Vietnamese New Year (Tết) is one of the biggest celebrations in Vietnamese culture, family members come from near and far to spend the holiday together.
Here are four of the easier dishes to celebrate: chicken & cabbage salad, vegetarian egg rolls, braised pork, and rice porridge.
Chicken & Cabbage Salad (Gỏi Gà):
Serves: 8
Est. Time: 2 hr 10 min (30 min prep, 1 hr 40 min cooking)
Ingredients:
whole chicken
11 cups water
2 white onions, peeled
2 golf-ball size ginger pieces, smashed
1 head green cabbage
1 small white onion, thinly sliced
1 packed cup mint leaves
½ packed cup Thai basil
Fried garlic and garlic oil (optional)
Dressing:
¼ cup fish sauce
¼ cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp white sugar
½ cup water
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 red bird’s-eye chili, finely chopped
2 tbsp lime juice
Steps:
In a large stock pot, add chicken, water, onions and ginger. Bring the pot to a boil and lower the heat to low. Cover the pot with a lid and cook for 45 minutes. Skim the top to remove excess fat, but leave a little fat at the top for flavor. To test if the chicken is done, pierce it with a chopstick. If the liquid runs clear and not pink, the chicken is done. Save the liquid if you want to make porridge (see recipe below)!
Meanwhile, to make dressing, place fish sauce, vinegar, sugar, and water in a pan over medium heat and stir to combine. Bring mixture to just below boiling point, then set aside to cool. Add garlic, chilli and lime juice, and stir to combine.
Remove meat from chicken and discard skin and bones. Shred chicken into a large bowl. Add cabbage, onion, herbs, 2 tsp fried garlic and 1 tbsp garlic oil, and toss gently to combine. Add some dressing and toss, reserving some to drizzle on before serving.
Vegetarian Egg Rolls (Chả giò):
Serves: 24 (based on 1 egg roll per person)
Est. Time: 1 hour (30 min draining tofu, 25 min prep, 2-5 min frying)
Ingredients:
1 package Chinese egg roll wrappers or Vietnamese rice paper sheets
1 bundle bean thread vermicelli noodles, soaked and drained
1/3 cup dried shitake mushrooms, soaked and drained
1 16-oz block tofu, pressed (extra-firm)
1 small onion, grated
1 small taro or yam about 1 cup, grated
1 small carrot, about 1 cup, grated
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
Oil for frying
Five spice powder (optional)
½ tsp soy sauce (optional)
1 egg (optional)
Steps:
Place several napkins in a shallow bowl and put the tofu on top. Add more napkins on top of the tofu, a plate or chopping board on top of that, and let the tofu drain for about half an hour.
In a bowl, add the tofu, drained mushrooms, bean thread noodles. Cut the noodles into about 3-inch sections for ease. Grate and add carrot, yam, and onion. Add 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp ground black pepper. Add an egg to help bind everything together.
Make sure to drain excess liquid, filling should be as “dry” as possible
Separate the egg roll wrappers, dip one corner into bowl of water. Lay wrapper flat with diamond shape facing you.
Place the wrapper flat on a surface and add about 2 tbsp of filling about a third of the way on one corner.
Roll once to keep filling tight, then fold in the sides and keep rolling, making sure the edges are straight.
Fry on medium-high heat until golden.
Braised Pork (Thịt kho trứng):
Serves: 8
Est. Time: 2 hrs (5 min prep, 30 min marinating, 1 ½ hrs cooking)
Ingredients:
1 lb pork shoulder (cut into 1-2 inch chunks; traditionally skin on & with a little fat)
6 eggs
7 cups coconut water
5 tsp sugar
shallot
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground pepper
4 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp mushroom seasoning (optional)
Steps:
Boil the eggs for 7 ½ min.
In a bowl, combine pork with salt, ground pepper, fish sauce, mushroom seasoning, minced garlic, and 3 tsp of the sugar. Cover and let marinate for at least 30 minutes.
Add remaining 2 tsp sugar into a large pot on medium heat. Cook until golden brown.
Add marinated pork to the caramel sauce. Stir fry for 3 minutes.
Pour in coconut water and add boiled eggs. Cover and simmer for 1 ½ hours on medium low heat. Skim off the foam occasionally.
Remove the lid and increase the heat to high. Cook for 10 more minutes.
Rice Porridge:
Est. Time: 20 min
Ingredients:
Stock from poached chickens
1 cup jasmine rice
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp chicken bouillon
Sugar (to taste, for balance)
Fresh ground black pepper
Steps:
To the chicken stock, add rice. Cook for 15 minutes. Then turn off heat. The residual heat will continue cooking the rice and thicken up the pot. Stir the bottom of the pot to prevent the rice from burning.
Season the pot with salt, chicken bouillon powder, and sugar.
When ready to serve, ladle the soup in a small bowl and sprinkle with a dash of black pepper and top with Vietnamese coriander.
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