Vietnamese Watercress and Ginger Broth (Canh Cresson)

One of the easiest Vietnamese soup recipes that I know of is this watercress and ginger broth.  It is served as an 'accompagnement' or side dish to a main meal.  The broth is usually added to rice to give it flavour and a different texture. It's a typical Vietnamese way of mixing different foods as we share our meals on the table.  This broth tastes amazingly good with the ginger.  It's also considered a great remedy for seasonal colds during the winter.

If you can't find any of Mama's homemade chicken soup, you can whip up this simple and soothing broth.   Zucchinis, spinach or any other leafy greens can be used instead of watercress.

Preparation time : 5 minutes, Cooking time : 15 minutes

Recipe "au pif":
1/2 lb pork loin or chicken breast
2 chunks of fresh ginger, cut about 2 inches
1 large onion, peeled and cut in half
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 cup fresh watercress, washed (or zucchinis, spinach, leafy greens)
6 cups boiling water


In a large sauce pan cook the pork or chicken with the fish sauce, onion and ginger in the boiling water for about 20 minutes.


Discard meat, onion and ginger.  


Turn off the heat and throw in the watercress (or other green vegetables of your choice) and let it sit for about 2 minutes.


Serve hot as a soup, or as a side dish

Serves 4 people.

Share and enjoy!

Spicy Lamb Meat Balls Braised in Tajine with Sweet and Russet Potatoes

A Tajine is a formidable cookware that anyone can ever own.   This beautiful piece of equipment can make wonderful stews, sauces and authentic exotic dishes in one beautiful ceramic pot.  Having decided to make a career change at this point in my life to pursue my passion in writing, blogging and editing, I received this wonderful gift from my colleagues whom I've known for over ten years...a Tajine.   My blog has been circulating around the office among the foodies I know, for quite some time now, which gave my peers a gift idea that could not go wrong.  Give me any cooking related items, and I am a content woman.   Clay Pot cooking is one area of the culinary arts I have not yet mastered. Now is my chance to test and experiment a few recipes.   Furthermore, my co-workers have thought of almost everything.   How am I supposed to use a tool to its full advantage without the proper accessories?  Along with the Tajine came a beautifully illustrated cookbook on Tajine recipes!  To go even further, what spices am I to add to my newly discovered recipes when concocting a meal meant for a Tajine?   Engineers do think of everything, from point A to point B.   So to recap, I received a new beautiful Tajine, Tajine spices and an amazing cookbook with easy-to-follow recipes to help me get started.

Sweet and Russet potatoes cut into wedges

By flipping through the cookbook, I immediately noticed that 80% of the recipes inspired me to create my own.  Here is one that I tested last weekend and am now ready to publish it here, on my very own blog.

Ground lamb mixed with spices, onions, herbs

This dish is comprised of lamb meat balls, sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, Tajine spices and fresh coriander to give it a refreshing aroma and colour.

Lamb meat rolled into balls with vegetable oil

May I also add that Tajines are so beautifully handcrafted that they're not only used for cooking but also used as serving dishes.  Their shape and colour seem to never fail to amaze guests at the dinner table.

I hope you enjoy this recipe if you care to try it.  If you do, please do leave me a comment. May I also advise you that this is the first QlinArt instalment where I post Instagram photos. I would love to hear comments from you about these photos from an iPhone application, on a food blog.  I'm also open to new ideas as well.

Preparation time ; 20 minutes, Cooking time: 20 minutes

Recipe "au pif":

Lamb Meatballs:

1/2 lb ground lamb

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

1/2 tsp ground paprika

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp chili powder

2 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped

3 tbsp vegetable oil

Stew:

1 russet potato cut into wedges, unpeeled

1 sweet potato cut into wedges, unpeeled

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely minced

1 1/2 tsp Tajine spices (can be found in local lebanese or arabic stores)

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp hot chili paste

1/4 water

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat Tajine with about 1 tsp of oil on low heat.

Cook the russet and sweet potato wedges in boiling water for about 10 minutes.  Drain and set aside.

In a large recipient, mix all ingredients for the lamb meatballs, with your hand until all well incorporated.

Make 2-inch diameter meat balls, rolling them in your hands.  Repeat until there is no remaining meat mix.  Set aside.

Heat about 1 tbsp of oil in a large sauce pan on medium high.  Brown the meat balls on all sides.  Set aside.

Using the same sauce pan, add in the tomato paste, chopped onion, garlic, Tajine spices and hot chili paste.  Stir for about 1 minute.

Add in the potato wedges and give it a good stir. 

Transfer the potato wedges to the Tajine.  Add water. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add in the meatballs, cover and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

Remove Tajine lid and add in fresh coriander to garnish.

Turn off heat and put lid back on.

Ready to serve with rice or couscous.

Serves 2 hungry people or 4 people.

Spicy Zucchini with Sweet Potato & Ginger Soup - A Soothing Thought for Cold Weather

Being whipped by a wicked wind with a minus 22 degree Celcius temperature on this frigid day, most of us would only crave a soothing and comforting hot and spicy vegetable soup, especially when we're feeling under the weather.  I, myself, have been suffering from a head cold for the past 4 days.  I have yet to shake it all off.  Never, ever again will I step out of the house without my hat during winter time, even for a couple of minutes.    

Montreal's bizarre winter climate this year has burdened my health and many of my peers'.  Jumping from Spring-like weather to horrendous Arctic temperatures can make our entire body to feel so feeble that our sole desire is to stay home in bed and hibernate for the rest of the season.

Today, the only thought that crossed my mind was to snug myself into a warm wool blanket, watch a movie while sipping a hot and tasty homemade soup.   It requires very little effort.  Just let your cookware do the work. Sit back and enjoy.

Preparation: 5 minutes, Cooking time : 10-15 minutes

Recipe au "au pif" of Spicy Zucchini with Sweet Potato Soup:

3 large zucchinis

1 large sweet potato, washed, chopped and unpeeled

1 russet potato, washed, chopped and unpeeled

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

8 cups hot water

3 garlic cloves, peeled

3 tbsp grated fresh ginger (tip : freeze ginger will facilitate grating)

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp ground paprika

1 tsp red hot chili paste

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

pinch of coarse sea salt

Chopped vegetables mixed with ginger and garlic

Instructions:

Heat oil in a large and deep sauce pan or a pressure-cooker, over medium high.

Stir in the zucchinis, sweet potato, russet potato, onions and garlic cloves for about 1 minute.

Add in the grated ginger, turmeric and paprika.  Give it a good stir.

Pour in the water.

If using a pressure-cooker, close the lid and let the vegetables cook for about 7-10 minutes.  If using a large sauce pan, let the vegetables cook for about 15 minutes, uncovered.

Remove from heat, wait until the pressure has lowered (from your pressure-cooker indicator).

Add in the red chili paste, salt and pepper and give it a good stir.

Blend with a hand blender until you reach a smooth and creamy texture.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Hot water added to the vegetable mix

Serve hot with toasted bread.

Serves 6-8 people.

Share and enjoy.

Another photo of the soup made a few months back.

Braised Pork in Caramelized Sauce with Ginger

An authentic family style Vietnamese dish is caramelized braised pork served with steamed white Jasmine rice.  It is a staple in most Vietnamese households around the world.   The braised pork is slowly simmered in a tasty light gravy composed of fish sauce, sugar, garlic and ginger.   The pork is browned first in oil to give the meat outstanding flavour.  As most experienced cooks or Chefs would claim, browning meats does add an abundance of taste to meats, making it so much more succulent.  This dish is part of my top 5 favourite Vietnamese dishes.  It is not only delicious, it takes less than 30 minutes to make.  A great dinner idea for the weeknights.

Though this recipe is fairly simple, it requires complete attention while preparing it.  With that in mind, I promise you'll be pleased with the results.


Preparation time : 10 minutes : Cooking time : 10 minutes

Recipe "au pif":
1 lb of pork shoulder (cut in thin 3-4 inch slices), or 4 thin boneless pork chops also cut in about 2-3 inch long pieces (keep the fat on!)
1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp granulated sugar (raw cane sugar will also do)
2 tbsp canola oil (or cooking oil)
2 tbsp fish sauce (nuoc mam)
2 tsps ground black pepper

Marinate the pork in the fish sauce and black pepper, in a medium-sized bowl and mix well with your hands.

Preparing the caramel (and do nothing else like tweeting). Heat oil in large pan on medium-high and add in the sugar. From time to time, remove pan from heat to make sure sugar does not burn.When sugar starts absorbing the oil and starts to melt, mix the sugar with oil evenly, until the sugar starts changing colour, to a light brown colour. When sugar turns into a darker brown colour, remove pan from heat and add in the ginger and garlic, and stir. 

Place the pan back on heat and slowly add in the thin slices of pork one by one until the pan is filled with one layer of the pieces of pork. Let the pork cook for about 1 minute and turn them around to cook the other side. The meat will have a darkish golden colour from the caramel.
The meat will sweat and create a sauce with the caramel. Once that stage is reached, cover the pan and let the the pork/sauce mixture simmer for about 10-15 minutes.

If you have no sauce, perhaps the heat was on too high or the pan was not removed from the heat to control the transformation of the caramelized sauce. In this case, you simply add a 1/4 cup of chicken broth and let the pork/sauce simmer.


Vietnamese families often add in hard-boiled eggs to the dish and eat this meal with white jasmine steamed rice. It's one of my favourite meals and easy to make, if you keep that trick in mind.


Serves 4 people.

Chinese Vegetables with Garlic Sauce Done in 5 minutes

Back from the holidays, we all want to stick to our New Year's resolutions.  Beforehand, ask yourselves this : Are the New Year's resolutions truly my own, or are they society's ?  If they're you're own, you'll stick to them.  If they're society's you'll give up on them.   If you are determined to eat healthier this year for your own well-being, then there's a good chance that you'll abide by your decision throughout the year and even farther.


This very simple dish of Asian greens, which could either be Chinese cabbage or Chinese broccoli, can be done in a cinch.  It's so simple, that anyone can do it blind-folded.  No, seriously, it's a great side dish or vegetarian meal that can be prepared in minutes during a busy work week.


The same can be done with Spinach, Kale, Rapini, green beans or North American or European broccoli.

Preparation time : 2 minutes, Cooking time : 3 minutes


Recipe "au pif":
Your choice of Asian greens (Chinese broccoli, Chinese cabbage...etc.)
1 tsp finely minced garlic
1 tbsp vegetable oil 
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp water
1/2 tsp ground white peppercorn (found in most asian grocery stores) 
3 cups boiling water.
*
Preparing garlic oil:
Lightly brown garlic in hot pan (make sure you don't overcook or burn the garlic as it'll taste bitter) for about 30 seconds.

Preparing the veggies:
Boil water in large sized saucepan. Add 1-2 drops of vegetable oil (this will keep the veggies vibrant in colour).

Blanch the greens in the boiling water for about 2 minutes. Drain and discard water and put greens aside on a serving platter. Blanching is an important step which will give the greens a great crunch and not wilted.

In a hot wok, add in 1 tbsp garlic oil, oyster sauce, white peppercorn and give it a stir for 30 seconds. Add in 1 tbsp water and stir for another 30 seconds. Pour the sauce over the greens and serve.


Serves 2 as a main course meal, or 4 as a side dish.


Share and enjoy.