Spring Roll Dipping Sauce

The spring roll dipping sauce can be used for many different recipes. It can be used for the summer roll, spring roll, crepes, ka nome cook, and as a dressing for the vermicelli salad. Make a lot and store it in the refridge for months to come.

Ingredients:

Water: 3 cups
Garlic: 3 teapoons, chopped finely
Sugar: 4 tablespoons
Salt: 1 teaspoon
Fishsauce: 4 tablespoons
White Vinegar, distilled: 3 tablespoons
Lemon : juice of one half of a lemon
Chilli Garlic Sauce (Rooster on bottle with a green lid): 2 tablespoon
Mae Ploy chicken dipping sauce (opt. for a thicker sauce): 4 tablespoons


In a medium sauce pan, bring the 3 cups of water to a boil and then add all the above ingredients. You can add additional amounts depending how sweet, spicey or tangy you want the sauce to be. Let the sauce cool and store it in a jar in the fridge for up to three months.




Instructions:

Viet/Lao Vermicelli Salad with pork chops and spring rolls

Before you start this recipe you need to have three other recipes already made.
You need:
1)Spring Roll recipe
2)Viet/Lao Pork chops or lemongrass pork chops recipe
3)Spring roll dipping sauce as the dressing for the salad.



Marinate the Porkchops 24 hours prior and grill it and set it aside before you prepare the salad. You can do the spring rolls ahead of time and store it in the freezer. You can fry it frozen and it only takes about 5 minutes once the oil is hot.

Ingredients:

Vermicelli noodles: Boiled and set aside
Beansprouts: 1 lb bag
Green leaf lettuce: 4 leaves
Cucumber: halved and cut in small 1/2 inch pieces
Carrots: shredded into long 2 inch pieces
Mints: a couple of sprigs
Basil: a couple of sprigs
Cilanro: 4-5 sprigs
Tomato: halved and cut into thin slices

Instructions:

Use the Viet/Lao Pork Chop recipe and grill up the pork chops and set aside

Use the Spring Roll recipe or use the left over that was stored in the freezer if already made. Fry up the spring roll and set aside.

Use the Spring Roll dipping sauce recipe for the dressing

In a large bowl, put in the noodles and combine all the desired vegetables that were prepped earlier. Top the salad with sliced pork chops and spring rolls, cut into four pieces. Add the dressing and toss the ingredients. The noodle and salad are cold and the meat and eggroll should be served hot. Enjoy!

Viet/Lao Pork Chops

Ingredients:

6-8 Pork Chops: Thin cuts
Lemongrass: Only the bottom 4 inches sliced very thin
Garlic: 4-5 Cloves, Finely chopped
Scallions: 3 Stalks, cut into 2 inch lengths
Salt: Pinch
Pepper: A dash
Sugar: 1 teaspoon
Fish sauce: 2 tablespoons
Soy Sauce: 4 tablespoons
Oyster Sauce: 2 tablespoons
Honey: 1 tablespoon
Cilantro: 5 sprigs chopped

Instructions: In a large pan or bowl, combine all the ingredients above and let it marinate for a couple of hours. Tastes best if marinated overnight. Place porkchops on the grill for about 10 minutes on each side. Cook it longer if the porkchop is thick.

The porkchops can also be broiled in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.

Spring Rolls

Ingredients:

Thin Eggroll Shells: 1 package (frozen section in Asian markets but thawed overnight in the refrigerator prior to use)
Eggs: 2 (one for the stuffing and one to seal the roll together)

Spring Roll Stuffing:

Ground Pork: around 1 lb
Dried Wood Ear Mushrooms: 1 handful
Bean thread noodles: 2, small individual packs
Onion: one, chopped
salt: a pinch
pepper: a pinch
soy sauce: 2 tablespoons
oyster sauce: 3 tablespoons
bean sprouts: 1 lb bag
scallions: 2 whole, chopped thin
garlic: 4 cloves, finely chopped
oil: 2 tablespoons

Instructions:

Presoak the mushrooms in a bowl and the noodles in a separate bowl with warm water. Soak for about 20 minutes and then drain the water and place mushrooms and noodles back in their bowls. Chop the noodles into 2-3 inch pieces. In a medium stir fry pan heat up the oil. Add the garlic and then the ground pork and cook for about 10-15 minutes. Once the meat is cooked, combine the rest of the ingredients (including the mushrooms and noodles) and stir-fry for 10 minutes. Let it sit aside to cool for 30 minutes before wrapping. When the stuffing is cool, start wrapping the spring roll.

Wrapping the Spring Roll:

In the bowl of stuffing, add one egg and mix it all together and crack the other egg into a small bowl to be used as to seal the rolls at the end.

Peel one eggroll shell out and lay on a cutting board or a dinner plate. Scoop about two tablespoons of stuffing into the wrapper and fold both sides in and roll it away from you. Seal the end piece with the egg that was set aside by smearing the yolk onto the wrapper with the tip of your finger. Continue the process until you run out of stuffing or egroll shells. Fry it up immediately and store the rest in the freezer bag.

Lao Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

Plain noodles- Thick (Uncooked Udon or noodle from scratch)
Water- 2 Liters
Onion- Cut in two halves or leave it whole
Chicken breasts- two larger breasts
Salt- 1 teaspoon
Pepper- A dash
Chicken Bouillon- two cubes
Dried Shallots- 1 tablespoon
Garlic- 5 cloves halved
Ginger- small i inch piece, sliced very thin
Fish Sauce- 2 tablespoon (more can be added into the individual bowls later)
Sugar- 1/2 teaspoon
Scallions- 4 whole, sliced very thin and used to sprinkle into the bowl when finished
Cilantro- a handful, chopped very small to garnish and sprinkle into the bowl when finished. I aslo like to toss about a handful into the soup just to get the flavor.

Instructions:

In a bowl cut the noodles into three inch pieces and set aside until the broth is finish. In a large stock pot boil the water and the chicken. You can use frozen chicken as well. Boil the chicken for about 30 min and then remove it and set aside to cool. While the chicken cools, season the stock by combining all the above ingredients and add the noodles. Add the noodles and let it cook in medium heat for about 10 minutes. You can boil the noodles in a separate pot but I like to combine it with the stock to get a thicker broth. Shred the chicken and mix it back into the stock pot with the noodles and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. The noodle soup is served in a bowl and garnished with scallions, cilantro and dried garlic and shallots. You can also add more fish sauce and hot chili garlic oil. The noodle soup makes a great breakfast or lunch. My two year old is a picky eater but will eat it everytime I give it to him.

Lemongrass Pork Chops

Ingredients:

6-8 Pork Chops: Thin cuts
Lemongrass: Only the bottom 4 inches sliced very thin
Garlic: 4-5 Cloves, Finely chopped
Scallions: 3 Stalks, cut into 2 inch lengths
Thai Chilli, red or green: seeded and sliced
Salt: Pinch
Pepper: A dash
Sugar: 1 teaspoon
Fish sauce: 2 tablespoons
Soy Sauce: 4 tablespoons
Oyster Sauce: 2 tablespoons
Curry: 1 teaspoon (optional- it gives it more flavor)

Instructions: In a large pan or bowl, combine all the ingredients above and let it marinate for a couple of hours. Tastes best if marinated overnight. Place porkchops on the grill for about 10 minutes on each side. Cook it longer if the porkchop is thick.

The porkchops can also be broiled in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.

This recipe is also great with chicken. You can also skewer them as Kabobs or Satay.

Kimchee Soup with Pork and Tofu

Ingredients:

Water: 8 cups
Pork bones with meat on the bone: 1 lbs (trim off some of the meat into small pieces.)
Kimchee(Works best with Older Kimchee): 3 cups
Onion: 1 small slices
Garlic: 4 cloves chopped
Fish Sauce: 1 tablespoon
Salt: 1 Teaspoon
Pepper: 1/4 teaspoon
Korean Crushed Red Peppers: 1-2 tablespoon. 1 for less spicey
Soup Stock (beef): 2 tablespoons
Scallions: 3, cut into 1 inch peices
Sugar: 1 teaspoon
Tofu: 1 box of silken soft tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes

Instructions:

In a med stock pot, pour in the water. Once the water boils, add in the pork bones and let it cook for about 10 minutes and then add in the remainder of the ingredients except for the tofu. Let the ingredients simmer for 20 minutes. Lastly add the tofu and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Serve Kimchee soup over hot rice in a bowl.

Vietnamese Crepes

Ingredients:

Batter:

Crepe flour: 1 bag
Curry powder: Amount attached to the package
Light coconut milk: 1 can
Water: 2 cups (it says 3 on the package but its softer with 2 cups)
Scallion: 1 sliced thin

Stuffing:

Ground pork: 1-2 pounds
Wood ear mushrooms: 3 large or buy the shredded one (soak a handful in warm water)
Regular Mushroom: Optional
Onion: 1 chopped
Garlic: 3 finely chopped
Bean Sprouts: 1 bag or 1 pound
Scallions: 3 sliced thin (set some aside for batter mix)
Soy sauce: 2 table spoons
Oyster sauce: 1 tablespoon
Salt and Pepper: 1/2 teaspoon or just a pinch
Sugar: 1/2 teaspoon


Instructions:

Batter:

Mix all above ingredients in a large bowl and cover it and let it sit in the fridge for 20-30 minutes then prepare the stuffing.

Stuffing:

Put about 2 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and the garlic and meat. Once the meat is cook, add the onions and mushrooms. As the onions start to soften add the rest of the above ingredients. Once it’s done, remove it from the heat and set it aside.

In a nonstick pan put 1-2 tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hot, use a medium ladle to pour in the batter into the pan. As the batter starts to cook or crisp a little, add in the stuffing. As much as you want and place it on one side of the crepe and then fold the crepe to close it. You’ll know when it’s done when it has a golden look and crispy looking edge. Lower the heat after the first one because it will cook very quickly as the pan gets hot.

Serve it with the dipping sauce. If you don’t want to make the sauce from scratch, you can buy it.

Lao Ka Nome Cook

Ingredients:

Batter Mix:

Glutinous Rice flour: 1 cup
Rice flour: 1 cup
Light coconut milk: 1 can
Sugar: ½ cup or less if you don’t want it too sweet
Salt: 1 pinch
Scallion: 2 sliced thin

Stuffing:

Ground pork: 1-2 pounds
Wood ear mushrooms: 3 large or buy the shredded one
Onion: 1 chopped
Garlic: 3 finely chopped
Bean Sprouts 1 bag or 1 pound
Scallions: 3 sliced thin (set some aside for batter mix)
Soy sauce: 2 table spoons
Oyster sauce: 1 tablespoon
Salt and Pepper: 1/2 teaspoon or just a pinch
Sugar: 1/2 teaspoon

Instructions:

Batter Mix:

Mix all above ingredients in a large bowl and cover it and let it sit in for 15 minutes and then prepare the stuffing. It’s a soft batter so, If you want it crispier you can add uncooked sticky rice (1/4 cup) blended down and mix it with the rest of the batter.

Stuffing:

Put about 2 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and the garlic and meat. Once the meat is cook, add the onions and mushrooms. As the onions start to soften add the rest of the above ingredients. Once it’s done, remove it from the heat and set it aside.

Use a nonstick ka nome cook pan. You can get it at asian market or at some high end kitchen goods stores.

Put 1-2 teaspoons of oil in the pan and put some in a bowl. When the oil is hot, use a small ladle to pour the batter up to the middle of each compartment. As the batter starts to cook or crisp a little, add in the stuffing. As each compartment (half circles) cooks you should use a spoon to scoop up one and put it on top of the other to seal into a ball. You’ll know when it’s done when it has a golden look and crispy looking edge. Lower the heat after the first one because it will cook very quickly as the pan gets hot. Remove them and start all over again.

Serve it with the dipping sauce. If you don’t want to make the sauce from scratch, you can buy it. I like the Mae Ploy brand chicken sauce. It’s not too spicy but it’s a sweet chili sauce. If you use the Mae Ploy sauce, you can put some hot water in it to dilute it. Enjoy!

Vietnamese Summer Rolls

Ingredients:

Shrimp: 1 ½ per roll, cooked and split in half
Iceburg lettuce: 1 shredded 3 inches long
Cucumber: 1 sliced 3 inches long
Mint leaves: 1 bag, 3 leaves per roll
Rice paper wraps: 1 package, circular packaging and may vary in thickness
Vermicelli noodles: 3 stacks, boiled 3 minutes and strained and then cooled under cold water

Instructions:

Heat 4 cups of water in one pot to soak the rice paper. Water should be warm enough to soften the rice paper. Submerge the rice paper briefly in the water and then remove promptly onto a cutting board or plate to use as a wrapping surface. Like on an assembly line place the noodles, cucumber, lettuce, then the mint leaves. Next, lay the 3 shrimps on the top with the outside showing. To wrap, pull the two sides in and then start rolling the rice paper away from the body and make sure you roll it tight. Be careful not to tear the rice paper. The longer you soak it, the stickier the paper will be. If it breaks you can salvage it by soaking another paper and rewrap it or can get rid of the evidence. Eat it!! Serve it with the dipping sauce. If you don’t want to make the sauce from scratch, you can buy it.

Beef and Tomato Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

Beef: 6 0z thin slices
Tomatoes: 4, cut into wedges
Minced garlic cloves: 3
Ground ginger: ½ tsp
Sugar: 2 tbl
Salt: 1 Pinch
Pepper: 1 Pinch
Oyster sauce: 2 tbl
Soy sauce: 1 tbl
Cornstarch: 1 tsp
Water: ¼ cup
Oil: 3 tbl

Instructions:

In a stir fry pan, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the ginger and the garlic. Once the garlic browns, add the tomatoes and let it simmer in the pan for about 10 minutes or until it gets soupy. Add the sugar, salt and pepper, soy sauce and oyster sauce and cook for 2 minutes. Combine the cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl. Add the meat to the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Then add the cornstarch and water mixture. Simmer for 5 minutes and then serve over white rice.