My last recipe post featured one of my favorite meals, Canh Kho Qua (Stuffed Bittermelon Soup), so this weekend for my future hub’s birthday BBQ I made a gigantor pot of Bun Rieu Cua (boon ree-ewe coo-uh), Crab and Tomato Noodle Soup. This is one dish that I got right my first try, and is his favorite Vietnamese soup that I’ve tackled.
I’ve been craving this for a while and forgot I had a container of fish cake paste in the freezer. Hold it right there. Don’t judge. This stuff is amazing. Try it just once and you’ll get it. It smells of fishy goodness (yes, that’s a thing), and it fries up quick to make the perfect accompaniment to the Canh Kho Qua pork stuffed bittermelon soup.
Serve with a bowl of rice on the side and you’re good to go!
So without the noise of planning a housewarming party, here’s the recipe for normal meals, after the jump.
One of my favorite non-soup dishes at Vietnamese restaurants is the rice plate with charred grilled meats, do chua (pickled vegetables), rice and quiche. The flavors are so tasty and more satisfying than the noodle counterpart of bun vermicelli bowls. In restaurants these will be listed under “Rice Platter” or “Com Tam“, which means “broken rice”.
While we were enjoying Com Tam Suon and Bun Thit Bo at one of our fav restaurants Viet Crystal, I decided it would be my next recipe experiment. After scouring the Internet, I found two options that would be viable competitors.
The first from ever-reliable Ravenous Couple and the second – albeit not quite the same – a Thit Heo Nuong Ngu Vi Huong (Grilled Garlickly Five Spice Pork Steaks) from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. OK, not the same at all – except from the Grilled Pork part, which is the most important aspect. Either way, both recipes were oh so simple and required no new ingredients. Except for the swine, of course.
Doesn’t this look amazing? It was. You should make it, too.
I slipped into the comfort zone recently as, admittedly, I’ve been a bit overrun with twice weekly bootcamp and pool league on another night. Fortunately, I have only a couple of weeks left in the APA pool league, from which I plan to ‘retire’ after playoffs. As it happens, we’re currently in first place, meaning if we win the house we’ll continue on to Tri-Annuals or whatever tournament and I still have to be current. This is how they get me. Every time. Anyways, on to the food. Our dinner menu consisted of Canh Chua Ca (kahn chew-ah ka) Sour Fish Soup, and Ca Kho (ka k-oh) Caramel Fish.
Canh Chua Ca – Vietnamese Sour Fish Soup
Ca Kho – Caramel Catfish
Nuôi Dạy Con là trách nhiệm và niềm vui của cha me
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