Viet World Kitchen

Spicy Basil Chicken and Tofu Recipe

The Hmong farmers have returned to our weekly farmer’s market with a wealth of Asian produce. Last Saturday, they had gorgeous Thai basil and I swooped down upon a couple of bunches. Basil discolors quickly, its shelf life under refrigeration is just a few days. I wasn’t about to let it go to waste and thought of Thai chicken and basil, a simple stir-fry.

The thing is, I didn’t want to make the dish with all chicken so I worked in some tofu. I substituted 10 ounces (300 grams) of extra-firm tofu for 8 ounces (240 grams) of the chicken in the original recipe, which called for a pound. That’s one of several strategy for using tofu for low-meat dishes.

The keys to this dish include (1) washing and drying the basil leaves (keep them whole) and (2) seasoning and panfrying the tofu.

To seal in the moisture in the chicken, I lightly coat it with cornstarch and soy sauce; it’s typically added to the wok as is, only to be embellished by flavors during the cooking process. Dark soy sauce adds color but the black soy sauce is semi sweet. With so little used, I suppose you could use kecap manis, if you want. 

 You can make this dish with mint or Italian basil but for the real deal, Thai basil’s warm spice note is magnificent. If flowers are present on the sprigs, use them!

Hot and Sour Napa Cabbage Pickle

Do you ever make something with the best intention and then shove it to the back of the fridge only to forget about it? That’s what happened to me and a jar of Chinese hot and sour napa cabbage. I’d made it around Chinese New Year and at the last minute, decided to not serve it because it didn’t go with the Vietnamese pickles that I’d prepared.  I put it away, only to rediscover it months later this afternoon. It tasted fine and I ended up snacking on about a quarter of the jar before dinner. It’s suppose to be a palate arouser.

This is an unusual pickle for a couple of reasons. It’s tangy and spicy from the seasonings and the cabbage is salted and squeezed to eliminate excess moisture. Those are pretty standard approaches but there’s a stir-frying process involved which adds a touch of oil. The result is fatty tasting and luscious.

We don’t tend to think of pickles as being rich but the Chinese figured out a way to imbue that quality into humble napa cabbage. I was totally impressed after I initially made the pickled cabbage, but even more so months later when I found in the back of the fridge. Despite the chiles and ginger, this is no kimchi as there’s no fermentation. Just a friendly pickle.

Spring Asparagus and Shrimp Stir-Fry

Many people assume that Vietnamese food is highly influenced by French traditions. While that is true to a certain extent, the Chinese also influenced Viet foodways big time. Vietnam was a colony of China for nearly 1,000 years! Plus, there are legions of Vietnamese-Chinese people who’ve helped to shape Vietnamese food for generations. (Interactions via trade routes and with Vietnam’s neighbors factor into the mix too.)

My friends, Sophie and Eric Banh (below), the brother-and-sister team behind Monsoon and Ba Bar restaurants in Seattle could be the poster children for how Vietnamese food has blended with Chinese traditions. The Banhs grew up in Cho Lon in Saigon and speak Vietnamese and Chinese (as well as English!). They immigrated to Canada and found their way to relatively warmer climes in Washington State. Their flagship restaurants, Monsoon Capitol Hill and Monsoon East, help to define modern Vietnamese food in the Pacific Northwest.

Burmese Pork Belly, Pickled Mustard Greens and Tofu Recipe

Something magical happens when you combine thinly sliced pieces of pork belly with an assertive pickled vegetable and tofu. I didn’t realize that kind of synergy till I made Korean tofu stir-fried with kimchi and pork belly (dubu kimchi). It’s a drinking classic, I was told by my friend Linda Lim, a Korea- born  woman whose petite size belies her enormous ability to eat and drink.

I made dubu kimchi repeatedly to get the recipe down for the tofu book, and in the process learned to understand how the three ingredients worked. The pork belly lent its wonderful richness to soften the blow of the harsh kimchi, which had to be the stinky, mature kind for the dish to shine. The tofu played an intermediary role to soak up the meat’s richness and the umami funk of the pickled cabbage.

That said, I couldn’t resist making this stir-fry from Naomi Duguid’s sensational Burma: Rivers of Flavor, released just this fall. With her former husband, she wrote landmark works such as Beyond the Great Wall, and Hot, Sour, Salty Sweet. This is her solo performance and it’s compelling, well sized for cooking and reading. Unlike her previous large scale productions, Burma is a book meant for using in the kitchen or holding on the sofa, not displaying on the coffee table.

Naomi has been traveling to Burma for decades, observing, tasting, and noting a great deal of detail about the country, which stands at a true culinary crossroads of South Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia. All this means that if you’re adept at cooking foods from Asia and venturing to Asian markets, you’ll find Burma to be a splendid book to cook from. If you’re not adept at those cuisines, then Naomi gives you a pass and says it’s okay to just be an armchair cook and eater. In any event, you’ll relish the heartfelt writing and immense research in Burma.

Chicken, Tofu and Shiitake Lettuce Cups Recipe

After making the Chinese chicken salad, I had some iceberg lettuce left. My husband wanted to serve it as a classic American wedge salad with blue cheese dressing. I told him that I wanted to serve it as lettuce cups for a stir-fried mixture of chicken and tofu. I won when I reminded him that the Chinese lettuce cups went well with drinks. Plus, we had a date with friends for a homemade happy hour last Friday and I needed a tasty food contribution.

Lettuce cups are a popular appetizer on Chinese menus and those that are Asian inspired. They can be fanciful and made with minced squab, aged ham and Chinese sausage. I like something more casual and less rich, though still tasty.

The rendition that I made last Friday combines hand-chopped boneless chicken thigh and super-firm tofu. I'll admit this: the idea for these lettuce cups came from the Yard House – a very mainstream restaurant chain built on lots of beers on tap and snack foods. When I went to the one in San Jose, I was pleasantly surprised to see tofu on the menu, as well as a selection of vegetarian food. After visiting a few times, the chicken and tofu lettuce cups were arguably the best thing on their menu.