Gyoza in Peanut Sauce with String Beans, Mushrooms and Basil (Japanese-Indonesian) My go-to recipes for Gyoza and Peanut Sauce!

Hello!  Yesterday, my boyfriend didn't have lunch because he was finishing work early, so we kind of ate a full lunch at 4.  By 8-9PM, we still weren't hungry but I needed some food (not junk snack) to take with my pills so I came up with this recipe, which is not really a recipe but more of an idea, using elements that are recipes from other talented people.  Nonetheless, it was super good, like good enough to post about it and cook it again many times in the future.  Here's what you need:

-some frozen dumplings of your choice, homemade or store-bought* (for this light meal, I used 6 dumplings per plate)

-some peanut sauce**

-coconut milk, optional

-vegetables (I used white mushrooms and green beans that I steamed in the microwave in a bowl with a little water covered with cling film, but leave a small opening for the steam to escape, and cook for a minute or two for al dente vegetables.  You could also use other vegetables, I thought of tossing some raw spinach at the same time as you add the peanut sauce at the end for example...)

-loads of basil if you like it (it really goes well with the peanut sauce, after I took the pictures, I dumped a bunch of leaves on my plate!)  I used Thai and Magic Mountain basils, try different mixes if you too grow basil!

*I used Japanese gyoza, I make 2-3 times the recipe and keep them in the freezer for months!  My go-to recipe is from Chef of Cooking with Dog, here's the video!: http://youtu.be/r8MBX-SXnmg

**I finally found a really good Indonesian peanut sauce.  The recipe makes a good amount that keeps for a week. It says to dilute the paste with 2cups of water, but since I wanted to use it as a dip too, I used only one cup of water.  To make the peanut sauce, I used some of the dip and diluted it with coconut milk until the consistency was to my taste. I took the recipe here, the salad looks good too!: http://dailycookingquest.com/by-cuisine/indonesian/pecel-madiun-vegetables-in-peanut-sauce

Cook the dumplings in a potsticker fashion. If you don't know what that means: pour some oil (don't use sesame oil, it will overpower the peanut sauce) in a non-stick pan and place the dumplings standing.  Let their bottoms get golden-brown, then add water up to a quarter of the dumplings height and cover.  Let steam for about 8 minutes or until they're cooked and the water mostly evaporated (if there's still a lot of water after 8 minutes, put the cover on the pan with a little crack open and pour out some water, it happens sometimes, even to me).  Uncover and let the water totally evaporate and the dumplings' bottoms get brown and crisp again.  With a paper towel, wipe any excess water and oil or burnt pieces off the pan, then add your veggies and peanut sauce, and stir 30 seconds until warmed through.  Plate and top with a generous amount of basil leaves!

Bo Cuon Nem (Vietnamese) Beef Rice Noodle Sheets Rolls

When I learned how to make steamed rice noodle sheets, I had to make this recipe I was keeping for the day I'd find the sheets at the grocery store, which never happened.  But no problem now, it's most likely even better with homemade noodles! You can find a (REALLY) detailed recipe for the noodle sheets with instructions on another post I wrote, here: http://sunnysdelights.blogspot.ca/2014/05/my-quang-tom-thit-and-homemade-ho-fun.html.  The best part: you only need rice flour, tapioca starch and water!  And it's fun and pretty fast, and the noodles don't require to be boiled afterwards! For the rolls I was inspired by a recipe I found in Vietnamese Street Food by Tracey Lister and Andreas Pohl, but I changed enough about it to say it's my own I think.  Hope you'll give it a try, a nice, easy, cold dish for this horribly hot summer (add incredibly humid if you're in Montreal, and its North and South shores like us).

(serves 3 - on the picture, I used this recipe for 2 and it was a little too much, and the rolls don't keep good in the fridge at all)

-200g pretty without fat piece of beef, thinly sliced into strips

-2 garlic cloves

-1 recipe rice noodle sheets (http://sunnysdelights.blogspot.ca/2014/05/my-quang-tom-thit-and-homemade-ho-fun.html) or 6 store-bought rice noodle sheets

-lettuce ripped in large pieces

-herbs (the recipe suggests mint and cilantro, I used perilla, basil, mint and parsley, I don't know if the classic Bo Cuon Nem always have mint and cilantro only...)

-1 carrot cut into thin juliennes

-1 cucumber without seeds, cut into thin, long matchsticks

-fried shallots

-Optional: I added some chopped thai red bird's eye chillies for topping

-nuoc-cham (I use Helen's recipe here: http://danangcuisine.com/recipes/recipe-2-vietnamese-dipping-sauce-cach-pha-nuoc-cham/)

Marinate the beef with garlic for 15 minutes to hours. Cook the beef in a pan, and get all your ingredients ready!

The book says to lay down each ingredients one by one on the rice sheets.  For better presentation and convenience, I suggest tossing together all your ingredients in a bowl!  Then lay about a 6th of the mix at the base of a rice noodle sheet, roll tightly, then cut in the center into two shorter rolls.  Finish your ingredients, pile the half rolls on plates, top with shallots and chillies if using, and dip in nuoc-cham!

Optionally, I would try marinating it with other Vietnamese ingredients, maybe fish sauce, pepper, honey, oyster sauce... But would it still be called Bo Cuon Nem? I'm not a big fan of non-marinated, non-saucy meat, but just garlic makes this recipe simple and fast, and good for steak-loving readers!

Lemongrass Beef Plate with Rice Papers (Vietnamese)

I love plates that are full of different items.  I also love lettuce wraps and rice sheet wraps!  This bowl has lemongrass beef, rice vermicelli, herbs, pickles, cucumbers, fried dried tofu, nuts...  Everything you need for a perfect spring roll.  The beef recipe I took from this book.  It was meant to be served in a baguette, but I like my bowl better!  For the ingredients for the bowl, feel free to compose with what you like and have at home... But I wouldn't skip the herbs!

So here's the simplified recipe for Lemongrass Beef Skewers from the book Vietnamese Street Food by Tracey Lister and Andreas Pohl, followed by my own tips to make the perfect bowl!

(makes 10 mini skewers - serves 2-3)

Marinade for 300g nice lean beef, thinly sliced:

-2 shallots, chopped

-3 garlic cloves, chopped

-3 white parts of lemongrass, chopped

-1 long red chilli, seeded and chopped

-1tbsp roasted sesame seeds

-2tsp fish sauce

Grind together, in a mortar and pestle or in a food processor, the shallots, garlic, lemongrass and chilli.  When I use a mortar I always chop everything as small as I can to save time and energy.  When the mixture resembles some kind of rough paste, add slightly grounded sesame or grind in the mortar.  Add fish sauce, mix, and thoroughly massage the beef slices.  Let marinate for an hour to overnight in the fridge.

If using a grill, soak 10 short skewers in cold water for about 30 minutes.  When using a pan, you can skip this step.  Fold the beef slices repeatedly on the sticks to make 10 mini skewers, just enough each for one fresh spring roll.  Grill!

To serve, for EACH plate, I put enough ingredients for 5 rolls (5 lettuce pieces, 10 cucumbers...).  I ate only 3 rolls and kept two for lunch, it's a little big!:

-5 beef skewers

-some Dua Gop carrots and daikon pickles (recipe here: http://sunnysdelights.blogspot.ca/2014/05/banh-mi-with-pork-patties-and-dua-gop.html)

-5 pieces of lettuce

-1 portion rice vermicelli (I had fresh ones!)

-10 half slices of cucumber

-plenty of fresh herbs (just pruned my plants!)

-some chopped almonds or peanuts 

-pieces of dried tofu sheets (cut, deep-fry at at least 350F and drain on paper towels)

-nuoc cham for dipping (I use Helen's recipe, here: http://danangcuisine.com/recipes/recipe-2-vietnamese-dipping-sauce-cach-pha-nuoc-cham/)

Dip a rice sheet in warm water briefly, lay down on a flat plate, put a little of everything and a skewer (without the skewer haha) and roll tightly.  Dip in nuoc-cham, it's sooo good!

Bulgogi Spring Rolls (Vietnamese-Korean Fusion)

Since I started cooking Vietnamese, we had fresh spring rolls only once!  In an effort to make it more often (and it's really easy to let everyone wrap their own with what they like - especially my boyfriend who's picky about his veggies), we tried these bulgogi spring rolls from Helen!  They marry delicious korean bulgogi beef (I used Maangchi's recipe!) and kimchi with fresh veggies and herbs like a regular Vietnamese fresh spring roll.  The dipping sauce is a mixture of what every dipping sauce should contain (peanut butter, gochujang, miso, honey...).

So this recipe was inspired by a recipe from Danang Cuisine/Helen's Recipes.  I forgot to add kimchi to mine, but I guess you can put whatever you want.  The sauce is really a must try!  The only real modification I made was to use Maangchi's bulgogi marinade, because it's my go-to bulgogi recipe and I know it's authentic!  

Helen's Bulgogi Spring Rolls Recipe:

http://danangcuisine.com/recipes/bulgogi-spring-rolls-goi-cuon-bo-han-quoc/

For Maangchi's delicious bulgogi marinade, plus instructions and video, go there:

http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/bulgogi

Overall it was really good, fresh, tasty and textural, the dipping sauce I might use for other filling combinations of spring rolls.  You should really try this recipe!

Banh Bao and Yu Choy Salad (Vietnamese, Japanese) Huge Vietnamese Buns and Versatile Sesame Dressing

I remember seeing this video for Bahn Bao a month or two ago and thinking "that's a lot of fillings"!  I'm so happy I finally tried it (and doubled the recipe, froze a lot!) because IT IS THE BEST BUN FILLING I EVER HAD EVER, my boyfriend said the same thing, and we had buns from everywhere in Chinatown.  The main mixture is pork, two types of dried mushrooms, onions, carrots and a bunch of seasonings, topped with an egg and surrounded by many thin slices of Chinese sausage.  Sriracha works incredibly well with it!  Again I took the recipe from the very skilled Helen from Danang Cuisine/Helen's Recipes and it was long but easy to make.  It's a really long process, but totally worth it!  I have to tips she didn't mention that really helped me: roll the dough out even more than what Helen says, maybe 4-5 inches diameter, and before pinching/closing the bun, run your finger all around the edge of the flat disk of dough with a little water like for dumplings, which really helps to keep the dough closed together.  Here's the recipe and video:

http://danangcuisine.com/snacks/recipe-65-banh-bao-steamed-pork-bun-2/

I also accompanied the buns with cucumber slices, some leftover carrot and green papaya pickles and some blanched yu choy tossed with this easy sesame dressing I've been using for years, which is also good with all kinds of raw or blanched veggies!

Main ingredients:

-1 1/2tbsp nerigoma or tahini, black or white

-1/2tbsp saké

-2tbsp sugar

-25mL shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)

-3tbsp ground roasted black and/or white sesame

-sushi vinegar to taste (recipe follows)

-more shoyu if needed

-some pan roasted leeks (optional but delicious)

Mix the main ingredients together well.  Then add sushi vinegar little by little until the acidity is to your taste.  Adjust the saltiness with more shoyu if needed.  Add roasted leeks if using.

Sushi vinegar ingredients:

-2 1/2tbsp rice vinegar

-1 1/2tbsp brown sugar

-1/2tsp salt

Heat everything in a pan until the sugar has dissolved then cool.

Cha Gio (Vietnamese) Vietnamese Spring Rolls

I like filling the freezer with different dumplings and buns to keep for when I want an easy meal, or an easy extra side dish when friends come and eat at our place!  As a new fan of Vietnamese cooking, I still had to make Vietnamese deep-fried spring rolls!  I found this recipe from Steamy Kitchen (who took it from a book) and I was quite pleased with the results, except I would really suggest using only half the quantity of white pepper cause the taste is a little overwhelming.  I made one full recipe and ended up with 63 rolls!  Here's the link!:

http://www.steamykitchen.com/2456-vietnamese-spring-rolls.html

When eaten by themselves, the rolls are good wrapped in lettuce with some herbs and dipped in nuoc-cham.  With the rolls I made a bowl using herbs and lettuces, vermicelli, cucumbers, carrots and daikon pickles, Helen's (from Danang Cuisine/Helen's Recipes) recipe for her Bun Cha pork marinade (recipe here: http://danangcuisine.com/recipes/recipe-43-bun-cha/), my spring rolls and peanuts and fried shallots!  Top it all with nuoc-cham (recipe here: http://danangcuisine.com/recipes/recipe-2-vietnamese-dipping-sauce-cach-pha-nuoc-cham/)!

Deep-Fried Vietnamese Dumplings (Vietnamese)

Here is a recipe I took from Danang Cuisine (or Helen's Recipe on YouTube).  Helen is really good at Vietnamese cooking, I suggest her website and channel!  These crispy dumplings are filled with pork veggies and glass noodles, and a piece of egg!  Helen recommends eating them wrapped in a lettuce leaf with some herbs and dip it in nuoc-cham.  The crisp of the lettuce and the crunch of the fried dumplings go well together.

When I made the dumplings, maybe my wrappers were smaller or something but it made 70 dumplings.  Also I used chicken eggs instead of really expensive quail eggs.  And yeah, 70...  I froze some for convenience.  So far, I only used them a second time and made this delicious bowl of vermicelli, herbs and lettuce, cucumbers, topped with the dumplings, marinated grilled pork belly and some nuoc-cham.  It was great and fast. So start your dumplings!

Here is Helen's recipe for fried dumplings:

http://danangcuisine.com/recipes/recipe-vietnamese-crispy-dumplings-banh-goi-banh-xep-banh-quai-vac/

Her recipe for nuoc-cham that I always use:

http://danangcuisine.com/recipes/recipe-2-vietnamese-dipping-sauce-cach-pha-nuoc-cham/

And for the bowl, I took the marinade for the pork from this delicious Bun Cha recipe:

http://danangcuisine.com/recipes/recipe-43-bun-cha/