A taste of Northern Vietnam... traditionally made with sweet potatoes or regular potatoes. I discovered the addition of taro gives the dish a more savory unique flavor. See what happens when you play with your food? You discover yummy things. ;D


Ingredients:
-6 tbs rice flour
-1 tbs tapioca starch
-1 egg
-1/3 tsp turmeric powder
-4 tbs water
-1/2 fresh prawns
-taro and sweet potato
-cooking oil
-1/2 tsp salt

What to Do:
Mix together rice flour, salt, tapioca starch and turmeric powder. Beat egg with water and add to flour mixture mix well. Peel and grate taro and sweet potato (you'll need approx. 1 cup taro and 1/2 cup sweet potatoes). Mix together grated taro and potatoes with batter. Heat oil over high heat to about 350'F. Dip a metal spatula into the oil and heat it for about 30 seconds. Remove heated spatula from oil and about a 2 tbs "batter"; top off with a shrimp in the center and dip the whole thing back in the hot oil. In about 30 seconds the cakes should float off of the spatula to the surface of the oil (if it doesn't give it a little "help" using a knife). Continue to fry until the cakes are golden, flipping them once to ensure both sides are nice and cooked. Serve with as a snack or make a meal out of it by serving with fresh herbs and rice "ribbon" cakes dipped in fish sauce.

Time flies eh? Seems like it was only yesterday but it's been a year since my first post. First off I would like to thank my visitors for stopping by and leaving a comment or two. You're the reason why I keep the recipes coming. When I started this blog I came up with the name "Playing with My Food" because that is what I do and would like to encourage my readers to do the same. Believe me...experimenting and not being afraid of messing up is the best way to learn. However, I've notice through the comments posted that about 95% of everyone is afraid to tackle a recipe simply because there is something unclear. Practice makes perfect; don't ever be afraid to practice. I believe besides being a form of art, cooking and baking is also a science experiment. For that reason, there is a lot of logic and common sense involve. There is a reason why things happen; cakes come out flat and dry for a reason. If you would just experiment and try new things you will discover why the cake turned out flat and dry and thus, be able to fix that problem via the knowledge you learned from the failures. On that note, please play with your food before asking me any questions. Just do it! Believe me you'll learn a lot more from your mistakes than from me explaining. My recipes are only meant to encourage not to teach. I'm on the same page you are, I'm learning too... Also, If you have a recipe request please post the request at one of the food forums I visit (http://diendan.datviet.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=29 , http://jodeli.proboards22.com/index.cgi , http://nurkochen.cheeli.de/ , http://homecookingclub.aceboard.com/), not here. Everyone in those forums is extremely friendly and helpful, and because there are so many knowledgeable members in those forums you'll get more answers to your request... so don't be afraid to jump in and ask... ;)

So what's in the future of PWMF? Honestly, I don't know. Let me know what I should change, add, toss away and keep. Cheers and remember to Play with Your Food!

It's been a while since i've post a recipe or anything at all. Those of you wondering what happened... don't worry nothing happened at all I've just been very busy with the floral competition, mooncake orders, and school. Anyways, what's official? My major....I officially declared Drama as my major as of yesterday. Those of you closest to me know I've be seriously lost when it comes to pinpointing where I want to go in life. I've decided to pick Drama to be my major. Why? It's fun! You get to design costumes, lights, act and read lots of juicy plays. My passion for cooking is still there and I plan to continue onto culinary school after I get my BA from UW. However, at this point I'm also considering staying at UW a bit longer to get a master's degree so I could teach. *thinking* *thinking* Should I? I'm just going to take life one step at a time.... hehheeh

p.s. if you're waiting for a new recipes...hang tight they're ready to go I just have to post them...soon

First off I would like to thank everyone for your support. Your encouragement and kind words became the fuel that powered me to decide upon entering the contest. So what are the results? I entered six classes and won ribbons in all six. That translates to four second places, one third place and one honorable mention. No first place…but for a first timer entering a contest with arrangements put together in a hurry (6 in about 3 hours), second place is pretty good… at least that’s what I’m telling myself. Lol! Anyways, thanks for all of your support and encouragement everybody couldn’t have done it without you. Cheers!

My dearest friends and visitors…….I need your honest opinion. I'm getting cold feet. I’m pondering if I should or should not enter a floral design contest coming up really soon. I don’t consider myself to be a competitive person and…I just don’t think I have what it takes (I’ll be competing with professionals). To everyone who have seen my work…and “know” me what do you think? Should I or should I not? Do you think I can do it? I’m seriously considering not entering… The contest is this Tuesday... should I?

Ingredients:
-1 recipe basic agar agar jelly
-1 tsp pomelo/mali flower flavoring
-5 pandan leaves
-1 can jackfruit with toddy palm seed
-phổ tai (dried seaweed)

What to Do:
Open and drain the fruit. Rinse and soak seaweed in water to hydrated; cut into thin strips. Boil pandan leaves with agar agar and water (follow recipe for basic agar agar jelly). Arrange the fruits and seaweed into mini tart moulds, add pomelo flower flavoring to agar agar and ladle the liquid into the moulds over the fruits and seaweed. Allow to set and serve cold.

Imagine a cross between sticky rice and brown rice, this is what the texture of black sticky rice is like. It's chewy but is not mussy fully of body in every bite.

Ingredients:
-1 1/2 cup black sticky rice
-1/2 cup mung beans (peeled and split)
-1/2 cup sugar
-grated coconut (as much as you like)
-4 tbs sesame seeds
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 tbs sugar

What to Do:
Rinse rice and soak in water overnight. Do the same with the mung beans. Next morning, cook rice in a rice cooker as you would cook normal rice. While rice is cooking, steam the mung beans (or boil) until tender. Mash the beans and add sugar, stir fry over medium heat until thickened. Toast the sesame seeds and mix with salt and 1 tbs sugar. Serve rice as a snack with the mung bean paste, grated coconut and toasted sesame seeds.

East meets West...in this dish I married the american porkchop with chinese sour plum to give it a tangy twist. The addition of ginger gives it a kick at every corner.

Ingredients:
-4 pork chops (approx 1 1/2 lbs)
-3 chinese sour plums (xí muội aka preserved plums)
-1 thumb size piece of ginger
-2 tbs sugar (more or less depending on plums)
-1 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp pepper
-1 clove garlic
-pinch 5 spice powder
-1/3 cup cooking wine or orange juice

What to Do:
Mince ginger, plum and garlic mix with sugar, salt, pepper and 5 spice. Rub seasonings on the chops and rest for at least 1/2 hour. Pan fry the chops until golden and remove onto a serving plate. Deglaze the frying pan with a little wine and reduce to make ginger plum sauce. Drizzle the sauce on the chops before serving. Serve with steamed veggies.

Ingredients:
-1/2 lb fresh tender greenbeans
-1 tsp oil
-2 tsp soy sauce
-1 thai chili
-3 tbs mince lemongrass
-sugar and salt to taste
-toasted sesame seeds

What to Do:
Heat oil in a pan, add soy sauce, lemongrass and mince chili, add beans and about 3 tbs water. Stir fry over high heat until water evaporates, add sugar and salt to taste. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.

Note:
Can replace beans with fried tofu to make spicy leamongrass tofu.

***Because my vegetarian dishes are prepared with “Buddhist Laws” in mind; besides not using meats and animal products, I do not use garlic, onions, leeks, chives, or any type of alcohol. However, if your main goal is to just avoid meats, feel free to add the any of the ingredients mentioned above to spice up you dishes.***

There are two ways to make this dish, Vietnamese style and authentic Thai style.

Ingredients:
-1 can longan
-1 can jackfruit with toddy palm seed
-1 jar of coconut jelly (nata de coco)
-1/4 cup phổ tai (dried seaweed, optional)
-1/2 cup corn (if making Thai style)
-1 tsp pomelo/mali flower flavor (if making Thai style)
-1 tsp powdered agar agar
-1 cup water or pandan juice
-pandan flavoring (if using water)
-fresh milk or cream

What to Do:
Boil together agar agar with water and pandan flavoring or pandan juice. Pour mixture into a shallow pan and allow to set before cutting into small pieces. Nuke corn in the microwave for 3 mins and cool. Rinse and soak seaweed in water, cut into thin strips. Open longan, jackfruit and toddy palmseed, can coconut jelly cans and drain 1/2 the water in each can. Finally, mix everything together and add milk or cream to taste, serve cold.