Vietnamese Recipes

Shredded Pork Banh Mi Bites- A Take on Tapas

January 15, 2012
Vietnamese Banh Mi Sandwich Recipe

Too much of a good thing is certainly possible. Take for example, my favorite sandwich in the world, Vietnamese Banh Mi. But wait, before you blame me for being biased (you’re absolutely right anyways), allow me to clarify a few things about my subjective love of this sandwich.

Yes, I’m Viet-Nam born, am Vietnamese at heart, and grew up eating banh mi for as long as I can remember when I started chewing solid foods. I often took this sandwich for granted as a grade school kid and was often embarrassed about taking it into my school lunch bag for »

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Garlic Chicken Spring Rolls – My Un-Diet from Pleasantly Plump to Zip

August 21, 2011
Thumbnail image for Garlic Chicken Spring Rolls – My Un-Diet from Pleasantly Plump to Zip

I know I’m not the only one who has gone through this, so I thought I’d finally say it publicly after 3 years of blogging.

Food blogging made me chunky-er, pleasantly plump or what ever you want to call it. My jeans didn’t zip anymore.

I’m not comfortable with the term “fat”. That F-word is so harsh and ugly. As true, blunt and effective it might be to get the point across that I need to get my ass on the tread mill, I don’t like “fat”.

I love chunky and pleasantly plump because it’s delicious sounding. These are yummy »

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Garlicky Chili Hot Sauce with a punch

December 15, 2010
Thumbnail image for Garlicky Chili Hot Sauce with a punch

We’ve been quite unconventional over the last few years when it comes to gift giving. When the holidays roll around, tis the season to fire up the ovens and gift out baked goods and sweets till everyone can’t eat another cookie. Granted, we have our traditional fudge that we’ll make for family who are out of state, but fudge is really the only sweet gift we pass on with a red bow attached.»

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Nail Shop Eats- Vietnamese Chicken Cabbage Salad Competition

August 22, 2010
Thumbnail image for Nail Shop Eats- Vietnamese Chicken Cabbage Salad Competition

 Delicious Vietnam is a monthly blogging event celebrating the love and diversity of Vietnamese cuisine.  Delicious Vietnam was  founded by Anh of Food Lovers Journey and Hong and Kim of Ravenous Couple.

I’m joining in on this month’s festivities and sharing my Vietnamese Chicken Salad Recipe. If you love Vietnamese food and have a great recipe post to share, please join the community!


My Mother has acquired an unprecedented fan base here on our blog since I started writing about her Nail Shop Eats escapades and she has absolutely no idea of her devoted following. Mom is not a woman of »

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Vietnamese Style Pickled Carrots from Eating Local Cookbook

May 24, 2010
pickled carrots and Daikon

I’ve fully embraced the fact that I’m addicted to salt and crunchies. To preen me away from a jar of anything picked is like separating a mother bear from her cub. Please don’t get between me and my precious jar of pickled vegetables. Just don’t even think of going there. OK?

With that submission to salt made clear, I’m blaming it all on my Vietnamese heritage because I pretty much started at birth (once I moved to solids) to eating pickled foods as part of my meals. The colorful collage of Vietnamese cuisine includes fresh textures of raw herbs/greens and often bright »

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Vietnamese Caramel Braised Pork Belly Banh Mi – Nail Shop Eats #4

February 17, 2010
banh mi recipe

The leaning tower of pork belly banh mi: not for the light hearted

I’m not a comedian, nor was I trying to be one when I spoke frankly about my mother’s Nail shop cooking escapades. Like I’ve always said, my mother is a culinary fool, a manic of a woman who lives to feed her family of 6 kids and our extended family of neighborhood friends. She’s been known to get even more carried away and feed her nail shop clients homemade noodles and fish sauce while they’re getting their pedicures.

My mother’s nail shop has launched her notoriety as »

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Versatile Curry Gravy with Fried Fish (or what ever you heart!)

August 15, 2009
Fried Fish Curry Gravy

I can’t imagine a life without curry. Thinking about it brings a void and desperate plea to my palate, “Noooooo!”  The warm, fragrant combination of spices topped over warm rice, tofu, veggies,  fish or meats is indispensable for me. Long ago, I swore to not live a bland life. I shall not live curry-less.

As versatile as it is delicious, my curry gravy is great accompaniment to almost any dish that needs a quick burst of flavor. Simple olive or grape seed oil, garlic and shallots can quickly bring life and flavor to most things I eat, but sometimes a »

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The Ultimate Umami Burger

August 6, 2009
Umami Burger

For the longest time, we’ve been making the best darn hamburger on the face of this earth (insert personal bias.) We’ve never had a specific name for the recipe until someone tagged it as the “magic meat”, but not as in “mystery meat” or “I can’t tell if this is chicken or beef.” Rather, it was to describe the magical flavor sensations that everyone experienced when they bit into one of our patties. That “magic meat” term  described the juicy, flavorful and savory burger patty that everyone fought over. Sometimes the buns were tossed to the side or forgotten because »

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Vegetable/Herb Spring Rolls for Summer Fest 2009- Share your recipes, garden tips & stories

July 28, 2009
Vegetable Spring Rolls

A new blogging event has just launched and this time, it’s a fun, free for all celebration of Summer’s bounty! Started last Summer by Margaret Roach of Away to Garden and Deb Puchalla, which was called Food Fest, lovers of everything fresh, delicious, and/or from the garden shared ideas and recipes from across the globe. Last summer’s event was a cross-blog event where they would announce a food or “crop” in advance and they would then swap recipes, growing tips, lore and whatever else came up. Their readers did the same, and everyone linked to each other liberally, so everyone »

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Vietnamese Hot Coffee – Camp Drinking

July 16, 2009
Vietnamese Coffee

I’m an addict and I don’t care.

It’s not that I can’t go anywhere without having my daily, tasty coffee.  It is just that I don’t want to.  Headaches aren’t an issue, nor do I get all that grumpy without a morning hit of caffeine, however my morning coffees provide a brief moment of calm bliss.  Sanctuary lies in a cappuccino with a perfect, velvety foam, Vietnamese coffees (hot or cold – ca phe sau da or ca phe sua nong), or a simple espresso (maybe topped with a dollop of whipped cream.)

They each have the textures, taste, and »

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