Viet World Kitchen

Taiwanese Spicy Beef Noodle Soup Recipe (Niu Rou Mian)

Tomorrow my husband and I will be celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary. (I was a child bride. Ha! -- NOT.) We were discussing what we should do, where we could go out, what we had eaten on past anniversaries. We didn’t make any concrete plans but I started thinking about the meals we shared when we first started dating in 1989. Yes, we’re an old couple.

One of our favorite places was the Mandarin Deli in Chinatown, Los Angeles. It was a hole in the wall that my sisters introduced me to when they were attending USC down the way. I loved the Mandarin Deli’s giant pot stickers that burned my mouth with their hot juices (they’re mentioned in Asian Dumplings).

An order of dumplings was always paired with hot bowls of beef noodle soup (牛肉麵, niu rou mian). Its inky spicy broth, plump wheat noodles, and chunks of red-cooked beef were perfect with the dumplings. It was good in the cooler months as well as the hotter months. I ate it year round.

Since then, I’ve made various versions of the soup from recipes found in Irene Kuo’s classic, The Key to Chinese Cooking, and Fuschia Dunlop’s enlightening work on Sichuan cuisine, Land of Plenty.  I’ve also ordered plenty of beef noodle soup from Taiwanese joints, such as A&J Restaurant, which has outposts in Southern and Northern California.

Overall, I like the Taiwanese version of niu rou mian (literally beef meat noodles) better than other versions of the Chinese soup. The Taiwanese take usually has more complexity in the broth but I didn't know why until this past weekend.

Chicken and Bamboo Shoot Noodle Soup Recipe (Bun Mang Ga)

The other day, I soaked and cooked a bunch of dried bamboo shoot (mang kho) and squirreled them away for Tet so that I could simmer some with pork hocks. But the chilly winter weather got to me today and I defrosted a batch of the prepped bamboo shoots to make bun mang noodle soup, a Vietnamese favorite; bun refers to round rice noodles (think bun rice noodle salad bowls!) and mang refers to bamboo shoot. I looked in my cookbook library and found Vietnamese recipes that paired bamboo shoot with chicken, duck and pork hocks (called bun mang ga, bun mang vit, bun mang gio heo, respectively).  Chicken is the fastest and easiest to make as it is readily available at any supermarket. It’s also less expensive than duck and lighter than pork.

Vietnamese food is often quite simple yet seemingly complex. That's the beauty of this preparation -- just a few average ingredients coming together for spectacular results. People have asked me what makes bun mang taste good. The answer has less to do with the protein than the quality of the bamboo shoot; for tips on buying and preparing this standard Asian ingredient, read “How to Cook Dried Bamboo Shoot.” The dried bamboo shoot lends its golden hue and naturally sweet-savory flavor to the broth for bun mang. Normally, wood ear mushroom is added for contrasting color and crunch but I love to drop in some reconstituted shiitake mushrooms so that the soup is super laden with umami goodness. 

Banh Hoi with Grilled Beef Recipe (Banh Hoi Thit Bo Nuong)

Delicate in flavor with a slight tang, banh hoi rice noodles are a special event Vietnamese food that’s often enjoyed at parties and celebrations. They’re instantly recognizable as the white noodles are shaped like rectangular mats of thick white cheesecloth. They're very thin, finer than Italian angel hair pasta. It’s best to purchase banh hoi (pronounced “baan hoy”) fresh from a Vietnamese market or Chinese barbecue shop in a Vietnamese community where they’re typically sold on Styrofoam trays and wrapped in plastic wrap. For a general low-down , take a read of Vietnamese Noodles 101: Banh Hoi Fine Rice Noodles.

Banh hoi are not eaten on their own, but rather as an accompaniment to rich, flavorful morsels, such as slices of this easy-to-prepare grilled beef. Vietnamese people love to bundle up food in lettuce and fresh herbs, which is exactly how this dish is enjoyed. Just grab a piece of lettuce, layer in some herbs, a piece of banh hoi rice noodle and slice of beef. Dip your creation in some nuoc cham dipping sauce and enjoy the intermingling of flavors and texture. It’s a lovely one-dish meal for summer’s grilling season!

Vietnamese Noodles 101: Banh Hoi Fine Rice Noodles

 

Bun round rice noodles come in various sizes but banh hoi rice noodles come in only one size – very thin. In fact, these delicate Vietnamese noodles are thinner and finer than Italian angel hair pasta. Banh hoi are instantly recognizable as the tiny rice noodles are cooked and presented as rectangular-shaped mats that resemble a thick later of gauzy white cheesecloth. Banh hoi are difficult to prepare and mostly purchased and used as a fresh noodle. Thus, they are pricey compared to other Vietnamese noodles and typically a Vietnamese special-event food (such as weddings and annual death anniversary celebrations). Everyone always grins extra big smiles when banh hoi are served because you know that you’re in for a treat.

I like to describe banh hoi as fine rice noodles so as to distinguish them from the larger bun rice noodles. The photo above shows one piece of the noodle mats compared to the entire mound of them in the package.

Noodles Every Day: Silver Pin Noodles with Chicken Recipe

A few days ago, I reviewed Corinne Trang’s new book, Noodles Every Day, and discussed how it helped me to resolve a culinary mystery regarding a type of fresh Asian rice noodle called mouse tails. From the comments and discussion that ensued, I realized that the term ‘mouse tail noodle’ is commonly used in Malaysia, as my friend Annie pointed out. The actual Chinese characters, 老鼠粉, lo shu fun in Cantonese, literally translates to old mouse/rat tail! I’m going with the more poetic name of silver pin noodles from here on in as it’s definitely a better sell.

I purchased my silver pin noodles from Lion Foods market in San Jose, California. They were located in the refrigerated section near the other fresh noodles and tofu. The package is below:

 

Beef Pho Noodle Soup Recipe (Pho Bo)

Who doesn't love noodles soup? In the Vietnamese repertoire, beef pho noodle soup is a classic. In fact, it's practically the national dish of Vietnam. Below is my family's recipe for the quintessential Vietnamese food -- pho noodle soup. You may have had bowls of pho in Vietnamese noodle shops, in Vietnam and abroad. but have you made some yourself? Before  leaping into this beef pho noodle soup recipe, check out Pho Secrets and Techniques post for a primer on bones, charring the onion, saving some fat, etc. Also, read about the history and evolution of pho in Vietnam and America. Making pho noodle soup takes time but most of it is passive cooking. And remember, you can freeze pho broth for future bowls of steamy hot pho noodle soup!

If beef isn't your thing, then take a look at the chicken pho noodle soup.

Beef Pho Noodle Soup  Recipe (Pho bo)

Makes 8 satisfying (American-sized) bowls

For the broth:
2 medium yellow onions (about 1 pound total)
4-inch piece ginger (about 4 ounces)
5-6 pounds beef soup bones (marrow and knuckle bones)
5 star anise (40 star points total)
6 whole cloves
3-inch cinnamon stick
1 pound piece of beef chuck, rump, brisket or cross rib roast, cut into 2-by-4-inch pieces (weight after trimming)
1  1/2 tablespoons salt
4 tablespoons fish sauce
1 ounce (1-inch chunk) yellow rock sugar (duong phen; see Note)

Vietnamese Garlic Noodles Recipe

This Vietnamese-American dish of buttery noodles and lots of garlic is thought to be invented by the An family at Thanh Long, their  restaurant in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset district. It is not a dish from the classic repertoire of Vietnamese foods (where would common folks get all the butter and noodles?), yet it has found its way into Vietnamese crossover restaurants. The An family is super secretive about their recipes, particularly the noodles, which are cooked behind closed doors and comes out of a pass-through window to the wait staff. They own the Crustacean restaurants in San Francisco and Beverly Hills, and will be opening one in Palo Alto. All that secrecy has created lots of talk about what goes into those garlic noodles. In fact, the secrecy has garnered the An family and Crustacean restaurant lots of press.

Vietnamese-Americans old enough may recall a laden noodle dish made with western pasta, butter, garlic and Maggi Seasoning Sauce. I grew up on those nui Maggi (Vietnamese bastardization of French nouille) and included a recipe for it in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. But that robust rendition that called for searing the noodles a bit to amplify the meatiness of the Maggi Seasoning Sauce is considered old-fashioned these days as people gravitate toward the modern, richer, super garlicky version popularized by the An family.

Bún Rice Noodle Salad Bowls - A great way to use leftovers

Many people assume that I'm a purist about food and I am, only to the extent that the basic foundation of a dish are present in a dish. Take bún salad bowls, a ubiquitous item on Vietnamese restaurant menus. A meal in a bowl, the south Vietnamese favorite noodle bowl is a terrific way to eat healthfully and creatively.

Summer is grilling time, and the other day with lots of herbs growing in the yard, my husband suggested we make bun for lunch. Without time to marinate and grill pork, fish, etc., I looked to the fridge and found leftover grilled lamb and pork patties, summer squash, pan-roasted potatoes. Not bad, so I went about making the framework for the rice noodle bowl.

First, I made the dressing. It's nothing but the basic Vietnamese nuoc cham dipping sauce made of lime, sugar, fish sauce, water, and chiles. For punch, I used garlic too.