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How do you make Vietnamese Pho? | National Dish of Vietnam

Wayne @NationalDish — Wed, 05 Sep 2018 13:00:37 +0000

Serve Vietnamese Pho will all the different elements ‘on the side’ and then build your bowl

There seems to be Vietnamese restaurants popping up all over the place – and for good reason, the food is the nuts. How do you make Vietnamese Pho (pronounced fur)?

This is one National Dish we don’t mind posting, we did this as part of a banquet, my good chum @fp_in_the_kitchen and I. I’ll focus on the Pho here though and post the other dishes separately.

Get ready for some good food from ‘The Nam‘, Cheltenham…that’s fucking terrible…

How do you make Vietnamese Pho? | National Dish of Vietnam

This is a single recipe that was part of an entire banquet - for 4-6. We’re focusing on Vietnamese Beef Phở Gỏi cuốn. The cooking times won't require you to be working non-stop - this is all about the prep. You need to prep ahead - OK?

CourseDips and bits, Main Dish, Starter
CuisineVietnamese

Servings4-6 People

Prep Time30 Mins

Cook Time10 Hours

Ingredients

1bone of beefget this from your butcher
2good size sirloin steak
1large bunch fresh corianderfinely chop the stalks and set aside (you'll need the leaves too)
2whole limecut into quarters
1litre beef stock
1cup bean sprouts
1large thumb fresh gingerpeeled and sliced finely
3medium white onionfinely chopped
5cloves garlicfinely sliced
4large fresh red chillisliced, don't both to de-seed (unless you really want to)
6tbls dark soy sauce
2tbls fish sauce
350grams noodlesyour choice, but flat rice noodles is the norm
2tsp Chinese five spice
8chopped spring onionstry and slice them at an extreme angle, they look cool
1bowl full mange toutuse any bean you like, sugar snaps would also be amaze
1handful Chinese greens

Instructions

Right, now the prep for this easy as hell, but after that there is a 10 hour wait - and it's worth it. If you want to make a real Vietnamese Pho, packed with flavour, you gotta do it this way. Nothing wrong with leaving it over night by the way, the longer the better.
You're gonna need some beef bones, any decent butcher should be able to sort you out with these. My guy did good. Get the oven going, place the bone(s) into a roasting tray (only needs to be big enough to take it), chop up an onion or two and some lemongrass, oil it and pop in the oven for about 20 mins at 200.
Whilst the beef bone is building up some colour, add some oil to a stock pot or saucepan on a medium high heat and then add the remaining white onion, garlic (hold a little back), two thirds of the chilli, ginger, coriander stalks and Chinese five spice - give a stir and let the onions soften before.
Whip the beef bone out of the oven, it should be gnarly and brown, drop it (along with the onion and lemon grass) into the stock pot and then add enough beef stock to cover the bone. Add the fish sauce. Bring to the boil, turn it down to super super low simmer, lid on and leave it. For AT LEAST 10 HOURS.
Whilst that's going on, use this time to marinate your sirloin steaks. In a dish that you can cover, add soy sauce, garlic and lime juice and drench the steaks in it - cover with cling film and refrigerate.
Now you should have a deep broth which you'll add a load of goodies that we'll prep now. Everything will be separate, you and your guests will build their own. You'll need some Ramen or noodles bowls. Strain your stock and add it back to the pan. if you want it nice and clear, do it twice through clean muslin. Now keep it hot (do not boil).
Ok, so we're gonna have some sirloin steak, some noodles, some mange tout, bean sprouts, spring onions, coriander leaves - you can totally go off piste here, char-grilled baby pak choy would be the nuts.
To avoid running your ass off in the final moment, firstly prep the stuff that can be served cold, lay the table, put something down to take the hot stock pot - get everything ready, so as you cook and heat things up, you can just serve and sit with your guests and enjoy it. Just think it through for a mo - it's not hard - make life easy.
The main event is the steak, for that you need a very hot pan (I prefer flat bottom not griddle - bring more of the meat into contact with the heat, resulting in more gnarlyness). Get some boiling water on for the mange tout, place a sieve over that and put the greens in, cover that with a lid. Only a few mins.
Prep the noodles to time too. We're gonna cook this steak rare - hot pan, pop em in, season with some salt and LEAVE THEM THE HELL ALONE for a few mins. When you can't bear it any longer, lift and look for decent amount of charring and flip em. This will be for a 2 mins tops probably.
On a piece of wood, whip the steaks out and slice them. Take to the table.
Everything is done - build your bowl with noodles first, then stock (provide a ladle) and add what you want, finishing with a few strips of steak and sprinkle with sprint onions.

The post How do you make Vietnamese Pho? | National Dish of Vietnam appeared first on National Dish.

Indian dry spiced crispy duck breast with char-grilled peach, crusted paneer and hot green salad of spinach, peas, asparagus and beans | National Dish India

Wayne @NationalDish — Tue, 12 Sep 2017 15:45:32 +0000

This is a real head turner, impress your guests with the colour and then the flavour before you remind them it’s super healthy and low carb

There aren’t lots of recipes around for Indian crispy duck.

Most of you will know that Indian cuisine isn’t all wet curries, quite the opposite. The country is huge and the cuisine incredibly regional. I am partial to a Dhansak, and when I was in Mumbai I mentioned this, which was greeted with ‘oh, they eat that up near Delhi’. How cool is that, made me love it even more.

Britain has a wonderful love affair with Indian cuisine, with many British favourites actually coming from this very island. This Indian influences dry spiced crispy duck breast and it’s friends, I guess you can say, follows that same tradition.

This is a very healthy Indian dish, Paleo friendly and extraordinarily pretty.

I had some ingredients lying around and went for it – and it went, well.

Indian dry spiced crispy duck breast with char-grilled peach, crusted paneer and hot green salad of spinach, peas and beans

There are a few things going on here, nothing that should bust your ass too much, but have a quick read through so you can get your timings right. The duck will sit in a pan for 10 mins, under a grill for 5 and rest for 5 - so really, apart from prepping and slicing it, there isn't much to do, so you can crack on with other things. The better prep, the quicker everything will be. Put the kettle on, grab a large frying pan (first for the duck quick wipe down and then to warm the salad as the end), a saucepan to do some blanching and a smaller frying pan for the paneer. Also grab a large mixing bowl and a smaller one - for coating the duck and paneer. If you want the griddle effect on the peaches, which also adds flavour, get a heavy griddle pan on a high heat now - needs to be smoking - we don't want to cook the peach, we want to char it very very fast and that means hot hot hot.

CourseMain Dish, Salad
CuisineIndian
KeywordIndian Food, Salad

Servings2 people

Prep Time25 minutes

Cook Time25 minutes

Ingredients

The quack quack

2breasts of duckskin on
1tsp cumin powder
1tsp chilli powder
1tsp coriander powder
1tsp turmeric powder
2tsp sea salt flakes
2tbls vegetable oilyou want this mixture slightly wet

The paneer

120grams paneerIndian cheese cut in to rectangular bite sized chunks - all the same size and shape
1tsp cumin powder
1tsp cayenne pepper
1tsp garam masala
1tsp sea salt flakes
1tsp vegetable oilyou want to coat the paneer in this and to cover it in the dry mix.

The warm green salad

1handful broad beansyou need to blanch them and peel (don't just take them out of the pods)
5stems asparagusslice them to about an inch and a half, do it on an angle too
1fistful green beansyou'll slice these too, same size as the asparagus
1large handful spinach leavesthis is the 'bed' and goes so well with paneer - like lovers
1handful peasfrozen ones are ace
2green spring onionssliced at an angle for garnish, the white and lots of the green
1red spring onionsslice thinly, at an angle looks nice
2whole peachesI used doughnut peaches, slice then about 1cm, not too thin

Instructions

Let's do the spice mixes first, at the same time. Two bowls, the large one is for the duck. Add the spice list to each bowl respectively and the oil only to the large one, give em both a mix.
Add the boiling water from the kettle to your saucepan on a high heat and blanch the broad beans, green beans, peas and asparagus - 2-3 minutes tops at a rolling boil.
Place your duck in to the large bowl and cover it in the mixture and let it sit there for a few minutes at room temp whilst you sort the paneer. Put your large frying pan on a medium heat. Drain your greens and let them steam.
Get your perfectly sized paneer chunks and coat them in a little vegetable oil and then add it to the spice mixture. Toss them around until they are perfectly coated all over and dry to look at. Set aside.
Place the duck breasts in to the pan skin side down and leave it for 10 minutes. Check it from time to time just in case you have the heat too high - don't let it burn, but it will pick up a very dark colour - that doesn't mean that it's burnt.
Cover the peach slices in oil and a tiny sprinkle of salt and put them neatly on to the griddle pan. Let em go, turn them once, let them go and then turn them back after rotating 90 degrees - then you get a lattice. If you're worried about that, just make them go a lovely colour without burning them all over. Put them aside, they're done. Check the duck and put the grill on.
Get two plates ready and cover them in spinach leaves. Peel your broad beans - if you decide not to, look at yourself in the mirror with disgust. Slice the beans and asparagus.
Duck is probably ready, turn it skin side up and whack it under the grill for 5 minutes - don't burn it - just go easy - medium high heat.
Give the duck pan a wipe, you don't want charred remains on your greens and add all of them to the pan, tiny drizzle of oil in first. All we are doing is warming them all through - that's the green beans, peas, PEELED broad beans and asparagus - sprinkle the pan, from a height with some sea salt flakes, little toss and all that.
In the smaller pan, add a bit of oil to medium high heat and fry the paneer on each side, you're looking for colour only, which will heat it through - keep turning it.
Plate up time - firstly, slice the duck. Then place the greens on to the spinach leaves, place the duck on top, put the paneer and peach around it and then sprinkle the spring onions over the top.
That's it - nothing should be over cooked, the greens will be super green and your duck should be perfectly pink.
Thank you India

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Chinese Chicken Fried Cauliflower Rice | 鸡炒饭 | What is the national dish of China?

Wayne @NationalDish — Mon, 24 Apr 2017 13:29:13 +0000

Chicken Fried Rice, try it with cauliflower instead of all at that carb

When you think of fried rice you think of China. There are dump loads of variations and that’s before you even get to ‘special fried rice’ on the take away menu. This uses cauliflower rice instead of the complex starchy carb, rocket fuel, real rice version, much healthier for our rich western diets – and just as nice, no, nicer.

Firstly, you’ll need to sort the cauliflower rice, here’s the recipe, do the 3 minute version – see you back here soon.

鸡炒饭 | Chinese Chicken Fried Cauliflower Rice

Just to really overload you with fresh healthy veggies, I even lobbed in some broccoli - your mother will lose her shit when she learns about how healthy you've been eating, she spent years trying to force this down your throat, finally, she's getting somewhere and it even tastes good.

CourseMain Dish, Side Dish
CuisineChinese

Servings2 people

Prep Time15 minutes

Cook Time25 minutes

Ingredients

1medium cauliflower
2 spring onionschunky slices at an angle
1bunch fresh corianderfinely chop the stalks and keep separate to the leaves
1sliced fresh red chilli
1medium broccolicut into florets
1tbls sesame oil
1/2 red pepperchopped into 2cm chunks (use your favourite colour)
1/2 green pepperchopped into 2cm chunks
60ml dark soy sauce
2beaten eggs
1 white onionchopped
300g chicken thigh filletscut into bite sized chunks
1small handful celery3mm slices
1small handful carrotchopped

Instructions

Firstly, you should have sorted out the cauliflower rice to the three minute recipe, you'll finish it off here.
In a pan, preferably a wok, heat the oil over a medium high heat and fry off the white onion, celery and carrot for a couple of minutes. the add the chicken,
Mix and cook for a few minutes, adding colour to everything.
Add all the peppers and coriander stalks and mix in, By now you should have loads of colour - cook that off for a couple of minutes.
Add the broccoli and mix that in and then leave to simmer, stirring from time to time for 10 minutes, don't let it catch. If it dries out, add a little water just to keep it loose.
Add all the cauliflower rice and mix,
Next. move everything to the side, hold the pan up slightly and pour in the beaten egg.
Scramble the egg over the heat before you mix through.
Give it a taste and season very carefully with salt, don't forget you've use soy, so this is just to balance it up if you think you need it, but very likely, not.
On a serving plate, build a pile and garnish with the coriander leaves and spring onions.
Thank you China

谢谢

The post Chinese Chicken Fried Cauliflower Rice | 鸡炒饭 | What is the national dish of China? appeared first on National Dish.

Filipino Garlic Fried Rice | How do you make Sinangag? | What is the national dish of the Philippines?

Wayne @NationalDish — Thu, 13 Apr 2017 22:36:59 +0000

Sinangag, a very popular side dish in The Philippines, garlic fried rice, this one is with cauliflower
Photograph: Wayne Morgan – nationaldish.co.uk © 2017

Sinangag is a very common side dish which interestingly is served always with dry meats, rather than a curry style sauce. So, how do you make Sinangag? This recipe is the cauliflower rice version and do you know what, you can eat this as a main no problem, and the eggs served this way make it great fun.

Sinangag | Filipino Garlic Fried Rice

You'll need some Cauliflower Rice, go to that recipe and cook the 3 minute option, you'll finish it off here. This is how do you make Sinangag?

CourseMain Dish, Side Dish
CuisineFilipino

Servings2 people

Prep Time10 minutes

Cook Time10 minutes

Ingredients

1/2head cauliflowerroughed grated or shredded in a food processor
1medium fresh tomatoesde-seeded and roughly chopped (chunked)
1 fresh red chillisliced for garnish
2 eggs
1bunch fresh corianderfinely chop the stalks and save a handful of leaves for garnish
5cloves garliccrushed
1 spring onionsin to half cm slices
1pinch ground black pepper
1/2 red pepperchopped in to chunks, same size as the tomato
4tbls vegetable oil
4tbls dark soy sauce

Instructions

Get a wok and a frying pan on a medium heat with half the oil each in them.
In the wok, when hot gently, without burning, fry off the garlic, red pepper and coriander stalks for a minute. In that minute crack both eggs in to the frying pan, need to fry gently and slowly so as not to burn the white but cook through, keep em runny though.
In the wok add the tomato and fry for another few minutes then whack up the heat a add the cauliflower rice and spring onions, toss and stir and then add the soy sauce and ground black pepper. Remove the eggs and set aside.
When everything is hot, about 3 minutes, serve up on a platter, place the eggs on top and garnish with the coriander leaves and sliced chilli.
Thank you The Philippines

Salamat

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Nepalese Dal Bhat with Cauliflower Rice | दालभात | What is the National Dish of Nepal?

Wayne @NationalDish — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 16:29:10 +0000

The national dish of Nepal is Dal Bhat – a lentil curry with rice, this is a low carb version with cauliflower rice.
Photograph: Wayne Morgan – nationaldish.co.uk © 2017

Cooking Himalayan food is nowhere near as difficult as climbing Mount Everest but the result is equally enjoyable…ok, safer.

Dal Bhat (Lentil Rice) could be argued as a side dish here in the UK rather than a main and the meat eaters among you will probably want something else other than lentils and rice. To help you why not add in a Nepalese Lamb Pakku (in Nepal they would use mutton/goat) which you can prepare at the same time and uses some of the base spices from this dish – although on a much grander scale, seriously, it’s mental.

You’ll appreciate that rice forms part of the staple diet for much of the world, especially those areas that are heavily impoverished. Our western bodies aren’t geared up for such an energy rich diet, so for those of you wishing to manage that, I’ve replaced the rice with cauliflower rice – which quite frankly, adds to this dish. Don’t forget, the lentils carry a fair old whack of carb energy themselves, so this avoids doubling up.

But, if you must use rice, use white basmati rice – why not give this one a whirl first eh?

दालभात | Nepalese Lentil Curry with Cauliflower Rice

If you cook the Lamb Pukka with this, then head over there and start that first, it's best to get that going whilst you prep this as it only takes about half the time.

CourseMain Dish, Side Dish
CuisineNepalese

Servings4 People

Prep Time10 Minutes

Cook Time35 Minutes

Ingredients

Main stuff

1cup lentilsyou can use any kind, I went for red split lentils
1diced white onion
2sliced spring onionsslice them at an angle
1400g tin chopped tomatoesItalian is best, everyone know's that right?
300ml vegetable stockmake 500 ml and then you have some more if you need to top up
1tablespoon olive oilEnglish rape oil or ghee would be better

Spices and stuff

3cloves garlicchopped or crushed
2tsps chilli powder
1fresh fresh red chillisliced at an angle
2tsps turmeric powder
1tsp cumin powder
1decent bunch fresh corianderyou'll use the stalks and the leaves
1fresh limeif you do the Lamb Pakku then you can share the lime across both dishes

Instructions

Heat the oil or ghee in a pan over a medium high heat. Finely chop the coriander stalks and add them to the pan with the onion and garlic and cook until soft. Add a little salt, just to stop them from browning.
If you are cooking rice, start it now - follow the instructions on the packet - ugh! If you are doing the cauliflower rice, the instructions are below - just have a quick look, really straight forward.
Then add all the lentils and stir them round for a couple of minutes before adding the stock (you can use just water if you like but the vegetable stock will left it a little more) - let it simmer on a low to medium heat for 10-15 mins - don't let it dry out - low and slow.
Whilst this is cooking down, slice your red chilli and spring onions, looks nicer at an angle, chop all your coriander leaves and cut the lime in to 4 wedges - set aside.
You should now have a slightly gooey mixture that may have lost a bit of colour, that's about to change. Bang in all the spices, give it a good mix and add the whole tin of tomatoes, mix again and leave to simmer for another 10 mins, again if it needs more stock/water, add it.
Grab a handful of coriander leaves and throw them in (keep a generous pinch back to garnish), stir and it's almost ready to serve. Hopefully you have been tasting throughout, now's the time to season, carefully.
The rice should be ready, create a little pile in the middle of a plate or bowl, spoon the Dal over the top, garnish with a little pinch of coriander leaves, the sliced chilli's, spring onions and wedge of lime.
If you also cooked the Lamb Pukka, serve on the side, that's right, the meat is the side.
So not only do Nepali people have a brilliant mountain, they also have deeply spiced and comforting food.
Thank you Nepal

धन्यवाद

Recipe Notes

For the cauliflower rice

Remove the outer leaves and stalk so that you are left with the whole head. A medium sized cauliflower will feed about 4 people. Cut it in half and you can either use a food processor to bung it through and chop - go for a rough blade or get the course side of a cheese grater and run it up and down that. You want it slightly chunky, rather than like Cous Cous.

Put it in to a microwavable bowl - that's right, don't panic, used intelligently the microwaving can do clever things. Cover with cling film, don't add any water pierce it a couple of time and then microwave on full for 6 minutes for an 850w.

Best thing to do is microwave for 3 mins and then when you think you are 3 minutes from the end of the main dish, finish it off.

What you'll be left with is an al dente rice substitute that is actually better than rice. Your kitchen may smell a little like farts, but that's fine, it tastes nothing like it.

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Japanese Ramen Noodles with Roast Lamb | ラーメン | What is the national dish of Japan?

Wayne @NationalDish — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 15:49:45 +0000

Is this the national dish of Japan, probably not – and whilst sushi is not simply rice and seafood, far from it, Ramen makes for a great cooking experience? Plenty of ingredients and rather simple to make.

I’ve replaced the wheat noodles with a low carb substitute…and so should you.

ラーメン | Japanese Ramen with roast lamb and courgette noodles (zoodles)

Ramen is one of those things that when asked, 'what do you wanna eat'? and someone says 'let's go out for Ramen' - it leads to an instant 'good shout' and probably a cuddle or better... This version uses left over roast lamb and for good reason.

CourseMain Dish
CuisineJapanese

Servings2 people

Prep Time15 minutes

Cook Time30 minutes

Ingredients

Main stuff

400g lambideally yesterdays roast and cut in to decent sized strips - I used leg
500ml lamb stockbest do this first so you have it to hand (remember to use gluten free)
2 spring onionsslice them up at an angle around 1cm
2boiled eggstry to boil them so that the yolk runs ever so slighty
2tbsp sesame oil
3heads pak choiremove the root stalk, cut the leaves off whole and slice longways. Take the main stalk layers apart.
1handfull closed cup mushroomssliced
1small white onionchopped

Spices and stuff

1thumb fresh gingersliced in to matchsticks
3cloves garlicfinely sliced
2tbsp dark soy sauce
1pinch Chinese five spice
1bnuch fresh corianderfinely chop the stalks, you'll need them and roughly chop the leaves
1tsp chilli powder
1splash rice wine vinegar

Noodles or Zoodles

2 green courgettes (zucchini)spiralized in to noodles or, if you must
250g noodlesthese should be ramen noodles made from wheat (gluten warning if you use these)
1medium carrotspiralize these or chop in to very thin strips. they won't be cooking for long
1 finger chillithinly sliced, I used two, best to apply your preference (normal chilli's are fine too)

Instructions

If you are using zoodles, have them spiralized and to hand, do the carrots too - keep separate and you will not be cooking them. If you simply can't do without the carb and have opted for ramen noodles, follow the cooking instructions and slightly under cook, strain and leave to the side - as they steam they'll finish cooking.
A quick note about the lamb, it's better to use pre-roasted as you're not going to cook it for very long. Let's assume you've roasted it properly and not hammered it, you should have nice pink strips. Now, I wouldn't blame you for not being overly happy with that blood, but, if you are lucky enough to have it, spoon it in just after you add the stock...oh yeah.
Pop the sesame oil in to a pan on a medium heat. Keep an eye on the heat, you don't want to add lots of colour to things, it will tarnish the broth.
Add the sliced garlic, ginger, coriander stalks, onion and soy to the pan and cook gently for a couple of minutes, then add the chilli powder, five spice and a small splash of the rice vinegar, stir and then add all of the stock.
Bring it to the boil and turn down to a simmer - now's the time to check and season to taste - you can use some salt if you like, but soy would be better - and be careful, don't over season.
Put your eggs on to boil, from cold. When they reach a rolling bubble, in this order - add the lamb, carrot, mushrooms, pak choi stems, spring onions and then the leaves to the stock pot (not the egg water - shakes head and rolls eyes). Let your eggs boil for about 6 and no more than 7 minutes, to get hard whites and the yolk just on the almost runny side.
Whilst your eggs are on the go, get two decent sized bowls and put a pile of the zoodles (or carb heavy noodles) in the middle. You're about to cover them in the hot broth, that will be more than enough to heat them through. Cooking zoodles will just turn them to mush.
Whip your eggs out, pop them in to cold water and peel as soon as possible, and put aside.
Then, using some tongs, grab equal amounts of all the gubbins and layer in to the bowls with the zoodles. Then, with a ladle, cover with plenty of the broth. Throw the coriander leaves on top, slice your eggs in half and place them on too.
Thank you Japan

ありがとうございました

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