Bun Rieu - Vietnamese Crab Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

5-6 pounds tomatoes
2 tablespoons dried shrimp
2 tablespoons garlic, chopped
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup tamarind paste (dried and condenses with seeds)
1 small can minced shrimp with spices
1 large can minced crab with spices
6 eggs

Directions:

In a small pot, add tamarind and add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. In large (6 or 8 quart) stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add dried shrimp to hot oil and fry for for 2 minutes, then add garlic for another minute. Strain the liquid from the boiling tamarind into the stock pot. (The seeds of tamarind pods are dried with the flesh, but the seeds are bitter so we only want the tamarind flavor in the liquid.) Add more water to the seeds and bring to a boil again. Continue this process of extracting the flavor from the tamarind until the water start to run more clear and you've extracted as much flavor as possible. (This process goes much more smoothly if you have already hot/boiling water on hand, i.e. in a kettle.) When you've finished with the tamarind, dispose of the leftover flesh/seeds. Add more water to the pot until about 3/4 full and bring to a boil.


Quarter the tomatoes making sure each quarter has a part of the head attached to it. This keeps the tomatoes from completely falling apart. When the broth approaches a boil, carefully add the tomatoes. (Don't splash yourself with the hot broth, I've done it once or twice. Not pleasant!) Simmer for an hour.

Empty both cans into a mixing bowl and beat together with eggs. Turn the heat on the stock pot to low and pour the egg/spiced seafood mixture into the pot slowly in circles making sure the mixture has room throughout the pot. Slowly simmer for another 30 minutes. Serve over vermicelli, traditionally accompanies with a spread of Vietnamese herbs, lettuce, lime, bean sprouts, and other unidentified items. So good and a great way to make use of tomatoes when they are in season, ripe, and cheap!

Asian Braised Pork Belly

With my family background and my mother's love of home cooking, I grew up eating all sorts of food and a lot of it became a fusion of what she knew, what she liked, and what we had in the house. This braised pork recipe is my mom's, a mixture between filipino, vietnamese, and chinese maybe? Mostly made with things she always had in the pantry for an easy dish she could throw into a pot and leave for a few hours while she ran other errands.

 

Ingredients: 

1 lb pork belly

2 teaspoon vegetable oil

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 inch piece of brown rock sugar (1 tablespoon brown sugar)

2 teaspoons black pepper

Directions:

Take the pork belly and but into 1 1/2 inch cubes. 

Heat the vegetable oil in a small bottom heavy pan or dutch oven pot (with cover) over medium high heat. When oil begins to ripple, brown the pork belly in the pan for 2 minutes just to get the fat to soften a bit. Add garlic to the pan and continue to brown from another 2 minutes. Keep a watchful eye on the heat; do not like the garlic burn! 

Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and freshly cracked black pepper to the pot. Let the liquid come to a boil and when the sugar is completely dissolved, add enough water to cover the pork belly. Cover the pot and let the pork belly simmer for an hour. 

After the first hour, check the pork. If the pot looks dry, add more water to the pot and simmer for another hour. Turn off the stove and let the pork cool in the sauce for 5 minutes before serving. Best served on top of white rice with a little of the sauce spoon on top of it and a side of vegetables.