Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Cha Gio)

Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Cha Gio)
Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Cha Gio) pictures (1 of 5)

I am a huge fan of Vietnamese spring rolls, or cha gio, roughly means “minced pork rolls” in Vietnamese language. I don’t like most Chinese spring rolls or egg rolls served in the United States. They are mostly bad, filled with vegetables flavored with MSG. Some of them even taste like they are infused with a dose of antibiotics. I am not kidding. I am sure you have had one of those!

But cha gio, the Vietnamese interpretation of spring roll, is what spring roll should be. The filling is made of group pork, shrimp, crab meat, with shredded carrots, mung bean noodles (cellophane noodles/glass noodles), etc., and the end result is utterly delicious and tantalizing. The deep-fried, crunchy, and golden brown exterior is just another plus..(get Vietnamese spring rolls or cha gio recipe after the jump)

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Caramel Shrimp (Vietnamese Tom Rim)

Caramel Shrimp (Vietnamese Tom Rim)

When it comes to one ingredient that I consume more than anything else in the world, it has to be shrimp. I love shrimp and I can eat it every day and for every meal. I am addicted to it.
When I had caramel shrimp at Cat Restaurant in Little Saigon a few weeks ago, I fell head over heals in…

Banh Xeo Recipe (Sizzling Saigon Crepes)

Banh Xeo Recipe (Sizzling Saigon Crepes)

I have yet traveled to Vietnam but I am a big fan of Vietnamese food, thanks to the Little Saigon in Orange County—the largest Vietnamese enclave outside of Vietnam and the place I shop, eat, and have cheap massages! Last weekend, my friend Chef Danhi invited me to join his Little Saigon tour. Towards to the end of the tour,…

Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gow/虾饺)

Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gow/虾饺)

Today, I wanted to introduce you to the sweet and adorable Shao of FriedWontons4U. Twitter has become a great platform to discover new food blogs and I found FriedWontons4U a few months ago. FriedWontons4U chronicles Shao’s cooking and travel adventures. Shao came from Guangzhou—the birthplace of exquisite Cantonese cuisine—so we decided on shrimp dumplings or har gow (虾饺), arguably the…

Tempura Recipe

Tempura Recipe

A few weeks ago, I tweeted about guest bloggers on Rasa Malaysia and Mable Tan—a fellow Malaysian who resides in Australia—responded and came to my rescue. Mable is a fantastic baker and a great cook; her blog “Happy Monkee” is beautiful and delicious. In her past life, Mable was a writer and stylist working with Seventeen, Marie Claire, Female (leading…

Nabe (Yosenabe/Japanese Hot Pot)

Nabe (Yosenabe/Japanese Hot Pot)

(Attend hands-on hot pot workshop in Los Angeles by Harris Salat, the author of Japanese Hot Pots. Classes are available on November 14-15, 2009. Click here to learn more.)
Fall is in the air, even here in Southern California. Days are getting shorter and cooler. These past few days, the sky has been dull and wintry and this morning, it rained.
I…

Pad Thai Recipe from The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook

Pad Thai Recipe from The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook

Two years ago, about this time, Jaden was in Los Angeles. It was the second time we met in person, and she had just gotten an offer to write a cookbook from Tuttle Publishing. She was teaching a cooking class in LA and I was there to help (and also to learn from her about teaching a cooking class!). We…

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