Vietnamese Style grilled pork

One of my fixations at any of the local Vietnamese restaurants (besides Pho) is the marinated grilled pork over rice. I don't know what's in the marinade (well, I sort of do now) but it just was that tasty with rice and a small salad! So one day, I was able to convince a friend of mine to show me the way her mother cooks the pork chops, homestyle! And wow, the food did not disappoint!!!

As with a lot of Southeastern Asian cuisine, fish sauce is a staple. The pork is marinated along with some sugar and honey to diffuse the saltiness. Add that to some stir-fried scallions and some other veggies and you've got a nice meal (plus leftovers!)

This dish is also meant to be grilled but a frying pan would have to work this time.

The recipe can be halved to make slightly less

Vietnamese Style Grilled Pork

Serves 6-7 with rice and vegetables
Ingredients
2 lbs pork chops (12-14 thin sliced pork chops)
6-7 stalks scallions, chopped (whites separated, green for garnish)

Marinade
Sprinkle of kosher salt
2 tbsp black pepper
5 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1-2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 shallots, minced
1/2 cup water (or stock)
white parts of the scallions
2-3 cloves garlic, minced

Method
1. Marinate the pork for at least 20 minutes
2. Heat the frying pan over medium heat. Add a little oil, cook some of the pork with some of the juice.
3. When pork is close to finished, bring the heat to high to evaporate the juice and caramelize the shallots. Rub the pork in the reduced sauce to get a singed look to the pork.
4. Repeat 2-3 for as many batches as necessary.
5. In a small frying pan, heat some oil and saute the green parts of the scallions for a minute to garnish the pork.

Miscellaneous food pictures

Sorry about the lack of posts over the past two weeks, life got in the way a little bit, but I should be back at it soon! As soon as I get some free time, I'll be building the queue back up (Got about 40-50 photos on the camera that're waiting to be processed...joy :P). I'd also been cooking a few dishes that I already posted about so I'll probably have a small post devoted to re-hashes of recipes I've already made :)

But in the meanwhile, here are a few miscellaneous photos of things I've made/eaten over the past month or so.

Spicy Beef over Rice

Egg Noodles with chicken and onion

Chicken Teriyaki

Chinese broccoli in ginger/garlic sauce

Cantonese Stuffed Tofu

Hope I'm not tiring out the palette with all of these Chinese recipes, but I've got another one today. I also made this a little while ago but just hadn't had a chance to post it yet. I never tried making this type of tofu dish before, I usually just stir fry cubes of tofu with some other ingredients, so this was a new experiment!

The hardest part was turning the tofu in the wok without breaking the triangles. Other than that, the prep is pretty straightforward (and a lot of fun!).

The recipe comes from Grace Young's Breath of a Wok. This cookbook focuses more on the specialty dishes of many different chefs/cooks and has a great variety of different Chinese dishes, each with a very thorough description of preparation and instruction.

Cantonese Stuffed Tofu

Serves 4 as part of a multicourse meal
Ingredients
1 tbsp dried shrimp (haw mai)
4 squares firm tofu (14 ounces) rinsed
3/4 tsp salt
4-8 ounces ground pork
2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 cup minced scallions
2 tbsp canola oil
1 minced garlic clove
3/4 cup Chicken Broth
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce (I used the thick ketjap manis)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
cilantro for garnish

Method
1. In a small saucepan, boil 1/2 cup water. Add the shrimp and simmer for a minute. Drain and reserve the water. Mince the shrimp and set aside.
2. Place the tofu on some paper towels, sprinkle 1/2 tsp of the salt evenly over the tofu and set aside.
3. Combine the pork, 1 tsp cornstarch, sugar, pepper, 1/4 tsp salt, and the minced shrimp. Stir in 1/2 tsp sesame oil, the scallions, and a couple tablespoons of the reserved shrimp liquid.
4. Cut each tofu square diagonally into 2 triangles. With a paring knife, cut a shallow pocket along the long side of each triangle, removing some bean curd and discarding the excess. Stuff each triangle with the filling.
5. Bring your wok under high heat until a bead of water vaporizes in a split second. Swirl in the canola oil and add the tofu triangles, pork side down (may need to do multiple batches if your wok is smaller). Pan fry for 2 minutes over medium heat and then scatter the garlic in the pan. Cook for another minute.
6. Add the broth and 1/4 cup cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to med-low and simmer for about 3 minutes.
7. Using a spatula, loosen each triangle and turn on its side. Add the soy sauce, cover and summer for another 4 minutes. Add the rest of the soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil.
8. With the remaining 1 tsp cornstarch, mix it with a tablespoon of cold water. Increase the heat to high, add the cornstarch slurry and cook for 30 more seconds. Garnish with cilantro

Stir Fried Scallops with Snow Peas and Peppers

One of my favorite types of dishes during the summer is fresh seafood. Whether it's some form of sushi or a nicely cooked fish fillet with a tasty glaze, it's no matter, I'll eat it all! And as much as people say that too much shellfish is bad for you, I absolutely love having scallops. I even add it to macaroni and cheese :)

So when I was at Whole Foods a couple weeks ago, imagine my delight when the big sea scallops were on their "weekly buys!" So I had to buy a pound of it and cook it up. Normally, I'll cook this dish but I decided that I needed to experiment this time. So out came Grace Young's Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen and lo and behold, I found a recipe! Enjoy :P

Stir-Fried Scallops w/ Snow Peas and Peppers

Serves 4 as part of a multi-course meal

Ingredients
4-6 ounces snow peas
1 pound fresh sea scallops
2 tbsp + 2 tbsp cornstarch (separate)
1 tsp + 1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp ShaoHsing rice wine
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil (I like the chili sesame oil :D)
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/3 cup Chicken Broth
2 tsp oyster sauce
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp canola oil
4-6 slices of ginger
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, cut into small squares (about an inch)
2 scallions, ends removed, sliced

Method
1. String the snow peas, rinse, set aside.
2. Wash the scallops in cold water, drain well and slice into quarters.
3. Mix together 2 tbsp cornstarch, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp rice wine, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1/2 tsp sugar, and the scallops. Stir to coat well.
4. Combine the chicken broth, oyster sauce, salt, and remaining 2 tsp cornstarch, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp rice wine, 1 tsp sesame oil, and 1 tsp sugar. Stir well.
5. Add 1 tbsp canola oil to the scallop mixture. Heat a wok under high heat until hot (when a droplet of water sizzles away in a couple seconds). Add 1 tbsp canola oil and the scallops. Cook for a couple minutes without disturbing the scallops, and then use a spatula to stir fry for another couple minutes. Remove and set aside.
6. Add remaining 1 tbsp canola oil, ginger, and garlic. Let the ginger and garlic sizzle, and then add the snow peas, red pepper, and scallions. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes, add the sauce mixture and stir well. Add the scallops back in and stir fry another 1-2 minutes. Serve with rice