Vietnamese Pho

Ingredients: rice, 1 onion, 1 garlic clove, 1 chilli pepper, ginger powder, 500 ml stock, 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce, 2 tablespoon fish sauce, 250 grams steak, 3 spring onions, 125 grams bean sprouts,

Number of persons: 2

Boil the rice according pack instructions. Bake in hot oil on medium heat 1 chopped onion until the onion is golden brown. Add 1 finely chopped garlic clove, 1 finely chopped chilli pepper and ginger powder to taste. Stir fry briefly. Add 500 ml stock, 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce and 2 tablespoons fish again. Let the stock simmer gently for about 10 minutes. Add 250 grams steak cut in stripes, 3 chopped spring onions and 125 grams bean sprouts and let it cook another 5 minutes. Serve the rice in a deep plate and shovel the steak, vegetables and stock over it. Enjoy!

Vietnamese-Style Spring Rolls with Shrimp

These are a staple for us. Granted, they are a bit time consuming and the spring-roll sheets are tricky to work with (Taylor handles them like a master!), but it’s a healthy, refreshing dish perfect as an appetizer or as a stand alone meal. We like to serve them with rice noodles or other asian noodles.

Delicious, refreshing, and satisfying only begin to describe these. They are well worth the effort and will definitely impress! You can easily substitute tofu for the shrimp to make them vegetarian and just as yummy!

Vietnamese-Style Spring Rolls with Shrimp

INGREDIENTS
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
16 uncooked medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, halved lengthwise
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 cups hot water
8 6-inch-diameter Vietnamese spring-roll sheets (you can find these at Asian food markets)
4 small Bibb lettuce leaves, halved
1/2 cup thin strips green onions
1/2 cup thin strips seeded peeled cucumber
1/2 cup thin strips carrots
4 teaspoons minced fresh mint leaves

DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger; sauté until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add shrimp and cilantro; sauté until shrimp are just cooked through, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour hot water into large bowl. Using tongs, dip 1 spring-roll sheet in water 5 seconds. Remove from water; place on wet towel. Let stand 30 seconds (spring-roll sheet should be soft and pliable; if still stiff, sprinkle with more water).

Place half of lettuce leaf across top third of spring-roll sheet. Arrange 4 shrimp halves on lettuce. Top with 1 tablespoon each of green onions, carrots, and cucumber. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon mint over filling. Fold sides of spring-roll sheet over ends of filling. Starting at filled side, roll into cylinder. Place on plate. Repeat with remaining spring-roll sheets, lettuce, shrimp, green onions, cucumber, carrots and mint. Serve with sauce.

Spicy Vietnamese Shrimp Lettuce Rolls

These were so so. Edible, definitely, but we don’t know if we’d make them again. Taylor says too much lime, I say too hard to eat. Taylor suggests using a traditional Vietnamese fish sauce instead of the lime sauce, which could be good. Also be sure to get real butter lettuce – we used some other kind, and the leaves were not big enough to roll or strong enough to scoop. In other words, it was messy.

Spicy Vietnamese Shrimp Lettuce Rolls

Splenda? Seriously? I’ve never seen a recipe actually call for it before. We omitted it completely, a whole cup of any type of sugar/sweetener is way too much in my opinion. I used less sugar as well, maybe 1/3 cup total. Maybe that was why the lime was too strong.
Recipe from Epicurious. Makes 4 servings.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tbsp minced ginger
1/3 cup rice wine or sake
1 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
Juice from 6 limes (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Splenda Granulated
1/3 cup light soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp minced fresh garlic
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 heads Boston, or butterhead, lettuce
2 cups fresh basil leaves
3 medium carrots, peeled and finely grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/3 lb rice stick noodles, softened in boiling water and drained thoroughly
preparation
In a bowl, toss shrimp with ginger, wine, and oil. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 20 minutes.

DIRECTIONS
For dressing:
Mix lime juice, sugar, Splenda, soy sauce, garlic, and pepper flakes in a bowl; set aside. Core lettuce and separate leaves; rinse and dry them. Cook shrimp with its marinade in a medium pan or wok over medium-high heat, turning shrimp until opaque, 2 or 3 minutes.

To make wraps:
Place 3 shrimp inside each lettuce leaf along with 2 or 3 basil leaves, 1 tbsp carrots and a small handful of noodles and roll up. Divide dressing among 4 small dishes for dipping.

Vietnamese Steak Sandwiches

We don’t eat steak often, if ever, and when we do we cringe at the prices of some of the nicer cuts. We ended up using a package of pre-sliced sandwich steak, don’t even know what cut it was, but it was in our price range. Sliced thinly enough, any cut can be tender enough to use in this recipe.

Vietnamese Steak Sandwiches

Recipe from Everyday Food. Makes 4 sandwiches.

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup fresh lime juice (about 4 limes)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pound flank steak

1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 carrots, grated
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
4 hero rolls

DIRECTIONS
In a plastic bag, combine lime juice, soy sauce, scallions, ginger, and red pepper. Add the steak and seal the bag, placing in a dish to catch any leaks. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

In a small bowl, stir together the garlic, sugar, red pepper flakes, rice vinegar, and 1 tablespoon water. In another bowl, toss together the carrots, scallions, and cilantro leaves. Toss with half the vinegar mixture.

Preheat your grill or skillet. Sear steak on both sides until medium rare. Let rest for 10 minutes, then cut into thin slices.

Split and lightly toast the hero rolls; dividing evenly, layer with the carrot mixture and the sliced steak. Drizzle with remaining sauce, if desired.