Vietnamese Chicken Salad

This turned out so delicious, and it looks so nice when served, that I think it would be a great dish to serve to guests. Luckily, I got to eat most of it myself : ) I do have to say though, that the recipe was really made complete with Trader Joe's Asian Style Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette, photo of the bottle at the bottom of this posting.

The original recipe is actually for pork tenderloin salad, so I am providing that version below because it looks real tasty, but I only had chicken breast in the house so what I did was bake the chicken breast with soy sauce. Plain soy sauce flavors chicken breast wonderfully, but the run-off sauce does burn in the oven. I suggest using foil so you can toss the burnt sauce when you're done.

Of all places, this recipe comes from Women's Health Magazine.

Vietnamese Pork (or Chicken, see above) Salad

Four servings, 300 calories each (without the TJ dressing)

• 1 (12 oz) pork tenderloin
• 1/4 t salt
• 3 T lime juice
• 3 T sugar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 T fish sauce
• 6 cups shredded cole slaw mix
• 1 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
• 3/4 cup chopped, fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup lightly salted chopped peanuts

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Place pork on a foil-lined baking sheet; sprinkle with 1/8 t salt and cook until thermometer registers 160 F, 20 to 24 minutes. Leat meat rest for 10 minutes. Cut meat crosswise into four sections, then shred.
3. Place lime juice, sugar, and garlic in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover with microwave-safe plastic wrap and microwave on high until sugar melts, 20 to 30 seconds. Let cool. Stir in fish sauce and remaining 1/8 t salt.
4. In a large bowl, gently toss coleslaw mix, scallions, and cilantro. Pour lime mixture over veggies, and toss gently. Divide evenly into four salad bowls and top with pork (or place on a serving platter as shown above). Top salad with chopped nuts.
5. As I mentioned above, I highly recommend serving with Trader Joe's Asian Style Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette.

Pho 99: 99 bowls of pho in my tummy

I posted a while back about Phoreign being fabulous, and it still is. But I must tell you about Pho 99, a place I've been frequenting a lot lately, not sure why, just cravings I guess. They have more of the traditional pho flavors you'd expect such as a variety of different rare beef combinations. You can get a link to their full menu here.

Interestingly, they have both Northern (made with a beef stock) and Southern (made with a chicken and pork stock) styles. My favorite is the Hu Tieu Hodc Mi Thap Cam special combination with rice noodle soup served with shrimp, BBQ pork, golden fried chicken and meat cake. I don't mind my creatures all mixed up together in one bowl, so I like it.

They have other dishes on the menu, such as the Bun - Vermicelli which is just the same rice noodles found in the Pho only served cold with salad vegetables.. not very satisfying. Stick with the Pho!

Pho 99
11819 Wilshire Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-312-7881

Fresh Summer Rolls

Introducing the Fresh Summer Roll! Sound familiar? That's because it's pretty much the same thing as the Fresh Spring Roll except it is summer-time when you eat it. I referred to these tasty delights in a previous blog entry about Pho-Reign, a Vietnamese restaurant nearby. That is where I was I first inspired to make this version.

Fresh Summer Rolls

See, for years I have been making fresh spring rolls with this recipe. (Something to note about the recipe in that link: the second list of ingredients is for a sauce I have never made, but I always serve it with the Hoisin sauce which is the third list of ingredients. Check out the recipe and then come on back.)

At Pho-reign, instead of just using boring cocktail shrimp, they mix things up with BBQ beef or pork. So, I decided to make a Thai chicken version with a peanut dipping sauce. I took the main recipe you just checked out, and eliminated the cilantro, mostly because I didn't have any, and the shrimp. Then, I broiled two boneless chicken breasts dousing both sides with a sauce made of:

• Soy Sauce
• Fish Sauce (Optional, use sparingly!!)
• Teryiaki Sauce (a thick version used for BBQing)
• Drop of Sesame Oil
• Peanut Butter

(I am really sorry about not having measurements but you're just going to have to use your own judgement and taste.)

When the chicken was done, I cut it into 1/2 inch strips and started my assembly line with the other ingredients. Instead of the shrimp, I used the chicken strips, and wrapped everything in the wet rice papers. For a dipping sauce, I mixed up:

• 3 parts Hoisin Sauce
• 1 part Peanut Butter

Sprinkle the combined sauces with chopped peanuts

These are really soooo good. But at the same time, kind of an acquired taste. The moist rice papers are kind of.. chewy, and they look transparent. If you are entertaining, however, it is nice to put whole fresh herbs on the wrapper first, so they end up showing through and looking very pretty. The exciting thing to note here, I know you can hardly contain yourself, is that you can really use any kind of meat or even tofu if you are vegetarian or vegan. This is a very healthy recipe as well and great on a hot day because it is so light and the herbs always make everything taste so fresh.

You may be thinking: what are all these crazy ingredients and where can I get them?? Well, the good news is you can probably get most of them in the ethnic sections of your larger supermarkets. If you live near an Asian supermarket that carries Thai and/or Vietnamese groceries, even better, and cheaper. If you live in LA, I did find a place for Thai and Indonesian ingredients.. you can read about it here.

Here are some links and info for some items so you'll know what to look for:

• Rice Spring Roll Wrappers: These are round, the size of a dinner plate, and very brittle until they are dipped in the hot water. They are made with the same kind of rice flour as rice noodles (Pad Thai is made with rice noodles).
• Fish Sauce: A very popular sauce that goes into a lot of Thai cooking, you just didn't know it. Don't ask what's in it.
• Hoisin Sauce: Very tasty right out of the jar, albeit salty. Made from soy, sweet potato, and other things.
  
  Well, that's it kids, happy rolling!

Phoreign: Fabulous Pho

There is a little stretch of Sawtelle Blvd in Los Angeles with a wealth of Asian restaurants, shops, grocery markets, cafes, etc. In this area is my favorite place for Vietnamese Pho (pronounced "fuh"). While the chicken is pretty good, the best one is the BBQ beef and shrimp. Unlike many places with beef Pho, this beef is grilled with a delicious sauce instead of just boiled. The broth is yummy and flavorful. Add in your sprouts, herbs, lime and whatever sauces you fancy, and dive in!

Also here, for an appetizer, the BBQ beef and shrimp fresh* spring rolls and the roast pork fresh* spring rolls are great. Both have a lot more flavor than the usual spring rolls that contain plain shrimp or tofu.

* When I say fresh, I mean that these spring rolls themselves are not cooked. Instead, the herbs, veggies and meats are rolled in moistened rice paper and served with a tasty sweet dipping sauce.

Pho-reign
2123 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-477-4885