Nui Xao Bo - Stir Fry Beef Rice Macaroni

Nui Xao Bo - Stir Fry Beef Rice Macaroni

Beef Macaroni Noodle Stir Fry Vietnamese

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This fun and delicious stir fry wasn't around when I was little but nowadays it's all over Vietnam.  It is the Vietnamese take on Western pasta, which have gain a lot of popularity amongst children and teens.  I remember trying it for the first time several years ago in Saigon, it was an awesome mix of both worlds.  You get the rich tomato flavor but then you get hints of familiar Asian seasoning.  Unlike Western pasta where the sauce is pile on top, Vietnamese pasta is more dry.  The sauce is part of the the seasoning that coat the macaroni, the sauteed beef seasoned perfectly is piled on top, and then you get some fresh veggies on the side to help cut some of the oil.  I make this almost weekly because it doesn't take a lot of time and effort.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 bag 14 oz
1 lb sliced beef
1 yellow onion (sliced)
4 stalk of green onions (cut into 1 in)
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
1 teaspoon of minced shallot
cilantro (garnish)
tomato (garnish)
cucumber (garnish)
fish sauce
tomato paste
oyster sauce
sugar
soy sauce
black pepper

1.  Boil rice macaroni until about 75% done, otherwise it will break when you stir fry it.  Drain water and set aside for later.
2.  Marinade beef with 2 tablespoon of oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, 1 teaspoon of sugar.
3.  Heat up oil in a wok, add the garlic and shallots until fragrance. Add the sliced onions and green onions, then add the beef.  Stir fry everything until beef is cooked.  Remove and set aside.

4.  Heat up 4 tablespoon of oil in a wok, add the rice macaroni, 1/4 cup of tomato paste, 2 tablespoon of oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce.  Make sure you coat the macaroni with all the liquid ingredients and tomato paste evenly. Stir fry macaroni until it's al dente or tender to your liking.

5.  Add the sauteed beef from earlier back in the wok.  Your stir fry is ready for eating.
6.  Transfer to a plate and garnish with chopped cilantro, cucumber, tomato, and a dash of ground pepper on top.
7.  Enjoy!

Mi Xao Bo - Stir Fried Egg Noodle with Beef

Mi Xao Bo - Stir Fried Egg Noodle with Beef

Beef Chinese Noodle Stir-Fry Vietnamese

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Having to work at a few Asian restaurants in my lifetime has taught me a few tricks on stir-frying.  I'm glad I was able to learn a few technique that I can use at home.  Mi xao is a pretty simple dish to make but if you want restaurant quality mi xao that's going to take a few extra steps.  Like many noodle dishes such as Pad Thai and Hu Tieu Xao, I like my mi xao a certain way.  The noodle and vegetables must be firm, can't tell you enough how much I dislike mushy noodle and vegetable in anything stir-fried.  The best way for all the components in your mi xao to cook perfectly is to cook them separately.  That's the reason why it requires a few extra step but I assure you it's worth the effort.

Ingredients:

1 bag of fresh chow mein
1 lb of eye round beef (sliced)
1 bag of Chinese broccoli (Cai Lan)
2-3 carrots
1 pack of mushroom
2 tablespoon of minced garlic
oyster sauce
fish sauce
soy sauce
ground pepper
salt
sugar
vegetable oil

1.  Marinade the sliced beef with 2 tablespoon of oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of minced garlic.
2.  Wash and prepare your vegetables so that they will stir-fry more easily.
3.  Boil a pot of water (enough for all your vegetables) and add 1/2 tablespoon of salt.  Have a big bowl filled with some ice water ready.  Once the pot of water have come to a boil, add your vegetables to the pot.  Removed the vegetables after about 30 second and drain all the hot water.  Transfer the veggies into the bowl with ice.  This will stop the vegetables from cooking any further and ensure that your vegetables will stay crispy.  After a minute drain the vegetables from the iced water.
4.  Boil water in a pot.  We will use this pot to heat up the noodle and let it cook gradually through steaming.  If you cook the noodles all the way now, it will be mushy after stir-frying it later.  Once the pot of water have come to a boil, add the noodles to the pot for about 15 second and make sure all the noodles have submerge under the boiling water.  After 15 seconds drain the hot water and just let the noodles cook gradually in the steam.  Make sure you toss the noodles so that it doesn't stick together especially the bottom batch.
5.  Heat up some cooking oil in a wok.  Add the marinaded beef and stir-fry.  When you are stir frying make sure the heat is on the highest setting and you are constantly stirring everything so it doesn't burn. Once the meat has cooked about 70%, add the vegetables.   Season everything with 1 teaspoon of salt.  Stir-fry everything together until all the ingredients is well seasoned.  Remember the vegetables has been pre-cooked, the purpose of stir-frying now is to season you do not want to overcook the vegetables.  Transfer beef and vegetables to a separate bowl.
6.  Heat up about 1/4 cup of cooking oil in  wok.  Add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic to the oil.  Add the noodle to the wok, make sure the heat is on the highest setting.  Stir and mix the noodles in the oil and garlic. Add about 1/4  tablespoon of fish sauce and 2 teaspoon of soy sauce to the noodles and  mix.  The beef and vegetables from before should have produce some liquid.  Spoon that liquid to the noodles to season it, don't do it all at once.  Just a couple spoonful to coat the noodles.  Make sure the heat is still on high and you are constantly moving the noodles around.  Once you have season the noodle well turn off the heat.
7.  Drain the access liquid from the beef and vegetables, and then add the beef and vegetable mixture to the noodles.  Mix so that everything is evenly distributed.
8.  Transfer to a plate topped off with some ground pepper and enjoy!

Rau Muong Tron Thit Bo - Beef Water Spinach Salad

Rau Muong Tron Thit Bo - Beef Water Spinach Salad

Appetizer Beef Salad Vietnamese

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Firstly I like to wish everybody a happy new year!  May 2014 bring you lots of luck, love, prosperity, laughter, and of course good food!  I'm sorry for my absence but it was much needed.  I got the opportunity to travel so I disconnected myself from all social media and just appreciate what was in front of me.  This upcoming year marks my 6th year blogging, thank you everybody for your support all these years.  I can't wait to share new recipes inspired from my travels.

I'm a huge fan of Vietnamese drinking food.  Whenever I'm on vacation, I always look for a good restaurant to "nhau".  Nhau refers to getting together to eat and drink.  Getting together to drink is a way of life for Vietnamese men, they often get together several times a week.  They meet each other at a small restaurant that specialize in a specific protein.  Men sit for hours slowly drinking and enjoying delicious food.  You rarely see women at those type of establish but why deprive yourself from good food?

Rainier BBQ in Seattle, Washington is one of my personal favorite.  They have a variety of drinking food and everything I've tried has been pretty good.  One of my favorite dish is a beef salad with rau muong (water spinach).  It reminds me of Bo Tai Chanh another one of my favorite.  It's so refreshing with the finely julienned water spinach stem and dressed in a tangy dressing.  It's so addicting to eat, one serving is never enough!  The best part is how easy you can recreate this dish at home.  If anyone is complaining about eating too much salads this is the one you need to try!  I hope you like my interpretation is flavorful dish, enjoy!

Ingredients:

water spinach stem (julienned)
1 lb beef (thinly sliced)
1/2 onion (finely sliced)
garlic (minced)
shallots (minced)
lime
fresh chili
fresh mint leaves (rough chopped)
vinegar
sugar
fish sauce
cooking oil

1.  Prepare the water spinach.  There is a tool you can use to julienned your water spinach easily.  Or you can use a razor but that require a little experience. http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2007/06/water-spinach-s.html  Let it soak in water so it will curls and then drain completely.
2.  You can use eye round beef if you prefer lean meat but I like some texture and fat so I used rib eye.  Marinade the beef with garlic, shallots, and fish sauce (~2 tablespoon).
3.  Marinade the slice onion with 1/2 tablespoon of sugar and 1/4 tablespoon of vinegar.
4.  For the dressing combine 5 tablespoon of sugar, 4 tablespoon of lime juice, 1/2 tablespoon of sugar, and 5 tablespoon of fish sauce.  The sauce should be sweet, tangy, and salty.  You can add more sugar, vinegar, and fish sauce to your liking.  Make sure you mix the sauce well so the sugar dissolves.
5.  Heat up a frying pan with some oil and cook the beef.  I cook mine about medium rare, the dressing will cook it some more.
6.  Mix the water spinace, sliced onions, and mint leaves together.  Move it to a serving platter.  Pour the meat mixture on top, and then the dressing on top.  I use about half the dressing, and reserve the remainder for later if needed.
7.  Top with chopped chili and more mint leaves if prefer.
8.  Toss lightly before eating, enjoy!

Pho Bo - Beef Noodle Soup

Pho Bo - Beef Noodle Soup

Beef comfort food Noodle Soup Vietnamese

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I wrote an entry for crock pot pho last year and it was quite an experience. Crock pot cooking sure has its benefits but I much prefer cooking on the stove top. Maybe I have OCD in the kitchen but I can not leave something cooking on it's own for that long without tasting it.  It'll probably work if I started measuring everything precisely but I know that's not going to happen!

Living so far from my parents, I've develop a love for pho more than ever before. While living in Vietnam, my dad and I were pho buddies.  I didn't really have a choice, but it was our daddy and daughter time together.  After pho we would walk around and my dad would catch up with his friends and neighbors.  When we moved to the states, there were no pho shop and no friends to visit.  We still had our daddy daughter time though, grocery shopping in 3 feet of snow.  Those early years were tough!

Despite her busy schedule, my mom always made sure there was a pot of pho every Saturday morning.  It was something we all look forward to every weekend.  Now that I no longer live at home, I miss my mom's cooking more and more especially her pho.  It's definitely her best dish!

I have tried cooking pho in many different ways, believe me I've tried all the techniques!  And I don't think one technique is better than another, it's all about what you are comfortable with!  And these are the techniques I love and I hope they will help you on your next phoventure!

1.  Root Vegetables

When you of think of pho, you automatic think of beef and even more beef.  While beef play an important role in making a pot of beef pho, I feel we need to credit the root vegetables.  A lot of western soup are made by using a lot of roots vegetables such as onion, carrot, leek, celery, and etc.  Why?  Root vegetables are so good for broth because they give off a natural sweet flavor that's not going to take away or overwhelm the beef flavor.  I especially love using the onion family for pho such as yellow onions and leeks.  They are must haves whenever I make pho!

2.  Beef Bones

I love love my bone marrow but you have to use a variety of bones and meat.  Bones alone will not produce a great broth, that's why we use beef shank as well.  Look for beef neck bones or any bones with a little bit meat to it.

3.  Spices

One of the worst pho turn off for me is the over use of spices.  I definitely got this from my dad.  He hates pho that has a very strong aroma of spices, he feels it takes away the beef flavor.  There are pre-package pho spices at the Asian market but I tend to stick with only a few.  I usually only use cinnamon, star anise, and cloves.  You want the spices to be subtle to linger but not to overwhelm.

4.  Roasting

While my mom feels roasting the ginger and onions are not needed, I love this step.  It takes these ingredients to a whole another level of sweetness.  You can also roast the spices as well but spices burn a lot faster so be careful.

5.  Clear Broth

Certain soups you can get by without have a clear broth but murky pho is not as inviting.  I take the extra step to get my bones and meats very clean.  You'll want to par-boil your bones and then rinsing them with cool water right after.  I even use a different pot par-boil my bones.  The only thing that goes in my pot of pho are clean bones, fresh water, and clean meat.

Ingredients:

4-5 lbs of bones (the more the better)
2 shank, beef balls, tendons (optional you can just stick with rare slice beef for Pho Tai)
2 yellow onions
2 leeks
2-3 knob of ginger
rock sugar
salt
black pepper
mushroom seasoning
fish sauce
2 cinnamon stick
5-6 star anise
5-6 cloves
aluminum foil
thinly sliced beef (Pho Tai)
pho noodles
green onions/cilantro/sliced yellow onions (garnish)
lime
bean sprouts/basil (optional)

Total cooking time:  5-6 hours

1.  Par-boil beef bones/shank/tendons, thoroughly rinse both with cool water and set aside.
2.  Fill a new 10 qt. pot with water and add clean beef bones/shank only.  Let the bones simmer on low-med heat for about 1-2 hours.  Occasionally check on the broth for scum and remove.  If you are using tendons, use a different pot to boil the tendons on high heat (otherwise it will take to long to get tender).  Add tendons to the pho pot when it's about 80% done.
3.  Roast the ginger/onion in the oven or grill.  Remove the skin and then add to the broth.  Add the leeks to the pot as well.  Add rock sugar about the same size as a knob of ginger. 1/2 cup of salt, 3 tablespoon of mushroom seasoning.  Remove scum when necessary.
4.  You should see fat at the top from the bones/shank, remove as much as you can or if you like the fat you can leave it.  Continue to let pot of pho simmer for another 1-2 hours.  Add additional water if too much has reduced.
5.  Remove shank when it's tender, I don't like my tendon fall apart tender I like it a little firm.
6.  Taste the broth, add additional salt/sugar/fish sauce if needed.
7.  Lightly wrap the spices in aluminum foil and add to the pot for about 20 minutes or so.
8.  Prepare sliced beef, noodles, vegetables, green onion, sliced onion, and lime.
9.  When your pot of pho is done I like to remove all bones in to one bowl for munching.  Discard ginger, onions, leeks, spices.  So you are left with only the broth.  You can also take the extra step of straining your broth.

10.  Prepare a bowl to your liking and enjoy!

Bun Bo Hue Pt. 2

Bun Bo Hue Pt. 2

Beef Noodle Soup spicy Vietnamese

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It's been four years since I posted my recipe for Bun Bo Hue, and I lost count on how many times I have made it again after that day.  Bun Bo Hue is my favorite Vietnamese soup, my guilty pleasure.  I love everything about it; the broth, the meat, the vegetables, and most of all the spiciness!

One day as I was reviewing my blog and looking through old recipes, I came across the one for Bun Bo Hue.  As I was reading through it I realized I don't do some of these steps anymore or I do this step differently now.  I definitely need to update this post!  Instead of re-writing the whole recipe I will just make a new post on it.  Hope these tips will help all the Bun Bo Hue lover out there in the kitchen!  A lot of these tips can be applied to other recipes as well.   Happy cooking!

1.  Beef Bones vs. Pork Bones
Before I only use beef bones when making Bun Bo Hue.  I guess because it is a beef soup we all assume we can only use beef bones.  But to be honest pork bones produce a better broth, and you can definitely get by making a pot without using zero beef bones.  I have been doing this for the last couple years and nobody can tell the different.  People actually think my broth have gotten better over the years.  The downside of pork bones is you'll need to use more of it and it cooks a lot faster than beef bones.  For that reason, if you leave pork bones in the pot for too long it will fall a part and your broth will not be as clear.  You can mix and match pork neck bones and pork hocks to make the broth.  Just remember you'll want to remove it from the broth before they fall apart.

2.  Fermented Shrimp Paste (Mam Ruoc)
Ok this was the most time consuming step for this recipe.  You have to constantly add water to mam ruoc, mix it up and then only use the liquid at the top.  I thought this was the only way to use mam ruoc and produce a clear broth.  So glad I got rid of this step.  Now I just sauteed the mam ruoc together with the minced garlic and lemongrass.

3.  Rare Beef

Who said you can only eat thit tai (rare sliced beef) with only Pho?  Ridiculous!  Thit tai is my favorite meat with pho and my family always have it with Bun Bo Hue as well.  People use to think it was strange that I have it with my Bun Bo Hue.  Oh well I like thit tai and I will have it whenever I want!

4.  Annatto Seeds
Cooking annato seeds in oil produce an orange color to give the broth that unique orange/red color. Annato seeds is a pain to cook up because it pops and the oil splashes on stove top, shirts, counter, skin, and etc.  Sometimes it will stain your counter.  I never really liked this step.  Instead of using annatto seed, I just cook paprika in oil.  I like using paprika from the American groceries store because it produce more of red color than the orange color.  Cook the paprika in oil on low heat will produce a beautiful color for your Bun Bo Hue Broth without splashes.

5.  Chili Powder

For spiciness I relied a lot of fresh chili or dried whole chili. It took a lot to make the broth spicy and I felt like I was wasting a lot of chili.  I suggest search for a really spicy chili powder, I recommend using Thai or Indian chili powder.  Add the chili powder the same time as you are cooking the paprika in oil.

6.  Lemongrass

Before I used pre-minced lemongrass in a container in the frozen section.  It was convenient to use but it definitley lacked a lot of lemongrass flavor and aroma.  Now I take the extra step and minced and grind my lemongrass in a food processor.  I suggest doing a lot at once and then storing it in the freezer for later use.

7.  Salt vs. Fish Sauce
This took me a couple years to realize but salt is better for cooking broth.  It takes a lot of fish sauce to flavor a pot of broth, and with the cost of fish sauce lately that's just a total waste.  When you use too much fish sauce in your broth not only does it alter the color but it will alter the taste of your broth.  Fish sauce is pungent and will mask the natural flavor that the bones and vegetables give off for your soup.  Now I will only taste my broth with salt until the right amount of saltiness is produce, this way you can still taste the natural sweetness from your ingredients.  You only want to add fish sauce once you are done cooking or at the very end if needed.  Remember to add the salt gradually and always taste your broth.  You may not taste the salt right away and your first instinct is to add more salt; do not add additional salt right away.  Once you add salt to the broth give it time to marry with your broth and then re-taste.  You can fix bland food but once you make something salty it's a lot harder to fix.

Ingredients:
pork neck bones/pork hock/beef bones (4-5 lbs would be plenty but the more bones the better the broth)
2 beef shank
sliced rare beef (opitonal)
Vietnamese ham (optional cha lua/cha hue)
lemongrass (8-10 stalks the more the better)
2-3 knob of ginger
2 yellow onion
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon of of fresh Thai chili
1 tablespoon of minced lemongrass
chili powder (there are many different kind some more spicy than others)
paprika
shrimp paste(mam ruoc)
whole pineapple (peeled)
cooking oil
salt
black pepper
mushroom seasoning
rock sugar
fish sauce

1. Par boil the all the bones and then rinse thoroughly with cool water.  If you are using pork hock I would recommend par boiling at least twice and use a little bit of vinegar to get rid of smell.
3. Place clean bones in an 8-10 qt. pot and fill with water.
4. Let pot simmer on low-medium heat.  Remove any scum.
5. Char ginger roots and onion (by broiling).  Remove charred skin and add to pot.
6. Add lemongrass stalk to pot.
7. Now you'll want to season your broth with 1/4 cup of salt, 3 tablespoon of mushroom seasoning, rock sugar the size of a knob of ginger, and 1 tablespoon of black pepper.  Let everything marry for about 1 hours.  
8.  Make sure you are checking on the bones/pork hocks.  Pork bones cook fast and you'll want to remove it before it falls apart.  I don't like my pork hock too tender I actually like it chewy.  It's up to you when you feel it's ready to your liking.
9.  Par boil the beef shank and rinse with cool water.  Add to the pot.  You can add more salt if needed but remember you still have the shrimp paste (mam ruoc).
10.  Add the pineapple.  Squeeze some of the juice out and then put the whole thing in the pot.
11.  Remove the shank when ready.
12. Heat up two tablespoon of vegetable oil on low heat.  Add about 4 tablespoon of paprika and chili powder to your liking.  Constantly stir so it doesn't burn.  Add to the pot.
13.  Heat two tablespoon of vegetable oil on low heat.  Add the minced garlic, minced lemongrass, and shallot.  Cook until fragrance and then add the fresh chili, and 4 tablespoon of shrimp paste.  Cook everything with the oil for a few minutes and then add to the pot.
14.  Do last minute seasoning.  At this point add fish sauce if needed or you can just add fish sauce to your bowl.  Turn heat down to the lowest setting and let it sit until you are ready to eat.
15.  Cook noodles, sliced shank, prepare ham, sliced rare beef, and prepare garnish.
16.  Enjoy!

Bo Kho - Vietnamese Beef Stew

Bo Kho - Vietnamese Beef Stew

Beef Stew Vietnamese

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I had a holiday party around Christmas time and I made a pot of Bo Kho and Ca Ri Ga.   I have to admit I don't make stews very often but I figure it would be a hearty meal and will definitely warm up my guests. That night I had many compliments on my pot of Bo Kho.  My friends requested that I post the recipe to my blog with the exact measurements.  So for this recipe I actually measured what I can out, but sometimes during the cooking process I forget.  But I really want to emphasize the importance of tasting your food.  It will help you improve your cooking skills tremendously.

Bo Kho would probably not make my top 20 of favorite Viet food to eat because it's simply too heavy for me.  I prefer eating pho or bun bo hue over bo kho, but stews are great during the cold Indiana winter.  The day after the party, I brought home some bo kho to my family.  My sister-in-law showed me a great way to lighten a hearty bowl of bo kho and it made it so incredibly delicious.  She squeezed two lime wedges to a bowl of bo kho and top it with lots of cilantro.   The lime and cilantro added depth and tanginess to the broth.  I didn't even care about the star  of the dish, the shank, it was all about that broth.  If you haven't tried lime and cilantro with your bo kho, you have to give it a try!


Ingredients:

2 lbs of beef shank
2 stalk of lemongrass (cut into 4 and then crushed)
1 can of coconut juice
1/2 can of 6 oz tomato paste
6-7 carrots (cut into 1 inch pieces)
vegetable oil
onion powder
garlic powder
mushroom seasoning
chili powder
fish sauce
sugar
minced garlic
minced lemongrass
bay leaf

Marinade for 2 lbs of beef shank:

3 tablespoon of fish sauce
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of chili powder (this depends on the spice level of your chili powder and how spicy you want it to be)
1/2 tablespoon of minced lemongrass
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
2 tablespoon of bo kho seasoning
1/2 teaspoon of salt

1.  Cut up the beef shank into cubes.  Keep in mind beef shank shrink during the cooking process.
2. Marinate the beef shank with the marinade over night if possible or at least 2-3 hours before cooking.
3.  In a large pot, heat up a little bit of vegetable oil and pour the marinated beef shank in the pot.  You want to brown the outside of the meat.
4.  Once the meat has brown evenly, add about 80% of the tomato paste and leave the rest for later use. Coat the meat with the tomato paste.
5.  Add enough coconut juice to cover the meat.  Put a lid on the pot and let this simmer on low heat for about 20-30 minutes.  The coconut will add sweetness to your broth and help tenderize the shank.
6.  Add water about 12 cups of water to help dilute the seasoning.  For a more flavorful broth, replace 8 cups of water with two cans of chicken broth.
7.  Add two bay leaves and lemongrass stalk to the pot, season the pot with additional salt, sugar, mushroom seasoning.  I added 1-2 teaspoon of salt, 3 teaspoon of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of mushroom seasoning.  Remember to taste your food!
8.  In a separate pan, heat a tablespoon of cooking oil.  Add 1 tablespoon of the bo kho gia vi to the oil and let the gia vi cook in the oil.  Be careful not to let it burn.  Once the oil and bo gia vi marry together, add that mixture to the pot.

9.  Let pot simmer on medium heat with lid on for about 40 minutes.  At this point the broth should be at the right consistency, not too water but not too thick.  The meat should be tender enough to eat but still stay in tact.
10.  Add the carrots and turn the heat down low.  If you put the lid, on the carrots will cooked pretty fast.  You don't want to overcook the carrots and become mushy.
11.  Heat up another tablespoon of cooking oil in the pan.  You want to add the remainder of the tomato and more minced lemon grass tot he oil.  You want the minced lemongrass to become fragrance and the tomato paste to color the oil.  You will add this mixture to the pot and achieve the pretty red color and the lemongrass will fragrance the broth some more.
12.  Prepare yourself a bowl of bo kho with French baguettes or rice noodles (hu tieu).
13.  Garnish with chopped cilantro and green onions, squeeze a little bit of lime to your bo kho .
14.  Enjoy!

Goi Du Du Kho Bo - Beef Jerky Papaya Salad

Goi Du Du Kho Bo - Beef Jerky Papaya Salad

Beef Salad Vietnamese

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My family is very fond of this salad, unfortunately we do not have access to good Vietnamese beef jerky in the Midwest.  This recipe calls for a specific kind of beef jerky.  It's red in color and it's wet not dry like what you would think.  My aunt uses the Bach Cuc brand she get from out of state.  I recently visited Seattle and notice the same brand at the Vietnamese market in Seattle.  Even though it's $10 per package, I just had to get a few bag to bring home.  Thai basil is also a must have for this dish, you cannot substitute basil for another herb.  You only have to worry about three ingredients; Thai basil, green papaya, and Vietnamese beef jerky. 

                         

Hand downs, this is the easiest Vietnamese salad to make.  There is literally no cooking involve, except to boil some water to make the sauce.  You just prepare all the raw ingredients, cut the beef jerky into strips, and then prepare the sauce.  The hardest part to this recipe is making the sauce, it's always the sauce!  I've tried quite a few sauces from restaurants and my aunt, and it never quite satisfy my taste buds.  So I've experimented a few time and came up with something I like very much and it was well received by my family.  I hope you will enjoy this easy and refreshing salad, just in time for summer!

Ingredients:

1 green papaya julienned

Thai basil rough chopped

Vietnamese beef jerky

Sauce

1.  Soak the julienned papaya in water.  Papaya tend to very slimy, so you'll want to change the water a couple time.

2. Once the the papaya is clean and ready to eat, you'll want to squeeze all the excess water out of it.  The best way is to use paper towel to help absorb the water.  Place the already squeezed papaya in a clean container.

3.  Remove beef jerky from package and cut the jerky in smaller strips.

4.  Prepare the sauce, recipe below.

5.  Put some already prepared papaya in on a plate, top off with some chopped Thai basil and beef jerky strips.  When you are ready to eat add the sauce to your liking, mix, and enjoy!

How to make the sauce:

1/4 cup of water

1-2 clove of garlic

2 tablespoon of sugar

1.5 tablespoon of soy sauce

3/4 tablespoon of rice vinegar

fresh chili or chili paste

1.  Crush the garlic with a mortar and pestle (or a knife).

2.  You'll want to cook the garlic into the water on low heat for 5-10 minutes.

3.  Discard the garlic and just keep the garlic infused water.  Remove to a bowl.

4.  Add the sugar, soy sauce, and rice vinegar to the water.  Mix everything together.

5.  Add chili to your liking for some heat.