Banana & Tapioca Pudding With Coconut Milk Infused in Pandan

 

Chè Chuối

Ingredients - For 4

2 bananas
2 pandan leaves -
200ml coconut milk
50g tapioca
50g large tapioca pearls
90g rock sugar - 1.5 sugar sticks
400 ml water

Bring the water to the boil with the rock sugar and pandan leaves. Add tapioca after the water has boiled. When the tapioca is translucent, add the sliced bananas and coconut milk. Cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove pandan leaves. When the bananas are slightly soft and you are content with the sweetness its ready to be served, hot.

This recipe has been commissioned by Seewoo

Fried Red Tilapia With Mango

 

Ingredients - For 2

1 red tilapia
1/4 un-riped green mango

Sauce/ Dressing
2 tbs cider vinegar
2 tbs sugar
2 tbs premium quality fish sauce
2 x cloves minced finely chopped
2 x birdseye chilli finely chopped

Method
Clean the fish and shallow fry on low/medium on a frying pan 10 minutes on each side or until golden and crispy.
Meanwhile, prepare the sauce by adding all the ingredients together, taste and balance for the right sweet, sour and salty flavour.
Julienne the mango and lay out on a serving dish. When the fish is cooked, place the fish on top of the mango and pour over the sauce.

Serve with steamed rice.
Other fish options: flat fish such as lemon sole, dab, brill, black tilapia, red snapper.

This recipe has been commissioned by Seewoo

Prawn Salad With Carrot, Mango, Banana Blossom & Hot Mint (Gio)

Ingredients for 4

300g king prawns
300g julienne carrots
100g julienne unriped mango
3 shallots sliced
1 tbs cider vinegar
50g banana blossom (optional)
50g hot mint (rau ram)- de-stalked
coriander for garnish
sliced chilli for garnish

Sauce/ Dressing
2 tbs cider vinegar
2 tbs sugar
2 tbs premium quality fish sauce
1 x clove minced finely chopped
1 x birdseye chilli finely chopped
2 heap tbs crushed peanuts

Method
Poach the prawns in boiling salted water and peel when cooked (about a minute).
Prep the salad ingredients. Pickle the shallots with a table spoon of cider vinegar, sugar and pepper and mix the sauce ingredients together. Toss the carrot, mango and banana blossom together with the dressing, then coarsely cut the hot mint into the mixture and add the prawns.

Serve immediately with crushed peanuts and coriander on prawn crackers. Also great in baguettes. You can also use chicken or squid instead of prawns and use sweet basil, mint or coriander instead of hot mint.

TIP: Make sure all your ingredients are dry, for example, do not put the carrots through a blender as it becomes soggy.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls By Leluu

 

Spring Rolls - [Chả giò]

Ingredients  makes 50 rolls

1 x spring roll pastry 5'
150g minced pork shoulder
500g peeled, de-veined king prawns, coarsely chopped
250g julienne carrots
40g sliced black fungus mushrooms- soak for an hour
1/2 bulb garlic
100g glass noodle (soak in cold water for less than 10 mins)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
100g julienne yam (optional)
50g sliced shitake - soak for an hour (optional)
50g bean-sprouts (optional)

Sauce/ Dressing
8 tbs hot water
4 tbs cider vinegar
4 tbs sugar
4 tbs premium quality fish sauce
2 x cloves minced finely chopped
2 x birdeye chilli finely chopped

Prep all the ingredients, soak the dry ingredients and slice when they are rehydrated. The glass noodles should also be cut shorter to about 2 inches long. Make sure all the ingredients are dry so that it does not cause the spring roll pastry to go soggy.

Mix together well and season with salt, pepper and sugar.Test a small portion. When you are perfectly happy with the flavour, make the rolls by adding a tablespoon of the mixture onto the wrapper, fold the corners to make an envelop and roll as tightly as possible, sealing the lid with some oil.

Deep fry for about 4 mins at 140° or until golden brown. Serve with lettuce and herbs - roll the lettuce around the spring roll and dip into fish sauce dressing. Can also be served with a cold vermicelli salad.

This recipe has been commissioned by Seewoo

Canh Chua - My Sunshine Soup

 

Canh Chua is one of my favourite Vietnamese soups. Always best when my mother makes it and we share it together over some steamed rice. The whole fish then goes into a separate plate with good fish sauce and crushed birsdeye chillis. Its a sweet, sour and hot fish soup. Sometimes, I even use chicken stock instead of water to give it more depth. It is very quick to prepare and it always reminds me of my mum's happy face, the sunshine and being in Vietnam - standing at the edge of water, on sand and flying my kite.

Ingredients for 4
2 fillet of seabass/ or whole seabass/ seabream/ salmon
2 tomatoes quartered
1/4 pineapple - cubed
12 inch stick of taro toot (also called elephant ear) (optional) - peeled and thinly sliced
50g beansprouts
10g rice paddy herb or coriander/ sweet basil/ vietnamese parsley - crossly chopped
1 lime
1  tps sugar
1 tbs fish sauce
500ml water (good quality chicken stock - optional)
1 chilli - sliced
2 small shallots - diced
2 cloves garlic - finely chopped

Method
In a large sauce pan, bring water to boil then add tomatoes, pineapple and the juice of a lime. Add sugar and fish sauce. Taste and adjust the balance. Add more sour if it is too sweet, more sugar if too salty and more salty if too sweet. Bring to the boil for a further 2 minutes then add the fillet or a whole fish - bring to the boil again for another 2 minutes.

In a separate frying pan, brown off the shallots then add the garlic.
in a serving bowl, add the raw beansprouts, taro root and chilli. Then add the fried shallots and garlic on top.

Once the soup is ready, pour the entire contents into the serving bowl. The hot broth should cook the beansprouts and the taro root soaks in the broth like a crunchy sponge.

Sprinkle the herbs on top. Serve with steamed rice, with vermicelli or on its own.
You can also use prawns, squid and different types of seafood as an option. Fish heads always bring out a great flavour or not at all for Vegetarians.

This recipe has been commissioned by Seewoo.

Chargrilled Pork Belly With Lemongrass & Cold Vermicelli Salad

Ingredients - Serves 4

300g pork belly or pork shoulder
2 x lemongrass
2 x shallots
2 x cloves garlic
1 tbs honey
1/4 tbs salt
1 tps pork seasoning
1 tbs terriyaki
4 x discs vermicelli

Salad/ Garnish
pickled carrots (julienne, add cider vinegar, pinch of sugar)
cockscombe mint
perilla
coriander
sweet basil
lettuce
cucumber sliced/ julienne
pickled leeks (optional)
peanut (optional)

Sauce/ Dressing
4 tbs hot water
4 tbs cider vinegar
4 tbs sugar
4 tbs premium quality fish sauce
2 x cloves minced finely chopped
2 x birdeye chilli finely chopped

Method
Chop the pork belly into bite sized pieces.
Finely chop the lemongrass, shallots and garlic. Add honey, salt, seasoning and teriyaki, mix well and rub onto the pork pieces.
Marinade in fridge for 20 minutes, then slide onto skewers.
Place in a preheated oven (180) for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Place dry noodles in a bowl and pour over boiling water, close with a lid. The vermicelli should cook itself within 10-15 minutes. Check regularly. Once it is cooked, drain with cold water.

Prepare the dressing by adding and mixing all the ingredients together.

Prepare the fresh garnish ingredients which serves as the salad to this dish. Traditionally, the garnish is placed underneath the noodles and the meat goes on top with the pickled carrots.

Serve as a cold noodle dish with hot meat, sprinkle with peanuts. The dressing should be in a small separate bowl for each person to pour on and then mixed together.

This recipe has been commissioned by Seewoo

Beef Pho Recipe

I love Pho. Love it! Love it!

For a large stock pot - serves 8-10 bowls

Ingredients

Stock & Cooked Meat
2 x large  onion – halved and charred
2 thumbs of x ginger – halved and charred
20 x star anise
2tbs mix of fennel seeds. coriander seeds, cassia bark, cinnamon

2 pieces of dried orange peel

2 black cardamon 1 x mooli
1 x carrot
90g rock sugar
salt/ pepper
4 x large cuts of ox tail
1kg beef flank
1 x beef bib or bones
fish sauce (3 crabs)
1 litre free range chicken stock
5 litres water

Noodles
1 x fresh ho-fun noodles serves 2-3 or 1 pack x dry rose brand pho noodles
Blanched in boiling water or rehydrated.

Meat Optional
fillet/ sirloin or rump steak - thinly sliced
chicken
tripe

Garnish
1 x lemon/ lime wedge per serving
red onion, corriander and spring onion, finely chopped

Garnish Optional
sweet basil
thai parsley
beansprouts
fresh sliced birdeye chillis
hoi sin sauce
chilli sauce
chilli oil

Method

-Bring a big pot of water, enough to fit all the meat and bring to the boil - place all the meat in and boil until scum surfaces the top, about 10 minutes. Remove and discard the water.
-Wash the meat in cold water, removing any scum and rest. This will give you a clearer broth.
-Wash the pot, fill with new fresh water and bring to the boil, then add the cleaned meat in.
-Bring to a gentle boil, getting rid of any excess scum then simmer.
-Add a free range chicken or good quality chicken stock. (take the chicken out after an hour).

-Meanwhile, place a griddle pan on high heat. Do not add oil. Place the halved onions and ginger to char on both sides with star anise. Add to the broth with the mooli and carrot.
-Add the mix of spices (in a muslin sac or strainer) and rock sugar. Season with salt and a premium quality fish sauce such as Three Crabs Fish Sauce, tasting all the time. Simmer for at least 2 hours with the lid on. If you need more sweetness add more rock sugar. If there is too much fat floating on top – remove.

-Take out the beef flank/ rib after 2 hours and leave to rest. If you leave it in for longer, the meat may be too soft and will fall apart. When it cools down, slice it thinly and place in a closed container until it is ready to be served. Leave the bones and ox tail in to simmer for at least another 2 hours. Continue to season with fish sauce and pepper until you reach the perfect balance.

To serve, blanch the fresh noodles and place in a bowl. Place the sliced meat on top with a generous sprinkling of coriander, spring onions and red onion. It is an option to place raw thinly slices of steak on top too.

Pour over boiling hot broth. Serve immediately with lemon or lime and a dish of garnishes.


TIP
-Remove all the vegetables from the stock, do not leave in over night as this will make your stock rot.
-Bottle the stock and keep refridgerated for up to one week
-Freeze the stock in single portions and consume whenever you need it.


This recipe has been commissioned by Seewoo

Tim Hayward's recipe with my assistance:
FT Weekend: From Vietnam With Love By Tim Hayward

When We Were The Greatest, Rolling In The Deep & Two Weddings

Photo By Meemalee's Kitchen

What a great few weeks its been for me! I've been partying & dinning out a lot! The single life is settling in nice and snug and it is great to leave the past in the past and move on, a fresh, a new, all the richer and all the wiser (!?)

The Secret Larder

I've been drinking inside the fridge of The Breakfast Club; eaten at the wonderful Roganic; The Corner Room was so-so but Viajante's bar is excellent; went to the home of James Ramsden and his Secret Larder Supper Club; got a few martinis in at the fabulous Off Broadway Bar & even went to a Vietnamese Night at Fin & Flounder Supper Club - yes - even the fish monger is doing supper clubs these days; ate yum dim sum at Princess Garden whilst nursing a hangover with Mr Noodles; did a night drive tour of London in my Figaro with my best friend Fatima, visiting home from Barcelona; lunched at The Geffrey Museum with Julia, more old friends visiting home from Barcelona; had one too many at Hawskmoor; went to Miss Immy's garden tea party; died and went to heaven eating risotto at The Ship and discovered delicious black cod at SeeWoo Cafe in Paddington; 'ended up' in The Dolphin; kissed the floor of my fabulous photographer friend Camille Sanson's penthouse-warming; introduced Rachel McGormack to ma boyz in da hood with fantastic pizza in The Regent and someone with a foot fetish cooked me a beautiful meal of live/raw things.

In between there were amazing supper club nights and one of the most amazing nights ever- The Singles Supper Club during the bank holiday weekend - a spectacular night that was purely about meeting nice people and making friends and without monomania on finding the one.

Usually, I circulate people around but no one wanted to move because everyone was so happy to be sat where they were although they wanted to meet other people too. I actually surprised myself by finding enough men to come in the end - I think men want to be cool and last minute, don't they!

In euphoria, we sang our hearts out to songs like Rolling In The Deep, Rio and Umbrella - Ella Ella, slammed our feet so hard to the ground, "we could have had it all…" throwing our arms into claps and kicking our feet to the beat, "you had my heart and soul in your hands…"  we propelled our cares and embraced our youth, our freedom and danced like no one was watching - the noise and the energy was immaculate -  Someone was even rapping!

I went to two weddings and my heart was full of love, one day after another - One Million Gold Stars & Simon Dogget got hitched-they had a Twitter hashtag wedding #sgwed,  they met at a Blogger's event and had one of their first dates at the supper club in October 2009 and I've been good friends with them ever since. Two years later, it always amazes me how Simon continues to look at Gail as if he has just met her, totally stunned by the her beauty and is falling in love every time he lays eyes on her!

My old and very dear friend from Central Saint Martins - Billy, also got married to a girl called Adele he met in Australia (at The ICA). He bought her home, back to London and everybody loved her as soon as they met her. Always judgmental about who my friends are seeing and if the girl is ever good enough, Adele's endless smiles and positive attitude and outstanding beauty charmed me and everybody - how did Billy boy find someone so perfect for him! A single serendipity of him entering a random bar the same night she happened to be there has unified them forever.

As always, it was brilliant to see my old friends from St Martins, Nima (flew back from LA), Seb, Rajat, Twig and Ali. It was as (and always will be like) if we never left, cussing each other like we were kids again at 21 when anything was possible, we could be anyone, achieve anything, create it all and live forever - we were the greatest, "no wind or waterfall could stop us". Now we are the greatest!

And this bond, of chest bumps, telling it how it is and being over expressive with your hand whilst holding a glass of wine and spilling it all over my dress, I imagine will be till death do us part.

Why've you got to tweet everyone you need is here! You're dirty man! Your mamma stinks of pussy! Slag! I'm gonna whip your ass! Mash you up! Girl - you're looking hot! Why you gotta fall for all these batty boys? I love you man!

Here's to Autumn.

My 7 Links

The Skinny Bib nominated me to write My 7 Links. This is what it is about:

Bloggers publish his/her 7 Links on his/her blog. One link for one category and the categories are: the most beautiful, the most popular, the most controversial, the most helpful, a post whose success surprises you, a post that doesn’t receive attention it deserves and the post the blogger is most proud of..

I have been blogging since the end of 2008 and but more seriously so from 2009. What I tend to blog about always evolve and sometimes, I can not really define what this blog is about - its mainly about food, Vietnamese food but also travel and stuff in general. Its a place where I can write about what I think too.

Most Beautiful: Flying Home My Trip To Vietnam 2011
Its about the feelings, the sights and sounds of going to a place where I was born.
I was originally asked to write this for Eat Me Magazine but they did not publish it or send me any communications as to why.

Most Popular: A London Riot 8th August 2011

The London Riots happened on my doorstep. So I wrote about it but I don't feel like this one really counts because it was mainly ranked highly on Google searches.

Otherwise it would be Leluu & Fernandez about how Simon Fernandez and I got together to create Fernandez and Leluu Supper Club and how it all ended and we separated.

Most Controversial: London Riot: Have Your Say - With BBC World News
I did a radio show with BBC World the day after the London Riots, but I didn't write it up very well and got my ass kicked and bad mouthed all over Twitter. I am currently working on a film documentary with Darrell James, the man, I called, Black, about youth culture.

Most Helpful: Hot & Cold, Ying & Yang
The main philosophy of the Eastern diet is to have the right balance of hot and cold elements in the body.

Success Surprised Me: A Single Serendipity
I wrote about being single, online dating and enjoying being single. As well as lovely comments, I got a lot of emails from people I have never met telling me how I made their day. It was such a great feeling.

Didn't Receive The Attention It Deserves: John Malkovich & Leluu
I met John Malkovich many times and I had always wanted to write about my time with him, so one day, I started to write it as homework for a creative writing class. I haven't continued because I don't know if anyone is interested.

Most Proud Of: A Trilogy Post: 
The Monsoon, Bun Bo Hue, Elephant Man & My Uncle Thu

Stories from Uncle Thu, His Escape From Vietnam
Blood Cakes & Banana Blossom
These are stories and memories of Vietnam and how my uncles escaped Vietnam. I laughed and cried with my uncles when we recalled them in California after over 30 years of locking the memories away like closed booked high on dusty shelves.

Here are the top 5 blogs I read and would like to pass the 7 links onto:
Peppercorns In My Pocket
The Grubworm
Meemalee's Kitchen
Douglas Blyde
Tom Eats Jen Cooks