Black Pepper Beef (Lok Lak) by Nite Yun

Ingredients

1/3 cup oyster sauce 
1/4 cup crushed garlic (about 8 garlic cloves) 
3 tablespoons cooking rice wine 
2 3/4 tablespoons raw sugar 
2 tablespoons soy seasoning sauce (such as Golden Mountain) 
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce 
2 1/2 teaspoons crushed plus 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black peppercorns, divided 
2 tablespoons cornstarch 
2 tablespoons water 
2 pounds flank steak, cut into 3/4-inch cubes 
2 tablespoons olive oil 
2 cups thinly sliced red onion (from 1 medium onion) 
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 1 lime) 
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt 
8 butter lettuce leaves 
1 unripe red tomato, cut into 8 wedges

Stir together oyster sauce, garlic, rice wine, sugar, soy seasoning sauce, dark soy sauce, and crushed Kampot peppercorns in a small bowl.

Stir together cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water in a medium bowl until cornstarch is dissolved; add beef, and toss to coat. Add 1/4 cup of the oyster sauce mixture; cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. Cover remaining oyster sauce mixture, and set aside.
    
Heat oil in a wok over high. Carefully add beef mixture to wok, and cook, shaking wok often, until beef has a brown sear, 4 to 5 minutes. Add red onion and remaining oyster sauce mixture, and cook, shaking wok often, 2 more minutes.
    
Stir together lime juice, sea salt, and coarsely ground Kampot peppercorns. Place beef, lettuce leaves, and tomatoes on a platter, and serve with lime sauce.

Cambodian Chicken salad

Recipe from SF Chronicle, by Nyum Bai

Recipe: Nyum Bai’s Neorm Sach Moan (Cambodian Chicken Salad)

This vibrant salad is full of color, texture and tang — and simple to make, as adapted from “We Are La Cocina,” by Leticia Landa and Caleb Zigas (Chronicle Books). The book recommends boiling whole chickens and saving the broth for another use, but you could just as well use a rotisserie chicken from a grocery store.

Serves 2 to 4

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

1 bird’s-eye chile, Thai chile or serrano chile, chopped with seeds

½ small red cabbage, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)

1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)

½ cup Persian cucumber slices

2 cups cooked chicken, cut or pulled into large chunks

2 cups loose greens, such as mizuna or arugula

1 cup loosely packed Thai basil leaves (or regular basil)

¾ cup loosely packed mint leaves

¼ cup peanuts, roasted and chopped

Instructions: Combine the sugar with ½ cup warm water in a medium bowl and whisk to dissolve the sugar. Whisk in the fish sauce, vinegar, garlic and chile.

In a separate bowl, combine the cabbage, bell pepper, cucumber and chicken. Add half the dressing and toss to combine. Add the loose greens, basil leaves and mint and toss again. Divide evenly among serving plates, drizzle the remaining dressing over each plate and top with chopped peanuts. Any remaining dressing can be refrigerated for another use.

Macaroni Beef Stir Fry (Nui Xao Bo Luc Lac )

Recipe from Instagram, Valerie N

Really simple recipe with intensely bold flavors.

Note: measurements are estimated as I usually eyeball my cooking. Adjust to taste!

Marinade
⚪ 1 Tbsp Sugar (Rounded spoon)
⚪ 1.5 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
⚪ 1 Tbsp Shallots
⚪ 1 Tbsp Garlic
⚪ 1 Tbsp Regular Soy Sauce
⚪ 1 Tbsp Fish Sauce
⚪ 1 tsp Thick Soy Sauce (important)
⚪ 1 tsp Sesame Oil
⚪ 1 tsp Black Pepper

Ingredients
⚪ 1 lb steak - 1" cubed (prefer ribeye or ny, I cut my steaks smaller b/c my son likes them bite sized)
⚪ Elbow mac or other noodle
⚪ 1/2 red onion, chopped
⚪ 1 Tbsp Ketchup
⚪ 1 Tbsp Cooking oil

Instructions
1. Mix all ingredients for marinade together until combined.

2. Marinate the steak with marinade for at least 30 min

3. Meanwhile, boil macaroni until al dente. Drain and set aside.

4. In a wok on high heat, add chopped onions and saute until fragrant.

5. Making sure wok is HOT, add steak to wok, reserving any excess marinade. Cook using "shaking" motion. DO NOT OVERCROWD. Cook in batches if necessary.

6. Once the steak is cooked to desired doneness, add remaining sauce to thicken.

7. Add in the macaroni and ketchup and stir fry until noodles and sauce are incorporated. Noodles should've absorbed all the sauce and shouldn't be too wet.

8. Adjust to taste by adding more oyster sauce, fish sauce, ketchup, etc.

9. Remove from heat and Enjoy!

*** Find your favorite Bo Luc Lac recipe, cook as usual on HIGH. Throw in the cooked mac and add 1 T of each butter, oyster sauce, ketchup and add fish sauce and pepper to taste. I think the secret recipe to the beef marinade is thick soy sauce. It gives it the color and umami! You only need 1t per lb of beef.

Baked Parmesan Chicken Tenders - Ayesha Curry

1 cup panko
2 oz Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 1/2 tsp. Finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
Cooking spray
1 lb boneless skinless chicken tenders (about 8)

Preheat oven to 425. Stir together panko and Parmesan in a shallow dish. Stir together mayonnaise, mustard, parsley, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and onion powder in a separate shallow dish.

Insert a rack in a large rimmed baking sheet; spray with cooking spray. Coat chicken tenders in mayonnaise mixture; gently roll in panko mixture, pressing to adhere. Place coated tenders on rack. Spray tenders with cooking spray.

Bake chicken until cooked through and golden, about 15 minutes

Spam Musubi

Insatiably Epicurious

SPAM MUSUBI

Special Equipment:
Parchment paper
Half sheet pan
Musubi maker
Rice cooker

Ingredients:
2 cans spam
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup oyster sauce
8 sheets roasted nori
Furikake
4 cups uncooked short grain rice (I prefer Calrose)
5 cups water

Instructions:
- Rinse rice until water runs clear. Drain off as much water as possible. Place washed grains in inner rice cooker pot. Add 5 cups water. Cook.

- Cut each can of spam into 8 slices. Lay each slice flat onto a surface with rounded sides, like a brownie pan.

- Mix sugar and vinegar until dissolved. Stir in soy sauce and oyster sauce. Pour mixture over spam. Marinate for 30-60min.

- Set oven to broil. Lay parchment paper over sheet pan.

- Lay each slice of spam into pan. Set pan on the lowest rack.

- Each oven is a little different, so you’ll need to keep an eye on the spam. After about 3-5min, the edges will begin crisping. Flip to the other side, baste with marinade, and broil for another 3min. Don’t let it burn. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

- Fill a small bowl halfway with water.

- Lay nori on a clean working surface. Place musubi maker in the middle of the nori.

- Fluff up rice a bit. Sprinkle rice with furikake and lightly mix in.

- Fill the musubi mold 3/4 with rice. Press down until firm. Sprinkle with more furikake if desired. Place two slices of spam into rice mold. Lift up the mold carefully. Fold the nori closets to you onto the spam. Wet the opposite end of the nori and fold over.

- Turn musubi over and set aside. This will give the nori a chance to set firmly with the weight of the rice on top of it.

- Once all the musubi are complete, slice each into 1/2 or 1/4, depending on preference.

- *For parties, I cut into 1/4 and saranwrap individually. This helps keep the rice from drying out.

Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken

Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken 

What you need...
-5 to 6pcs of chicken thighs (I prefer thighs its more moist than chicken breasts.) Cut in cubes 
-Sweet potatoes starch (find the starch that is grainy not powdery)
-1 to 2 eggs

Marinate chicken with:
2 to 3 cloves of garlic minced
1tbsp of ginger minced
1tbsp garlic powder 
1/2tsp of salt
1tsp of sugar
1tbsp of soy sauce 
1tbsp of five spice powder
1tsp of white pepper
1/2 tsp of cooking wine(optional)
1/2 tsp of sesame oil
Marinate for 1hr to 3hrs. 

Before frying add 2 eggs if you use up to 6pcs of chicken, 1 egg for 4pcs of chicken and mixed in with the marination chicken. 

Seasoning for after frying:
mixed first to a bowl
1tbsp of sugar
1tsp salt
1/2tsp five spice powder 
1tsp of white pepper
(For spicy...I use dried chilli flakes because chilli powder or cayenne pepper powder is not that spicy to me) Sprinkle on after frying chicken

*Optional- Also sprinkle some dry basil or dry parsley after frying

*Optional* Before frying add a few leaves of basil to the frying oil for like a min or 2 when the leaf gets crispy take it out. 

On a separate plate add the starch
Add each pcs to the starch one by one on to a separate plate before adding to the hot oil pot. Fry until golden brown. Pour onto a bowl, sprinkle your after seasoning while shake the chicken around for even coating. Good luck!! 

Shaken Beef

Shaken Beef with asparagus, whole garlic, and baby Bella mushrooms by Hollie Phuong-Hong Nguyen

Marinade the meat with some sugar, Maggi, oyster sauce, minced garlic, and ground black pepper. I usually add some dark soy for the color but I didn’t have any left, so that was skipped.

By Jennifer Le

Season ribeye with oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, garlic powder, black pepper, caramel sauce (nước màu) & sesame oil (substituted w/grapeseed oil) for at least 30 minutes. Cook on high heat in small batches.

By Katie T. LA

 Bò lúc lắc (shaken beef) using boneless ribeye. 15 minutes from start to finish.

Marinated with: oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, minced garlic, garlic powder, onion powder, and a dash of fish sauce for umami.


Seared with butter in a cast iron pan and shaken just to fulfill the dish’s namesake

By Andrea Nguyen 

Wok-seared "Shaking" Beef
Thit Bo Luc Lac

Use both the light and dark soy sauces if you want a little extra deep color. Feel free to dress up the final platter with some tomato wedges. If serving without the watercress, opt to present the beef with a side of salt, pepper, lime dipping sauce (muoi tieu chanh) for guests to dip the cubes in.

Serves 4 with 2 or 3 other dishes

1 1/4 pound tri-tip (bottom sirloin/culotte) steaks

Marinade:
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon light (regular) soy sauce, or 2 teaspoons light (regular) and 1 teaspoon dark (thick) soy sauce

Dressing:
1 shallot, thinly sliced (1/4 cup total)
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 or 2 pinches salt
3 to 5 cracks black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons water

4 cups watercress, use only the tender leafy parts
2 tablespoon canola or peanut oil

1. Trim excess fat from the steaks and then cut each into 3/4-inch cubes. In a bowl, combine the pepper, sugar, garlic, oyster sauce, fish sauce and soy sauce. Add the beef and toss well to coat. Set aside to marinate for 20 minutes or up to 2 hours.

2. For the dressing, put the shallot in a mesh strainer and rinse under water for about 10 seconds to reduce some of the harshness. In large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, salt, pepper, vinegar and water. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the shallot. Put the watercress on top but hold off on tossing.

3. Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the beef and spread it out in one layer. Cook in batches, if necessary. Let the beef sear for about 1 minute, before shaking the wok or skillet to sear another side. Cook for another 30 seconds or so and shake. Cook the beef this way for about 4 minutes total, until nicely browned and medium rare.

In between shakes, toss the watercress and transfer onto a platter or serving dish. When the beef is done, pile the beef on top of the watercress and serve immediately with lots of rice.

Bánh Xèo - Crispy vietnamese crepes

Recipe from Facebook, Vietnamese Cooking Group

Bánh Xèo. Crispy vietnamese crepes with shrimp, side pork and bean sprouts 

Crepe Batter 
400g rice flour
100ml beer ( any kind )
300 ml warm water
1 liter of coconut milk
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp thinly slice green onions.

In a large bowl whisk together the rice flour, turmeric powder, sugar, salt, water and coconut milk until the mixture is smooth. Strain through sieve and add beer. Then let the batter rest in the fridge for at least 2 hour. Just before use add green onions to the mixture.

Bitter melon Stir Fry with Pork Belly, tofu, and eggs

Recipe from Greg Gong

3 small bitter melons (about 12 oz.)
2 tbsp. kosher salt
7 oz. extra-firm tofu
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
4 oz. pork belly, skin removed, thinly sliced crosswise
1⁄3 cup dashi (see Noodles in Dashi for recipe)
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1⁄4 cup bonito flakes
Koregusu (Okinawan chile sauce), optional

Instructions
Cut each bitter melon in half lengthwise and, using a spoon, remove and discard the seeds. Slice the bitter melons crosswise into 1⁄4-inch-thick half-moons and transfer to a medium bowl. Add the salt, toss until evenly combined, and let stand for 20 minutes. Using your hands, squeeze the bitter melon to release as much liquid as possible, then transfer to a colander and rinse under cold running water. 

Squeeze again to drain any liquid, transfer to paper towels, and pat dry.

Place the tofu on a flat plate lined with a kitchen towel. Cover the tofu with another towel and plate and then weight the plate with two 32-oz. cans to press the tofu and release excess water. Let the tofu stand for at least 20 minutes. Remove the weights and uncover the tofu. Using your hands, crumble the tofu into 1-inch pieces into a large bowl.

In a 12-inch skillet, heat the oil over high. Add the bitter melon and pork and cook, undisturbed, for 5 minutes. Stir and cook 2 minutes more. Add the tofu along with the dashi and soy sauce and cook until the liquid has almost completely evaporated, about 1 minute. Pour in the eggs and cook, stirring to break up the curds, until the eggs are just cooked, 1 to 2 minutes more. Remove the skillet from the heat and scrape the stir-fry onto a serving platter. Sprinkle with bonito flakes and serve immediately with the koregusu, if using.

Notes:

More ideas: 
My family’s recipe goes like this: Cut them in 2” sections and core them. Then mix some ground chicken or pork with some garlic, onion, and shiitake mushrooms and use the meat mixture to stuff the cored melons. We usually steam or braise them in chicken broth.

Vietnamese grilled pork sandwiches - Banh Mi

Recipe from ThuyTien Dang, Vietnamese Cooking Group

Banh Mi Vietnamese grilled pork sandwiches recipe - Quick 20 minutes cooking, big portion for firefighters !

One to two pounds of pork tenderloin, slice into one-inch slice, pound out flat, sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides, put into a medium size bowl, and set aside.

Marinade for the pork:
Put 2 cups of olive oil in a blender with 3 cloves of garlic
1 bunch of green onions
2 tablespoons of soy sauce (Maggie's seasoning sauce recommended)
1 tablespoon of brown sugar.
Blend on medium speed.

Let the pork tenderloin soak in the marinade at room temperature for half an hour (if at home, on fast speed cooking competition 5 mins) before grilling.

Recipe for pickled carrots and onions:
1 pound of julienne sliced carrots,
1 small onion thinly sliced,
1 cup of white vinegar,
1/3 cup of sugar,
1 bunch of roughly chopped cilantro
mixed all together in a bowl and set aside.

-Grill the pork at medium heat. It takes about only about 5 minutes because it's thinly sliced.

-1 long loaf of French baguette bread, put in the oven at 350 for 5 minutes or until nice and crispy around the edges.

-Slice the bread in half the long way. Lay out the pork on the bread and garnish it with the pickled carrots, and a little dash of the soy sauce if needed and some sriracha hot sauce if you want to kick it up another notch.

Braised Pork riblets - Sườn Kho

Recipe from Jennifer Le, Vietnamese Cooking Group

INSTANT POT:

Boil water in a pot, add pork ribs and blanch for 3-4 minutes. 

Rinse and clean ribs. 

Season cleaned ribs with sugar, minced shallots, garlic powder, fish sauce & black pepper.

In a pan, add sugar and turn the heat to medium, when the sugar melts and turns golden brown + seasoned ribs + minced shallots, seared both side for 2 minutes each.

In Instant Pot (IP), added seared ribs, add coconut water. 


High pressure (HP) for 5 minutes, natural release (NR) for 10 minutes. 

Then turn to sauté mode for 10 minutes or until the sauce reduces to 1/2.

FOR STOVE TOP: FROM LANIE HO

Recipe: 
2 lbs pork ribs 
1can coconut soda 
3 tbsp 3 crab fish sauce
1tsp salt
1tsp Black pepper 
1can quail eggs, drained and washed 
2 cloves garlic, minced 
2 green onions, chopped all the way. White and green part 
1 -2 tbsp sugar... depending on your level of sweetness. 

I boil my meat first w salt to get rid of the impurities. Don’t boil all the way. Just for a few minutes. Drain. 

In bowl, Marinate w the white part of onions, garlic, and the seasonings, for about 15 minutes.

Add 2tbsp oil to pan, then sugar. Do not stir the pot. Just gently swirl it... you want the sugar to caramelize. 

Once sugar is brown, add meat and stir. Do this on medium high heat until meat is covered in sauce. 
Add coconut soda. Cover w lid and let it cook for about 25-30 minutes...

Uncover and add the eggs.... let it cook for another 20 minutes... until sauce thickens. 

**this is where I taste my sauce and see if I need to adjust taste to my preference. 

More sweet, add sugar, more salty add more fish sauce. 


Once it’s done, garnish w green onions.