tinytearoom

Bo Bia – Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Chinese Sausage, Jicama and Egg

February 9th

Written by: tinytearoom

Bo Bia is a lesser know variant of the famous Goi Cuon (Vietnamese Summer Roll). It is a similar concept but with different filling. I had never heard of this roll until I mistakenly bought some while I was backpacking through Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). I thought I was ordering Goi Cuon from the street vendor but luckily got a bag of this. In my severely broken Vietnamese I asked the vendor for the ingredients. However, there was one ingredient that I did not understand. It wasn’t until my arrival home and some rifling through cookbooks that I realised it was jicama (yam bean). This peculiar vegetable is best described as a cross between apple, radish and water chestnut. It can be eaten raw and is prized for its crisp, clean taste. It also remains crisp if cooked. Jicama can be used in spring rolls and salads and frequently appears in vegetarian meals. Bo Bia – Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Chinese Sausage, Jicama and Egg ½ cup small dried shrimp 2 chinese sausages (lap cheong) 200g jicama (yam bean), sliced into matchsticks 2 free-range eggs 1 garlic clove, minced a bunch of thai basil a bunch of vietnamese mint oak lettuce 15cm (6″) round rice paper wrappers 1 cup hoisin sauce ½ cup coconut milk Place the dried

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Canh Chua Tôm – Vietnamese Sour Soup with Prawn

January 22nd

Written by: tinytearoom

Herbs are a tricky ingredient. They can make or break a dish. Too little and the dish is bland and boring. Too much and it’s like your eating the entire contents of your granny’s medicine cabinet. It is with this reason that I absolutely refuse to buy my herbs from supermarkets. They are more than likely incubated in hothouses and can be fed with a host of unsavoury pesticides. They are often bland and twice the size that they should be. I want my herbs to be burgeoning in the full blaze of the sun and their roots soaked with rainwater. Therefore I know that the flavour that graces my dishes are what they intended to be… natural. Here in this refreshing soup from Vietnam, I made sure that the herbs used were grown in more natural conditions. It is important that the vibrant citrusy notes from the rice paddy herb and sawtooth coriander come shining through. On the bustling streets of Cabramatta you can find sweet little old ladies setting up makeshift stalls to sell homegrown fruit and vegetables. The very same produce that they use to make their meals for their families. Another ingredient that I purchased from these enterprising ladies is the elephant ear stem (Bạc Hà). Its unusual name is from the shape of the leaf,

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Easy Homemade Dumplings

July 19th

Written by: tinytearoom

It is very rare that I breakaway from my beloved cookbooks and try out a recipe on my own. I am a semi-confident cook but I am not so sure about my abilities in recipe developing. If you followed my last two postsyou’ll know that I am trying to be more fearless in the kitchen. I am attempting recipes that challenge me, in this case, I put a bet on myself that I could make a dumpling recipe that could become a weeknight staple. My first attempt was meagre and needed some fine tuning. My second attempt was more acceptable. We had some friends coming over for dinner and I used the third attempt with some further tweeking to make these delicious and easy dumplings. They were perfect. My friends and I felt like we were eating like kings and queens. I have since fried them like a gyoza and wrapped them into wonton dumplings. I’ve dipped them into soy sauce and smothered them in my Homemade XO Sauce. Whichever way that I have served it I have been very happy with it. If you ever try out these dumplings please let me know how you go. Easy Homemade Dumplings 300g lean pork or chicken mince 150g raw prawns, diced 6 dried chinese mushrooms (shiitake will do) 2 spring onions,

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