Delicious Vietnam #6 Roundup

Delicious Vietnam #6 attracted some wonderful entries, with a slant towards vegetarian dishes.  Vegetables feature prominently in Vietnamese food anyway, and at least several days a month many Vietnamese eat vegetarian dishes, so it is no surprise to see many participants posting vegetarian recipes.  All of the posts look delicious and will have you eager to try recreating them.

Anh and I both tried our hands at papaya salad, Anh's being strictly vegetarian, while mine features shrimp and fish sauce.  Here's the link to Anh's post: http://www.anhsfoodblog.com/2010/09/vietnamese-vegan-papaya-salad-delicious.html

My take on papaya salad can be found here: http://rumahmakanmurni.blogspot.com/2010/10/papaya-salad-with-grilled-shrimp-goi-u.html

Hong and Kim posted a recipe for soup with stuffed bitter melon.  Their version of canh kho qua can be found here: http://ravenouscouple.blogspot.com/2010/10/canh-kho-qua-bitter-melon-soup.html

Mai also chose to feature a soup.  She chose to post a recipe for bun bung.  Here's a link to her dish: http://www.flavorboulevard.com/bun-bung-sort-of/

Lan posted a classic Vietnamese comfort food, com ga.  I certainly wouldn't be angry about having this for dinner.  Here's the link to her post: Com Ga - Vietnamese Chicken & Rice

Pepy posted two related recipes.  She presented some delicious looking chao tom accompanied by  nuoc mam cham.  Here are the links to her dishes: http://indonesia-eats.blogspot.com/2010/10/vietnamese-dipping-fish-sauce-nuoc-mam.html and http://indonesia-eats.blogspot.com/2010/10/vietnamese-grilled-shrimp-on-sugarcane.html

Debra chose to do a vegetarian version of banh mi.  Her version features a mushroom paté and looks delicious.  Here's a link to her post:http://bearheadsoup.blogspot.com/2010/10/banh-mi-chay-delicious-vietnam-6.html

 Finally, we had several desserts.  Miss Adventure posted a recipe for a simple, yet delicious banh khoai mi.   This is just the kind of dessert my wife loves, so I'm sure I'll be giving it a try sometime soon.  The link to her post is here: http://missadventureathome.blogspot.com/2010/10/banh-khoai-mi-vietnamese-cassava.html

Julia also posted a recipe for a dessert.  Che is one of those treats that people discover when they get the chance to travel to Vietnam.  There are countless versions using a variety of ingredients.  Julia's features corn, lotus seeds and peanuts.  Here's a link to her post: http://beginnermomontherun.blogspot.com/2010/10/delicious-vietnam-6-hubsters-che-with.html

I'd like to thank everyone for their participation in Delicious Vietnam #6, the monthly blogging event celebrating Vietnamese food.  Thanks to Anh and Kim and Hoang for starting this monthly celebration, and for allowing me to host this month's roundup.

The host for next month is Nina, of the blog MissAdventureAtHome.  The submission deadline is November 14, 2010.  For full details on how to participate, please go to the Delicious Vietnam page at Ravenous Couple's blog.

Weekend Wokking # 23 Roundup--Garlic

I had been anticipating a great number and great variety of entries for this month's Weekend Wokking.  Garlic is such a wondrous herb; good for both digestion and the blood, it has the added benefit of being a natural vampire repellent (and judging from popular culture, vampires are on the increase). It is also virtually universal to all cuisines. Each cuisine has an affinity for this cousin to the onion and finds a way to incorporate it in popular dishes.

The variety and excellence of the submissions did not disappoint.  We are able to assemble a multi-course meal of garlic dishes, from soup to sides to main courses.  Starting with a delicious chilled soup from Sweatha, we end with a tasty dish of fried rice from Weekend Wokking's creator, Wandering Chopsticks.  In between we have some Korean kimchi, a hearty beef stew, some Chinese pork in a luscious garlic sauce, and a spring tart with asparagus.  Each dish celebrates garlic in its own way.  Together, they show why garlic is such an esteemed element in so many dishes the world over.

Our first entry is from Sweatha of TastyCurryLeaf, who coincidentally will be hosting next month's roundup. She made a refreshing Chilled Garlic Soup with 17 cloves of garlic. She worried the garlic might be overpowering, but found it to be understated when she first tasted the soup. You can read all about it here.

Next comes some Baechu Kimchi from Christine at Kits Chow.  Chilies, garlic,  ginger and cabbage--what's not to love?  Christine's detailed instructions on how to make your own supply of this garlicky kimchi can be found here.

EJL of Made with Optimism made a hearty Winter Beef Stew.  This would have been welcomed last week in northern California when we were suffering an unseasonably cold and wet week for spring break.  The full write up is here.

TS and JS of  (eatingclub)Vancouver made White Pork with Garlic Sauce, Two Ways (蒜泥白肉), a pork dish that features a luscious garlic sauce.  As the lotus rises from and flowers out of mud, so the essenge of garlic blossoms from the "mud garlic" of this sauce.  Their interesting account of the discovery of the secret to this dish is here.  

I had originally intended to post a more assertively flavored garlic recipe, but I couldn't pass on the spring garlic and asparagus at the farmers' market.  My post on an Asparagus and Spring Garlic Tart is here.

Finishing up, we have Garlic Fried Rice With Eggs from Wandering Chopsticks.  This is another of those dishes that simply celebrates the zing that garlic can impart.  Fried rice is a dish that can go in so many directions depending on what the cook wants to do with it.  For a complete account of this garlic fried rice as well as links to other variations, go here.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this month's Weekend Wokking.  It was a real pleasure to host this event.  I probably would have never started a blog if it weren't for Wandering Chopsticks' helpful primer on starting a blog, so it was nice to be able to host this almost a year to the day after my first post.

The ingredient for May's Weekend Wokking is tofu.

Sweatha, of TastyCurryLeaf will be hosting the roundup on Wednesday, May 5th.  Please send entries by 11:59 p.m., Sunday, May 2 to: tastycurryleaf @gmail.com .