans in taste and is very good for health. This recipe is low fat, crispy, flavorful, and delicious.

Ingredients:

1/2 of green papaya, shredded

1 carrot, shredded.

4 oz. tofu, sliced and deep fried

Vietnamese corn chips (banh phong tom chay)

Sauce Ingredients:

1 cup sugar 

3 hot chilies

2 tbs tamarin sauce or lemon juice

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs hoisin sauce

Others:

Fried leeks or Shallots

Mints and cilantro

Roasted peanuts 

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, combine papaya and carrot.

Cut fried tofu into strips and add to the papaya and carrot mixture.

Bring 1 cup of oil to boil and fry the corn chips! 

To make the sauce:

Use the mortar and pestal to mash the sugar and chilies until forming a paste. Add tamarin sauce and soy sauce.  You can use the vegan fish sauce instead of soy sauce. Mix well. Adjust the taste to your liking. 

Pour the dressing onto the papaya mixture and mix well.

Arrange the salad on a plate topped with roasted peanuts and mints.

 Tip: 

Do not add the dressing until you are ready to eat!

Chicken and Shrimp Toast

 Shrimp toast is often found in Chinese dim sum restaurants. This dish can be found in different cuisines as well, and the ingredients are a little different in each country.  I will introduce this recipe as the taste of Vietnamese people always makes this dish as an appetizer or as a breakfast meal . This recipe is quite simple to make at home.  There are many recipes to make this shrimp toast. For this one, I want to share the easiest recipe for those of you who are single, especially when there are a lot of uneaten sandwiches in the kitchen. Other ingredients are also very easy to find. This recipe is easy and perfect for appetizers.

Ingredients:

4 slices of sandwich bread

1 oz. of ground chicken or turkey

2 oz. shrimp, shell removed

Seasoning ingredients:

1 tsp seasoning soy sauce

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp chopped cilantro

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt or to taste

1/4 tsp sugar 

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tbs white sesame seeds

1 cup oil for frying

Directions:

Chop the shrimp well until smooth. Add ground chicken and egg with the rest of the seasoning and mix well.

Remove the crust from the sandwich slices and cut each of the sandwich slices in half.

Wet the sesame seeds in water for a few minutes. Then drain.

Spread the chicken and shrimp paste to cover the bread. Then dip in the wet sesame seeds.

In a medium nonstick or cast iron skillet, heat ⅛ inch of oil until shimmering. Fry the bread slices in the skillet, shrimp-side down first, until golden (about 2-3 minutes).

Use a spatula to carefully turn them over, and fry the other sides for about 1 minute. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Serve immediately!

Tips: 

Wet the sesame seeds to prevent them from burning.

You can use equal shrimps and chicken as your taste likes.

You can add 2 tsp cornstarch instead of egg.

Stir-fried Chicken with Holy Basil

 Thai stir-fried chicken with holy basil is a popular dish in the Thai cuisine. However, stir-fried chicken with any kind of herbs are common dishes of Asian cuisines. The sauce to use for this stir-fried dish is simple with familiar ingredients, such as soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and dark soy sauce. For Thai and Vietnamese stir-fried we do not use oyster sauce. The holy basil is not easy to find in some parts of the world. Therefore, this dish the sweet Italian basil has the taste very close to the holy basil, but not the cinnamon Thai basil. The original version of this dish is spicy, but one can cut down the spicy taste by not using too many Thai hot chilli. The garlic is another flavor that not to be missing for this dish. Serving this dish is finalized with deep fried egg and steamed rice.    

Ingredients:

12 oz. chicken legs or breast 

1 cup basil leaves

Sauce ingredients:

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp dask soy sauced

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbs sugar or honey

1 tsp oyster sauced

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 tbs water

Other ingredients:

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup thinly sliced white onions

1 Thai hot chili and 1 red chili 

2 green onions cut into 1 inch slices

2 tbs oil for cooking

Steamed rice

Directions:

Wash and clean the chicken. Cut chicken into small cubes. Some recipes use ground chicken.

In a small bowl, combine all the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Wash the basil leaves.

In the small food processor, blend the garlic and both chilis into a paste.

In a wok or stir frying pan, add oil. Stir in the garlic and chili paste. Cook for 1 minute and add chicken.

Stir and cook until chicken is no longer pink. Add sliced white onions and sauce. Cook for 5 minutes.

Turn the heat off. Add basil and green onion. 

The chicken and basil is ready to serve.

Japanese Cheesecake for Two

Japanese cheesecake, Souffle cheesecake, or cotton cheesecake is the type of light cake made with cream cheese and eggs. This cake is less sweet than other kinds of cheesecake from the West. I share this recipe to make a smaller version of this cake because many people now live by themselves. I am very pleased with the result.

Ingredients:

3 oz. cream cheese

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbs butter

1/4 cup flour

2 egg yolks

3 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla

Other necessities:

Equipment 6 inch diameter round cake pan

Baking tray

Preheated oven set to 300°

Directions:

Place egg whites in a KitchenAid blender. Use the whisk attachment to whip the egg whites and sugar to a soft peak. 

Combine the milk, cream cheese, and butter in the mixing bowl.

Bring a pot of water to almost boiling and place the mixing bowl with milk, cream cheese, and butter on the pan. Whisk until all combined. Remove from heat.

Sift the flour into the milk cheese mixture and mix well. Add egg yolks and continue to mix well.

Pour the now egg cheese mixture through the sieve to get rid of any lumps.

Fold the egg cheese mixture with the egg white. 

Spray the cake pan with oil and pour the batter into the cake pan. Tap the cake pan a few times to get rid of some of the air bubbles.

Pour hot water into the baking tray and place the cake into the baking tray.

Bake 25 minutes. Then turn the oven to 325 degrees and continue to bake the cake for 25 more minutes with the door slightly ajar.

Turn the heat off and let the cake continue baking in the last 10 minutes.

Egg salads for 2

 Egg salad is a quick and easy recipe to serve for quick breakfast or lunch. There are many different versions to make egg salad. 

Ingredients:

4 hard boiled eggs

1 tbsp celery chopped

1tbsp red onions chopped

1 tbsp dill chopped

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp dill chopped

1 tbsp chives chopped

1 glove garlic minced

Dressing:

1/4 cup mayonase

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt. black pepper

Directions:

Cook eggs and cool. Once cooled, peel and chop eggs and place into a salad bowl. 

Add finely chopped celery, red onion, dill and chives. 

In a separate bowl, combine ingredients for the dressing. Gently stir dressing into the egg salad until coated and serve. 

Easy No-Bake Tiramisu Dessert

Tiramisu translated from the Italian is "pick me up" or "cheer me up" is a coffee-flavored Italian dessert. It is made of Ladyfingers dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of eggs, sugar, and mascarpone cheese then topped with cocoa. Even though most people think this cake comes from Italy, but it is still unclear where and when it first appeared. The classic Tiramisu uses mascarpone cheese, strong espresso coffee, and flavored with masala wine or rum.  However, many recipes make Tiramisu using cream cheese instead and also without the egg yolk. I have tried this method, and the tiramisu turns out very good.  I also cut down the recipe into a small portion for some people who are living alone or students who live on campus can still enjoy this rich, creamy dessert without baking the whole cake. 

 

Ingredients:

2 oz. Cream cheese at room temperature

2 tbs sugar

1/3 cup whipped cream

1/3 cup strong coffee

1 tsp instant coffee (optional)

1/2 tsp Kalua

1/2 tsp rum 

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cocoa powder 

6 Ladyfingers

4” x 5” cake pan with lid

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, rum, and vanilla. Use a hand beater to whip the cream cheese for a few minutes.

Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese and continue to beat until soft peaked.

Add the Kalua into the coffee.

Quickly dip the Ladyfingers, one at a time, into the coffee and lay on the bottom of the cake pan. Add half of the cream cheese mixture to cover the Ladyfingers. Continue to dip the rest of the Ladyfingers to create a second layer of the tiramisu. Spread the rest of the cream cheese mixture over the second layer of tiramisu. 

Dust with cocoa powder on the top. 

Cover with lid and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight!

Bocs pears poached in red wine and orange juice

These poached pears are quick, but a tasty and elegant way for dessert. Serve them with ice scream!

Ingredients:

4 Bocs Pears

2 cups red wine

1 cup orange juice

1 cinnamon stick

2 Star Anies

3 cloves

Orange peel

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla (optional)

Directions:

In a medium saucepan add red wine, orange juice, Star Anies, cloves, orange peel, and sugar. Bring to boil.

Peel the Boc Pears while waiting for the red wine to boil.  Add Boc Pears and simmer for 2 hours.

Turn the pears every 15 or 20 minutes so the pears can be coated with all the juice,

Remove the pears and discard the spices.

Continue to cook the juice until the liquid becomes thickened like syrup.

Serve the syrup over the pears.