Vietnamese Braised Chicken with Ginger

Fow this past week, I have been quite lazy. I have an excuse though. I just had my bottom wisdon teeths taken out and damn does that hurt after. For a while I looked exactly like a baby squirrel. No joke, really. Since a week has past, I can now eat decently and have enought energy to present you this recipe.One of my favorite meal to eat during the week. Or the weekend. I wouldn’t mind eating it everyday because it tastes so good.

First, you will need gingers and shallots. Then, cut them very finely. The more fine you cut them, especially the gingers, the more the smell of it will be present in your chicken and that is what you want right?

In a big pot, saute the gingers and the shallots until they turn golden. Meanwhile, boil some water and take the secret ingredient out. The fish sauce!

See? That is how you want your gingers and your shallots. I would say 5 minutes. When they are perfect, pour the chicken into the pot. I had about 1kg of chicken thights and wings and this number was perfect for a meal for 4. Mix the chicken thighs and wings until they are well covered with all the gingers and shallots. After that,  you want your chicken to be fully cook. Not golden thought. Just not raw chicken. It would takes a few minutes.

When the chicken thights and wings are cooked, pour the fish sauce into the pot. Don’t covered the the chiken with the fish sauce otherwise it will be to salty. I would say 3/4 cup of fish sauce will be enought. Then, covered the chicken with boil water and bring everthing to a boil.

Mix everything together a last time. Turn your stove to a low heat. Throw in some lemon leaves and let the chicken simmer and braise for 20-30minutes.

Serve this with rice and it would be delicious.

Stir fry daikon radish with eggs

This summer, I went to Vietnam. My first time ever in Vietnam and it was incredible. One of the thing that I will always remember while thinking of this country is his food. I mean the food is amazing and there was so many variety  that you didn’t know what to eat. Fancy vietnamese dish is super good, but simple vietnamese dish is super super super good and this stir fry daikon radish with eggs falls in that category (the simple one of course).

At home, I don’t have the time ( I’m a student remember?) to cook meal that last for hours. My favorite meals are probably the one that are simple, delicious and take 30 minutes to make. That is why I really like Jamie Oliver’s 30 minutes meals.

I kind of have the feeling that I am rambling right now so let get to business.

1) First, you will need those 2 babies (I’m talking about the daikon radish)

3) Now is the big part. You will have to cut them finely. How finely? Very finely. To get that part right, I will suggest you to use a mandoline slicer, but for the love of God be careful. This thing is like Godzilla.

5) Meanwhile, in a pot, heat the oil and sauté some onions. Add the salt and pepper after.

6) In a bowl, beat 4 eggs and pour them in the daikon radish. Stir the eggs and the daikon radish very quickly. In a few seconds, the eggs will be cook and the dish will be almost done.

Now, what is a vietnamese dish without fish sauce (of course). Fish sauce is the magical ingredient in vietnamese cooking. We use it all the time and remember, maybe it doesn’t smell good first, when you open the bottle, but in a dish, this sauce makes all the difference.

7) So pour some fish sauce in the pot with the daikon radish and the eggs. Don’t be scare and you’ll have to put … Oh I don’t know. Maybe at least 5 tablespoons? The thing is I don’t mesure much. Except in pastry. My best advice here is to taste and then rectify if need it.

Last step. To make it more pretty, chopped some cilantro and mix it in the daikon radish. Serve this with some rice and it will be good to go.

Yay! My first post!

Hi everyone!

For today, no recipe. Oh god, can you guys be comprehensive? I’m sure you are because this is my first post! However, to put you into the mood why not a beautiful picture of a rual landscape of Hoi An, a city of Vietnam.

Enjoy.

P.S. By the way, to learn more about me, why not click on the page About