Salmon Teriyaki

 P Fish can seem challenging to make at home but, pavé de saumon caramélisé (salmon teriyaki) is an ultra-easy recipe. All you need to do is ask your fishmonger to prep the salmon in advance for you. I made a teriyaki-inspired glaze to go with the salmon and served it with rice.

If you've been following my culinary adventures since the beginning of Pham Fatale, you may recall that I posted one of Lulu's favorite tofu recipes, called "sesame tofu caramelized with agave nectar and wasabi". This vegetarian recipe was inspired by this salmon dish. I hadn't made it in a long. tine, but my mother-in-law brought home some beautiful salmon fillets, so I told her I'd be in charge and surprise her. She loved it even though she said I should have tripled the amount of wasabi paste (she loves spicy food). You're welcome to follow her advice if you prefer it really spicy, but I'm a wimp, so I'll stick to just a half teaspoon...

Beef Hot Pot (Bo Nhung Dam, Shabu Shabu)

If you're a beef and seafood lover, this Vietnamese-style beef hot pot recipe is for you. Bộ những đám (literally beef dipped in vinegar) is the Vietnamese equivalent of the Japanese dish called shabu shabu, but with additional seafood ingredients. The broth is made with coconut soda, chopped onions and tomatoes. On a separate platter, gather the raw beef, shrimp, baby squid and octopus, fresh pineapple, cooked rice noodles, bánh tráng (dried rice paper sheets) and various aromatic herbs. The prep work is quite labor-intensive; you have to have a lot of company to make the meal worthwhile. The more, the merrier.

Place an electric hot pot in the middle of the dining table and let everyone dip and cook the beef and seafood in the fragrant broth and assemble their own rolls using the rice paper sheets. Dip the rolls in mắm nêm dipping sauce. It's made of fermented fish paste, which is very strong. If fermented fish paste is too overwhelming, you could ultimately use nước mắm chấm (fish sauce) or soy sauce (nước tương chấm) for a milder flavor.

Vietnamese beef hot pot is a very festive meal because it's fairly expensive and quite time-consuming to prepare. It's what one of my uncles would call "đặc biệt", or "only for special occasions" in English. On my Papa's side of the family in France, all my cousins (including me) married non-Vietnamese spouses but I can guarantee you they all know the meaning of the word "đặc biệt" (which means special). Whenever, we're invited to my uncles' homes, they offer a lot of đặc biệt meals. "Lulu, it's đặc biệt, you should try this, it's delicious!" as one of my uncle always says to my husband. So this recipe is dedicated to my uncle François, whom I call Chu Bay (Uncle #7. He's Papa's 7^th brother and that's how you show respect in the Vietnamese tradition).

It's perfect for a winter meal and just in time for the Chinese New Year, which is coming very soon.

Vietnamese Meatloaf (Mam Chung Thit)

Mắm chưng thịt is a staple of Vietnamese cuisine. It's a blend of pork or chicken, crab meat, salted fish fillet in brine, bean thread noodles, mushrooms and eggs.

For this recipe, I used a mix of chicken breast and thighs. The flavor is reminiscent of the filling of a meat egg roll combined with the strong flavor of salted fish fillet in nước mắm (brine). The most common fish used for making steam fish cakes is snakehead fish, though mackerel or catfish can be used as well.

Vietnamese Tamarind Sweet Crab (Cua Rang Me)

Vietnamese-style tamarind crab (cua rang me in Vietnamese) is an incredibly simple, yet absolutely mouth-watering dish. The real key to making this dish successfully is to have the freshest crab you can get. The roughly cracked pieces of crab are stir fried in a sweet and sour tamarind sauce. The sauce is made of tamarind, chili, Thai basil and garlic. The Thai basil imparts an intense fragrance to the sauce, and by extension, to the crab.

We eat this dish family style. No pretense here. Just get a large platter, fill it with the tamarind crab and put it in the middle of your dinner table. We don't have enough meat eaters in my house, so I always call over a couple of family members or friends to share in the bounty. Roll up your sleeves, and dig in!

Poached Salmon Mousseline

Today I made a salmon mousse flavored with horseradish, lemon zest and herbs. Whisked egg whites provide structural integrity to the mousse, and cream gives it an airy, ethereal texture. I poached the salmon mousseline in individual molds to keep the salmon moist and tender.

This is a great main course for an elegant Christmas meal. Come back tomorrow to see how I would serve this dish!