Tofu and Tomato Soup

This is the supposed last post of my 22 post requirements for my English class, that won't be the case anymore. Over this past semester, I have enjoyed this experience so much. I got to be more familiar with my culinary techniques and my stomach doesn't go empty quite often as before. My "judges" are enjoying it too since they get to taste some very tasty dishes and horrible/yucky "experiments" of mine (sorry!!). I will continue with this post and hopefully, I will keep up the posts with more yummy food.

This post is not actually mine and I obviously did not made this myself. One of the judges was the main "researcher" for this project. Although we are of same ethnicity; however, because our families originated from different regions of Vietnam, so there are some dishes that I have never known; i'm missing out big time. I lived mainly in the Southern part of Vietnam and most of my dishes are influenced by the culinary delicacy of the deep South; however, the judge's family origin came from the coastal area of Vietnam; thus, they are deeply influenced by the seafood flavor.

The soup is best serve when in the cold winter and its broth is quite sweet since the tomato's flavor really complement the seafood base of it. This food is also the perfect cure for hangovers too....you drunkards haha

Ingredients:
1/2 lbs of shrimp
3 tomatoes (diced into 8 chunks)
1 package of tofu
pinch of salt and sugar
one cup of cilantro
4 cups of water or 3 cups of water and one cup of chicken broth

Instructions:
Bring the water to boil
Pour shrimp when boils and let it cook for 10 minutes
Pour the tomatoes in and let it cook for another 7 minutes in medium heat
Cut tofus into medium size cubes and pour tofus in lastly; another 8 minutes in medium heat.

Servings:
This pot should feed around 8 people.
Add some cilantro on top of the soup for garnishing and a hint of herb flavor.


Goodnight Texas,

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My next inspiration: GUESS WHAT IT IS!!!

Update

Sooo this post is about an update from the post below *looks down* of the jellatin dessert. As shown below *points down*, those pictures are the pictures of different people's attempt. As for my version, it is very plain and simple as I just simply do not have the time and the supplies to carve a giant masterpiece. I also update some pictures I have taken for some of the ingredients that were used in this post

These are the raw pictures and taken at very bad angle and lighting as well. These pictures are captured by my phone, the infamous iPhone.

This is the base powder in which I have used for this jellatin. As advised, my mom recommended that after i mix this powder with water. I should let it chill for couple of hours. It's one of thos ecooking myth in which is transpread through experiences, not actual science.

This is the condensed milk in which I have grown up with and definitely, i would not like any other condensed milk, ever. If you just cannot find this brand, regular condensed milk of any brand will do; personal preferrence.

The food colors I picked up at HEB. Since these colors are flavorless, you should reconsider about adding some fruit concentrates such as yellow for banana or red for strawberry. I used those two fruit extracts for this jellatin and they complement the colors of this jellatin perfectly.


Before and after pictures of food colorings and flavoring process. I also used coffe/milk flavor mix in these as well. A lil bit of coffee doesnt hurt at all. The coffee must be fresh brewed though for the fragrance of its essence.

These are my products after 25 hours in the fridge and I think they look quite alright. Both judges were impressed at my final products and received 4 thumbs up (just by looking at it). I think the color and appearance are quite ok considering the fact that they are just molded by food containers and cups. I made three cups for my roommates and I.

Goodnight College Station.

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Vietnamese jellatin dessert

The inspiration for today's topic was suggested by my mom. My mom is a perfectionist when it comes to culinary quest and she is the master of everything authentic Vietnamese cuisine. Many dishes for this blogs are advised by my mom (through the phone). After receiving the news that I have decided to keep a food blog for a class, she suggested that I should do a Vietnamese food blog titled "Momma's advice" but I rejected it.

Rau cau is a jellatin dessert that is known throughout Asia. Each country has their own version of rau cau and it is a very fun to make. However, it must be noted that rau cau required meticulous attention since the preparations are not hard, yet, quite very easy to mess up. Furthermore, this dessert, like many other desserts, are not one of those that can be serve right away and patience is a must. Like many other dishes I have prepared as well, I made a few changes and trust me, my version of this dessert is nothing like the picture shown of the link. One unique thing about this dessert is that there is no rigid way to make this dessert. Everyone endowed a certain specific creativity and this dessert is perfect for your own good. You can mess around with the color, the patterns, or the shape and sizes of any object. Freewill at work. I have decided to post up some pictures from other websites of their own version of rau cau for you guys to catch a glimpse of the varieties out there. MUST note that each of these pictures are different and different mold were used, one CANNOT shape this dessert by hand and required time to solidify.


ALL these pictures are very unique and diverse and how different and creative you can be with this dessert. AND all these pretty looking rau cau are made possible with their own MOLD and without these molds, it would not be possible. THUS, my version is very simple and normal. I just simply layer the colors with one another for the sake of contrast. I will make another update post about MY version and DEFINITELY they won't be looking like the ones showcased here haha

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Vietnamese Spring Rolls

I'm quite sure when it comes to chain food store of Chinese cuisine, most people quickly remembered the name "Panda Express" and how wonderful the food tasted. After you get you pick of rice or noodles and the variety of choices for main entree. Before reaching the cash register, the server will ask you "would you like an eggroll with your meal?" and most people would say "yes"...come on now...it's that good!!!

That's what the Chinese people are famous for: Kung Pow chicken, Orange chicken and eggroll! For us Vietnamese ancestry, spring roll is our way of life (beside pho). The idea for this post originated while browsing through my blogroll and ended up at a post of Viet World Kitchen. In this post, the author (a previous contestant of the Top Chef serie) asked her follower about what is authenticty Vietnamese cuisine? From the perspective of a foreigner or someone who is not familiar with the Vietnamese cuisine? and not surprisingly, Goi Cuon is the name that was brought to my attention; thus, my post today dedicated to this appetizer.

The ingredients have two components: main ingredients and by-choice ingredients. Main ingredients include: rice paper, pork belly layer, shrimp, nuoc mam (a type of seasoner fish sauce, usually home-made). By-choice ingredients include: lettuce and any type of vegetables you would want you want with your goi cuon.


1) Vegetables 2) boil shrimp 3) cooked broil pork 4) thin rice noodle 5) nuoc mam

The etiquette for this dish is quite simple.

Step-by-step instruction

1: Submerge your rice paper in warm water and quickly removed from the bowl of water and placed it on your round plate.

2: Use a small piece of lettuce as your base of support and began piling the all the ingredients together as shown.



3. Began folding two extra sides of the mix and slowly start rolling from the extra side behind the mix. Began rolling forward slowly and pressing the mix together before they bust out.

the final product (as shown below), dip with the dipping sauce (shown above)


Thanks and enjoy studying/eating/reading/cramming!!!

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A quick dessert...."che chuoi"

Che chuoi is the dessert I have chosen today for my entry and this dessert reminds me of my homeland a lot. Our family emigrated from Vietnam for over 8 years now and to be quite honest, as many others, I've been Americanized; for the good and bad. I still retain some ethnic identity of my own Vietnamese heritage since I still can read and write in Vietnamese quite fluently; however, I often have trouble trying to find the right vocabulary for translation from English to Vietnamese.

Che chuoi is one of those dishes that have grown with you and every now and then, you just got to have it; to suffice for your thirst of your own identity in a different way. Personally, it is one of my favorite Vietnamese dessert; its succulent taste and easy-to-make recipe. It did not take me more than 20 minutes to make this dessert at all and this dish's inspiration is purely out of spontaniety.

The pictures below depcited the "suppose product" and the "experimental result". The first picture can be accessible through online and the next picture is the version from my own lab. You can tell the difference right away. First, this is a spontaneous idea; thus, there were not adequate "funding" and the lack of "supplies" shortened the ideal image of a picture perfect situation. Secondly, the second picture depicted the dessert while cooking since I was too lazy to get my phone and snap a picture for the finished product. Last, I was not feeling well so that might have taken a bit out of my enthusiasm for the dessert also.





Have a great day and enjoy eating!

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Correction

In the previous post, the main topic was Italian meatballs and these are the pictures for the post. I thought I had encrypted them with the post but I guessed not....


The first picture depicted all the ingredients in the moving bowl. I also modified this recipe from its original version a little bit. I could not find ground veal at HEB so i resorted to using ground chicken instead. I also added in cilantro for a bit of aroma. The fresh parsley was really strong. The second picture depicted the meatballs while cooking. The smell was fantastic. I wish this is one of those smell-a-web kinda of thing.


The last picture showed the completed plate of Italian meatball. All these pictures were taken using my phone's camera so please excuse the bad quality and un-professionalized manner of the picture. This blog was created for the purpose of homemade and authenticity; thus, I want to pursue a surreal manner of picturesque.

Thanks and goodnight!

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Italian Meatball

The idea of today's post originated from a FOOD NETWORK TV SHOW called "How to Boil Water?" The show featured Tyler Florence and his skillful technique/recipe of Italian Meatballs. One thought came to mind while watching this show, "I can make it too"; so I've thought.

The recipe can be found here and the ingredients can be bought at your local neighborhood market. One thing noticed, this recipe is made for a big crowd so make sure to weigh and balance the recipe effectively for a smaller crowd. In many ways, this recipe is almost exactly like the MEATLOAF's post since the preparations required very little effort. Mix the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. One lilttle tips, add a little bit of vegetable oil on your hands before rolling the meatballs since the oil the will prevent the mix sticking to your hands.

I tried to make the marinara sauce to simmer meatballs while cooking. Overall, the meatballs were ok. I guess this is one of those times when "it is not me, it's you (recipe)". I got a mere 2.5 thumbs up and for the first time, I do not feel guilty.

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