Chicken Eggrolls (Cha Gio Recipe)

We're only a week away from Tết, the Asian New Year. And of course, food is what makes the festivities so much fun. Eggrolls (chả giò) are Maman's must-have dish for the celebration. My favorite version is chicken eggrolls. I usually use dark meat (chicken thighs and legs), which make the dish more moist and flavorful. I also mix in fried jicama and carrots for added crunch.

Preparing them isn't that complicated; they're labor-intensive, but if you have a large crew of little helpers as I do, rolling them is a piece of cake. All you need to do next is deep-fry them and enjoy them wrapped in lettuce along with rice noodles.

Vietnamese Chicken Rice with Ginger Fish Sauce

If you're Vietnamese, you probably heard your mom telling you when you were a child not to waste food because it's "tội chết" (dreadfully sinful). Yesterday, I made gà muối ớt (salt and chile chicken) and there was no way I would toss the precious, flavorful chicken broth. So what to do with all the leftover broth? I made chicken rice with it.

The preparation is similar to making basmati rice, with the main difference being that jasmine rice is used. Jasmine rice is a lot trickier to cook though, because the rice will get mushy very quickly if you don’t keep an eye on it. 

I served the rice with nước mắm gừng, which is ginger-flavored fish sauce. I wanted to make the flavors more intense so I used pure sugar cane juice instead of regular water. This dipping sauce is so good, I could drink it all by itself!

Ca Nuc Kho (Traditional Vietnamese Whole Mackerel in Sugarcane Sauce)

Cá nục kho mía literally translates to "mackerel braised in sugarcane sauce". It's the fish traditionally served in  a Vietnamese claypot. The dark caramel ginger sauce is made from galangal and sugarcane juice (nước mía in Vietnamese).

Mackerel is high in Omega 3 oils but can have a strong fishy flavor. There are several steps that can be taken to ensure this dish is absolutely delicious. First, when you're at the market, make sure the fish is fresh; fresh mackerel shouldn't smell fishy. Look for clear-eyed fish with bright, shiny scales. The second step is to clean the inside of the fish thoroughly in several water baths and let the fish rest in a vinegary solution for a few minutes. The last part is to use a lot of shallots and galangal, which has a sharper, more aromatic flavor than ginger. It's slightly more expensive than ginger but it's well worth it.

I served the fish with steamed jasmine rice and sautéed rau muống (Vietnamese pea shoot tendrils) with fresh chestnuts and wood ear mushrooms.

Ca Kho (Braised Catfish in Vietnamese Fish Sauce)

Cá kho tộ ("braised fish" in Vietnamese) is delicious catfish simmered in a caramelized sauce with garlic, ginger, green onions, fish sauce and red chiles. What I love most about the dish is eating steamed jasmine rice with the sauce made with coconut soda.

I love seafood, but the vegetarians in my home aren't always happy with the aroma of fish wafting through the house. Braising fish in nước mắm gives a strong smell to this dish, so I don't make it very often, even though I love it.

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. Bỏ nhúng dấm (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.