Crispy banana fritters (Chuoi chien)

Banana fritter or fried banana (Chuoi chien) has always been one of my many childhood favorite snacks. It reminds me of my childhood growing up in Vietnam where simple, inexpensive snacks like this tastes so divined. I remember these snacks`were sold ubiquitously everywhere, in the alley around the neighborhood, at an outdoor market or on the curbside in front of many schools. 
The steamy, hot fried banana fresh out of the oil quickly wrapped in banana leave was something that always put a big smile on my face. The crunchiness of the outside fritter complements perfectly the sweet and soft banana inside. Along with these banana fritters, sweet potato fritters were also popular among the kids. The same batter can also be used to make these sweet potato fritters, just substitute sweet potato yam for bananas. The secret to the long lasting crunchiness lies in the double deep frying method where the banana fritter is fried to merely brown, then dipped in the batter and re-fried again until golden brown or to the desired crunchiness. Try it and you won't be disappointed! 

Shredded pork and pork skin (Bi)

First, I want to apologize for my long hiatus. I don't know if I should blame the craziness of the holiday seasons or the lack of diligence, but I know I have been seriously lagging and necglecting my blog for a long while. 
Well now I'm back and still alive, just in case you were wondering, I want to introduce to you all one important component of the scrumptious Bbq pork rice dish aka "Com bi cha thit nuong".  As you may remember, I have introduced to you how to make the Bbq grilled pork (thit nuong) and the steamed egg meatloaf (Cha) in previous posts. So now it's time to bring to light the last, but not least, portion of the combo: shredded pork skin or "Bi". 
This sidekick dish is actually my favorite out of the three. I just love its versatility. Beside serving along side with grilled pork and the steamed egg meatloaf on rice, it also can be rolled up in rice papers to make delicious spring rolls called "Bi cuon" or stuffed in the baguette to make a lovely lunch sandwich. I also love to serve this with cold vermicille noodle "bun", mixed green mint salad and dressed in fish sauce to make a nice lunch (or dinner) entree. You can't go wrong no matter which way you like to serve it.

Shrimp and Squid salad (Goi tom muc)

This shrimp and squid salad is such a refreshing dish that serves great as an appetizer at your weekday dinner and perfect at any weekend parties. The dish is super simple to prepare and super delicious for the taste buds. The secret to this tasty salad is in the dressing. Transforming the pungent fish sauce into a delicious dressing to bring out the freshness of the salad can be challenging if the ratios is off. The ratios that I'm mentioning here are between the fish sauce, the lime juice and the sugar. The simplest one to remember is 1:1:1, but for me I like a little more sweetness to the dressing so I tend to add a little more sugar into sauce. Adjust the ratios to however you like and get your beers ready for some tasty treat.

Pain au lait (milk bread)

It has been a while now since I baked breads. I feel like I'm missing something in my life without baking. Yes, I do love baking, especially baking good breads for my boys. They both have been under the weather lately and not wanting to eat much. Any parents out there would know that getting your kids to eat while they are sick is a big challenge. I found this very promising soft bread recipe while browsing the web a couple nights ago and decided to give it a try. I'm glad that I did, my boys loved it and so did my husband. I'm so delighted to see the breads came out light and soft with the right amount of sweetness. My house was smelling amazing with the aroma of fresh breads. The boys love to have it with a dab of butter while my husband devoured it with my homemade strawberry jam.  I'm so glad that I have brought their appetites back!

Lotus seed Moon cakes (Banh Trung Thu nhan hat sen)

Moon festival is tonight, the moon is shining bright and rising high up above. The boys are having fun with their battery operated lanterns although I still prefer the traditional handmade lanterns with candles that I used to play as a kid. The air is getting chillier tonight signalling the change in weather. Autumn is here finally! I love the Fall when the weather is cooling down but not too cold yet. Leaves are turning colors and starting to fall signifying the harvesting season is on its way. 
To the Vietnamese, Moon Festival is also a children Festival where the kids get to play with colorful, animal shaped lanterns while enjoying the sweet treat moon cakes.  Speaking of moon cakes, this is my third year making them. Although I don't eat much of them, I love making these to give out to friends and family. The process is quite complicated and very time consuming. I do suggest to set some dedicated time aside if you decide to make them since it could take a whole day if not more to prepare them.  But when you sit down with a slice of homemade moon cake and a cup of tea to enjoy the bright, shinning moon in a breezy air night, it's all worth it.

Bun Bo Hue (Hue style spicy Beef noodle)

Bun Bo Hue, another Vietnamese famous noodle soup that I'm long due to cover in my blog. It is my hubby's favorite noodle soup beside the egg noodle soup. I haven't really been making a lot of effort to cook this regularly enough for him since it's definitely not a quick night dinner meal. But last weekend, while we were looking a nice quick Vietnamese lunch to wrap up our San Diego weekend get away, we stumbled upon this 'hole in the wall'' restaurant that serves authentic Hue style dishes. The saying "Don't judge the book by its cover" is so true with place, who knew a place like this would serve such delicious food and of course, Bun Bo Hue is one of their specialty there. After tasting their scrumptious Bun Bo Hue, I was reminded that it's been a long time since I had cooked this noodle soup.
So in my version of Bun Bo Hue, I prepared the broth with beef bones, beef shank and pork belly. The tradition Bun Bo Hue also has pork hocks and coagulated blood cubes, but since they are not my cups of tea, I omitted them. Also, instead of the Cha Hue (Hue style pork ham), I made Cha tom (shrimp paste cake) and it's just equally delicious. I will be honest, it won't be an easy process (that's also one of the reason why I haven't cooked this for while), but the ending result is always satisfying and well worth it. All I can say is that I have made my husband a happy man with tonight dinner.

Crispy rice with shredded pork and Vietnamese sausage (Com chay lap xuong cha bong)

My carb days are over a few weeks ago when I decided to go back to the gym. I still have the crave for carbs every now and then. When I looked back at these crispy rice pictures, I realized how much I really miss eating these. The dish is super simple and easy to prepare, yet it makes a great afternoon snack.  All you need are just some left over rice, some Vietnamese sausages, shredded pork or Chinese pork floss and couple more ingredients. In no time, you will have a scrumptious appetizer.
The crispiness of the rice and the saltiness of the fish sauce bring everything together nicely in every bite. The secret to make this addicting appetizer is to pan-fry the rice until it's all brown and crispy. The crispier the rice, the better it tastes so be patient when frying this. I am still salivating while looking at these pictures, hmmm.... maybe I should reconsider my low-carb diet!