Vietnamese Pickles Carrots & Daikon , My Family Recipe

Everyone knows that a family recipe is a special one, with special nuances and flavors unique to ones family history and story. I never feel as if one family recipe is ever “better” than another. Each one is different and wonderful on it’s own merits because of what it has meant to those who made it over generations. And for those who grew up eating favorite family recipes, the flavors and comfort these dishes bring are priceless.

My Vietnamese recipes are always rooted in family tradition, reflective of where I was born and the birthplace of my ancestors. My Grandparents hailed from the Northern Viet-nam and escaped the Communist regime to Central Vietnam during the war. My family stories that were passed down from my elders who had survived the wars. Accompanied with each memory was a recipe that was a window to the past, a reflection of their lives back before I was even born.

I always consider my Mom to be the queen of Vietnamese pickles. When mom gives a gift of love to those she cares for, I can almost guarantee that it would be in the form of pickles. And of course, all made from the heart.

Her delicate touch and emphasis on fresh crunch in each jar of her pickles was passed down from my Maternal Grandmother. If you were to taste the pickles, you would know it’s brined in my family tradition and regional flair.

The pickles I grew up with weren’t too sweet and more on the salty side. My father grew up in Northern Vietnam, where the foods were more subtle, less fiery and sweet than their Southern counterparts. When Dad would see Mom pickle huge jars of vegetables for her nail shop ladies (most of which grew up cooking in the sweet South), he was always remind her to “not to add too much sugar”!

Over the years I’ve modified my family recipe and found a balance that fit my eating lifestyle the most. I do love the salty brine of pickles, but am appreciating more of the slightly sweet balance in my pickles. This recipe is a reflection of both flavors.

I always grew up eating is Vietnamese pickled carrots and daikon radish and they’ve become a staple in my pantry. These pickles or (do chua) are most well known for making appearances in Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches. But I know them just as do chua and eat them with rice, noodles and spring rolls.

Chose your favorite dish and these wonderful Vietnamese carrots and daikon pickles will enhance any meal that needs that fresh, salty crunch. Thanks and lots of love to Mom, Grandma and preserved family recipes that make food and sharing so special. Are there any special family recipes or traditions you hold close?

enjoy!

diane

Yield: 1lb Pickles

Total Time: 30 min

Taste the brine before you finish the final pickles. If you like your pickles more sweet, add a few teaspoons of sugar. Personalizing these pickles to your taste will make them extra special.

1/2 lb. carrots- julienned or cut into thin match-like strips1/2 lb. daikon radish, cut same as carrots4 cups water, slightly warm enough to dissolve the salt and sugar3 tablespoons sugar2 tablespoons salt4 tablespoons distilled or rice vinegarIn large pitcher or large bowl, mix water, vinegar, sugar and salt till everything is dissolved and combined well.Place carrots and daikon in a clean, sterile jar and fill vinegar till jar is full.Cover jars and set in the refrigerator to pickle for about 3 days. I like my pickles to sit for at least 3 days so that the carrots and daikon become more flavorful and sour. Pickles can last for about 3 weeks in the fridge.

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Happy Family

Happy Family pictures (1 of 4)I was first introduced to Happy Family during my college days. I was in graduate school, back in the Midwest, and not quite cooking up a storm like I am doing now. So, hitting local Chinese buffets and take-outs was a good place to be for someone like me who misses their Chinese food. It was also then that I got acquainted to all the popular American-Chinese food selections. I was mostly intrigued by the American version of Sweet and Sour Chicken, BBQ Ribs, Crab Rangoon, Egg Drop Soup, to name a few, and among these, Happy Family was one of them. Although spending a whopping US$13 (I was a poor international student then) for a large order of Happy Family with white rice on the side seemed hefty for a college student, my friends and I would usually save up to order a few items and share among ourselves, sometimes enough to last us for 3 days! Being so far from home, Chinese food—albeit the Americanized version—was always our comfort food.

I missed home dearly, particularly mom’s cooking. At the end of the day, mom always made sure we had a balanced meal. A typical family dine-in experience is usually served with dishes consisting of meat, vegetables and seafood of some sort. And that is exactly what the dish Happy Family is! It is a popular Chinese stir-fry dish with colorful vegetables (broccoli, water chestnuts, baby corn, bamboo shoots, mushroom, carrots, etc.), meats (beef, pork/BBQ Pork and chicken) and seafood (shrimp, lobster/crab meat and scallops) cooked in a simple brown sauce.

I don’t think I have ever encountered any dish quite like Happy Family. It’s a great one-pot meal filled with goodness and taste! In my book, Happy Family is one of those delicious guilt-free happy meals that symbolizes a well-balanced Chinese dish and an American-Chinese creation that I actually enjoy.

What is your favorite American-Chinese dish?

(Click Page 2 for the Happy Family Recipe)

Pages: 1 2

Crab Rangoon is an appetizer found in many Chinese restaurants in the United States. A classic American creation, crab rangoon is basically fried wonton filled with cream cheese with tiny bits of crab meat. I first encountered Crab Rangoon at a Chinese restaurant in the Midwest, when I was pursuing my Master’s Degree. The restaurant serves typical American-Chinese fare; the…

(Chinese recipes, prepare authentic Chinese food now!) Vegetables are healthy and great, but they are boring and hard to cook. Unlike protein (such as meat or fish), vegetables don’t have much flavor. In Chinese cooking, the key to cooking vegetable dishes lies in the creative use of  side ingredients and sauces to bring out the taste and texture of vegetables….

Traditionally, Lo Mein is a popular noodle style in Hong Kong where noodles are boiled, drained and then stirred in with clear broth or on the side or with a house special soy sauce. The ‘stirred noodles’ are served with vegetables, wontons, and meats such as BBQ pork, Cantonese beef stew, etc. However, the popular chinese take-out Lo Mein here…

I am not sure if this is an authentic Japanese recipe, but this is certainly one of my favorite eat-out dish when I dine at Japanese restaurants. This dish is usually called Seafood Dynamite, or Baked Seafood in Dynamite Sauce, or something along that line. In any case, it’s basically baked assortment of seafood—usually baby shrimp, bay scallop, clam, etc.—…

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Easy Chinese Recipes: Family Favorites From Dim Sum to Kung Pao

Growing up in a Chinese household in Malaysia where cuisine and culture were inseparable, Bee Yinn Low developed a deep love and appreciation for food. Her early memories of helping her mother prepare steamy and fragrant Chinese meals solidified into a way of life for Bee as a working woman in Southern California. A love of Chinese food didn't translate well to a modern Western lifestyle due to time and ingredient constraints. Rather than give up her favorite foods, Bee experimented with recreating the unforgettable flavors of her youth with her limited time and using ingredients found in local supermarkets. She managed to develop versions of her favorite Chinese dishes that had all the taste—but were a lot less work!

In Easy Chinese Recipes, Bee shares her passion and expertise in Chinese cooking. It features a collection of Bee's all-time favorite dishes—the foods she loves to cook and eat at home. She includes updated traditional family recipes along with her own versions of the best Chinese restaurant dishes from around Asia, such as Crispy Shrimp Dumplings, Kung Pao Chicken, Sweet-and-Sour Pork, Homestyle Chow Mein Noodles and Mongolian Beef.

Building off her passion, expertise and the avid following she has on her website, rasamalaysia.com, the Internet's most popular Asian food and cooking site, Easy Chinese Recipes is sure to become the go-to book for cooks interested in creating Chinese meals at home.

Price: $24.95

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A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family

Includes a Reading Group Guide and Author Q&A 

 

“ Starting with charred fried rice and ending with flaky pineapple tarts, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan takes us along on a personal journey that most can only fantasize about? an exploration of family history and culture through a mastery of home-cooked dishes. Tan’ s delectable education through the landscape of Singaporean cuisine teaches us that food is the tie that binds.”

? Jennifer 8. Lee, author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles

 

 

After growing up in the most food-obsessed city in the world, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan left home and family at eighteen for America? proof of the rebelliousness of daughters born in the Year of the Tiger. But as a thirtysomething fashion writer in New York, she felt the Singaporean dishes that defined her childhood beginning to call her back. Was it too late to learn the secrets of her grandmothers’ and aunties’ kitchens, as well as the tumultuous family history that had kept them hidden before? In her quest to recreate the dishes of her native Singapore by cooking with her family, Tan learned not only cherished recipes but long-buried stories of past generations.

 

A Tiger in the Kitchen, which includes ten authentic recipes for Singaporean classics such as pineapple tarts and Teochew braised duck, is the charming, beautifully written story of a Chinese-Singaporean ex-pat who learns to infuse her New York lifestyle with the rich lessons of the Singaporean kitchen, ultimately reconnecting with her family and herself.

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'Chinese Tratitional Family Dish' Wall Decal - Removable Graphic

WallMonkeys wall graphics are printed on the highest quality re-positionable, self-adhesive fabric paper. Each order is printed in-house and on-demand. WallMonkeys uses premium materials & state-of-the-art production technologies. Our white fabric material is superior to vinyl decals. You can literally see and feel the difference. Our wall graphics apply in minutes and won't damage your paint or leave any mess. PLEASE double check the size of the image you are ordering prior to clicking the 'ADD TO CART' button. Our graphics are offered in a variety of sizes and prices.

WallMonkeys are intended for indoor use only.

Printed on-demand in the United States Your order will ship within 3 business days, often sooner. Some orders require the full 3 days to allow dark colors and inks to fully dry prior to shipping. Quality is worth waiting an extra day for!

Removable and will not leave a mark on your walls.

'Fotolia' trademark will be removed when printed.

Our catalog of over 10 million images is perfect for virtually any use: school projects, trade shows, teachers classrooms, colleges, nurseries, college dorms, event planners, and corporations of all size.

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On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family

Lisa See, daughter of novelist Carolyn See, brings a novelist's skill to this sprawling ancestral history. Books tracing the roots of overseas Chinese writers are not uncommon these days, but See uncovered in her family tree a capsule history of the Sino-American diaspora: her great-grandfather, Fong See, founded a California business, married a Caucasian woman and fathered many offspring, and returned periodically to China to redistribute some of his wealth and launch another family. See, a Publishers Weekly writer, has conducted extensive interviews and drawn on family lore for an enthralling saga of ambition, prejudice, love, loyalty, and sorrow--social history at its best.

Price: $15.95

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Chipotle Shredded Pork Enchiladas – Family Recipe from Muy Bueno Cooking

Happy Cinco De Mayo! Today we’re celebrating with a guest recipe from some of our favorite ladies. Please welcome our guest writers today: Evangelina, Yvette and Veronica, the lovely ladies from Muy Bueno Cooking.

Today they are sharing the write-up for their amazing stacked Chipotle Shredded Pork Enchiladas!! They are home-cooks from El Paso, Texas who share their love of family, culture and food on their wonderful blog.

Photography by Todd & Diane (that’s us) and this fabulous Recipe is from Muy Bueno Cooking.

Veronica ~ For years my sister Yvette and I have talked about collecting some of our favorite family recipes and putting them into some kind of cookbook, primarily for our kids. We want them to remember exactly how our grandma Jesusita and our mother Evangelina made our favorite recipes.

Yvette and I have fond memories of family events and holidays and all the recipes that accompanied those special events. But most of the recipes were foods we ate everyday. Every recipe has its unique list of ingredients and flavorful story to tell. We never realized how deeply seeded our memories are and how emotional this journey would be for us.  Apparently one can’t exist without the other.

roasted tomatillos and tomatoes for enchilada sauce

As we travel through recipe after recipe, month after month, holiday after holiday, we are so glad we are taking the time to write it all down. It’s definitely a true labor of love.

After our grandmother, Jesusita passed away, Yvette and I each inherited one of her rolling pins. Grandma made everything from tortillas to empanadas with this simple kitchen tool and it brings tears to our hearts as we fondly recall the hours she logged on each rolling pin. Sheesh, if the rolling pins could talk.

We are not professionally trained cooks nor do we claim to have the best recipes but simply, our family’s recipes. Along this journey we’ve learned some stuff about cooking and every once in awhile we get an idea for a new recipe. Sometimes those recipes are really good…thanks to grandma, we know she is watching over us and maybe just maybe, she whispers sweet nothings into our ear to help us find our way around the kitchen.

Following is a sweet story of how my sister found her way around the kitchen and came up with a recipe. I’m sure she heard sweet nothings whispered into her ear that day

Yvette ~ We grew up eating cheese enchiladas every Friday and so I crave enchiladas often because it reminds me of home. One weekend my craving kicked into high gear and I was disappointed to discover that I did not have any chile pods to make our traditional red enchilada sauce.

While digging through the pantry I found a lonely can of chipotle peppers and knew I had to try to make enchilada sauce with it. My husband prefers shredded chicken in his enchiladas but suggested we substitute it for pork. I was hesitant at first because I’m a cheese enchilada kinda girl, but I set my stubborn Latina ways aside and we tried the pork.

The combination of flavors with smoky-spicy chipotle sauce and the tender shredded pork was a match made in heaven. My hubby and I loved it, we swooned over it, and like piggies we ate our stack of enchiladas without coming up for air. The next morning we raced to the kitchen to do it all over again, only this time we had the sauce over chilaquiles

don’t forget the margaritas! cheers!

 Print This Recipe
Chipotle Shredded Pork Enchiladas
Recipe and write up by the lovely ladies at Muy Bueno Cooking. Taste tested, devoured, and photographed (not necessarily in that order) by us, White on Rice Couple. Warning: This recipe is spicy! If you are a wimp (ahem, I mean not a fan of spicy chile) then use half the can of chipotle peppers or add an additional can of tomato sauce. But don’t forget that the spice in the sauce will get mellowed a touch when added to the tortillas, pork, and other fillings.

Makes: 4-6 servings
Time Saver: Set your slow cooker in the morning and shred the pork in the evening.

Ingredients

Pork

1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin, shredded *see instructions below1 (8 ounce) beer1 bay leaf

Sauce

1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes1 can (7 ounce) chipotle peppers in adobo sauce1 can (8 ounce) tomato sauce (depending on spice tolerance you may need an extra can)2 roma tomatoes, roasted *see instructions below4 tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and roasted *see instructions below½ large white onion, chopped2 garlic cloves1 tablespoon flour½ cup water1 tablespoon olive oilSalt (to taste)

Enchiladas

½ cup canola oil, for frying12 – 18 corn tortillas, preferably white1 medium white onion, diced1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (preferably Enchilado or Muenster)1/2 cup crema Mexicana or sour cream, for topping

Directions

Shredded Pork
Place the pork tenderloin and bay leaf in a slow cooker; pour the beer over the meat. Cover and cook on low until well cooked and the pork shreds easily, 6-8 hours. Discard the bay leaf. Remove the pork from the slow cooker and shred the meat. Set aside for assembly.

Roast Tomatoes and Tomatillos
Arrange tomatoes and tomatillos on a baking sheet. Place your oven rack as close to the broiler as possible. Broil the tomatoes and tomatillos for about 20 minutes until softened, turning over after 10 minutes. If the skin has blackened remove it. Set aside.

For Sauce
In a blender place the can of diced tomatoes, chipotle peppers with adobo sauce, tomato sauce, roasted tomatoes and roasted tomatillos, chopped onion, garlic cloves, flour, and water. Puree until smooth.

Heat olive oil in large skillet. Pour mixture into skillet and stir. Taste and season with salt, usually about 2 teaspoons. If sauce is too spicy, add an additional can of tomato sauce and stir. If sauce is too thick, add water until desired constancy is reached, making sure to add more salt if necessary.

Assembly
In a large skillet, heat canola oil until hot. Fry tortillas until softened. Drain on paper towels. Place lightly fried tortillas, one at a time, in pot of warm red sauce, turning to coat. Place coated tortillas on serving plate. Layer each tortilla with cooked pork, grated cheese, and onions. Repeat layering until stacked three to four tortillas. Serve with a dollop of crema or sour cream and your favorite side dish.

Our family prefers our enchiladas stacked, but if you are cooking for a large group, oven style might be the way to go.

Oven Style
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread 1 cup of the sauce in an ungreased 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Fry tortillas in hot oil just until softened. Drain on paper towels. Fill with cooked pork, cheese, and onion. Roll, placing seam side down in baking dish side by side in a single layer and pour 2 cups of the sauce over enchiladas. Sprinkle with more grated cheese and bake until warm, about 15 – 20 minutes. Garnish with a dollop of crema or sour cream and your favorite side dish.

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A focus back to family, cooking and feeding from The Whole Family Cookbok : Video

How can you not love a family who’ve named their chickens “Kung Pao, Soup, Cacciatore.” ? These are our kind of people.

The “Kung Pao” family mentioned is none other than Michelle Stern of WhatsCookingWithKids.com and her lovely clan. We had a great time with them filming a promo for Michelle’s upcoming book, The Whole Family Cookbook.

Former high school teacher now dedicated to teaching seasonal and healthy cooking classes for kids, Michelle’s work is making a difference in so many people’s lives. It was a pleasure to get to know her and her family better as we worked on this project.

Without further fuss or fumble, here’s Michelle’s promo that we produced for The Whole Family Cookbook:

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