Homemade Vegetarian Egg Noodle Soup, With Tau Hu Ky (Fried Bean Curd Skin)

 

 

This is one of my most favorite vegetarian things to eat when I’m staying off meat for various reasons – vegetarian egg noodle soup with tofu, cabbage, and fried ba ro (shallot-like onions mainly used for veggie dishes.) Top it all off with fried bean curd skin. You can’t eat this without it. It adds some crunchiness to the meal. The soup base is made by boiling various vegetables so it’s light and healthy, versus pork based broth you’d normally use to make noodle soups.

Like I mentioned, fried bean curd skin is excellent for vegetarian noodle soups. These are also used to wrap pork and shrimp paste then deep fried. They are usually served with com tam, or Vietnamese broken rice. But I can munch of these by themselves all day long. 🙂

 

Homemade Bun Oc, Vietnamese Snail Vermicelli Soup

 

 

MmMm snails… yummm! Most people probably won’t even fathom being anywhere near a snail, let alone eating it. If cooked properly, snail is delicious! 🙂

My aunt made yet another one of her famous noodle soups: bun oc, or snail vermicelli soup. It looks and tastes similar to bun rieu, but the bun oc soup is a little lighter.

The snail is sauteed in caramelized shallots, ginger, fish sauce, mushroom seasoning, then stir fried with tomatoes, and tomato paste. The snail meat is lightly tough and chewy which is the way it should be, and it goes well with the pork and tomato soup base and vermicelli, garnished with green onions and various minty veggies.

Remember the expression, “don’t judge a book by its cover.” You might get weirded out just by the fact that you’re about to eat snail, but you don’t know how delicious it is until you just dive right in and eat it…maybe with your eyes closed. 😛

 

Homemade Banh Xeo, Vietnamese Crepe

 

 

Feels like I’ve been taking a short break from eating out at restaurants and opting for homemade food, which is probably the better way to go, anyway. 🙂 After making me delicious bun thang, my aunt then made me another one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes: banh xeo, or as you might like to call Vietnamese crepe or taco. I like the sound of “crepe” better, thank you.

Banh xeo is a type of crispy crepe made of rice flour, water, stuffed with pieces of fatty pork, shrimp, green onions, and bean sprouts. It is then served with large leafy veggies so you can wrap it inside, dipped in sweet spicy fish sauce.

I had banh xeo a few weeks ago at Song Linh Restaurant, but that one does not compare to my aunt’s banh xeo. As I mentioned in my last post, Song Linh did not stir fry the pork and shrimp till golden like they should’ve done, and the meat and shrimp did not stick to the inside of the crepe. But my aunt did. Not only was her banh xeo crispy on the outside and especially around the edges, she stir fried the fatty pork and shrimp till golden and they stuck to the crepe wall so that every piece of banh xeo you break off to eat would have a piece of pork and shrimp stuck to it. Then you can dip it with spicy sweet fish sauce by itself or roll it inside lettuce and minty leaves like a spring roll. Whichever way you “roll” is all good. 😀

Her banh xeo was so good I ate three big ones. Didn’t know I had it in me to eat that much food in one sitting. Again, thank you, Auntie! 🙂

 

Homemade Bun Thang, Vermicelli Noodle Soup From Northern Vietnam

 

 

I know I eat out a lot and it’s great and all, but homemade food is always still the best. You know exactly how it’s made, what it’s made with, and you don’t have to worry about sanitation issues. And most importantly, it’s made with a whole lotta love, to be enjoyed in your own cozy little home. 😉

Over the weekend, my aunt made us bun thang, a type of vermicelli noodle soup originated from Northern Vietnam. It looks really simple but takes a lot of time to make because everything is shredded into thin strings – chicken, pork paste and fried egg – topped with green onions, fried shallots, bean sprouts and various other minty veggies. I guess that’s how people eat stuff in the North. It’s not a bad idea shredding your food, is it? 🙂 This homemade bun thang was super delicious! I finished the whole thing. 😀 Thanks Auntie!

 

Homemade Bun Rieu

 

Sometimes homemade food is the best, and when there’s really nothing good around within reasonable driving time.

My aunt makes the best bun rieu (pictured) and bun bo hue, even better than the restaurants. Originated from Northern Vietnam, bun rieu is a vermicelli rice noodle soup, cooked with blue crab and pork, tomatoes, fried tofu, all of which are blended into the soup, and then topped with green onions, shallots, and veggies.

Bun rieu is perfect on a cold night, but eating it at my desk just makes me sweat! 😀 It is that good.

This not only saves me money eating out for lunch but also time driving around looking for food.