Vietnamese Cuisine

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Welcome to the sumptuous and spicy culinary world of Vietnamese Cuisine!

Please note: For your convenience, you can click on the recipes listed below and be taken directly to a page with just that one recipe on it, in printer-friendly format.

You are certainly welcomed to read through this whole page, all the recipes are here as well, with explanations,  pertinent information on background, history, customs, special notes, etc. There are even some videos on how to prepare you Vietnamese cuisine dishes, so it is well worth your while to peruse the entire page.

But if you are the type of person who likes to cut right to the chase, here is the list, in alphabetical order:

Bo Kho (Vietnamese Beef and Beer Stew)

Bo Nuong Xa (Grilled Lemon Grass Beef)

Marinated Aromatic Lamb Chops

Nuaoc Cham Sauce

Vietnamese Tea Smoked Chicken

This first example of fine Vietnamese Cuisine, is one of the best authentic Vietnamese food recipes I’ve ever made and enjoyed, truly a mouthwatering culinary experience. And, as an added bonus, this also falls nicely under the category of best and easy Vietnamese food recipes, so you won’t have any trouble whipping up this dinner delight.

This grilled meat dish is best served with a special sauce, so you will find that quick and simple recipe right after this one.

So have a good time preparing it and enjoy!

Bo Nuong Xa

(Grilled Lemon Grass Beef)

Vietnamese Cuisine: Bo Nuong Xa

Ingredients:
For the Meat and Marinade-
For the Garnish-
  • Fresh cilantro, rough chopped
  • Fresh basil, rough chopped
  • Fresh mint, fine chopped
  • 2 stalks of green onions, white parts chopped fine, tender parts of green stalks rough chopped
Directions:
  1. Make the marinade by mixing together the soy sauce, sugar, garlic, pepper, sesame seeds, and lemon grass in a medium sized bowl.
  2. Put the sliced sirloin into the bowl and stir well, coating completely all sides of the slices with the marinade. Cover the bowl, and keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours, even longer if you want.
  3. Turn on your grill, and bring the heat up on high setting.
  4. Remove the sirloin slices from the marinade (you can discard the marinade, although it will still be potent enough for one more use if you want to store it in the fridge) and thread them onto the skewers.
  5. Before putting the loaded skewers on to cook, brush the grill’s grate with oil or spray with a non-stick cooking oil. Grill the meat for about 5 minutes per side, depending on how well you like your beef done.
  6. Either serve the meat still loaded on the skewers, or remove the slices from the skewers and serve on Romaine lettuce leaves.
  7. Garnish with the fresh herbs listed above in “Ingredients”.
  8. Best served with Nuaoc Cham Sauce.

Nuaoc Cham Sauce

Nuoc Cham Sauce

Ingredients:

(serves 6)

Directions:
  1. In a medium sized bowl, put in the water, garlic, fish sauce, red pepper flakes, lime juice, and sugar, and mix together well.
  2. Adjust ingredients and seasonings to your tastes, adding more of anything that suits your palate.
  3. That’s it, you are done!

This sauce goes well with Grilled Lemon Grass Beef and many other Vietnamese red meats dishes.

This next offering is among the best, authentic Vietnamese food recipes you will find. A stew, featuring assorted vegetables, sirloin beef, very well spiced, with broth and beer.

So try your hand now, and make Bo Kho Vietnamese beef stew for yourself, family and friends. If you like rich, hearty, and spicy stews, this one’s for you.

Bo Kho

(Spicy Vietnamese Beef and Beer Stew)

korean beef and beer stew

Ingredients:
Directions:
  1. Take a very large saucepan, pour in some olive oil, about 2 tbsp., and 1 tbsp. of butter, and bring heat up to medium high.
  2. Add in your cubed beef. Stir as you cook, so the pieces do not stick together, and keep cooking until all sides of the cubes are nicely browned. Take the beef out and set aside for now.
  3. Add in a little more oil and butter (same 2 to 1 ratio) and now sauté your carrots, potatoes, and both bell peppers, just long enough to slightly soften them, but not cooked all the way through.
  4. Now add in the hot chili pepper, onion and garlic, and sauté until the garlic and onion are fragrant, and the onion is translucent.
  5. Now add in the broth, the beer, and the beef soup cube (crush the cube before adding it in). Turn the heat up to a achieve a vigorous boil, then reduce to a lively simmer.
  6. Next, add back in the sautéed beef cubes; stir and blend all the mixture together well, and adjust heat to maintain a lively simmer.
  7. Last to add in, put your salt, pepper, sugar and Worcestershire sauce in the mix, and blend together with the rest. Do a taste test, and adjust seasonings as necessary.
  8. Simmer-cook the stew for a good hour, even longer is fine, and serve while hot. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator and will taste even better when reheated the next day.

Lamb is a well liked meat in Vietnamese cuisine, and this next recipe is a marvelously flavored and textured dish featuring the gamey but oh-so-tasty lamb.

The unique blend of flavors created by the marinade makes it unmistakeably among the finest authentic Vietnamese food recipes. The play on sweet and tangy sour created by the use of sugar, lime juice, and Prik Pao sauce is exquisite.

Plan ahead for this one, the 8 hours minimum marinating is key to the dish turning out as best as possible.

Marinated Aromatic Lamb Chops

lamb chops

Ingredients:

(serves 5)

Directions:
  1. Place the lamb chops into a large resealable plastic refrigerator bag. (you might need two, depending on size of bags you have)
  2. In a mixing bowl, combine the garlic slices, garlic powder, sugar, salt, chili powder, 1 tbsp. lime juice, olive oil, soy sauce, Prik Pao, and ground pepper.
  3. Pour the marinade into the bag(s) containing the lamb chops, and toss and turn until the marinade is evenly distributed.
  4. Seal the bag(s) and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for a good 8 hours—overnight is best. Occasionally turn the bag(s) over, to ensure even distribution and coating of the marinade for all the chops.
  5. The next day, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Take the lamb out of the fridge, and let it sit until at room temperature.
  6. Roast the lamb in an uncovered roasting pan until it reaches your desired level on doneness—usually 20 12 minutes for rare, 15 minutes for medium rare, 20 for medium well, and 25 to 30 minutes for well done.
  7. Garnish with sprinklings of chopped green onions and cilantro, and lime and lemon juice over the chops before serving.
  8. Serve over white rice, with a favorite green vegetable dish.

There are many smoking chicken recipes, of course, but the Vietnamese Tea Smoked Chicken is, well, very Asian, and very Vietnamese.

The distinct flavor the tea leaves and rice impart to the chicken is an ethnic food adventure you’ll remember and want to repeat for a long time, trust me.

Vietnamese Tea Smoked Chicken

tea smoked chicken done 2

tea in wok with foilchicken tea smoking in wok

Ingredients:
  • One whole chicken, 4 lb.
  • 1 tbsp. Szechuan peppercorns
  • 2 tbsp. kosher salt
  • 6 sliced rounds of peeled fresh ginger root, smashed
  • 4 green onions, trimmed and rough chopped
  • 5 2” to 3” long strips of tangerine peel, cut into little pieces
  • 3 cinnamon sticks cut into little pieces
  • ½ cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup uncooked rice
  • 1/3 cup green or black tea, or both, mixed together

You will need: Chinese steamer (or equivalent steaming implement)

Directions:
  1. Wash and clean the chicken thoroughly and, using your fingers, starting where the neck was cut off, pry up the edge of the skin, prod, lift, and separate the skin from the breasts, taking care not to break the skin. Once the skin has been loosened all over the breast meat, (or at least as far as you can), set the bird aside.
  2. In a wok or deep and heavy skillet over medium low heat, toast the Szechuan peppercorns and salt for about 4 or 5 minutes until the peppercorns are starting to smoke and the salt has discolored from white to a beige color. Using a mortar and pestle, grind and mash them together into a powder.
  3. Rub two-thirds of the salt-peppercorn powder all over the chicken, and get some under the skin and all over the breast meat as well. Place the chicken in a large bowl, cover, and keep refrigerated overnight.
  4. The next day, take the chicken out and let it sit long enough to be at room temperature.
  5. Set up a Chinese steamer with water to boil.
  6. Place the chicken, green onion, and ginger in a bowl of suitable size to fit in the steamer, and steam the chicken for up to 40 minutes, until where you can poke the thighs with a fork or knife tip and the juices run a very light pink—not at all bloody. Start checking on it after 30 minutes.
  7. Turn the burner off, take the lid off, and allow the chicken to cool naturally—it will still be cooking.
  8. Put the chicken back into the refrigerator for 1 or even 2 days before you smoke it.
  9. Before you smoke your chicken, again allow it to return to room temperature.
  10. Using a wok or large pot, line the inside with aluminum foil. Mix the tangerine peel, rice, sugar, cinnamon, and tea together well, and place the mixture in the center of the bottom of your wok or pot. Put a rack over the smoking mixture, so the chicken will sit about an inch above the mixture. Place the chicken, breast side down, on the rack. The reason for this is, during the smoking, the rich juices from the dark meat will be draining down through the white breast meat, making the white meat nice and juicy.
  11. Cover the wok or pot with a foil-lined lid and raise the heat to high. As soon as smoke starts seeping out from under the lid, turn the heat down to medium-high, or to where faint wisps of smoke are still seeping out. Smoke for 20 minutes, until the chicken is a rich, deep brown, almost blackened. If 20 minutes doesn’t do it, add some more sugar and rice to the smoking mixture and smoke it for another 5 to 10 minutes.
  12. Remove from the burner, and allow the chicken to cool a bit before carving.
  13. To serve, place chicken on a rack and cut it up, place the chicken pieces/slices on an attractive serving platter, and serve with the remaining salt-peppercorn in a separate bowl on the table for extra seasoning personal tastes.

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