Indian Candies

Since I got married, I've discovered a lot of Indian dishes. My father-in-law (I call him Daddy) has introduced me to many new, exotic, Indian foods that were unfamiliar to my palate. Today, Daddy had me try a new Indian confection. When I tasted it, it immediately reminded me of the Vietnamese equivalent called kẹo mè xửng Huế, except that the candies contain rose water, whole cardamom pods, dates, poppy seeds, pistachio, cashew nut and almond.
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Falling In Love with Bitter Melon

Several months ago, I shared a bitter melon recipe (called karela in Urdu) that Baji (my husband's paternal grandmother) used to make very often for the vegetarians in the family. Unlike the Vietnamese variety (known as bitter cucumber), Indian bitter melons have a spiky outer layer. Shana from North Carolina (a regular reader) asked me a very good question. "What does karela look like?" I looked back at the published recipe and realized I hadn't taken a picture of the raw product. Better late than never, here's how the odd-shaped vegetable looks. So next time you visit an Indian grocery store, you might want to grab a few, deep-fry them and stuff them with meat or lentils. Bitter melon is an acquired taste but give it a try. You may love it!
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Almond Pudding Recipe

Almond pudding is not your average dessert. I came up with the recipe in an effort to make good use of the Tamarin speculoos spread I recently received and some left-over almond flour I ground after making frangipane apple tartlets.

To make the dessert, I mixed black sesame powder with almond milk. I used arrowroot starch as a thickener and added speculoos spread and agave nectar as the sweeteners.  Arrowroot is a neutral ingredient and is very easy to digest.

It makes a great dessert, but my husband Lulu also loves it as breakfast (I thin it with more almond milk) or as a late-night snack. As an added bonus, this dessert is eggless, dairy fee and gluten free.

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How to Cook Tender Beef Short Ribs

Since I got married, I have to admit I eat a lot less meat than I used to because Lulu's a vegetarian. But that doesn't mean I don't still enjoy a large portion of meat once in a while.

If you’ve come to the site before, you've probably seen that in previous recipes I often use acid-based marinades to tenderize and flavor meat. Today, I cooked Korean-cut beef short ribs (called galbi), and I again made an acidic marinade. The marinade consists of buttermilk, a little dark soy sauce, horseradish mustard, honey, cooking wine and olive oil. The preparation is very fast and easy. Just marinate the ribs overnight in a glass baking dish. Once you're ready to eat, simply pan-sear the meat for about 10 minutes total on both sides. You'll have a feast with very little time spent in the kitchen!

 

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Banh Mi Mam Chay (Vietnamese Vegetarian Sandwich Recipe)

A lot of Vietnamese dishes are inspired by French cuisine, because Vietnam was a longtime colony of the French empire. Bánh mì sandwich is an example of a dish that reflects the fusion of both cuisines. The sandwich consists of cilantro, fresh chiles, pickled carrots and usually a meat filling (grilled chicken, bì which is shredded meat with roasted rice powder) or sometimes a vegetarian filling, served on a baguette, spread with mayonnaise on one side and butter on the other.

For the veggie option, I normally fill the sandwiches with bì chay (shredded tofu with roasted rice powder). But this time, Aunt Danielle stopped by and we made mắm chay. She knows it's my husband Lulu's favorite, so she makes it very often. As I've said before, Aunt Danielle is a sweetheart and an amazing cook, except that she does not share her recipes. She used to run a successful restaurant in the early 90s. She taught me a lot of Vietnamese staple dishes to cook for the family until she found out about PhamFatale.com through her friends. I had to confess and she was not happy. It's funny; family and friends are a lot more reluctant to share their tips and secrets with me, so I have to do a little bit of recon and intelligence gathering.

In the end, Aunt Danielle hasn't entirely showed me how to make mắm chay. We prepped and mixed the ingredients together but she hid a few tricks from me. All I can tell you is that there are a lot of ingredients similar to bì chay involved, such as fried tofu, bean thread noodles, dry roasted rice powder (thinh) and seasonings (fried garlic, sugar and salt). What makes it different from bì chay is the addition of galangal (a type of ginger), young pickling cucumber, chayote squash (trái su su), ripe papaya, fresh pineapple and dried daikon radish cured in brine.

Even though the sandwich is reminiscent of the typical French jambon-beurre (ham and butter sandwich), bánh mì provides a taste of Vietnam. Lulu's been addicted ever since I first introduced him to the Vietnamese version, and if you try one, you will be too!

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