Bánh Ít Nhân Dừa - Pandan Flavor Sweet Rice Dumpling with Sweeten Coconut Filling

Difficulty: Medium (Time Consuming)

The thing about most Asian desserts is that it isn't very sweet.  There is just a hint of sweetness in this banh it. Banh it is traditionally a pyramid shaped dumpling wrapped in banana leaf.  I love the history behind this dessert.  My father told me that once there was a king with 3 sons.  He was getting old and didn't know who to leave the kingdom to.  So he made a decree that each one of his daughter in-laws make a feast for him and whoever makes him the most delicious meal, will inherit the kingdom.

The eldest daughter had the staff make him a lavish banquet filled with wild game and elaborate desserts. The middle was very fancy and tasted very delicious but wasn't as grand as the eldest.  By the time it come to the youngest, there wasn't much money left in the budget work with.  With the little money they had, one of the course was banh ut it.

250 g (2 cups) glutinous rice flour
175 ml (3/4 cup) water
1 Tbsp coconut palm sugar or brown sugar
25 g (1/4 cup) unsweetened shredded coconut flakes
1 tsp milk
Sesame seeds
1 tsp pandan extract
2 drop green food coloring, optional
16 round cut parchment paper or banana leaf


Place flour into a bowl.  Make a well and add water and pandan extract.  Be careful with the water. When adding the water, leave a tablespoon or so behind.  Depending on the moisture content of your flour and humidity, you may not need all the water.  Mix together until you can get a ball shape.  Poke a hole in the ball and add the two drops of food coloring.  Knead well. Roll dough out to a log shape and cut into 16 equal size pieces.

In a small bowl combine the coconut flakes and coconut palm sugar.  Mix well.  Your coconut maybe moist enough where you don't need the milk.  Add one or two drops in at a time.  You are looking for the sugar to be melted but not runny.

Take a piece of the dough and roll it into your hand and form a ball.  Flatten out the ball, making the outside edges thin and there is a bulge in the middle. Take a small amount of the coconut and sugar mixture and add it to the middle of the dough.  Pinch it close like an empanada.  Push the points in and roll it into the palm of your hands to make a ball.  Place on a piece of parchment paper or greased banana leaf. Repeat.

Steam for about 10 minutes.  You can't really overcook this dessert.  Sprinkle a little sesame seeds before allowing them to cool.

The dough can have cracks in it.  Just pinch it close if the crack is too wide.

It is done when it is glossy and looks like a perfect piece of jade.

Bread by Artisan Bread in Five in a crockpot

Artisan Bread in Five minutes a day has this really great recipe that is absolutely simple.  I stumbled across the recipe on Pinterest when I was looking for a recipe to make bread at home.  Go check out their website and learn to save your family BIG BUCKS by baking these beautiful  loaves at home.  There is only 4 ingredients to this bread vs commercial breads that have a zillion different things in it.  I never understood the use of high fructose corn syrup in making bread.  Anyone looking for a bread without the added sweetness, this is the recipe for you.

3 cups warm water

1 package yeast

1 tsp salt

6.5 cup unbleached all purpose flour (add 1/4 cup more if you are using King Arthur)

Pour yeast and salt into water.  Combine.  Add flour.  Stir well.  Proof for 2 hours.  Weigh out a pound. Shape into a round ball.  Dust top with flour and make 3 slashes with sharp knife.  Make sure that it is deep slashes.

Place a piece of parchment in crockpot and set on high for about 1 hr.  Brown in oven on broil for a few minutes.  If you don't have a crock pot, bake in oven for 30-35 mins on a stone.  If you don't a stone, place the loaf on parchment paper and a baking sheet.

Allow for loaf to cool completely, otherwise the bread will be nasty looking on inside when you cut into it.

Xôi Gà - Sweet Rice with Roasted Chicken

There is 2 ways to make sticky rice: steam or in a rice cooker.  The steaming process produces a drier texture and makes it more for eatting with your hands.  The rice cooker version makes a wetter version.  Above is a healthier version of this dish.  Normally you would have this dish with the Chinese sausage lap chuong.  If you choose to make the more traditional version, just slice the sausage on the diagonal, render some of the fat out, and serve with the rice.


Difficulty: Medium

1 whole chicken, trimmed and cleaned well
2 tsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp black pepper
         or purchase a rotisserie chicken at the supermarket deli and shred


2 cups sweet rice
Water

2 bunches green onions, chopped
2 Tbsp oil


Steam method for rice:
Soak rice overnight or for at least for 2 hours.  Drain rice and pour into a steamer.  Cook until the grain is tender.

Rice cooker method:
Rinse rice well and pour rice into colander to remove extra water.  Add to the rice cooker pot with 2.5 cups of water.

Chicken:
Pre-heat oven to 375-degrees.  Pat chicken dry with paper towels.  Mix honey and soy sauce and rub on the chicken skin.  Pour any remaining sauce into the cavity of the chicken.  Ground some black pepper into the skin and cavity.  Place the chicken on a rack so that the bird doesn't sit in its own juice.  Bake for about 45 mins.  Take the chicken out and allow for it to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into it.  Slice it however you choose.

Onion oil:
Heat up the oil in a small saucepan and add the onions when the oil is hot.  Stir the mixture until the onion is wilted by still retains it green color.

Place some sticky rice on a plate and add some onion oil to the rice.  Eat with the chicken.

Bánh Khọt - Bite Size Savory Pancakes

Difficulty: Medium (Time Consuming)

Normally, when I go visit my mom, there is never anything to eat!  On my last trip to to see her, she actually showed me how to make banh khot.  I didn't like her version because she loves to alter recipes to make it more healthy (bland and tasteless.)  In the recipe below, I added glutinious rice to give the cake an extra texture.  After reading a million recipes in Vietnamese (who uses the metric system) I came up with 6 Tbsp because it was 1/5 of a standard 1 lb bag of rice flour.

Batter:
1 lb rice flour (454 gr)
6 Tbsp glutinous rice flour (90 gr)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 can 13.5 oz coconut milk (400 ml)
2 stalks green onions, chopped
1.75 cups water (414 ml)

Topping:
35 shrimp, peeled, de-veined
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp sugar
Black pepper
2 ounces pork belly, minced
Fish sauce

Nuoc Cham


Add the rice flour, glutinous rice flour, turmuric, coconut milk together in a large container or bowl.  Mix well and add the water.  Stir the batter to combine and allow for the batter to rest.  Add the chopped onions when you are about to start cooking.

Heat up a pan and add the minced pork belly and garlic.  Sprinkle on the sugar to help caramelized the pork belly.  Stir until almost cooked and add the shrimp.  Add the black pepper and a small splash of fish sauce. Cook until the shrimp is on the verge of turning pink and take off heat.

Heat up your aebelskiver pan on a medium-low heat.  Grease up each cup with a little oil.  Fill each cup about 1/3 way and turn the pan so the batter will coat the sides.  Drop the pork belly and shrimp in, and cover the pan.  It only take a minute or so to cook, depending on how hot your pan gets.  Poke the middle with a wooden skewer or toothpick to check for doneness.

Serve with lettuce, perilla leaves, cucumber round slices, lemon basil, and mint leaves.

Just added the filling