Beverages to Go With My 'Indochine' Vietnamese Dinner

This Month's Film: Indochine
Cuisine: Vietnamese

Tea and coffee are Vietnam's most popular beverages. A special coffee is grown locally in the Vietnamese highlands in the South/Central part of Vietnam. The beans are roasted French style, and a dark coffee is made by dripping, which is usually served with condensed milk. There is no specific brand, but is rather known as "cafe sua" or "coffee with milk" - served hot or over ice cubes.

Another popular beverage is bubble or pearl tea, which originated in Taiwan. Tea is mixed with various fruit juices and large pearls of tapioca are suspended in the beverage.

Vietnam has no domestic spirits per se, such as brandy or whiskey, therefore most alcoholic spirits are imported. However, Vietnam has three domestic beers, Hue, 33, and Saigon Export.

The last time I made Vietnamese food, I served two mildly sweet Napa Valley wines, a reisling and a gewurztraminer. But this time, I think I'm going to go with beer. It's summertime, and the weather is perfect for a nice cold brew. I doubt I'll have much luck finding any of Vietnam's finest in our local markets, so I'll have to settle for the next best thing, perhaps another Asian label like Tsing Tao or San Miguel.

A Call for Chopsticks Click here for details.

08:14 PM PDT Permalink |

Deciding on the 'Indochine' Vietnamese Menu

This Month's Film: Indochine
Cuisine: Vietnamese

Last year's Vietnamese menu included Appetizers of Vietnamese Rice Paper Spring Rolls with Shrimp; Lemongrass Broth with Seafood Dumplings; Watercress and Green Papaya Salad with Cellophane Noodles and Hanoi Fried Yellow Fish Nuggets; for the main course, Clay Pot Pork Loin with Papaya, Mint & Green Chili Relish, Stir-Fried Spring Vegetables and Garlic-Ginger Rice; and for dessert, Papaya-Ginger and Mint Tea Sorbet with Ripe Papaya Slices and Fresh Mint Garnish. The menu below is my list of runners-up, a selection of Vietnamese dishes that were tempting, but didn't make the first round, for the simple reason that there are only so many hours in a day, and there's only so much room on the dinner table. Can't wait to try them all.

Appetizers: Seafood Spring Rolls, Beef Skewers with Lime, Vietnamese Pickles
Soup: Chicken with Lemongrass
Salad: Golden Fish Nuggets over Baby Greens with Watercress and Papaya
Main Course: Stuffed Crabs
Side Dishes: Asian Vegetable Medley and Spicy Vietnamese Noodles
Dessert: Creme Caramel with Coconut

A Call for Chopsticks Click here for details.

12:01 AM PDT Permalink |

Researching Vietnamese Recipes

This Month's Film: Indochine
Cuisine: Vietnamese

Although it's been a year since I made my first Vietnamese meal, I still remember the experience as if it were yesterday. I also remember all the tempting recipes that didn't make the first cut, so I am looking forward to including them on this month's menu. As always with southeast Asian food, Corinne Trang's Essentials of Asian Cuisine will be an invaluable resource, along with a mosaic of Vietnamese recipes available on the Internet.

Once the research is done, I will synthesize my findings into my own creations, while taking care to maintain the essence of the cuisine. I already have a long list of recipes in mind and will narrow them down to a five-course meal tomorrow. And as much work goes into any elaborate meal in unfamiliar cusine, choosing from among the kaleidoscope of irresistible dishes is always the hardest part.

A Call for Chopsticks Click here for details.

12:01 AM PDT Permalink |

Stocking a Vietnamese Pantry

This Month's Film: Indochine
Cuisine: Vietnamese

Vietnamese cuisine has one of the most interesting arrays of ingredients of any in the world. They include Nuoc Mam (Asian fish sauce), which is the heart and soul of nearly every Vietnamese dish, as well as Soy Sauce, Rice Paper Wrappers, Chinese 5-Spice Powder, Tamarind Paste, Saw Leaves, Pickled Vegetables, Dried Mushrooms, Rice Noodles, Tofu, Jasmine Rice, Turmeric, Anise, Annatto Seed, Cinnamon, Rice Wine Vinegar, Tapioca, Palm Sugar, Sesame Seeds and Sesame Oil.

Fresh ingredients include Lemongrass, Green Papayas, Pineapples, Bananas, Tomatoes, Limes, Ginger Root, Coconuts, Daikon Radishes, Red & Green Bell Peppers, Asian Eggplants, Thai Chili Peppers, Lettuce, Bok Choy, Watercress, Bean Sprouts, Cilantro, Mint, Thai Basil, Scallions, Carrots, Cucumbers, Onions, Shallot, Garlic, Mushrooms, Roasted Peanuts.

All these inspiring ingredients are used to prepare every imaginable cut of pork, beef, and poultry, as well as a bounty of fresh seafoods in seemingly endless ways, each more delicious and exotic than the next.

A Call for Chopsticks Click here for details.

06:32 PM PDT Permalink |

About Vietnamese Cuisine

This Month's Film: Indochine
Cuisine: Vietnamese

A little over a year ago, I made my first foray into Vietnamese cuisine, and in the process, I researched the history and the ingredients involved in the creation of an authentic Vietnamese-style meal. And since the essence of Vietnamese cuisine has not changed since then, here is what I wrote about it the first time around:

Although Vietnamese cuisine is unique, it has evolved over many centuries from Chinese, Indian and French Colonial influences. Vietnam is also distinctly regional, from the cooler northern region, the rich cultural Hue region in the center, and the tropical southern region, each with its own indigenous vegetables, seafood and wildlife, each with its own style and spice. Northern cuisine is lighter and less pungent, the cuisine of the central Hue region, once the site of the ancient capital, is flavorful and elaborate, while the southern region falls under the influence of Chinese cuisine, with more pungent spices and stir-fry techniques. The southern region is also the melting pot of French and Indian influences characterized by curries and European ingredients such as bread, potatoes, asparagus, shallots, and fine herbs.

The quality of Vietnamese cuisine relies mainly on fresh ingredients lightly prepared and beautifully presented. Many classic dishes are simple variations on a couple dozen basic ingredients, including bean sauce, chicken stock, coconut milk, fish sauce known as nuoc mam, 5-spice powder, ginger, ground chili paste, hoisin sauce, jasmine rice, kafir lime leaves, lemongrass, mung bean sprouts, mushrooms, oyster sauce, rice noodles, rice paper and tamarind.

The preparation of Vietnamese cuisine requires remarkably few utensils. Most any Vietnamese meal can be made using only a mortar and pestle, a rice cooker, a wok, a small charcoal stove, a basic set of chef's knives and a large pair of chopsticks. The most common cooking methods are braising, stir-frying, deep frying, steaming and grilling.

With such succulent memories of my 'Scent of Green Papaya' Dinner & a Movie, I can't wait to try it all over again with a different palette of Vietnamese dishes and an evening spent enjoying them while watching Indochine.

A Call for Chopsticks Click here for details.

03:58 PM PDT Permalink |

Indochine: About the Film

This Month's Film: Indochine
Cuisine: Vietnamese

A novel variation on the 'Electra Complex' adds an element of tension to Indochine, as Catherine Deneuve in the role of Eliane, an iron-willed rubber plantation heiress and her adopted daughter Camille ply their feminine wiles for the affection of a handsome young officer in colonial Vietnam. The dance scene is not to be missed...

A Call for Chopsticks Click here for details.

12:01 AM PDT Permalink |

Welcome to Dinner & a Movie for the Month of June

This month I will be revisiting both the cuisine of Vietnam and the classic French-Vietnamese film Indochine, starring Catherine Deneuve. With the delightful, delicious and unexpected success of my first attempt at Vietnamese cuisine over a year ago, when I chose it as my very first Dinner & a Movie meal for The Scent of Green Papaya, I'm looking forward to trying some different dishes that weren't included on last year's menu. And now that I'm much more familiar with Vietnamese cuisine and am on a more relaxed cooking schedule, no doubt, the results will be even better.

A Call for Chopsticks Click here for details.

The chopsticks in today's photo were a gift from my friend and award-winning videographer extraordinaire Alice Jackson, the very first contributor to my 'Call for Chopsticks' campaign. The set was a souvenir from a trip that Alice took with her husband John to the city of Suzhou, China. Thanks again, Alice, especially for parting with such a cherished memento from your travels, and congratulations on your People's Choice 'Napacademy Award'.

12:01 AM PDT Permalink |

'Raise the Red Lantern' Photos & Recipes

This Month's Film: Raise the Red Lantern
Cuisine: Chinese

My 'Raise the Red Lantern' Provinical Chinese Dinner & a Movie is a fait accompli. With this being the first month of my new, more relaxed cooking schedule, it has been a very rewarding and enlightening experience. Instead of going crazy in the kitchen making a dozen dishes in one day, I prepared each one at various times throughout the month, which allowed me to focus on each recipe in much more detail. And the wonderful thing about that is if a dish doesn't turn out perfectly, I have the option of making another attempt the next day without ruining a whole meal. Taking photographs of the finished dishes is also much more relaxed and focused [pun intended], although it does present a daily challenge.

So without further ado...Here is a link to all the Recipes and Photos.

A Call for Chopsticks Click here for details.

04:55 PM PDT Permalink |

Film Reveiw: Raise the Red Lantern

This Month's Film: Raise the Red Lantern
Cuisine: Chinese

Raise the Red Lantern was as good the second time around as it was the first time I saw it, and has now taken its place alongside Babette's Feast as my favorite international film. Here is a link to my Raise the Red Lantern Film Review .

A Call for Chopsticks Click here for details.

05:57 PM PDT Permalink |

Luscious Lychees

This Month's Film: Raise the Red Lantern
Cuisine: Chinese

I have a confession to make. I have been so hyper-focused on finishing my manuscript and getting caught up on my gardening that I have no inspiration to bake Chinese almond cookies, not to mention that it's too hot in the kitchen today to light the oven. So I decided to focus on the lychee fruit instead, which is an amazing story all to itself.

Nearly two years ago, I interviewed Bill Mee and Crystal Folino, the owners of a lychee orchard in Florida, for an article on ThingsAsian.com. As part of my research, I had them send me a shipment of lychee fruit since I had never tried them fresh, only canned in syrup. Little did I know what an abundant treat was winging its way to me. When the package arrived, I was overwhelmed by a bag filled with two pounds of the perfumed treasures. Of course I couldn't resist the temptation to taste one immediately, so I plunged right in. I must have eaten a dozen lychees in that first encounter with the fresh variety, and shared a generous portion of them with Rene and Will that evening. But lychee fruit spoils very quickly, and therefore should be consumed as soon as possible so that none of its fragrant beauty is wasted. So I gave lots of them away to friends and clients. But since I'd read in my research that lychee fruit freezes remarkably well, I kept a dozen or so to save in my freezer for a rainy day.

Well...it wasn't raining today, but I got out the frozen lychees anyway. And amazingly, they were still as firm and sweet as the day they landed on my doorstep, and even survived the move to my new home. They do become slightly mushy upon thawing, so it's best to eat them while still frozen. Not to mention that a frozen lychee is similar in texture but better than any popsicle or sorbet I've ever tasted. So the next time you have the good fortune to find fresh lychees, be sure to buy a few extra to stash in the freezer for a rainy day.

Here is a link to my ThingsAsian article For the Love of Lychees.

A Call for Chopsticks Click here for details.

04:50 PM PDT Permalink |

At Long Last...Mandarin Chicken!

This Month's Film: Raise the Red Lantern
Cuisine: Chinese

With my busy social schedule this week, it took several well-intentioned but failed or postponed attempts to produce the perfect batch of Mandarin Orange Chicken. But tonight, I finally succeeded, and boy was it ever a success. I'd found a recipe on the Internet that looked tempting, but the only part of it I ended up using was the batter for deep-frying the chicken. I was a little skeptical at first, since it called for cornstarch and baking mix, but it fried up golden brown and crispy, and not the least bit greasy. The sauce, on the other hand, was a disaster last night, and not even remotely close to what I had envisioned. So I saved some of the uncooked chicken for another try today.

This time, I made a sauce from scratch, using nothing more than intuition and common sense. I started with a half cup of orange juice concentrate, a quarter cup of brown sugar, two tablespoons of soy sauce, a tablespoon of rice wine, and a tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with two tablespoons of water. I simmered it until it was thickened, and it turned out just as I had imagined, tangy and citrus-y with the perfect consistency for coating the golden brown chicken, which I tossed in a bowl with the sauce and sprinkled with a few sesame seeds. Perfectly cooked, perfectly beautiful and perfectly delicious!

A Call for Chopsticks Click here for details.

10:34 PM PDT Permalink |

Allegria Bellissima!

This Month's Film: Raise the Red Lantern
Cuisine: Chinese

After three straight weeks of total immersion in naught but Chinese and Japanese cuisine, it was a welcome and much-needed departure from my soy sauce and ginger-laden world to step out for the evening with friends for a classic Italian dinner. It all started a few weeks ago over a glass of wine at Small World Restaurant in downtown Napa, when I happened to mention to the owner, my friend Michael Alimusa, that I would be making my first attempt at preparing Turkish food for my Dinner & a Movie in November. Michael has an extensive network of Middle-Eastern friends, and when I asked if he knew anyone from Turkey who might guide me in selecting the dishes for the menu, he snapped his fingers and said that some Turkish friends of his had recently opened a restaurant called Allegria in a historic building just around the corner. He said that they had been reminding him for months to come and have dinner, and would Rene and I like to join him and his wife Jenny at Allegria, where he could introduce me to them. So we did.

Ristorante Allegria occupies what used to be an old stone bank building, with tall, narrow windows and cavernous ceilings, and according to Jenny, had been vacant for years and was used as a venue for many a town hall meeting. Rene also recalled exhibiting some of his artwork there a few years ago at a show sponsored by the Hispanic Arts Council of the Napa Valley. Its most recent tenants, however, have given the stately old building a much-deserved facelift in fine Italian style, although the furnishings and fixtures are conspicuously similar to those of Tra Vigne in St. Helena, and of Tuscany, just around the corner on First Street. Nevertheless, they've created an old-world atmosphere that is at once both cozy and spacious.

We started the meal with a glass of wine and a loaf of crusty sourdough bread served with a bowl of sun-dried tomatoes and Italian spices in virgin olive oil that was so delicious I could have been content to sate my appetite without even ordering from the menu. But there were so many tempting items on the menu it was agonizing to choose from among them, and before we even got around to placing our dinner orders with the waiter, he arrived with four plates of Skirt Steak Satay on a Bed of Braised Spinach, and what a treat that was...savory and tender morsels of perfectly grilled medium-rare beef over baby spinach leaves wilted in olive oil with a whisper of chili spice. And again, I could have been content to sate my appetite with only that...and perhaps a little more of the bread and olive oil.

Nevertheless, Michael and I both ordered the Grilled Lamb Tenderloin with Rosemary over Risotto with Green Peas, while Jenny decided on the Chicken Breast Stuffed with herbs, sweet peppers and Ricotta Cheese, and Rene chose Linguine Frutti di Mare in Spicy Red Sauce. For dessert, Michael ordered Blackberry Sorbet, Jenny chose Chocolate Gelato and Rene and I decided to share the Tiramisu. And as if that weren't enough, when the waiter appeared at the table with our desserts, he brough an extra order of Maple Bread Pudding.

Every bite of the dinner was so good that Allegria may just be my new favorite restaurant, and the only thing better than the food, was the excellent company of two dear friends. Thank you Michael and Jenny, for a truly memorable meal. And as much as I love Asian food, I certainly hope that the chef in heaven is Italian.

A Call for Chopsticks Click here for details.

01:35 PM PDT Permalink |

Hunan Hooray!

This Month's Film: Raise the Red Lantern
Cuisine: Chinese

My Hunan Beef was another tasty success last night [although, dare I say it again?... still not as tasty as my Kung Pao Shrimp the night before.] Nevertheless, the sauce was glossy and smooth, the beef was tender and savory, the broccoli held its own in the stir-fry, and the balance of chili spice and tart vinegar was just right. Definitely a dish I will make again.

The recipes and photos for my 'Raise the Red Lantern' provincial Chinese menu will be posted at the end of the month.

A Call for Chopsticks Click here for details.

12:01 AM PDT Permalink |

What a Day!

This Month's Film: Raise the Red Lantern
Cuisine: Chinese

I knew today was going to be a full one, but little did I know to what degree. It began with the postman ringing my doorbell to deliver a much anticipated book purchase: Sushi for Dummies. I was curious to check out its contents and (to shamelessly borrow the name of Dave Barry and Stephen King's band), found a "Rock Bottom Remainder" on Amazon.com at the unheard of price of one dollar and seventy-six cents, plus a little shipping. I'm looking forward to reading what every dummy should know about sushi.

And what a coincidence too, since I had a lunch date with Rene to visit Sushi Mambo, my favorite local sushi bar, for a chance to chat with the proprietor, Jose Gomez-Cazares to get the inside scoop on how a sushi bar operates for a writing project I'm working on. When Rene arrived to pick me up, he presented me with an intriguing package from Hong Kong that he had sweetly retrieved from my post office box for me.

When it comes to packages that arrive in the mail, I'm like a kid at Christmas, so I brought it along with me to open at lunch. As always, the sushi was vibrantly fresh and impeccably prepared. Jose was in an especially chatty mood, so I learned a lot in our all-too-short visit. And inside the package, I found a beautiful set of blue-and-white porcelain chopsticks sent to me by none other than my publisher. Thank you Albert.

After lunch, we stopped by Small World to say hello to my friend Michael Alimusa, who invited us to join him and his wife Jenny for dinner tomorrow evening at a new restaurant in town. As luck would have it, that's the only date on my dance card this week that wasn't already filled, so it looks like I'm going to get a much-needed break from the kitchen. But it also means that I will have to devote this evening to my Mandarin Orange Chicken recipe.

My son Will arrived in the late afternoon with his friend Jordan, having spent most of it working on an elaborate bridge made entirely of spaghetti for their physics final. I couldn't resist the urge to ask if I should make marinara [grin], but I barely had a chance to say Hi and Bye before he was dressed in his tuxedo and off to the auditorium for his last chorale performance of the year, which, of course, Rene and I attended.

The program was delightful, and Will even had a brief solo in which he introduced one of the musical selections and recited the first stanza of Robert Frost's 'The Road Not Taken'. He was very confident and polished standing there in his tuxedo before a packed auditorium, which, needless to say, made his mother very proud.

Afterwards, Rene and I came home and had Chinese food. I made a batch of Hunan Beef, and re-warmed the Kung Pao Shrimp from the night before, so Rene finally had a taste of what I've been raving about for two days. The Hunan Beef was tender and piquant with a splash of vinegar, and the Kung Pao held up perfectly on reheating, without any loss of color, flavor or crispness of the vegetables. We enjoyed our dinner while watching Finding Neverland, the story of JM Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan, starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet. A lovely little film.

After spending so many days in self-imposed solitary confinement trying to get not one but two manuscripts finished, it was a rare treat to get out of the house to enjoy so many unexpected pleasures. But tomorrow...it's back to the 'Modal Auxilary Mines' for this gal.

A Call for Chopsticks Click here for details.

12:19 PM PDT Permalink |

Kung Pao Wow!

This Month's Film: Raise the Red Lantern
Cuisine: Chinese

I just finished cooking, photographing and sampling [REVELING IN!] my very first attempt at Kung Pao...and Sweet Mother of God! it was far and away the best Chinese food I have ever made, nay, dare I say it?... the best Chinese food I've ever EATEN! Words cannot describe the perfect peppery spice and velvety texture of the sauce, the lingering crispness of the fresh vegetables, and the pearl-pink luxury of the extra large prawns. The only thing missing was someone to share it with. While my new and improved monthly cooking agenda is much more relaxed, with it spread evenly throughout the month instead of happening in an all-in-one stress-fest each time, but sometimes I find mysef all alone in the kitchen preparing and sampling the most sumptuous of dishes.

And having had a little time to reflect on why this particular recipe turned out so much better than any other I've made, I think it's all about CONTROL. And for a Type-A gal like myself, that's music to my ears. Just last week, on a whim, I made a wok-ful of stir-fry vegetables to serve with Grilled Chinese Five Spice Pork Loin. And while it was delicious, since I just tossed everything together in the wok with out measuring or planning, I was somewhat disappointed at how lackluster the fresh vegetables turned out. And I know from experience how easy it is to mishandle and overcook delicate prawns. So this time, I took a totally different approach.

I washed and chopped all the fresh vegetables in advance and had them standing ready to add to the stir-fry at just the right moment. The prawns were deveined with the shells intact, and I mixed up the Kung Pao sauce ahead of time, instead of adding all the ingredients separately to the busy stir-fry and trying to get the balance right on-the-fly.

To start, I put a little sesame oil in the wok and stir-fried the prawns in the shell until they were just pink but not completely done, knowing that they would cook a little more when all the Kung Pao components came together. At just the right moment, I removed them from the wok and set them aside on a plate. Next I added all the chopped vegetables and stir-fried them until they were just beginning to get tender, which is precisely the moment I chose to add the pre-mixed Kung Pao sauce. As soon as the sauce began to thicken, I added water a little at a time until it reached just the right velvety consistency. To finish, I turned off the heat under the wok, added the still-warm prawns and tossed with the vegetables and sauce just enough to coat and integrate them into the gestalt of the dish.

The Result: Kung Pao WOW!

The recipes and photos will be posted at the end of the month.

A Call for Chopsticks Click here for details.

01:00 AM PDT Permalink |