甜蜜蜜芋圓 - sweet potato balls

甜蜜蜜芋圓

材料： 芋頭 taro 蕃薯 sweet potato 紫色蕃薯 purple sweet potato 南瓜 japanese pumpkin 木薯粉 Tapioca Starch 水 water 原糖 sugar 步驟： 蕃薯南瓜等去皮洗淨印乾，切成細件或粒粒，明火或蒸爐100度蒸15分鐘。

蒸好趁熱將蕃薯等壓成蓉，可加適量糖調味，逐少加入木薯粉，搓成粉糰，如面團太乾可逐少加少少水，搓成不黏手麵團即可。

可於桌面上撒少許木薯粉防黏，將粉糰分割為六份，用手搓滾成長條形，用刮板切成理想大小，可用手搓成芋圓亦可。

將適量木薯粉放入一大碗內，將已整理形狀的芋圓放入碗內滾動一下至均勻黏上粉（防黏），再用篩篩走多餘粉就可以入密實袋或食物盒，放於冰格儲存。

Lâu (Shrimp Hot Pot) - Diep Tran

“My sister Điệp makes this beautiful soup on holidays like Tết, the Lunar New Year,” Cuong Pham, founder of cult- and chef-favorite Red Boat Fish Sauce writes in his cookbook of the same name, recently published by Harpers Collins. The lâu (or shrimp hot pot) combines a hearty dose of pork stock, shrimp paste stuffed into mushroom caps, and a variety of fresh vegetables for a dish that conveys abundance and celebration. “It truly is a soup you make on special occasions for loved family and friends,” Pham adds.

 Lâu (Shrimp Hot Pot)

Ingredients

3 tablespoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 pound whole shrimp, peeled, deveined, and thoroughly dried with a paper towel

1 teaspoon Red Boat Fish Sauce

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon minced garlic

3 eggs

Vegetable oil or butter, for greasing the pan

6 to 8 shiitake mushrooms, caps only

2 large carrots

1½ quarts Pork Stock

¼ head of a large cauliflower or ½ head of a small cauliflower, cut into florets

½ small napa cabbage, chopped

2 cups yu choy, bok choy, pea tendrils, or other leafy green, chopped into approximately 2-inch-long pieces

½ cup pork cracklings, broken into bite-size pieces

Directions

Make the shrimp paste

1. In a medium mixing bowl, dissolve the salt and baking soda in 2 cups water. Add the shrimp and let it sit in the brine in the refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes. Drain the shrimp, then dry between paper towels.

2. Add the shrimp, fish sauce, sugar, and garlic to a food processor. Process the shrimp to a smooth paste. Transfer the shrimp paste to a mixing bowl and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours.

Make and fill the omelets and mushrooms

3. Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat well.

4. Heat a teaspoon of oil in an 8-inch sauté pan set over low heat. When the oil shimmers, ladle ¼ cup beaten egg into the pan. Gently tilt the pan to distribute the eggs into an even, thin omelet. Let the eggs cook undisturbed until set, about 1 minute. Turn the omelet onto a plate or cutting board. Repeat with the remainder of the beaten eggs.

5. Working with one omelet at a time, place about 3 tablespoons of the shrimp paste in the omelet’s center. Using a butter knife, spread the paste across the surface to create one thin, even layer, adding more shrimp paste if necessary. Tightly roll the omelet and set aside. Repeat with the remaining omelets.

6. Flip the mushroom caps over and spread about 1 tablespoon of the shrimp paste on the underside of each c ap.

7. Fill a pot fitted with a large steamer basket with about 2 inches of water and set over medium heat. When the water begins to boil, place the omelet rolls and mushroom caps in the steam basket, cover, and steam until the shrimp is completely cooked, about 10 minutes.

8. Remove the mushrooms and omelet rolls from the steamer basket, then carefully slice the omelets crosswise into ¼-inch pieces. Set aside.

Finish the soup

9. Discard the stem ends and tips of the carrots, then slice them lengthwise into ¼-inch-thick strips. Cut the strips into 1½-inch pieces.

Alternatively, create star-shaped slices: Working with one carrot at a time, hold a sharp knife at a 45-degree angle along the length of the carrot and make a cut about 1/8-inch deep. Angle the knife 45 degrees in the opposite direction of the first cut, and slice about 1/8 inch lengthwise down the carrot. Remove the resulting V-shaped wedge, then rotate the carrot 90 degrees and make the same two cuts. Repeat twice more around the carrot, then slice the carrot crosswise into ¼-inch pieces. Repeat for the second carrot. Set aside.

10. Heat the pork stock in a large pot set over medium heat. When the stock is at a strong simmer, add the carrots and cauliflower. Reduce the heat to low and gently simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.

11. Drop the napa leaves and leafy greens into the stock for 1 minute, or just long enough to warm them. Turn off the heat.

12. To serve, ladle the soup and vegetables into serving bowls. Top with the sliced omelet rolls, mushroom caps, and pork cracklings.

CRÈME BRÛLÉE - Roy Choi

 The crackle of the burned sugar, the creamy inside, vanilla beans speckled throughout, the feeling when scraping the inside of the ramekin after finishing most of it, the idea of sharing with friends at the table. I love crème brûlée, and the pandan leaf gives it an extra layer of sweet flavor. I hope this recipe makes you love again, too.

You’ll need a kitchen blowtorch to burn the sugar.

SERVES 4 TO 6

5 cups heavy cream

Seeds scraped from ½ vanilla bean

One 12-inch strip pandan leaf

1 cup sugar

14 egg yolks, beaten

Superfine sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Combine the cream, vanilla seeds, pandan leaf, and half the sugar in a pot. Bring the mixture to a slight boil, then lower the heat to simmer.

Combine the egg yolks and the other half of the sugar in a large bowl and beat thoroughly, for about 2 minutes.

Ladle by ladle, add the cream to the egg yolks, whisking constantly so the hot cream doesn’t cook the yolks (this process is tempering the cream). When everything is combined, add the mixture back to the pot and cook it over very low heat until it’s slightly thick and coats the back of a spoon. Make sure to keep it at low heat so as not to scramble the eggs.

Fill 4 to 6 ramekins with this mixture—crème anglaise—and place them in a large roasting pan filled with an inch or so of water. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.

When the ramekins are ready, remove them from the oven and from the water bath. Let them cool, then refrigerate for 2 hours.

Sprinkle the tops of the ramekins with sugar, then use the blowtorch to melt and burn the sugar until golden brown. Cool and allow the surface to harden.

ENJOY YOUR DESSERT.

HAINAN CHICKEN, KIND OF - Roy Choi

 Hainan chicken is a treasure in Southeast Asia, and people can get real territorial over the “right” way to make the dish. I’ll be first to tell you, though, that my version is more of a riff on the dish rather than the real thing. I think I got it right, kind of . . .

SERVES 4 TO 6

One 5-pound chicken

3 tablespoons kosher salt

1 cup chopped peeled fresh ginger

1 cup roughly chopped scallions

1 cup garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro

1 lime, quartered

2 kaffir lime leaves

One 3-inch cinnamon stick

Splash of Maggi seasoning

Splash of dark soy sauce

GARNISH

Handful of chopped cilantro

Jar of chili garlic sauce for the table

Rinse and dry dry dry the chicken. Coat it with the salt all over and let it sit for a few minutes as you bring enough water to cover the chicken to a boil in a big pot.

Once boiling, add everything but the chicken to the pot. Bring it to a boil again, then add the chicken and reduce the heat to produce a low simmer.

Cook the chicken, uncovered, low and slow, until tender, about 1 hour.

Remove the chicken and soak it immediately in an ice-water bath. Chill the chicken until the meat is still warm but the skin is cold, then remove it (it’s okay if the chicken is a little wet from the ice bath). Strain the broth (you can use it to make rice if you wish).

Serve the chicken by itself or over rice with the cilantro and the chili garlic sauce.

SPAM BÁNH ME - Roy Choi

 SPAM BÁNH ME

The first time I ate a bánh mì sandwich was in Orange County’s Little Saigon back in high school, on my way to the Asian Garden Mall to pick up some Euro disco CDs. I went across the street from the mall to a little sandwich shop that was filled with people and a line out the door. I didn’t really know what I was getting into, but it seemed simple enough. Cheap, line, sandwich, wrapped in paper. How could I go wrong? My version pays respects to the traditional sandwich, pickled veggies and all, but with some Spam thrown in for something a little different.

MAKES 4 SANDWICHES

PICKLES

1 cup julienned daikon

1 cup julienned carrots

½ cup natural rice vinegar (not seasoned)

1½ teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup water

SANDWICHES

4 demibaguettes

½ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Maggi seasoning

1 tablespoon Sriracha

Butter, softened

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 can Spam, cut into 8 thin steaks

Fresh cilantro sprigs

Fresh Thai basil or opal basil leaves

Fried shallots (store-bought)

Limes

Place the daikon and carrots in small bowl. Combine the vinegar, salt, sugar, and water in a small pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn off the heat and let it cool until it’s warm. Pour over the daikon and carrots and let it sit for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.

Cut the baguettes in half but keep them intact. In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise with the Maggi seasoning and the Sriracha. Set aside.

Slather the cut sides of the baguettes with softened butter and toast them in your toaster oven or in a pan over low heat until they’re nice and crispy. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a skillet, add the Spam, and cook over medium heat until it’s golden brown in color. Transfer to paper towels and reserve.

Slather the buttered sides of the baguettes with the spicy mayonnaise. To build the sandwiches, place the Spam on the bottom half of each baguette, then top with the pickled daikon and carrots and add a layer of cilantro and basil. Top with the fried shallots and a squeeze of lime and close up the baguette.

CRUNCH!

COCONUT RICE - Roy Choi

 COCONUT RICE

Sometimes we get caught up with our ways and think that rice can be cooked only with water. But water is just a liquid medium. Try cooking rice with chicken stock or lobster stock or even coconut milk mixed with stock, as I do here. Make rice fun and different.

SERVES 4 TO 5

2½ cups jasmine rice

½ cup coconut milk

½ teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons julienned peeled fresh ginger

2 cups water

3½ cups chicken stock

GARNISH

Limes

Papaya, chopped

Rinse the rice thoroughly, at least 5 times, until the water runs clear.

In a medium-size pot with a tight-fitting lid, combine the coconut milk, salt, ginger, water, and stock. Add the rice, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, covered, for 12 to 15 minutes, until cooked. Fluff it up and serve with limes and fresh papaya.

YOU MAY NOT NEED

ANYTHING ELSE.

CHICKEN SATAY WITH PEANUT SAUCE - Roy Choi

 CHICKEN SATAY WITH PEANUT SAUCE

Chicken satay is usually bland and dry dry dry. But the true satays of the world, the ones you’ll find throughout the streets of Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, come off the charcoal moist, smoky, and bursting with amazing flavor. This one’s an ode to the flavors and the work of those satay vendors.

SERVES 4 TO 6 AS AN APPETIZER

MARINADE

2 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 shallots, minced

½ cup coconut milk

2 tablespoons pineapple juice

1 tablespoon condensed milk

1 tablespoon palm sugar

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon cognac

1 tablespoon sambal oelek (chile paste)

2 tablespoons roasted sesame seeds

CHICKEN

Bamboo skewers soaked in water

1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 8-to 12½-thick strips

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

PEANUT SAUCE

½ teaspoon chopped lemongrass

½ teaspoon chopped garlic

½ teaspoon chopped peeled fresh ginger

Splash of water

½ tablespoon vegetable oil

½ cup peanut butter

½ tablespoon soy sauce

½ cup coconut milk

½ tablespoon sugar

½ tablespoon sambal oelek (chile paste)

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

GARNISH

Fresh cilantro

2 limes, quartered

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a blender and puree. Transfer the marinade to a flat-bottomed dish (like a casserole dish) large enough to hold the chicken.

Place the chicken in the marinade for at least 3 hours.

Meanwhile, prepare the peanut sauce. In a blender, combine the lemongrass, garlic, and ginger with a splash of water and puree to make a paste.

In a small pot, combine the paste with the oil, peanut butter, soy sauce, coconut milk, sugar, sambal oelek, and lime juice. Cook very gently over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the sauce to cool.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and skewer. Heat a grill to medium-high heat. Season the chicken skewers with salt and pepper, then grill the skewers until the chicken is charred.

Serve with the peanut sauce, fresh cilantro, and lime wedges.

EGGPLANT CURRY OVER RICE - Roy Choi

I think eggplant is overlooked here in America. Sure, we do the whole Parmesan thing, but overall, not many people enjoy eggplant as much as I think we should. Maybe it’s because we think we gotta eat it by itself, the same way we eat carrots and broccoli and every other vegetable, as if we gotta eat that shit steamed, making funny faces in the name of health. Fuck that. Mix this eggplant up with some curry and fish sauce and coconut milk, serve it over some rice with hot sauce, and you’ll stop making that funny face.

SERVES 4 TO 6

CURRY PASTE

2 tablespoons minced shallots

2 Thai bird or serrano chiles, minced, (including stems and seeds)

1 lemongrass stalk, white part only, minced

2 tablespoons minced galangal

1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

2 kaffir lime leaves

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons green curry paste

EGGPLANT

¼ cup vegetable oil

4 tablespoons water

One 14-ounce can coconut milk

6 Thai eggplants or 2 Japanese eggplants, cut into medium-size dice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Limes, halved

Combine all the ingredients for the curry paste in a blender and puree.

In a pan over medium heat, heat the oil and, when it’s smoking, sauté the curry paste for a few minutes. Thin it out with 4 tablespoons water, then add the coconut milk. The mixture will become a little soupy.

Add the diced eggplant and cook it all for another 5 minutes. Taste the curry and adjust for seasoning.

Serve over rice with a squeeze or two of fresh lime.

MUSHROOM QUESADILLA - Roy Choi

 MUSHROOM QUESADILLA

This was one of my hit dishes at the Embassy Suites, and to this day people trip out when they see it. They say, mushrooms in a quesadilla? And I say, yes, mushrooms in a quesadilla, foo; don’t trip, just try it. Then they try it and say, Wow! Mushrooms in a quesadilla!!

If you can, splurge on this one and get the fancy mushrooms. It’s not like you are gonna do yourself any favors by not going for it. If you’re not going to go for it, just don’t make it. If you splurge, that simple thing will change your life.

SERVES 4 TO 6

1 cup chanterelle mushrooms

1 cup blue foot mushrooms

1 cup hedgehog mushrooms

About 1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1½ teaspoons kosher salt

1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Four to six 10-inch flour tortillas

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

SALSA

Salsa verde

GARNISHES (OPTIONAL)

Fresh white or black truffles

Lime, quartered

Trim and slice the mushrooms and toss them into a bowl with 4 tablespoons of the oil, the salt, and the pepper.

In a large sauté pan over high heat, add 6 tablespoons of the oil, and when it starts to smoke, add half the mushrooms or however many will fit in a single layer. Take your time and do it in stages if all of the mushrooms don’t fit—if you crowd the pan, the mushrooms will steam instead of caramelizing beautifully. When the mushrooms start to caramelize, after about 6 minutes, transfer them to a wire rack on a sheet pan; then repeat for the remaining mushrooms.

Wipe out the pan or use a griddle, and add just a dab of oil. Heat it just until it starts to smoke. Place a tortilla in the pan and smother it with cheese. Layer the mushrooms over the cheese and continue to cook until the cheese melts and/or the bottom of the tortilla gets crispy and golden brown.

Place another tortilla on top of the cheese and mushrooms and flip.

Add a touch more oil on the fresh tortilla, swirl it around the pan, and cook until crispy.

Remove. Cut. Smother with salsa. Add a squeeze of lime if you like.

Shave truffles.

Eat.

CAESAR SALAD - Roy Choi

 CAESAR SALAD

Yes, it’s everywhere, but this one is really good, I swear. Don’t omit the shaved Parmesan—the salad won’t taste complete until you add it at the end.

Leftover dressing will keep in your refrigerator for up to 5 days.

SERVES 8

DRESSING

3 tablespoons chopped garlic

2 tablespoons chopped anchovies

3 large egg yolks

¾ teaspoon dry mustard

1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

½ cup fresh lemon juice

2 cups mayonnaise

2½ tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons pureed onion

1 tablespoon water

Good pinch of salt

SALAD

8 romaine hearts, separated into leaves

2 cups shaved Parmesan cheese

1 lemon

Cracked black pepper

Combine all the dressing ingredients in a blender and puree.

Toss the romaine leaves with the dressing, coating with liberal intent.

Thịt Kho Trứng - Diep Tran

While a kho is often a weeknight dish that can be whipped up in less than 30 minutes, for the Tết season, you don’t want any old braise. You want a kho that’s worthy of the Lunar New Year table. That means springing for top-quality skin-on, center-cut pork belly, palm sugar and fresh young coconut. Skin-on pork contains plenty of collagen, which will break down during the gentle cooking process to add lusciousness to the caramelized savory gravy, making it perfect for ladling over copious amounts of fluffy new-crop white jasmine rice.

Ingredients:

Kosher salt

3 pounds center-cut pork belly, preferably skin on, cut into 3/4-inch cubes 

2 tablespoons minced garlic (about 8 cloves) 

2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola, vegetable or avocado oil 

1/2 small red onion, minced (about 4 ounces), plus 1 large red onion, halved 

1/3 cup palm sugar, roughly diced (about 2 ounces; see Cook's Note) 

1/3 cup premium fish sauce, such as Red Boat 

1 tablespoon ground black pepper 

4 Thai chiles, halved 

Water from 3 to 4 young coconuts (about 4 1/2 cups; see Cook's Note) 

6 Boiled Eggs, recipe follows 

Directions

Fill a 7-quart heavy-bottomed braising pot (like a Dutch oven) with 4 quarts of water. Add 3 tablespoons salt and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Prepare an ice bath.

Add the pork to the pot and bring the water back up to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, skimming the foam that floats to the surface. 

Transfer the pork to the ice bath and let it soak until completely chilled, about 20 minutes. Remove the pork and wipe away any impurities using a paper towel. Drain the pork in a colander and set aside. 

Clean the pot used for the pork and return it to the stove. Add the garlic, oil and minced red onion to the cold pot, turn the heat to medium high and cook until aromatic, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the palm sugar and cook until it starts to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Continue cooking until the sugar turns a chestnut amber, another 3 to 5 minutes. 

Add the fish sauce and raise the heat to high. Bring the mixture to a bubble and cook for 2 minutes to cook out the raw flavor of the fish sauce slightly. Add the blanched pork, black pepper and chiles and toss to coat every piece of pork in the sauce.  

Add the coconut water, halved red onion and 2 cups of water. Bring the pot back to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. To achieve a braise with tender pork that doesn’t fall apart, cook the pork at a gentle simmer, where the surface of the braising liquid is trembling and only a few air bubbles break through. Simmer, uncovered, until the pork is tender and the braising liquid reduces and forms a stock that slightly clings to your spoon, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. 

Gently transfer the pork to a bowl. Strain the braising liquid through a fine-mesh sieve to create a flawless, silky-smooth stock. Discard the solids. 

Wash the pot and return it to the stove. Return the pork and braising liquid to the pot. Bring the braise to a boil, then turn off the heat. Nestle the Boiled Eggs in the braising liquid. Cover the pot and steep the eggs in the braising liquid off heat for 20 minutes.

Cook’s Note

As this is a dish for Lunar New Year, I’m specifying water from fresh young coconuts, but pre-packaged coconut water is a fine substitute. The palm sugar specified in this recipe is the Southeast Asian variety; the main producers are Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.