Viet World Kitchen

So Long Year of the Pig

My friend, Terrence Khuu, a professional chef who was formerly at Le Colonial in San Francisco and the executive chef at Blue Ginger in Milpitas, sent this photo in today. The suckling pig was roasted with a sticky rice stuffing. Terrence prepared it as part of a class he taught this past weekend in Emeryville at Paulding and Company's kitchen facilities.

Months ago, Terrence said he was shy in front of people and I got him to help me with a Viet cooking class for Slow Food. Who would have thought that with a whole pig, a few meat hooks and and some chicken wire, the man would cooking and teaching with gas!

Terrence's main gig is professional catering in the Bay Area. If you're interested, contact him at:

terrence_khuu at yahoo.com

If this is his way of saying goodbye to the Year of the Pig, I wonder how he'll welcome in the Year of the Rat?

Tet Flowers and Blossoms

Every year, Vietnamese people go absolutely crazy over Tet. It's our major holiday -- the only time when the country shuts down and people take it easy. They visit their families, clean their homes, decorate, cook, and square away their debts. It's a time to prepare for renewal and rebirth. I usually become a clean freak.

After the house is in order, I reward myself by driving to the nearby Vietnamese enclave in San Jose, California, to buy flowering branches of blossoms to decorate the house.  (If you're curious, I go to the entrance of the Grand Century mall at the corner of McLaughlin and Story, to be specific.) The blossoms are beautiful symbols of life and resilience. Shopping for the delicate branches is part of my annual ritual. In fact, Tet doesn't seem quite right without a few branches of blossoms in the house.

In Vietnam, delicate yellow apricot blossoms, called hoa mai, (above, right) are highly prized in the southern part of the country. The only ones I'm come across in the States have been on display at Tet festivals. The tree is hard to come by but you can certainly come close with Forsythia (right) branches.

Forsythia are grown in the States and usually start flowering in February. This year, with Tet falling in early February (February 7, to be specific), you may be lucky. Forsythia are native to East Asia (China, Korea and Japan) so you'd be staying within the Asian family of flowers.

Northern Vietnamese people prefer reddish-pink or pink blossoms because those hues are harbingers of good fortune. Intensely colored peach blossoms, called hoa dao,  are favored by northerners. In the U.S., vibrant quince blossoms, which are flowering right now(!!), are a fabulous substitute.  Their intense color always stop me in my tracks. 

Around my neighborhood, there are scraggly quince bushes blooming right now. If it' s on public property, I sometimes break off a little branch or two to take home. Since it's not good to pilfer, try a floral shop.

Stone fruit trees (peach, plum and apricot) should start to bloom around Tet too, and their delicate pink flowers are drop-dead gorgeous. When I shop for Tet blossoms, most of what's sold are the light-pink ones. The branches are long and unwieldy so make sure to gently wrap them in newspaper and then transport them home with care. (Bring newspaper with you because the vendor is not likely to have any.) Because the blossoms are mostly in full bloom (or about to open), they can drop flowers and petals in your car, which can be a pain to clean up.

If you don't have yellow, reddish-pink or pink blossoms, white ones will be just fine too!

How to treat the branches: Regardless of how you obtain your branches and which one you get, when you get home, use a hammer to break apart a bit of each branch at the cut end. Crushing the fibrous end ensures that the branch will absorb water well. They'll last longer. Put them in a heavy vase, lest they tip over a small one, and enjoy them for a couple of weeks.  The branches have a life of their own (they may not stand upright and beautiful on their own) so bunch them together with a rubber band before putting them in the vase. Don't forget to change the water every few days.

Growing these trees: If you're inspired to grow these trees, source them in the next few weeks. Check at Viet markets or shopping areas about a week before Tet. There's usually an itinerant vendor who shows up to offer potted trees and/or cut branches; these vendors have a way with forcing the blooms to give a dramatic showing around Tet every year. Bring cash.

Or, check with specialty nurseries. Every year, you'll have a supply of branches to bring cheer to your home inside and out.

And if the blossoms are unavailable or if you just want to add to the merriment, get a pot or two of  fluffy, golden chrysanthemums.

Got any Tet floral tips? Please share them with the rest of us!

For more information:

• Locations of 2008 Tet Flower markets in Saigon (HCM City's People's Committee)
• Photos of Tet festivities in Saigon (Check out the flowers, parades and throngs of people. You know the year by the animal in the pictures. 2007 was the Year of the Pig.)
• 2008 Schedule of Tet activities in Saigon (Fireworks, flower markets, banh tet festivals, music concerts, it's all happening in Saigon)

Eek! The Year of the Rat is near!

It's coming on February 7 -- The Year of the Rat.  Though we tend to think of the rodents in disparaging ways, they're highly valued for their courage and enterprising ways.  They're known to be clever, bright, sociable and family-oriented.  (Rats reproduce with abandon and perceived to be rather lusty creatures!) Their interested are diverse and they are very nimble, able to adapt and react to changing conditions.

(In Vietnam, the cuter mouse is the animal associated with this astrological sign. However, since most Asians celebrating the Lunar New Year go with the Chinese preference, I'm using the rat. The animals are close relatives.)

Those attributes will either warm the cockles of your heart or conjure up images of the Brookdale Institute in Killer Rats, a 2003 movie (see the trailer). Just kidding...

Actually, some of the dear people in my life are rats, and this is THEIR year. They should feel extra special having accomplished another full cycle of life. Famous rats you may know include: Alyssa Milano, Cameron Diaz, Charlotte Bronte, Daryl Hannah, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lauren Bacall, Margaret Mitchell, Margot Kidder, Mata Hari, Olivia Newton-John,  and Stevie Nicks.

In general, rats were born in: 1900, 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008.  Remember because the Lunar calendar shifts around, people with January or February birthdays may be on the cusp.

Rats are in a generally unspoken part of the Vietnamese culinary repertoire. They are eaten in Vietnam, as they are  in other parts of of Southeast Asia and India. They are a protein source. In fact, at BackwoodsBound.com, you'll find typical American recipes for squirrel and the raccoon.

In 2004 when the Bird Flu was scaring people from eating chicken, rats were fetching quite a pretty penny in Cambodia. People of my parents generation recall eating rat. Apparently, the country rats were tastier than city ones.

Enough about rat as food. I'm somewhat superstitious so I always look around for some forecast of the coming year. Here's a little fortune telling that's not so weird and hokey:

Your fortune in the Year of the Rat (Asiaone.com)

Hopefully, the economy and presidential elections won't be so grim!

Skimming Scum Made Easy

Now that I've got your attention, let me tell you about my new favorite cooking tool -- it's a Japanese skimmer that lifts off unwanted crud from your bubbling brew, whether that's a stock, pot of beans or batch of Vietnamese pork riblets in caramel sauce. The skimmer works a zillion times better than any other gadget I've bought or tried.

The mesh is fine and the rim is thin enough to just glide right under the fat or scuzzy bubbles and scoop it right up. Whoever designed it was a genius because the mesh has been formed into a slight bowl shape to hold the unwanted junk. What's more, it cleans up exceptionally well with soap and can go into the dishwasher.

Some of you have said that skimming scum from your pot of pho seems like an endless task but with this lightweight skimmer, you'll be looking forward to when the scum reappears on the surface of the broth. You'll be sad when there's nothing left to skim.

I'm indebted to Niloufer Ichaporia King, author of the fabulous My Bombay Kitchen about Parsi cooking in India, for inviting me to lunch and then sending me away with this invaluable gift. She beamed with enthusiasm when she gave it to me and I knew it was special. Niloufer is no fool.  So many thanks to Niloufer! (By the way, if you're in the Bay Area, Niloufer is cooking her annual Parsi New Year Feast at the venerable Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley on March 21. Call for details.)

Where can you buy one? Try an Asian market or restaurant/kitchenware supply shop like the Kamei or the Wok Shop in San Francisco Chinatown, where Niloufer got hers. I saw them at Marina Foods market in Cupertino. Wherever you are, I imagine that these are not hard to find.

The one I have came in a plastic sleeve with yellow and black Japanese lettering. One of the words -- if you read characters  -- is for oil. I noticed that there are some that don't come in the plastic but look the same. Also, they come in different sizes.

How much does this thing cost? About Less than $2 my friends. Go forth and seek one for yourself!

Little Saigon Controversy in San Jose

Note to repeat visitors to this post -- I've started a new post called "Solving San Jose's Little Saigon Controversy" in hopes of getting some solutions to the bickering and intrigue that have created this impasse.  We have great ideas and have amassed lots of knowledge, so let's put to good use!

If you've had your ears to the ground in the Vietnamese-American community in the last few months, you've probably heard about how San Jose is struggling to come up with a moniker for a strip of Story Road near the intersection with McLaughlin. That corridor of Story is in the southern part of the city where there's a concentration of Vietnamese businesses. At the heart of the matter is what to name the area: "Little Saigon" or "Saigon Business District."

The area (District 7) is represented on the San Jose City Council by Madison Nguyen, the first Vietnamese-American woman elected to office in California. Madison supported and voted for Saigon Business District, which was also the City Council's choice.

However, a small but very vocal group of Vietnamese Americans wants the name "Little Saigon" and have been showing up on Tuesdays at City Hall to protest and demand that Madison resign or face a recall election. Initially, they hit her low by accusing her of being connected to communist Vietnam. Then they said that she voted in an undemocratic way because her vote did not represent the will of the Vietnamese community. Now they're calling her a liar.

The arguments from each side are:

• "Little Saigon" properly acknowledges the former capital of South Vietnam and is a stab to the heart of the post-1975 communist regime.
• "Saigon Business District" honors the former capital and avoids a politically charged name.

I'm not a San Jose resident but rather, live nearby and read the San Jose Mercury News paper, which has diligently reported on the story from the beginning. Here's how I weigh in on this issue:

The area in question is puny, though there is a construction project underway for a large shopping plaza, there isn't much there there. The strip of Story Road that's on the table neglects the area at Tully and South King, which is a 5-minute drive away and loaded with eateries and shops. What about those businesses?

It's not all Viet all the time at Story Road. Turn your head ever so lightly and you'll see a taqueria, tamale shop, and Thai-Vietnamese-Chinese market.

Little Saigon? I grew up in Orange County, where the first and biggest "Little Saigon" is and frankly, have always disliked the name. The 405 Freeway sign near the exit often make me feel uncomfortable. Moreover, inside the O.C. Viet community, the area is called it "Bolsa" after the main drag, where it is indeed, all Viet, all the time.

Saigon was never and is not little. For me, the name "Little Saigon" is pejorative and denotes something that's quaint, small, and not particularly powerful. Vietnam has a rich and long history of having kicked plenty of ass. Yes, we're relatively small in geographic size and population, but we've historically been major players. Remember the geopolitics over the Vietnam War? At one point in Vietnam's history, it was called Dai Viet, which means great Viet. Little Saigon? Please…

Northern vs. Southern California? Is there a bit of competition between San Jose and Westminster? In Westminster, when you turn the corner at Brookhurst and drive down Bolsa, you know you're in an unusual place. The signage is Vietnamese and there is a seemingly endless supply of strip malls full of Vietnamese business - from markets, to restaurants, bakeries, delis, accountants, pharmacies, fabric shops, travel agents, dentists, etc. It's vibrant and pulsating with action.

San Jose's Vietnamese community developed in a much more low-key manner because things are generally more mainstreamed in Northern California. There are more Viet restaurants outside of the Story Road area than in it because people up here are open to mixing and commingling. That's just starting to happen in the O.C., where the community has been insular for the most part.

What I'm saying is don't copy the O.C., but do something that's new, different, and reflective of the community, which has grown and developed differently than that in Southern California.

You can't always get what you want in a democracy. Just because Madison Nguyen didn't vote the way a group of Vietnamese Americans wanted does not mean that she acted undemocratically. In fact, District 7 is full of Latino residents too.

If Madison were to be run out of office, there's no assurance that another Vietnamese-American will be elected to represent that district on the city council. Replacing her is not going to do anything. Coming up with a better, more suitable name would be a better place to start. If one of the names can deliver consistently good restaurants and clean markets, I'll be all for it!

Weigh in yourself on this matter. You don't have to be Viet to have an opinion!

For more information:

• [3/9/08] Solving San Jose's Little Saigon Controversy is a new thread I started because this one was getting really long. Also, we need solutions to end the bickering.
• 8Asians.com blog has a detailed comment thread on this political saga
• 1/15/08 Madison Nguyen's political trajectory and potential downfall: The Rise, Troubles of Madison Nguyen [Again, the SJ Mercury is doing an unscientific online poll of whether or not she should resign. Reader/community comments are quite insightful.]
• 1/8/08 story from SJ Mercury News: "An Ultimatum for Madison Nguyen" [Note, you can vote on whether she should be recalled and leave a comment)
• 12/03/07 SJ Mercury News editorial on recalling Madison Nguyen

Half-hatched Duck Eggs: Hot Vit Lon

Vietnamese people partake in many foods that may be considered reviling to those who are unfamiliar with them. One of such foods is hot vit lon -- fertilized duck eggs that are partway incubated. I call them half-hatched duck eggs. They are a delicacy in Vietnam, as well as a nutritious food that my mother says is a great restorative for women who've just delivered.

Contrary to current beliefs, hot vit lon (pronounced "hoht veet lone") are not traditional aphrodisiacs in Vietnam. They're a food for noshing (often with liquor, if you're a man) and perhaps, for weak and recovering women. Many Filipinos are crazy for hot vit lon, which they call balut (pronounced "bahloot"). The eggs are a super popular Filipino street food, and there are Filipino aficionados who claimed that the eggs are a sex stimulant.

I have not had one since I was a kid in Vietnam but started thinking about hot bit lon when prompted by Quan, who emailed asking how the eggs are cooked and eaten. I remember eating them with my siblings, tapping on the egg shell with a spoon and then breaking the membrane underneath to sip at the flavorful liquid, which was broth like. Then we ate the solid stuff, which basically was the embryo. I don't recall beak, bones or feathers, but they can be in there, depending on the age of the egg. We didn't eat the hard white albumen. It was a kind of weird dare and that was it. It wasn't as positive of a food memory for me as my first bowl of pho.

When we got to the States, my mother said that it was hard to find a reliable source so we never had hot vit lon here. We gave it up, and I didn't miss them since there were lots of other great things to eat and obsess about. To digress, Mom loves to tell the story of a Vietnamese American hot vit lon vendor who was making a delivery during the hot summer and his van broke down on the road. He was stuck waiting in the heat for a while. The eggs started hatching and soon, his had a load of ducklings instead of eggs to sell!

Seriously, for those who are curious, here's the lowdown on the eggs:

What are half-hatched eggs?
Half-hatched eggs are basically fertilized duck eggs (a.k.a. fetal duck eggs) that are 16 to 20 days in age. The older it is, the larger the chick and the more pronounced its feathers, bones, and beak. An embryo at 17 days has beak and feathers which are more developed at 20 days. Normally, after being fertilized, a chick hatches after 26 to 28 days of incubation. The taste depends on the breed of duck. Hot vit lon from Muscovy ducks (a leading breed in the U.S.) are considered among the best. You can half-hatch chicken eggs too but duck eggs are larger and more prized.

Who eats them?
Not just Vietnamese and Filipinos, but also Cambodians, Laotians, and Chinese. They're not as popular with  Thais, Malays and Indonesians, but those folks also consume them. Filipinos are the main connoisseurs of half-hatched duck eggs. For an in depth discussion, see this article on the significance of balut in Filipino culture.

Why eat them?
Look, I'm Vietnamese food lover but haven't had one in decades. But there are those who are extremely fond of them. Hot vit lon is full of nutrition (each has about 190 calories and offers 14 grams of protein and tons of B-carotene, calcium and other good stuff) so in circumstances where protein is in limited supply, it's quite a godsend. Eggs in many parts of the world are eaten more than poultry or fowl. A chicken or duck is better as an egg layer than roasted meat on your table. Beyond the nutritional aspects, there's the fun food factor, the memory of home, the nostalgia for foods of the past, the nosh to accompany beer or cognac.

The concept is one that's hard to swallow, but there are people out there for whom a half-hatched egg is the bomb. They may think it's weird that some people eat moldy, stinky cheese like Roquefort. I'm not saying to run out and eat one, but do understand that it's a well-liked food.

Where to buy the eggs:
They're mostly sold at Viet markets but how do you know their age? I'd buy them from the professionals to ensure freshness. For example, go to a farmer's market where there's a big Asian clientele. In Northern California, I've seen hot vit lon sold at the Friday Oakland market and the Saturday Alemany (San Francisco) and Stockton markets.  Look for an egg vendor, who may have signs in Tagalog, Chinese, and Vietnamese.

In Little Saigon enclaves, there may be a hot vit lon store, such as Hot Vit Lon Long An at 8942 Bolsa Avenue in Westminster, California.

For a party, you can even mail order them from Metzer Farm duck and goose hatchery in Gonzales, California!

How to cook half-hatched eggs:
The ones sold in the U.S. at markets are usually uncooked. Treat it like a humongous chicken egg and gently boil it for 20 to 30 minutes. It's enjoyed warmed, not cold.

How to eat the eggs:
Vietnamese people like to eat hot vit lon like you would a soft-boiled egg. Tap the broad end with a spoon, remove some of the shell. Break the membrane and sip the liquid. Then use the spoon to scoop up the solids. Add salt and pepper. Vietnamese people like to eat hot vit lon with rau ram (Polygonum odoratum, Vietnamese coriander), a fresh herb that tastes cilantro but finishes with a bit of heat. The  rau ram herb is suppose to offer heat to contrast with the cold of the egg, a yin-yang kind of thing. Others say that rau ram aids in digesting hot vit lon.

I've not posted photos because frankly, I don't eat them. For graphic details, see:

• YouTube video of Anthony Bourdain eating hot vit lon in Vietnam.
• 2003 blog posting from the Wily Filipino is full of juicy, tantalizing detailed instructions on how to eat the eggs. 
• Wandering Chopsticks has photos and description of eating hot vit lon as part of her his outing at a Little Saigon food court in Westminster, CA.