Red Cabbage and Bean Sprout Salad Recipe

I had leftover bean sprouts from a large pot of phở over the weekend, and I decided to make a salad with it. The color of the bean sprouts needed a little oomph, so I added shredded red cabbage. In addition to the red cabbage, I also used diced Fuji apples.

Given the Asian flair of the salad, I made a peanut, lime and condensed milk vinaigrette. This is a very quick and easy first course, which gave me some time to work on a delicious dessert to satisfy my husband's sweet tooth for Valentine’s Day.

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Happy New Lunar Year! (Year of the Cat)

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới (Happy New Year!)! For Vietnamese, today is the first day of the Year of the Cat (Mèo), which is the "rabbit" in the Chinese zodiac.

If you're wondering what the plant is, it's cherry blossom flowers. It's decorated with red envelopes that contain "lucky money", called lì xì. The first morning of the New Year is a celebration (Tết) where adults congratulate children on becoming a year older by giving them these lì xì. We also decorated the house with a lot of red color, which is a sign of happiness. We cooked quite a few vegetarian Vietnamese dishes to observe the tradition of eating vegetarian food (ăn chay) on the last day of the previous year and first day of New Year.

Finally, if you want to get in on the festivities, I’ve collected a list of some of my favorite dishes for Tết for you to try. Enjoy!

 

 

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Canh Bap Cuon (Stuffed Cabbage Soup Recipe)

Canh bắp cải cuốn, which literally translates to stuffed cabbage wrap soup is my way of using the leftover potsticker filling I recently made. I stuffed the leftover mixture into whole cabbage leaves that were previously softened by par-boiling. I served them phở-style, meaning that I brought them to the table in bowls and then covered them with celery and carrot broth just before everyone dug in.

Creating little cabbage “gifts” is a great way to vary the vegetarian meals we've been having this week for Tết (Vietnamese Lunar New Year, on February 3^rd). I tied the cabbage with green onions strings. The entire thing is edible and looks very playful.

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Water Chestnuts

Chinese water chestnuts, most commonly known as water chestnuts, are not nuts. They are an aquatic root vegetable that grows in the mud. They're small in size and round. Water chestnuts can be eaten raw, par-boiled, grilled or pickled. I usually par-boil them and sauté them with other ingredients. The white flesh is crisp and adds a nice balance of texture to a lot of dishes. In the past I've received questions about what water chestnuts look like. I realized I had never posted pictures of the ingredient. Hopefully this inspires you to try them fresh!
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Pho: the Vietnamese Restaurant in Las Vegas

Phở is synonymous with Vietnamese food, and with the upcoming Tết (Vietnamese Lunar New Year), I thought I’d share with you my impressions about “Pho”, the only Vietnamese restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip. What is phở (pronounced "fuh" like the beginning of the word "fudge"), you ask? I know I'm biased, but I think phở is the best street food in the world. It a beef broth soup served with rice noodles and tender, thin pieces of flank steak flavored with traditional Vietnamese spices.




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