Bun Rieu

Ingredients:
-4 cloves minced garlic
-Crab meat
-Crawfish tails (optional)
-1 cup ketchup or 1 can tomato paste
-1/2 can shrimp paste with bean oil (Tom Nau Bun Rieu)
-Water or chicken broth (enough to fill 3/4 pot)
-3 large tomatoes cut into cubes
-2 tsp bot ngot
-2 Tbs duong
-1 Tbs muoi
-2 Tbs nuoc mam
-3 eggs
-Handful of minced dried shrimp
-3 stalks chopped green onion

Directions:
1. Heat skillet, brown garlic
2. Brown crab meat and optional crawfish
3. Add 1 cup ketchup or tomato paste and stir vigourously to get a red color. Add more ketchup or paste as necessary.
4. Add 1/2 can shrimp paste with bean oil and stir.
5. Add in enough water or chicken broth to fill pot.
6. Add in tomatoes.
7. Add in bot ngot, duong, and muoi and nuoc mam to taste.
8. Beat 3 eggs and add in with minced dried shrimp.
9. Bring to boil. Remove foam from top.
10. Top off with chopped green onions and you are done! Oh, dont forget the noodles!

Thuong

Ingredients:
-1 bottle of Hoisin sauce
-water
-3 Tbs white vinegar
-2 Tbs cornstarch

Directions:
1. Use sauce pan and add 1 bottle of Hoisin sauce. Add water to the top (leave about 1/4" of space) to dilute.
2. Add white vinegar 1 Tbs at a time to make it sour.
3. Heat on stove on medium heat.
4. Mix cornstarch with just enough water to mix well.
5. Pour in pan slowly while stirring vigourously to avoid clumps.
6. Adjust to taste and Voila!

Thit Xao

Need photo!

Ingredients:
-Minced garlic
-1 Tbs cornstarch
-1 Tbs sugar
-Oyster sauce
-Water
-1 tsp salt
-1 tsp bot ngot
-dash of soysauce
-sliced eye round beef

Directions:
1. Marinate meat with oyster sauce and right before cooking, sprinkle cornstarch and mix.
2. Mixture--- in small bowl, add 1 Tbs cornstarch, sugar, and oyster sauce and just enough water to mix well. Add 1 tsp salt, bot ngot and soy sauce and fill water to top of bowl and mix well.
3 Heat skillet, brown garlic
4. Add sliced beef and turn meat vigourously. Once meat is almost thorougly cooked, add mixture and stir. Lower heat and let sauce thicken.
5. Pour over bed of lettuce served with side of soysauce and sliced fresh peppers. Lime juice optional.

Ga Xao Man

Ingredients:
-Chicken legs
-Garlic
-Sugar
-Oyster sauce
-Thick soy sauce (for brown/reddish color)
-Nuoc mam
-Lemongrass (optional)

Directions:
1. Debone chicken legs into bite size pieces
2. Heat skillet, brown garlic and optional lemongrass
3. Add chicken and sugar generously.
4. Add oyster sauce, thick soy sauce, and fish sauce (about 1 Tbs each)
5. Taste and adjust accordingly. Too liquidy means too mang so add sugar, too lumpy means too sweet so add nuoc mam.
6. Reduce heat and let liquid simmer down.
7. You are done when it taste "mang mang, ngot ngot"

Canh Chua

Ingredients:
-Minced garlic
-2 cups of water
-Sugar
-1 Tbs Granulated Soup Base (powder) OR Duong, Muoi, Bot Ngot
-2 Tbs Tamarand Soup Mix (aka Me used as crawfish dip)
-1 Tbs Nuoc Mam
-Fish pieces
-2 large tomatoes sliced (like orange slices)
-Coarsely chopped basil

Directions:
1. Heat skillet, add oil, brown garlic
2. Add in 2 cups of water, 1 Tbs Granulated Soup Base or duong, muoi, bot ngot, sugar, 2 Tbs Tamarand Soup Mix, 1 Tbs nuoc mam --- all slowly to taste "chua chua, mang mang, ngot ngot"
3. Bring to boil.
4. Add in fish and tomato slices
5. Bring to boil.
6. Add basil leaves and reduce heat to low.
7. Bring to boil and you are done!

Quote of the day:
Nhi: How come mines do not taste like yours?
Mom: "No, no may lang sau, moi nau ngon!" (after many tries, then you will cook well)