Quick + Easy: Goi ga (Vietnamese slaw)

So, you've made pho ga and you have leftover boiled chicken and don't know what to do with it. Solution? Goi ga -- a light salad of shredded cabbage and chicken. It is crunchy and tasty, you'll love boiled chicken in a way you never thought possible.

1.5 cups of shredded chicken (eyeball it depending on how much cabbage you have, how much leftovers you're trying to get rid of, the chicken ratio you want in this)
1 shredded carrot
1 small head of shredded cabbage
1/2 thinly sliced onion
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tspn. sugar
Torn coriander, mint or Thai basil leaves (or all three!)

Crushed peanuts for garnish
Nuoc cham
Black sesame rice paper crackers (optional)

Dissolve the sugar in the white vinegar. Place the red onions in this mixture and let soak for about 15 minutes. Drain and mix the onions with the rest of the ingredients. Toss with nuoc cham to taste. Top with crushed peanuts and serve with toasted sesame rice paper if using.

Cheater's Pho Ga

There is a calm that comes over me when I start cooking this recipe -- I have a rhythm, a set sequence of actions. I can always adjust this recipe to taste the way I want it to (which I can't say for everything I cook). I never feel nervous that whoever I'm cooking it for won't like it. I don't dread the leftovers -- I could eat this every day. I feel connected to my mother and my culture. I don't feel guilty eating it. I don't feel guilty using pho ga cubes instead of roasting the aromatics myself -- this process is all about ease and comfort to me. The instructions and list of ingredients look long, but don't let that deter you. This is an easy recipe, you just have to rely on your taste buds to guide you.

This is my favorite thing to cook. Enjoy.

1 package dried pho noodles (wide rice noodles)

1 whole chicken, about 4-6 lbs.
1 onion, sliced lengthwise into chunky rounds that you can grill
1 piece of ginger, cut lengthwise into about 5 thick pieces
3 cubes of pho ga seasoning cubes*
3 tbspns. fish sauce
Salt + pepper
Water

Accoutrements:
1 thinly sliced medium white or sweet onion
1 bunch of scallions, sliced
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
Lime wedges
Thai basil
Bean sprouts
Hoisin sauce
Siracha
Pickled jalepenos (optional)**

Soak the dried pho noodles in a large bowl of warm water for at least 5 hours (I throw them into a bowl in the morning before I go to work or before bed).

Trim the chicken of big pieces of fat -- this will mean less to skim off the broth later. Place into a big stockpot (something around 6 qts.), cover with water, and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook until done, about 45 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside to cool. Once cool, shred the chicken.*** Add the leftover chicken bones back to the pot of broth.

Add more water to the chicken broth until the pot is almost full. Grill the pieces of onion and ginger until you see nice grill marks. I do this directly on my oven range grates because I like the contact of the flame to the ginger and onion, but you can use a grill pan as well. Add it to the chicken broth. Heat the broth until boiling and add 3 of the pho ga seasoning cubes. Once the cubes dissolve, add the fish sauce, then add salt + pepper to taste. If you find that there is not enough depth to the broth, add the last pho ga cube. Simmer this mixture for about another 20 minutes. Add more water if the water level gets too low, but remember to reseason as necessary. Skim any fat off the surface of the broth.

Bring a small pot of water to boil. Using a large spider (this is easiest if you are preparing multiple bowls of pho), place a handful of pho noodles into the boiling water. Mix it around the spider with a pair of chopsticks to make sure all the noodles are submerged. The noodles will cook in about 45 seconds - 1 minute. Lift the spider from the water to drain, and place the cooked noodles into a bowl. Top the noodles with shredded chicken and a bit of the chopped cilantro, scallions and sliced onions. Ladle the broth over the noodles. Repeat as necessary.

Add lime juice, bean sprouts, Thai basil, hoisin sauce and Siracha to taste.

Enjoy!



* These cubes can be found in most large Asian supermarkets. If you live in Cincinnati, you can find them at CAM, Saigon Market at Findlay Market or Jungle Jim's.
** To make quick pickled jalepenos, slice about 3-4 jalepenos into thick rounds and place into a jar or bowl. Heat up about a cup of white vinegar, 2 tbspns. white sugar, and a 1 tspn. salt. until the sugar and salt dissolve. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the jalepenos, then cover the jar or bowl until the mixture cools. When it cools, place it into the refrigerator until ready to use.
*** I like to separate the meat into a pile of white meat and a pile of dark meat, just in case I have diners with a preference.

Xoi lap xuong

I just purchased tickets to see my family for Thanksgiving this week and it's making me feel like Thanksgiving is just around the corner, even though we've barely reached Halloween. My family makes a mix of Asian and typical American Thanksgiving foods for our big meal -- a turkey marinated in Peking duck spices, stuffing and cranberry sauce along side a bowl of quick pickled cucumbers, onions & radishes, and always always xôi lạp xưởng -- sticky rice with chinese sausage. My mother has perfected a quick method of cooking this dish in a microwave, so if you exclude the time spent soaking the rice this meal takes less than 20 minutes. Awesome. A small price to pay for a taste of home.

The soy sauce and sugar quantities listed below are a minimum suggested amount -- it is easier to add soy sauce to taste when you eat. You can adjust accordingly when you become more comfortable cooking this dish.

2 cups of sticky rice (it may be labeled as "nep" in an Asian store)
8 dried shitake mushrooms or fresh shitake mushrooms
1 tspn. vegetable oil

1 1/2 chinese sausages, halved and cut into half moon shaped pieces
1 1/2 carrots, diced

1/4 onion, diced
handful of dried baby shrimp (optional)
1 1/2 tbspns. soy sauce
1 tspn. white sugar

In a large microwave safe bowl, cover the rice with warm water and soak overnight.

When ready to cook, drain the water and then cover the rice again with enough water to just cover the rice. Place a paper towel over the bowl and cook in the microwave for 8 minutes. Take the bowl out and stir the rice, cover again with the paper towel and cook for an additional 5 minutes. If the rice is still soggy and all the water hasn't been absorbed, keep microwaving it in 3 minute increments until the rice is moist and sticky, but not too wet.

In the meantime, if using dried shitake mushrooms, bring a pot of water to boil. Cook the mushrooms until tender, drain, rinse with cold water, pat dry and slice.

Heat the oil in a sautee pan. Add the chinese sausages and sautee until lightly browned. Add the carrots, onion,  mushrooms, and dried baby shrimp (if using). Sautee until the onions are translucent. Add the soy sauce and sugar, cook until the sugar dissolves.

Combine the sauteed mixture with the cooked rice. Makes 4 servings.

Nuoc cham, nuoc mam

One of my jobs as a kid was to prepare whatever dipping sauce we were going to use for our meal. I was confused at first whenever my mom told me to prepare the nuoc mam, because I didn't know what to use and when and for what. I've realized that my preparations of these sauces will never taste the same as my mother's for some reason, but knowing how to make nuoc cham or nuoc mam pha will get you pretty far with a lot of Vietnamese dishes, so I decided to make a separate post for it for easy reference. When I make it, I usually make a mason jar full and keep it in the fridge, it lasts for about a 1 month. But you can play around with the proportions to make as little or as much as you need. You can also add more sugar if you want it to be a little sweeter, more fish sauce if you like this sauce saltier. This is the sauce you would use for vermicelli dishes, rice dishes, and as a dipping sauce for things like cha gio.

Nuoc cham

2 tbspns. fish sauce
1 lime's worth of juice (if you don't have fresh limes, use white vinegar to taste)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1.5 tbspn. white sugar
1 cup room temperature water
Red chili sauce (Tuong ot toi, not the kind you use for pho. It is in a jar, not a squeezy bottle)

Mix the sugar, garlic and lime juice together until the sugar dissolves. Add the fish sauce, water and red chili sauce to taste.