Mom's Che Sam Bo Luong Recipe

Chè, in Vietnamese, is any sweet dessert, almost more like a “soup” since you usually need a spoon to eat the contents, that can be consumed hot or cold. One of my favorite places if you’re in the SF Bay Area, Bambu, makes many of the chè in a way that you can drink it with a large boba straw, which is super convenient.

Growing up, some of my favorite types of che had bright colors and a range of jellies, tapioca, coconut juice or milk. One of the most unique che, is one that is brown-colored and uniquely herbal — one of my mom’s favorite types of chè, is a popular one called “Chè Sâm Bổ Lượng”, well-known for its herbal ingredients and health benefits. It may not look like your typical dessert, but it is a favorite at many of my Vietnamese family potluck gatherings. Check out my mom’s method of making it below!

Outline of steps to make “Chè Sâm Bổ Lượng”:

• The hardest part is going to an asian grocery store and finding all the crazy ingredients! (see list below)

• Prepare and cook individual ingredients[1] separately, by preparing 2 pots:

  • 1 pot (medium, 3-4 quart) for boiling and rinsing the ingredient

  • 1 pot of clean boiling water for boiling ingredient until cooked

• Prepare a final pot of sweet broth, where you’ll toss in all cooked ingredients. This is done by boiling a medium pot of water, sweetening with rock sugar until fully dissolved to the sweetness level of your choice, and traditionally you’d add 2-3 pieces of the herb Dong Quai to give the che its foundational herbal taste. You can also interchange the Dong Quai for something else like Vanilla, for a more modern take.

• Your che is ready to be served! You can serve hot, or refrigerate or serve cold over ice.

Preparing and cooking ingredients:

• Lotus seed (dried)

  • ??

• White jelly fungus (dried)

• Goji berries (dried)

  • Rinse berries in bowl 2-3x until red color mainly washes away

  • Bring water to a boil, toss in berries, and remove after a few minutes once cooked

• Barley (dried)

  • Soak in bowl overnight

  • Bring water to a boil, toss in barley for 5 minutes, rinse

  • Put in pot 2 and boil again until cooked. Optionally, you can add sugar to this pot to allow the barley to sweeten

• Seaweed / kelp (dried)

• Longan (dried or fresh*)

  • For dry longan, wash

  • Bring water to a boil, then cook for a few minutes

• Chinese Apple

• Chinese yam

  • Make sure you wear gloves because this root can get sticky! (mom doesn’t like dry chinese yam because they take forever to cook, and frankly, fresh tastes way better - crispy and refreshing!)

  • ??

• Lily bulb

  • Soak in water for a few hours. Then use knife to scrape off any dark bits, and you can optionally cut into small pieces

  • Once pot 1 water boils, toss in lily bulb

[1] Ingredients (roughly equal proportions of each): 

• Lotus seed (dried)

• White fungus (dried)

• Chinese Apple (dried or fresh*)

• Longan (dried or fresh*)

• Goji berries (dried)

• Barley (dried)

• Seaweed / kelp (dried)

• Chinese yam

• Lily bulb (dried, optional)

• 2-3 pieces of Dong Quai (optional)

Mom's Banh Giay Recipe

Banh giay (spelled "bánh giầy" and pronounced "ban yay") is a Vietnamese snack. Structured like a mini sandwich, it has two layers of chewy rice cake surrounding a slice of ham. You'll usually see them in Vietnamese bakeries to be much larger, about the size of a fist, but my mom's recipe will allow you create ones that are cute, mini-sized, and delicious! 

Outline of steps to make ~20-24 (mini) "Banh Giay":

1. Prepare the dough (see steps below)
2. Cut banana leaves into round circles (2.5 inch diameter) [mom's tip: use a knife to trace a cup or cookie cutter, on a cutting board]. Place banana leaf circle on a tray, rough side (of leaf) facing up. Lightly use finger to spread thin layer of oil on leaf [mom's tip: don't use too much oil, otherwise the rice cake will slip off the leaf after steaming] 
3. Roll individual (1 inch) balls of dough 
4. Begin by flattening the ball in the palm of your hand, then place it on the banana leaf and continue to flatten balls into 2 inch x 4 mm circles
5. Prepare steamer with water, and turn on stove until ready
6. Place 8 pieces in the steamer, and steam for 2 minutes
7. After 2 minutes, quickly remove the lid, and use a paper towel to wipe the condensation from the lid, then put the lid back on the steamer
8. Steam for an additional 3 minutes -- then your rice cake is done! 
9. Remove pieces and let cool. Repeat until all ~40 pieces are steamed
10. Cut Vietnamese fried ham into thin slices, and layer between 2 pieces of rice cake

Enjoy! (p.s. don't forget to remove the banana leaf before eating, which is used for decoration and keeps your fingers from getting sticky -- if you're serving it later, you can individually wrap each snack in saran wrap).

Preparing the dough: 

• Mix 2 cups of warm water, 1 tablespoon of avocado oil (or any cooking oil), and 1/2 teaspoon of salt together in a small bowl
• Place 1 bag of glutinous rice flour in a large bowl 
• Slowly pour (liquid) into flour -- mix gently and slowly with other hand
• Knead the dough until it becomes a smooth, flexible ball of dough (if the dough remains dry, you can add a bit more water until smooth)
• Let dough rest for 15 minutes

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb (1 bag) of glutinous rice flour
• 1 tablespoon of oil (any cooking oil, such as avocado, canola, or olive oil)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 cups of warm water
• 1/2 package of banana leaves [purchased in frozen section of Asian supermarkets]
• 1 "cây chả chiên" (stick of fried Vietnamese ham) [purchased at any Vietnamese ham maker, for example "Duc Huong" in San Jose, CA] 
• Steamer 

Mom's Bun Moc Recipe

Bun Moc is an easy and delicious Vietnamese noodle soup dish.  

Outline of steps to make 10+ servings of "Bun Moc": 

1. Prepare noodles
2. Prepare broth (chicken, pork, or vegetable broth). [See Mom’s vegetable broth in separate post]
3. Create mixing bowl for “moc” meatballs
4. Once soup boils, insert spoonfuls of “moc” into soup, taste
5. Serve bowls of noodles and "moc" soup with fresh vegetables of your choice (i.e. lettuce, cilantro, mint)

Noodles preparation: 

• 4 packs of "bun" (dried vermicelli rice noodles)
• Steps: boil noodles until soft, pour onto basket once ready to drain water, wash cooked noodles with cold tap water, rinse noodles with hot boiling water, allow noodles to dry in basket in open air, stir noodles as necessary to separate

Moc meatball ingredients (mix):

• 1 lb shrimp (or 20 shrimp medium-sized), washed with vinegar & salt water, then rinsed. Peeled, deveined, and minced [pounded to tenderize, and chopped into chunks]
• Add 1 teaspoon of fish sauce on minced shrimp (for flavoring)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1/3 cup of minced cilantro stems
• 1 teaspoon of finely ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon of "hanh phi / hanh chay" - Vietnamese-style crispy shallots [this can be made at home, or bought from Vietnamese supermarkets]  
• 1 egg, beaten

Mix evenly, then add:

• 2 lb Vietnamese raw ham paste (called "gio song") [this can be bought from Vietnamese "gio" shops]

Mix evenly

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"Moc" Meatball-Making Technique:  

• Squeeze palm-full of mix within palm of hand
• Allow "ball" of meat to form in opening between thumb/index finger
• Re-squeeze several times until "meatball" is round and smooth
• Use a spoon to scoop meatball up, and drop meatball into pot of broth
• Meatballs will sink to bottom of pot when raw... then float once cooked

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Soup tasting:  

• 1 teaspoon of salt, taste
• 1 cup of fish sauce, taste

Mom's Bun Rieu Recipe

Bun Rieu, a Vietnamese crab and tomato noodle soup, is a specialty dish from the Northern region of Vietnam. It features rice vermicelli noodles, soft clusters of pounded crab meat (or in our case, crab meatballs), crab flavored tangy broth, stewed tomatoes, and fried tofu. 

Traditionally in Vietnam, this soup requires the meat of small freshwater brown paddy crabs from the rice fields. The crabs are pounded raw, with the shell in tack, until it becomes paste. The crab paste is then strained. Crab juices flavor the broth, and the finer crab paste when inserted into boiling water, cooks to form soft clusters of crab meat. These clusters are what Vietnamese people call "rieu". 

In the United States, because paddy crabs are not readily available, overseas Vietnamese have created new forms of the traditional recipe. Fortunately for us, "Americanized bun rieu" is easy, efficient, and quite delicious. This is the recipe I'll be sharing below. 

Bun Rieu is also served with fresh vegetables, including split morning glory (ong choy) stems, Vietnamese balm (rau kinh gioi), shredded banana leaves (not always found in the US), bean sprouts, and red perilla.  

Outline of steps to make 10+ servings of "Bun Rieu": 

1. Prepare noodles
2. Prepare broth (chicken, pork, or vegetable broth). [See Mom’s vegetable broth in separate post]
3. Create mixing bowl for “rieu” meatballs
4. Insert tomatoes and soup ingredients into broth, taste
5. Once soup boils, insert spoonfuls of “rieu” into soup, taste
6. Deep fry tofu, insert into soup
7. Serve bowls of noodles and rieu soup with vegetables

Noodles preparation: 

• 4 packs of "bun" (dried vermicelli rice noodles)
• Steps: boil noodles until soft, pour onto basket once ready to drain water, wash cooked noodles with cold tap water, rinse noodles with hot boiling water, allow noodles to dry in basket in open air, stir noodles as necessary to separate

Rieu meatball ingredients (mix):

• 1 cup of crab meat, minced
• 1 cup of dried shrimp, finely minced (using chopping machine)
• 1 lb Vietnamese raw ham paste (called "gio song") [this can be bought from Vietnamese "gio" shops; alternatively, "gio song" can be made from scratch using lean ground pork, seasoned with fish sauce and sugar] 
• 1 bottle of “shrimp paste with soya bean oil”
• 1 can of “minced prawns in spices (bun rieu seasoning)”
• 3 shallots, finely minced
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 0.5 teaspoon of finely ground pepper

Soup ingredients, added to broth once ready:

• 4 lbs of roma tomatoes, peeled, sliced, and seeded
• Allow tomatoes to cook in broth for 30 minutes
• Scoop spoonfuls of "rieu mix" and insert one by one into soup. Cooked "rieu mix" becomes rieu meatballs
• 1/3 cup of tamarind powder (can use tamarind soup base, or tamarind concentrate), taste
• 1 cup of fish sauce, taste
• Insert deep fried square or rectangular cubes of tofu (deep fry 1 pack of firm tofu)

Serving ingredients:

• Ong choy/morning glory stems, sliced (these stems can easily be sliced using a $2 "Seagull, Stainless Steel, Separable Knife", or in Vietnamese, "Dao Che Rau Muong", found at Vietnamese supermarkets)
• Vietnamese balm (in Vietnamese, "rau kinh gioi")
• red perilla
• bean sprouts
• cilantro
• lime wedges
• shredded lettuce (if preferred) 

As illustrated below (from left to right): fresh vegetables, separable knife tool, separable knife tool in use to slice morning glory stem, and deep frying of tofu in pot

Images below (for reference): dried rice vermicelli noodles (JiangXi brand shown, but any brand is ok), bottle of "shrimp paste with soya bean oil", can of "minced prawns in spices"

Mom's Vegetable Broth

What kind of broth is not made from chicken, pork, or beef? Vegetable broth!

My mom loves making broth from vegetables, mainly for Vietnamese style soups and noodle soups, simply because it's healthier! The broth ends up being clear (you'll never have to worry about scooping out any "fat"), and you still have a sweet and tasty broth. Below are the secret ingredients. 

• 1 large pot of water
• 2 white daikon (short type), peeled [most important ingredient]
• 2 carrots, peeled
• 2 pears (moderately ripe)
• 1-2 apples (ripe)
• 2 chayote [optional]

Note: Portions above may be modified, depending on serving size, availability of ingredients, and personal preference. This recipe may also be simplified with use of 1-2 daikon and 2 yellow onions. 

Mom's Egg Roll (Cha Gio) Recipe

Vietnamese egg rolls, also called spring rolls, are one of my favorite Vietnamese treats! Called “cha gio” in Vietnamese, they can be served as a delicious crispy appetizer, party snack, or incorporated on top of vermicelli noodles as a meal.

Outline of steps to make 50+ egg rolls:

1. Lay out all 3 bowls (A, B, C) and mix according to the ingredients below.
2. Combine and mix bowls A, B, C into one large bowl.
3. Wrap egg rolls using wrappers and egg roll filling mix (2.5 inch average length, slightly flat). Use egg white to seal wrapper ends. [See photo diagram below]
4. Deep fry until crispy.
5. Make dipping sauce.
6. Serve with dipping sauce and fresh vegetables of your choice (i.e. lettuce, mint, cilantro).

Ingredients to make the egg roll filling:

       Bowl A (mix all well):

• 4-5 dried wood ear mushrooms, soaked in hot water, drained – then small diced
• 2 bundles of dried bean thread noodles (or 1 cup), soaked in hot water, drained – then chopped (0.25 inch strands)
• 1 slice of large taro root, peeled and small diced (making 1 cup)
• 6-8 fresh water chestnuts, small diced
• 4 scallions, minced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 4-6 shallots (medium-sized), minced [or 0.5 onion + 2 shallots, minced]
• 20 cilantro stems, minced
• 1-2 carrots, peeled, finely shredded, and chopped (1.5-inch strands)
• add 2 eggs, beaten (full eggs or egg whites only OK)
• add seasoning (see below)

      Bowl B (mix):

• 1 lb shrimp (or 20 shrimp medium-sized), washed with vinegar & salt water, then rinsed. Peeled, deveined, and minced [pounded to tenderize, and chopped into chunks]
• add seasoning (see below)

      Bowl C (mix):

• 1 pork tenderloin (or 1 lb ground pork), minced [tenderloin cut into smaller pieces, pounded to tenderize, and finely chopped]
• add seasoning (see below)

Seasoning for egg roll filling (total – the following split between all 3 bowls):

• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1.5 teaspoons fine ground pepper
• 1.5 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce

Ingredients for wrapping & frying:

• 2 packages of spring roll wrappers, thaw for 5 minutes 
• 1 egg (use egg whites only) as “glue” for sealing wrapper ends
• Canola Oil for deep frying

Dipping sauce ingredients:

• 1 part sugar
• 2 parts water
• 1 part fish sauce
• 0.25 part lime/lemon juice
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• Chili – as needed (fresh or garlic chili sauce)

Optional ingredients (for egg roll filling):

• Use ground pork instead of pork tenderloin
• Use jicama (to replace water chestnuts or as addition to current recipe)
• Add 1 can (4 oz) crab meat
• MSG as flavor enhancer

Advice: 

• After step 1, test the egg roll filling mix by taking 1 teaspoon of the mix and insert into microwave until cooked. Taste, then add additional seasoning as necessary.
• Do not wrap egg rolls too tightly or too round – they will expand slightly when fried and cause egg rolls to break. Slightly flat rolls will round out once fried. 
• Wear gloves when handling taro root, to avoid itchyness
• Use large / big taro root (not the small type which will become mushy)
• Asian supermarkets are recommended to find ingredients such as: dried bean thread noodles, dried wood ear mushroom, large taro root, fresh water chestnuts, spring roll wrappers, fish sauce, and soy sauce

Select ingredients (for reference purposes, from left to right): dried wood ear mushrooms, dried bean thread noodles, large taro root, water chestnuts, scallions, garlic, shallots, cilantro stems, bowl A, bowls B & C, spring roll wrappers (use of either brand is recommended: TYJ spring roll pastry or Menlo wrappers)

Egg roll wrapping steps (from left to right): Lay wrapper on plate and fold bottom corner, spread spoonful of mix evenly on top of corner, roll mix forward so it touches wrap & tuck edges in, fold over 1 side, fold over other side creating "envelope shape", roll mix forward once, use back of spoon (or brush) to apply small amount of egg white onto edges as a sealer, roll forward to complete egg roll