Canh Ngot Recipe (Vietnamese Fish Soup)

My friend Hoa is an expert when it comes to buying the freshest, most delicious ingredients. I've probably said it in the past but I only cook seafood according to what's available at the market. She told me about this wonderful seafood market on Tully road in San Jose, and boy, was she right! Today I found freshly caught cá hồng, which translates to "red snapper". I made cá nấu canh ngót, a Vietnamese popular fish soup made with Chinese celery.

The texture of the soup is similar to canh chua the difference being that lemon juice is squeezed right in before eating the soup and no lemon or sour ingredients are added to the broth while cooking. You'll be amazed at how simple and easy this seafood soup is to make. The key to success is really just fresh ingredients. That's it!

Hot and Sour Thai Soup Recipe

Tom Yum Thai soup has a unique taste. It's both spicy and sour and loaded with amazing flavors such as lemongrass, galangal, fresh kaffir limes leaves and coconut milk. For this version, I combined fresh water chestnuts, sugar snap peas, tamarind, red chili powder, baby squid and mackerel. You could also add shrimp or chicken. And of course, the soup is easy to make vegetarian as well.

Canh Chua Tom Recipe (Vietnamese Shrimp Soup)

Canh chua tôm literally translates to "sour shrimp soup" in Vietnamese. The name and the flavor come from the combination of kaffir lime leaves, tamarind and pineapple. A hint of spiciness from Thai chiles makes the soup especially soothing. I've been a bit under the weather the past few days and the warm broth worked wonders on my congestion.

How to Make Mirchi Bhaji (Mirchi Pakora Recipe)

My father-in-law really loves spicy food, so I thought I would surprise him with stuffed mirchi pakora, which are whole green chile fritters. Before getting started, I had to estimate the level of spiciness of the chiles. It turned out the green chiles we bought from the Indian market this week were painfully spicy. So I made an incision in each chile and removed all the seeds.

The preparation method I learned from Lulu’s grandmother involves stuffing the chiles with tamarind paste, then dipping them in (besan) chickpea batter before deep-frying them until golden brown.

I have to admit I didn't try any, but in my defense, even Lulu, Daddy and the girls found the peppers really spicy. Don’t get me wrong; they really enjoyed them even though the girls ended up chugging milk to help offset the spiciness. I’m just saying, you’ve been warned!

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!