culinary therapy

Pho Cuon

diana — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 06:30:39 +0000

Finding the translation for Pho Cuon has been a top priority the last few days. I have the basics down:Pho- soup with rice noodlesPho Bo- soup with beefPho ga- soup with chickenPho Ca- Soup with FishPho Cuon- ?????Three Vietnamese dictionaries had no mention of this word, yet the area around my hotel was filled with Pho Cuon. Finally I googled the term and found this definition:Unlike the traditional noodle soup, which requires a large pot of broth to be poured over a bowl of rice noodles and sliced chicken or beef, pho cuon is made of banh pho – a thin sheet of rice paper – some beef and a handful of fresh herbs.To cook up a delicious meal of pho cuon, thinly sliced beef is stir-fried in a hot pan. The meat is then put onto a bed of herbs and rolled up in the rice paper sheet.Soup in a rice paper roll. Sounds good to me, I am ready to try it.

Fruit Stand

diana — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:40:16 +0000

A common site in Hanoi: fruit stand on a bike.

Orphanage Lunch

diana — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:18:26 +0000

A three hour drive through rice fields in Vietnam brought us to our destination- a Catholic Orphanage. Our focus on this trip was to play with children, hold babies and visit the orphanage director. The focus for our new friends at the orphanage was to celebrate International Women’s Day. After at tour and a chance to play with the children, we were the honored guests at a lunch with 80 children and 30 orphanage caretakers. The lunch was an incredible spread of traditional Vietnamese food. Stir-fried beef, shredded pork, bean sprouts, sauteed vegetables, noodle soup, rice, pork… far more than can be recalled. The delicacy of the meal was consumed first. Not by me, but by my dining companions. The plate of eggs in the far corner of the photo are not ordinary hard boiled eggs.These are fertilized duck eggs, or hot vit lon. Essentially, the fertilized duck egg is 16 to 20 days old. The older the egg, the more characteristics of a duck inside the egg: feathers, beak, bones. The younger egg will resemble an actual egg with veins. This is the type that was served at our table. For more information on fertilized duck egg, click here for a definition or here for a video. I skipped the eggs and enjoyed my lunch of rice, noodle soup, beef and vegetables.

The Folding Fork

diana — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 02:21:26 +0000

Low on money in Vietnam, I walked down to the food stand a few strides outside of my house. I stocked up on the orignal version of cup-o-soup. The noodles were the same, the salty seasoning was the same, but inside was a genius invention that I have not seen anywhere in the states. I present to you, the folding fork.

Tea and Fried Beef

diana — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 04:37:59 +0000

On my own in Hanoi today, I took a walk around charming Truc Bach Lake. The shops in this area are quaint and seem to specialize in Pho Cuon, which I have not figured out the translation. After the walk, I settled into a cafe for tea and a snack. I ordered a pot of green tea, and fried beef. This beef dish appeared to be the only food item on the menu, and it sounded similar to a divine dish I had a Ladybug cafe on Saturday, “Fried noodles with beef”. Hoping for a repeat, I ordered the fried beef.Suprisingly, fried beef is more like beef jerky than the delicious plate of noodles, beef and vegetables I had at the other cafe.

Spring Rolls

diana — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 05:30:44 +0000

Fresh spring rolls are a popular item in many Vietnamese restaurants. Vegetables, shrimp and chicken are wrapped in delicate rice paper rolls. The dipping sauce was delicious, a light sweet and spicy sauce complemented the flavor of the rolls. Here is a recipe from epicuious for the dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons fermented fish sauce (nam pla)*
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon minced jalapeño chili with seeds

Cooking in Vietnam

diana — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 04:24:37 +0000

Up Next: Culinary Therapy on the streets in Vietnam.Vietnam may be best known for their Pho and Spring rolls, but there are many more culinary delights available from street vendors. I am looking forward to duck intestines, monkey on a stick, frogs, bugs, and an array of small animals.I received this cookbook for Christmas to help navigate the unknown world of Vietnamese cooking.

Mama Dispirito’s Culinary Therapy

diana — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 01:15:35 +0000

I can’t do anything except for cook. I can’t explain why, but it makes me happy to work with food. It’s a kind of therapy. I don’t know why people spend so much money on the psychiatrist!Not everybody has that feeling about cooking, I know, but I think everyone feels better being in a kitchen or at the table eating good food.

-Mama Nicolina DiSpirito of Rocco’s Italian Amerian

Well said Mama.

Tacos de Camarones (Shrimp Tacos)

diana — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 18:34:51 +0000

When living in Guadalajara, my sister asked me what I would like for Christmas. I said I would like anything culinary. She bought me three of her favorites in Mexico: Maseca, a tortilla press, and a tortilla warmer.

The maseca (Corn flour) was a bit of an intimidating item, because all of the instructions were in Spanish.

The dough was sticky, so I used wax paper on the tortilla press.

I grilled the tortillas on the flat side of my C+B grill pan, and added grilled shrimp, peach and mango salso, and a sweeze of lime.

Thank you sister!

Pan Seared Sea Scallops

diana — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 18:09:23 +0000

“Let’s stay the night in Vegas.”

This was the suggestion from my husband, on the plane from Chicago to Portland. We were about to have a one hour layover in Vegas, and he wanted to make it 24 hours. Once we landed, we had 45 mintues to make it happen. He was online finding a hotel on the strip, I went to the ticket agent to change our tickets. A few swipes of the credit card later, and we were in a taxi on the way to the hotel.

Las Vegas Blvd is hot and crowded on a Saturday evening in August. Our destination for the eveing was to go to the Belagio for dinner. The first restaurant we looked at had Pan Seared Sea Scallops, and that is what I had my heart set on. The menu out side of the door listed scallops at $22. We decided that was a reasonable price for Vegas. Inside, as I opened the menu, the same scallops had the price of $45 for two scallops. I changed the desire of my heart for the night to pizza, but still had scallops on my mind.

Back in Portland, still craving seafood, I found these Gi-normous scallops at safeway for $7.99/lb. Compared to $45 for two, this was a good deal.

I seared them with Old Bay Seasoning.

Pan Seared Sea Scallops

2-3 large scallops per person.
Rinse and pat dry scallops.
Season both sides with salt and pepper
Sprinkle one teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning on each side

Heat a stainless steel pan over high heat until very hot. Add a teaspoon of olive oil. Place scallops on pan. Do not move. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until bottom is golden brown. Turn with spatula and sear the other side. Remove and serve with salad.