June Throwbacks! + Quick Vietnamese Crab Soup Recipe

Honestly, June has been a tough month for me. I was having intense summer classes every single day so I couldn't really focus on anything else. I'm on a short vacation right now and I'll be going back to school tomorrow... However, I still managed to have fun with my friends because it's summer! So for this post, I will be posting pictures about some remarkable June events. I want to show you guys a glance of my life in Boston! ~ 

1/ Samurai Sushi - 827 Boylston Street (next to Apple Store) 

Lovely Korean-Japanese restaurant on Boylston! I highly recommend Pink Lady (pink ones with spicy mayo on top); my all-time Samurai favorite! Even though the prices seem a little bit higher than other sushi places, they do serve bigger portions. I'd also like to try the Shrimp Teriyaki some day cuz I heard it's pretty good too! ~ 

2/ Pho Pasteur - Chinatown 

Hmmm... I was craving for Hu Tieu Nam Vang (Phnom Penh Noodle Soup) so I went straight to Pho Pasteur hoping that they would have it. And yes, they do have it, but it's not what I was looking for at that moment. The authentic one usually includes shredded pork slices, fresh shrimps, pork liver, even beef balls sometimes. However, they served me a bowl of imitation crab meat, fish cake and some other stuff, which is totally... weird?

3/ Homemade Vietnamese street food - Stir fried corn with fried shrimps 

Super yummy! :) The crunchiness of fried shallots, fried dried shrimps along with the softness and sweetness of the corn make such a perfect combination! :)

4/ BBQ Day

Fun BBQ Day out at Larz Anderson Park, Brookline. We rented out 2 BBQ spaces in the park and brought our own food (meat, corn, sausages, shrimps, etc.). It was really fun and exciting! :) I also brought some seasoning spices to marinate the meat because I thought it would be more tasty. I was grilling the food so I didn't have time to take any pictures besides the one above. But if there's another chance, I will definitely take lots of pictures and share them with you guys! :)

5/ Vietnamese food night

All of these dishes are marinated with the same ingredients: garlic, shallot, salt, pepper, a bit of sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, vegetable oil (to keep to moist), etc. 

You guys will need to prepare caramel sauce before cooking these dishes. You guys can simply heat up a pan with some vegetable oil/canola oil in it, then add sugar until it turns brown. After that, turn the heat off to cool down the pan and add in some fish sauce. Then, turn the heat up again and add in the main ingredients. 

Caramelized Shrimp and Pork Belly

Caramelized Pork Spare Ribs

Caramelized duck tongues (Super yummy)

*However, you need to soak the duck tongues in white wine + ginger for 10-15 minutes prior to cooking. After that, you need to wash them extra clean under running cool water to remove the odor. 

6/ Vietnamese crab soup (with shark fin, abalone, fried fish swim bladder?, quail eggs and shredded chicken)

This recipe takes a long time to prepare but only takes about 15-30 minutes to cook. 

Quick recipe here: 

1/ Boil the water and put the pork bones in and shimmer for about 2 hours. After shimmering for 1 hour, put in a cube of sugar/1 tablespoon of rock sugar (to keep the stock clear). You can also substitute with a peeled onion as well. 

2/ Meanwhile, soak the shark fin in a bowl of luke warm water along with white wine and some slices of ginger (to remove the fishy smell). After an hour, wash it gentle under running cool water and steam it. You can put it in a small bowl and then put the bowl in a pot (pour about 1/4 -1/3 water in the pot; just enough to steam the shark fin). Steam for about 30 minutes over low-medium heat. 

3/ Cut the abalone in small pieces. In the picture above, I haven't cut the abalone yet. 

4/ Soak the fried swim bladder (I took about 3 pieces) in about 10 minutes along with white wine and salt/ginger (to remove the fishy smell). After that, wash them gentle under cool running water. Then, cut them into small pieces. 

5/ Put 10 quail eggs in a pot and bring to boil over high heat. Wait about 5-10 minutes then peel the eggs under cool running water. 

*Tip: If the eggs are easy to peel, they are completely cooked. If not, then the eggs are just somewhat cooked. 

6/ Stir fry the crab meat over medium heat with some seasoning until slightly brown

7/ Put one small piece of chicken in the shimmering pork bones pot until the chicken is fully cooked then take it out. Wait for it to cool and then start tearing it off to small pieces. 

8/ After shimmering the pork bones for about 2 hours, take the pork bones out. Start putting processed ingredients such as stir fried crab meat and boiled shredded chicken in. 

9/ After that, put in 2-3 beaten eggs and stir well. 

10/ Start putting in the rest of the ingredients (except for quail eggs) and start seasoning your soup. I put in some chicken stock/chicken powder, salt, pepper and fish sauce.

11/ Then, in a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of tapioca starch/corn starch with 1/3 bowl of water then put it in the pot slowly. Keep stirring until the soup reaches the desired stickiness. You can put in the quail eggs now. 

12/ After that, you can either put in the sesame oil and chopped green onions in the pot or garnish them on top of the bowl before serving. 

Ta-dah! ~ You now have a delicious bowl of Vietnamese high quality soup! The reason why I called it 'high quality' is because I used a lot of expensive and nutritious ingredients for this recipe. You can also make this soup without using abalone and shark fin as well! It'd still taste super delicious! :) 

7/ Hotpot night 

I prepared the hotpot soup all by myself and it turned out to be sooooo good. I boiled the pork bones in about 2-3 liters of water (depends on how many people are eating) and shimmer in 2 hours over low heat. After that, I separate the soup into 2 portions, one is spicy and the other one is not (for vegetables and non-spicy eaters). Then, I season the two portions with the same seasonings; the only difference is that I put chili powder and chili peppers in the spicy portion for extra spiciness. 

For the side dishes, we bough beef balls, tong ho, mushroom, sliced beef, marinated chicken, tofu, fish cake, fish tofu, fried bean curds, etc. 

8/ Sunny summer in Boston

Yes, it's really really hot in Boston at the moment and it's gonna be the same until the end of September. Lots of people gathered at the fountain near Prudential and Church of Scientology to play with the water ~ 

9/ Father's Day: Dimsum and Haymarket 

I called my dad on Father's Day but he didn't pick up. So I sent him a message and he replied me the day after saying "Thank you my sweetheart!" ~ Gosh! How I miss my family! :( 

It's summer! It's Sunnies time ~ 

Haymarket was really crowded at the time we were there. I also saw a lot of tourists going around. The food in Haymarket is not excellent but it's not bad either; it's acceptable. I was craving for some American food at that time so I ordered a hot dog and a lobster soup from... some restaurants I don't remember...

Blue is perfect for the summer because it's a cool color; it relieves your stresses! 

Dimsum in Bubor Chacha. It's not the best and not the worst; it's somewhere in the middle. I was hoping that we could get a seat in Gourmet Dumpling House but it was so packed that we had to go to Bubor Chacha.

Walking around Boston Common ~ so sunny in Boston! Remember to put on some sunscreen before going out to protect your skin!

More entries coming soon! 

Have a nice summer, everyone! 

Cher Vo

June 30, 2013

Vietnamese Beefsteak

When I mention the term "beefsteak," you guys must be thinking of American steak right away. Steak is too popular in the U.S. as an iconic dish of America. American beefsteak is a flat cut of beef and is usually cooked using dry heat. Vietnamese beefsteak is quite different from the American one; it is usually served in hot pan along with Pâté (a cooked mixture of ground meat and fat), French fries and Vietnamese baguette.

American Steak (left) and Vietnamese Beefsteak (Right)

To be honest, even though I live in the U.S., I don't really like American steak. Personally, I think it's too big, thick and sometimes too chewy. Meanwhile, Vietnamese beefsteak is very thin and finely marinated before cooking so it's very soft, 'watery' and tasty (rather than tasteless). 

It's not that easy to find a Vietnamese Beefsteak restaurant here in the U.S., especially Boston, where there aren't that many Vietnamese. 

so I decided to make my own version of Vietnamese Beefsteak - easy and simple as ever. 

My version of Vietnamese Beefsteak with a fried egg, crispy fries, SPAM ham, and veggies. 

And of course, I will show you guys how to make this delicious Vietnamese dish! :)

By the way, I made this recipe up myself so there's no precise amount/number, sorry! 

Here are the ingredients that you'll need:

1/ 0.6 lbs or 250 grams of beefsteak (eye round steak); choose the Thin Sliced so it would be easier for marinating

Thin Sliced Steaks for Marinating that I got at Shaw's. 

2/ 2-3 potatoes, depends on how much fries you want

3/ 1 can of SPAM (optional; substitute for Pate)

4/ 1-2 eggs

5/ Vegetables
6/ 1-2 cloves of garlic
7/ 1-2 shallots
8/ Half a stick of butter (3 small cubes of butter, depends on how much you like butter!) 

9/ Seasoning spices:

A lot of seasoning spices make a perfectly marinated beefsteak

Salt, pepper, sugar, sesame oil, oyster oil, cooking wine (red wine/white wine), soy sauce, fish sauce and pork bone soup powder (bouillon). I really don't have precise amounts of the spices because my recipe is spontaneous but you guys can always tell if the beef is too salty or too sweet by the smell; that's what I did! :)
*You guys can also add chili powder and ginger powder for extra spiciness. 

Marinating the beef:

1/ Use a pestle or the end of a knife to press the meat down a few times to make it thinner (easier to marinate).
2/ Put the meat in a food container/bowl and add all the seasoning spices in. Use your hands, give it a nice toss to mix everything together.
3/ Marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Making Beefsteak:

1/ Heat up the pan with bit of cooking oil at medium-high heat
*Make sure the pan is not TOO hot otherwise your steak is gonna be burned!
2/ Put the beef in when the oil is hot enough and quickly turn the side to prevent burning
3/ Put in a generous amount of soy sauce
*You guys have to continuously turn the sides so that the beef would be done evenly
4/ Put in 1 cube of butter to the sauce. Meanwhile, cut the SPAM ham into small pieces and toss them in the sauce as well
*Season the sauce with a bit of sugar because the soy sauce is pretty salty itself
I like it well-done so I want to cook my steak for a bit longer but if you like medium-rare then you can turn off the heat and serve it on a plate with a bed of veggies along with some French fries and a fried egg. :)
FYI, they don't sell Vietnamese baguette here in Boston (as far as I know), so you guys can also substitute it with sandwich or American baguettes, either way is fine!

BONUS: Cher's Crispy fries recipe:

Making fries is extremely easy but I will show you a way to make it crispy, buttery and a bit spicy! It seems very complicated but it's actually EASY as ever.

1/ Peel 2-3 potatoes
2/ Cut them into thin strips, put a bit salt in and toss altogether then wash them under cold water
3/ Use kitchen towel to absorb the excess water so it the oil won't splash when you fry them
4/ Heat up a pan with cooking oil on medium heat (I prefer soy bean oil); Why medium heat? To cook the fries inside and out!
5/ Wait until the pan is hot enough then put the fries in. Fry until the fries reach a light yellow color then take them out
6/ Put in a cube of butter, a bit salt and chili powder (optional) and toss until fully dissolve
7/ Put the spiced fries in the fridge for about 20 minutes to chill. Why am I doing this? Because the fries will get extremely crispy the second time you fry it!!!
8/ After 20 minutes, heat up the pan again and put in 1 cube of butter in the oil
9/ Wait until the pan if hot enough and put the fries in one more time
10/ Fry until they reach a golden brown color then turn off the heat and take the fries out on a kitchen towel (for oil absorbing)
Now, your crispy fries are ready to be served! :)

You don't have to put the fries in to complete this recipe, I have actually tried making the steak itself without fries or veggies once and it still turned out pretty good! :)

June 1, 2013

Good luck guys! 

Cheers!

First Post! :)

Hey everyone!

My name is Cher, I'm 19 years old and currently living in Boston, MA.

It's my first time blogging so I'm really excited!

This blog is all about fashion and food; the two things I cannot live without! 

If you have the same interests as I do, follow my journey! :) 

This blog is just for fun so no hateful comments, please. :) 

Cheers!