Snack Time Part III

This Snack Time post has gotten way too long so I thought I'd better get it out there before it gets lost in my draft folder.

 

In May of 2019, I received an amazing care package from Julia, stuffed full of yummies. Thank you, Julia! With the exception of the Hanamizuki teas I'm savoring slowly, the rest didn't last very long ^.^

Tokyo Eats - Roppongi Area Part IV

More food in Roppongi, though probably not the last since I'm still waaay behind on photos. I'd thought to wait until I'm all caught up but the post will grow too long, so I'm posting what I have now, already pretty darn long as it is!

An art display at Midtown, along with even more photos of sakura that I didn't get to in the previous installment. I know, I'm posting spring photos in the fall and summer photos in the winter. Ha.

Tokyo Eats - Roppongi Area Part II (Picture heavy!)

Alright, I can't procrastinate on this post anymore because it's growing too long. More food ahead, folks. In the Roppongi area, same old, same old. Took some photos over the holidays too, trying to get just that special one for the holiday cards. Too bad they all turned out meh so no cards this year. Oh well.

Inner Richmond, San Francisco (Picture heavy!)

Ack, May already! Time to play catch-up again with my posts! Let's start with Inner Richmond. Instead of Chinatown, hubby and I go here for Asian food and groceries. I've read that foggy Inner Sunset is another great neighborhood for awesome Asian food, but Inner Richmond is more conveniently located for us and so we haven't been too tempted ^.^ We'll see, when we get bored of Inner Richmond, we'll probably find our way over to the foggy side...

There are many many shops and restaurant in Inner Richmond and this is just a brief glimpse of the few hubby and I absolutely love. 

- Brothers Restaurant (Korean BBQ/yakiniku): Hubby and I LOVE Korean BBQ/yakiniku, and wherever we go we'd always make a point to find ourselves a good Korean place to get our yakiniku fix. We've tried several places here in SF, several others in different states, even in different countries, with the exception of South Korea itself which is definitely on our list of places to go. But hands down Brother's on Geary is the best yakiniku we've had. Surely there are better Korean food elsewhere, hell, there might be better right here in SF, but we wouldn't know it because every time we come to Brothers, we'd leave in a food coma and have no brain power left to ponder whether the grass is greener across the street.

OTD - Out the Door (Vietnamese Fusion Cuisine), San Francisco

Hanging around Japantown so much, hubby and I eventually ventured into the surrounding restaurants. This one is a poshy Vietnamese fusion place called OTD - Out the Door. And out the door indeed, both the line and myself. Really, the place was so "hip" I immediately started dreading whether all the good reviews online were mostly hype. Well, let's just say there are times I hate being right.

Fillmore Street, San Francisco (Picture heavy!)

Being the close vicinity of Japantown, inevitably Fillmore Street is my second favorite part of town, which means every time I visit Japan Town, I have to visit Fillmore Street also ^.^ While there are numerous fun streets in SF, Fillmore is quite special. There's the ollection of neat little shops lining both of its side. And then there's the slow rise slowly to a high point (Broadway Street) before the steep drop all the way down to the ocean, directly to the Marina Green with a spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge at left, Alcatraz Island at center right, and Fort Mason at far right. 

So, the shops. My favorite is probably Fillmore Bakeshop, food, of course :P Fillmore Bakeshop is home my favorite buttercream filled French cookie sandwiches, the colorful macarons. I do agree that the food coloring is a bit too garish and the macarons themselves can look bulky, but be rest assured they're yummy, you bet because I've tried macarons from several other places and those didn't quite hit the spot. My favorite from Fillmore Bakeshop is the Irish Coffee macaron, which has the best coffee cream ever! Hubby's favorite is the coconut macaroons (no, that's not a typo, and yes, they're two different cookies).

Interstate Driving

***Warning: this post may bore you ^.^

You already know hubby and I temporarily moved to San Francisco. We didn't actually "move" all our things. Rather, we just packed up our car with what we thought we'll need for a few months' stay and drove ourselves over. Now that I have a moment to take a breather, I thought I'd share some of the pictures we took along the way during our drive. We had specific goals for our rest stop by the end of each day: Salt Lake City by the first night, Reno by the second, then straight into San Francisco bay by the third. So these pictures were taken by me or hubby while the other was driving, because at no point could we stop for photos.

How do you like my fashionable interstate driving? xD Actually, the hat was to help with the sun, because sitting behind the wheels for hours will get you toasted to a crisp if you don't cover up properly.

Taipei Eats - Yongkang Street area (永康街, Picture heavy!)

I "stumbled" upon the greatness that is Yongkang Street (永康街) purely by accident. I read a little bit about Taipei prior to our arrival, but there were so much to absorb (still!) during the first couple of weeks I had forgotten everything I read (the internet is a godsend!). And then one afternoon while walking home from school, hubby and I ran into my Japanese classmate and she asked if we knew where Yongkang Street was. That weekend (Mid Autumn Festival), we consulted google to orient ourselves and headed straight there. Turns out the street is also a mere 15 minutes walk from our apartment, just like Shida Night Market ^.^

Hanoi no Hoi-san

Meeting up in Shibuya for K.'s bday party a couple of weeks ago, hubby ran across this Vietnamese restaurant Hanoi no Hoi-san's while waiting for my train to arrive. He happened to have class in Ikebukuro that day, and so in the late afternoon he had tons of time to explore the Shibuya Station area while I take the train up from Yokohama.

Thịt Kho Dưa Giá

Happy March!

...Though it doesn't change the fact that I'm still waaaaaay behind on my posts. In fact, it makes it worse that it's already March and I'm still posting about a small meal I made for Lunar New Year :X

Bún Riêu

Bún Riêu is a delicious Southern Vietnamese rice vermicelli soup in a seafood-tomatoes broth that, well, started out complicated go make but the process has been simplified over time (thank goodness!) ^.^ It used to be that the dish is made from fresh crabs, but nowadays my mum and I are among the vast majority of those who use a shrimp or crab paste sold in cans or jars :P It just really makes life so much easier and the dish much more accessible. I can make it for dinner at will instead of having to plan far ahead for some ceremonious special occasion like my Martha-Steward-esque aunt once did.

The bún riêu pictured was made with shrimp paste because crab paste is not available here in Japan and to be honest, the shrimp paste I used wasn't any where as good as Por Kwan Spicy Crab Paste T.T Also, there wasn't any "Vietnamese ham/sausage," Thai basil, and a host of other things, so the bún riêu I made was actually quite plain... :(

Chè Chuối Chưng - Vietnamese Banana Tapioca Coconut Pudding

So what the heck did hubby and I searched high and low for in Chinatown instead of Black Friday shopping? Ingredients to make this Vietnamese Banana Tapioca Coconut Pudding (chè chuối chưng)!

The traditional recipe for this pudding calls for a few ingredients that aren't available here in Japan, like the chubby and short (about half the length of a regular banana) but very fragrant banana that's only available in Southeast Asia (chuối sứ, it's actually not readily available in the US either, and when it does, it's expensive as hell!), and yuca roots. So I had to make do with just regular bananas and forgo the yuca. Oh well, it still turned out pretty well, and by well I mean delicious! It's a very heart warming dessert, perfect for the cold weather.

The recipe I used is actually very simple. And I made this pudding using my rice cooker, so it's super convenient too.

Here's my recipe for Chè Chuối Chưng.

Ingredients: makes 6+ servings

- Bananas, 5-6 medium, peeled and quartered

- Tapioca, as much or as little as desired

- Coconut milk, 1/2 a can. I made the pudding pictured below with (and prefer) Chaokoh brand, but any brand will work.

- Peanuts, crushed, half a teaspoon per serving (or more if you like peanuts), for garnish

- Optional: a couple of sprinkles of roasted sesame per serving, for garnish

Seasonings:

- Cane sugar, 5-6 teaspoons, or to taste

- Salt, 1/2 teaspoon

Steps:

- In the rice cooker, dissolve the salt in hot water, just enough to submerge the quartered bananas in. Soak for about 15 minutes.

- Cook the bananas in the salt water using the porridge setting (slow cook, takes about 1 hour).

- Mean while, boil water in a separate and cook the tapioca until almost transparent, then remove and set aside.

- About 30 minutes into cooking the bananas, add the tapioca into the rice cooker, mix in the sugar and stir gently as to not break the banana chunks. Make sure the tapioca is submerged in the water along with the bananas, add more water if needs be, but only enough to submerge the contents. Let cook for another 20 minutes.

- About 10 minutes before it's done cooking, gently stir in the coconut milk and mix well. Let finish cooking.

- Serve hot with crushed peanuts and a few sprinkles of roasted sesame. Enjoy!

I was too lazy to crush the peanuts, so I just left them whole ^.^

Bún Thang

Bún Thang is a northern Vietnamese rice noodles soup that calls for some very intricate (and long and tedious) preparations. According to this Vietnamese cooking blog, the dish was made famous by Mrs. Nguyễn Xiển (nee Nguyễn Thúy An, though some sources say Nguyễn Thị An) who whips it up from scratch to entertain her professor/party-official husband's colleagues. When asked why she calls it "Thang," she said her family tutor taught her that the Chinese character for the Vietnamese word "Thang" - 湯 (also pronounced "tang" in Mandarin and I would guess a similar sound in Cantonese also) - means "soup," and that in China, brothy dishes usually has this character 湯 added to indicate "soupiness." Yet among all the noodles soups in Vietnamese cuisine, none has this word "Thang" attached, and so Bún Thang it is, literally Rice Noodles Soup.

While this is a fun story, I'm not sure how accurate this account is as the blog vaguely quoted "internet research" as its information source with no actual source URL provided. Either way, "Bún Thang" is truly a unique name as there is indeed no other brothy dishes in Vietnamese cuisine with the word "Thang" in its name. I can't find much information on the dish in English, but here's a brief description on Vietnamese Wikipedia, and you can check out pictures from Google. Both my parents' sides of the family are originally from the North, so they've been making Bún Thang for at least a few generations. My mom gave me the shortened recipe because neither she or I have the patience or energy to "endure" the traditional recipe ^.^ But don't worry, while this easier recipe is not as complicated, the end result is still a delicious rice noodles soup. It's hubby's favorite noodles soup of all time alongside with Phở.

Here's the recipe for Bún Thang.

Ingredients:

- Rice vermicelli, 1 package.

These rice vermicelli are dried and translucent, fine angel hair-like rounded sticks in packages, the same kind they put in the non-fried Vietnamese spring rolls. At home I use exclusively Sinbo Brand, but any brand that says "Jiangxi Rice Vermicelli" will work and your local Asian grocery store should carry at least several different brands. Note that your package may say "rice sticks" or "rice noodles," and if the dried noodles inside are flat and not rounded, you may have gotten the dried Pho noodles instead and what you really need is the rounded rice vermicelli. It's confusing, I know.

***Picture from www.goldenpheasantfoods.com, Trade2cn.com, and www.21food.com.

Some of the packaging do look very similar, which only adds to the chaos. However, they all say Jiangxi Rice Vermicelli and the dried noodles inside are all fine and rounded. These are what they use to make the non-fried Vietnamese spring rolls they usually serve at any Vietnamese restaurants in the states.

***Picture from Wikipedia.

- Chicken thighs with drumsticks, 4-5 medium thighs, skinless but with bone.

- Eggs, 3-4

- Chả lụa, or Vietnamese ham/sausage, 1 stick. You can find this in the frozen section of the local Asian grocery store. They come in a rounded 6-inch burrito-like bundle wrapped in either aluminum or dark green banana leaf. Just make sure it says pork and not fish or chicken. Do not buy the "pork paste" in rounded white/translucent plastic containers as these are raw ham/sausage meant to be boiled or deep fried in dollops at home.

Vietnamese ham/sausage

***Picture from quangcaosanpham.com.

- Ginger, 1 stub, sliced into flat slices lengthwise.

- Lime, several slices, for garnish.

- Scallions, chopped, for garnish.

- Cilantro, several sprigs, for garnish.

- Lettuce, shredded, for garnish.

- Bean sprouts, leave whole, for garnish.

- Mint, shredded, for garnish.

- Thai basil, shredded, for garnish.

- Optional: fresh chile peppers, crushed, for garnish, if you want some spice.

If you want your Bún Thang to be truly authentic, I recommend finding the 2 extra garnishing ingredients below:

- Rau răm, or Vietnamese hot mint, shredded. This herb is an abundant in Southeast Asia but is pretty tricky to find in certain parts of the US of A. I couldn't find it in Jersey at all, searching through several Asian grocery stores. Mean while, there are plenty of it in Colorado where Vietnamese food is much more popular and widely eaten. If you live in Texas or California, congratulations, you've just hit the Vietnamese culinary jackpot and have no reasons (or excuses) to go without your Vietnamese hot mint!

***Picture from Vietnamese Wikipedia.

- Dầu cà cuống, or Southeast Asian giant water bug essence. Just dipping the tip of a toothpick into the essence and then stirring this tiny bit into your bowl is enough to give the soup broth a distinctively spicy and unforgettable fragrant aroma. I know you're thinking bug essence = eww + yuck + gross, but honestly speaking the essence of this insect is what truly makes this noodles soup unique. I would even go as far as to say that one cannot claim he's had authentic Northern Vietnamese Bún Thang until he's had it with the water bug essence. But of course, due to the high culinary demand in Southeast Asia, this bug has become super scarce and the vast majority of the essence sold on the Vietnamese market are mere imitation. The genuine stuff is almost impossible to find and when found would be ridiculously expensive. So see, you don't have to worry about having *real* bug essence in your Bún Thang - you probably won't be able to find it even if you're adventurous! My family has only 1 itty bitty little glass bottle the size of a sample perfume glass vial and my mom treasures it more than her pearls!

Seasonings:

- Salt, 1-1.5 teaspoons. You're making a huge stock pot!

- Sugar, 1 teaspoon.

- Black pepper, generous sprinkles.

- Vietnamese fish sauce, for garnish only. DO NOT season your broth with fish sauce or you will be very sorry!

Steps:

- Heat 1 Tablespoon of oil (I prefer olive) in a stock pot and brown the ginger slices. When the ginger is golden brown, turn off heat and remove pot onto a different eye, let cool.

- Mean while, mix the salt, sugar, and black pepper into a rub and rub it onto both sides of the chicken thighs. Carefully place the chicken thighs on top of the browned ginger slices, marinate for at least half an hour.

- Use this marinating time to prepare (rinse, dry, shred and/or) the scallions, cilantro, herbs, lettuce, and bean sprouts for garnish.

- Once done marinating, reheat the stock pot and fry both sides of the chicken thighs until golden. Remember to move the ginger slices to the top to avoid burning and add more oil if necessary to prevent the chicken sticking to the pot. If you like your broth a darker color (like me), then fry the chicken until golden brown.

- When the chicken thighs reach the desired color, fill the pot with water and cook the chicken thighs thoroughly, usually at least 1-2 hours (hey, I only said this is a shortened recipe, I didn't say it was quick!). Pay very close attention to the broth and skim all foams and excess fat gathering at the top to keep the broth clear and preventing it from turning murky. If the broth is too bland, season it with more salt to taste.

- While the soup is cooking, beat the eggs well with 1 teaspoon of fish sauce. Fry in thin layers on separate pan, then cut into thin strips.

- If you are using Chả lụa, or Vietnamese ham/sausage, use only half a stick and freeze the other half for later use. Slice the half into thin medallions and then further cut into thin strips.

- How do you know when the soup broth is ready? When the meat falls off the bone! Use a pair of cooking chopsticks to pick up the chicken thigh by the drumstick. If you can lift the entire thigh out of the soup intact, the soup's not yet ready. When the chicken thigh falls apart the moment you try to pick it up, the soup is done.

- When soup is done, reduce heat down to simmer, and fish the chicken thighs out of the broth carefully and set aside.

- In a separate pot, bring water to a boil and gently place the dry vermicelli noodles in. Boil for about 3-5 minutes, occasionally stir (be gentle!) to prevent the noodles sticking at the bottom of the pot.

- While the noodles are cooking, quickly debone the chicken. It should be super easy since the meat will fall right off without any effort on your part.

- To test when the vermicellis are done, pick up bunch with your chopstick, then let go slowly until only several strands are left in your [chopsticks'] grasps. Pinch a bit at the end and, well, eat it. If it's still firm or tough at the center, it's not ready. Vermicellis are done when they feels sticky to the touch and melt in your mouth. If you try to pick up a bunch and the vermicellis break, remove from heat at once - they're overcooked and will fall apart becoming mush if you don't strain and rinse with cold water immediately.

- To serve, first spread a handful of fresh bean sprouts at the bottom of the bowl, place the cooked rice vermicelli on top, then arrange the shredded herbs and lettuce, thin strips of fried eggs, Vietnamese ham/sausage, and pieces of chicken meat around the bowl.

- Ladle in the hot soup broth until vermicellis but not all ingredients at top are submerged. Then pinch in the chopped scallions and add a few sprigs of cilantro, squeeze in a slice of lime.

- Add the final touch of undiluted fish sauce, and crush a fresh chile pepper in if you want your noodles spicy.

I couldn't find any Vietnamese ham/sausage here in Japan, so I had to make do with imitation crab meat. I didn't really go with the dish, but better than nothing. And as you can see, I'm also missing a bunch of other herbs too. Oh well, it was still good ^.^

Trứng Chiên Hành - Onion and Tomatoes Omelet

There are variations of this omelet in many cultures around the world, egg foo young is a quick example, so I'm not going to claim that this dish is exclusive to Vietnam. That said, this is what my mum fed me since I was little, so this is a Vietnamese version of it. Notice I said a version and not the version as I'm sure everyone makes it differently in Vietnam as well.

Here's my recipe for a version of this Onion and Tomatoes Omelet. This dish can be made vegetarian with vegetarian soy sauce - check the ingredients on the bottle and make sure the soy sauce is vegetarian as many Southeast Asian soy sauces are not!

Ingredients:

- Eggs, 9-10 large or 10+ smaller eggs. I used 12 when I made the omelets pictured and it yielded 4 generous dinner portions.

- Fresh tomatoes, 3 large or 4-5 smaller tomatoes, slice into whole or half medallions.

- Onion, 1 large or 2 smaller onions, sliced, though not too thickly.

- Scallions, chopped, as much or as little as you like. You can substitute regular green scallions with Chinese chives (hẹ) if you want a stronger onion/garlic taste, or leeks (negi) for a milder taste. Even though the omelets pictured were made with leeks (because regular scallions are way more expensive here!), I think I like regular scallions best because it's just right, not too strong but not too mild either.

Seasonings:

- Fish sauce, 3-4 Tablespoons. You can substitute vegetarian soy sauce here. I prefer my omelets with fish sauce but I haven't found any fish sauce here yet to I substituted with a combination of chicken broth powder, dashi powder, and shiro dashi.

- Black pepper, generous sprinkles.

Steps:

- Heat skillet with oil, then stir fry a handful of sliced onions.

- Mean while, beat the eggs with fish/soy sauce, black pepper. If you use chopped scallions, mix the scallions right into the eggs.

- When onions are soften, if you are using Chinese chives or leeks, add them here. Stir fry for a minute.

- Scatter the onions evenly across the skillet, then place several medallions of tomatoes on top. Let cook for a minute or 2.

- Ladle the beaten egg mix over, just enough to hold everything in place. Don't submerge the ingredients in the egg mix or your omelets will be too thick and very egg-y.

- Cover and let cook until omelet puffs up, then flip to cook on other side for a couple of minutes.

- Serve by itself or dipped in soy sauce. Yes, even though I prefer my omelets with fish sauce, I still dip it in soy sauce :P

Đậu Hủ Kho Trứng - Simmered and Caramelized Tofu & Eggs

Yesterday I wondered whether my fish kho (pronounced kah) dish would taste closer to their Vietnamese counterparts, even with Japanese ingredients, if I were to add in some ground pepper, chopped chilis, and scallions.

Well, I did just that, this time using fried tofu (instead of the traditionally used fatty pork shoulder/belly cut) and eggs. I used the usual Japanese soy sauce, tsuyu, and whatever cane sugar (for the coloring) I could find at the local grocery store, added the required ground pepper, chopped fresh chilis and scallions. I also used one more secret ingredient:

***Picture from Aquarius.

Yes, it's a sports drink called Aquarius. Aquarius is not available in the states, but if you visit any local Asian grocery store, you will undoubtedly find its competitor, Pocari Sweat.

***Picture from Pocari Sweat.

While the name may trigger gag reflex for some (a drink called something-sweat? ick!), it really doesn't taste so bad, though in my opinion Aquarius tastes better :P And before you think I'm a mad-scientist-wannabe-cook mixing sports drinks in my food, let me explain that Vietnamese kho dishes require coconut water or frozen coconut juice. Coconut water is becoming a big sports drink trend nowadays as it is a natural source of electrolytes and much better for you than synthetic sports drinks. By the way, did I mention it's yummy and an excellent cure for hangovers?

If you live in Southeast Asia, you have the luck of walking down the street and spend $0.50 or so to have a fresh young coconut chopped right before your eyes and drink instantly from a straw stuck into it. The rest of us make do with $2/12 oz. petra-pak imported mostly from Brazil. The frozen coconut juice, on the other hand, includes the young coconut meat, but it also has added sugar and needs to stay frozen to prevent spoilage. These are the kind served to you at Pho noodle houses when you order a coconut juice.

Zico coconut water in petra-pak

***Picture from Zico.com.

Frozen coconut juice from Thailand

***Picture from Bangkokbest.com.

So what to do when you want to make a kho dish but have no access to fresh coconut water or even the petra-pak/frozen ones? Substitute clear fruit juices, like apple juice. And what if you don't even have that, or as in my case, forgetting to buy juices at the groceries and too lazy to go back? Well, make do with a translucent sports drink! I would guess those blue, red, orange, and purple Gatorade work too, but I can't guarantee they won't color your food in funky ways.

The result (with pickled vegetables leftover from yesterday).

The verdict? It was goooooood. Shockingly good. So good my mum would have been proud. And as you can see, the coloring was almost perfect too. Perhaps more scallions and red chilis (instead of green) would have made it more colorful, but hey, next time. We were hoping to be able to pack a bento for hubby to have lunch the next day but we pretty much inhaled the whole plate.

Here's my recipe for the Vietnamese "Kho" Dish - Braised/Simmer and Caramelized. This is an "open" recipe, meaning you and pick and choose your main ingredients and seasoning and still come out with a variation of the same dish. This open recipe can certainly be made vegetarian with vegetarian soy sauce, tofu, and eggs.

Ingredients:

- Main ingredient option: pick 1, or you can have pork and fried tofu combination. The cat fish can only go by itself so do NOT combine all 3!

1. Pork, shoulder/belly cut, 3/4 - 1 lb., slice into 1x2" chunks.

2. Fried tofu cubes, as many as you like, and they must be fried or you'll get tofu mush for dinner! Vegetarian.

3. Cat fish, 3 medium or 2 large filets, each filet cut into 3 chunks.

- For use with pork and/or fried tofu only: Eggs, 6-8, hard boiled and peeled. If you picked cat fish as your main ingredient, skip the eggs.

- For use with cat fish only: Ginger, 2-inch stub, sliced. If you picked pork and/or fried tofu as your main ingredient(s), skip the ginger.

- Scallions, chopped, as much or as little as you like. My mum, sister, and I like our kho dishes with lots of scallions!

- Optional: chili peppers, preferably red, 3-4, chopped. Will spice up and go well with either pork, tofu, or cat fish!

Seasonings:

- Main seasoning option: pick 1, do NOT combine both!

1. Fish sauce, 4 Tablespoons: goes well with pork, especially well with cat fish, but not so well with fried tofu in my opinion.

2. Soy sauce, 4 Tablespoons: goes very well with pork and fried tofu, but do NOT use for cat fish! Vegetarian (though I would caution you to check your soy sauce ingredients as many Southeast Asian soy sauces are not vegetarian as you would expect them to be!).

- Brown sugar, the darker the better, 2 Tablespoons

- For use with pork and/or fried tofu only: Frozen/canned coconut juice (without the coconut meat) or coconut water, 2x12 oz. cans: excellent with either fish sauce or soy sauce. You can definitely substitute with clear juice or, in a pinch, even translucent sports drink as I did above! I know for a fact clear juice and sports drink will be fine with soy sauce, but I haven't tried them with fish sauce. I can't imagine they will turn out that badly with fish sauce though so you should experiment when you're feeling adventurous. If you picked cat fish as your main ingredient, skip the coconut juice/water.

- Black pepper, generous sprinkles. For a milder dish, use less.

Steps:

- For pork:

1. Bring coconut juice/water (or substitute) to a boil, add pork and cook until coconut juice/water (or substitute) evaporated leaving about half an inch in pot, skim the foamy/fat run-offs to keep the sauce clear.

2. Add fish sauce or soy sauce, brown sugar, and sprinkle on black pepper.

3. Add boiled and peeled eggs. If you're combining pork with fried tofu, add tofu at this step.

4. Simmer (do not boil) for at least 30 minutes, preferably an 1 hour or more, turning the eggs to coat evenly.

5. When the sauce thickened a little, throw in the chopped chili peppers, simmer some more until sauce caramelized.

6. Add the chopped scallions last, baste sauce over to coat scallions well before turning off heat.

- For fried tofu:

1. Combine coconut juice/water (or substitute) with soy sauce and brown sugar, bring to a boil and then simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

2. Add boiled eggs, simmer for about another 20 minutes, turning to coat evenly.

3. Add fried tofu and sprinkle on black pepper, simmer for another 15-20 minutes, again turning to coat evenly.

4. When the sauce thickened a little, throw in the chopped chili peppers, simmer some more until sauce caramelized.

5. Add the chopped scallions last, baste sauce over to coat scallions well before turning off heat.

- For cat fish:

1. Heat some oil in a pot, preferably a clay pot, brown the ginger.

2. Combine fish sauce with brown sugar and black pepper, cook on medium heat until sauce foams up.

3. Dip cat fish chunks to coat, then simmer on skin side for at least 20-30 minutes, basting regularly to coat well.

4. When the sauce thickened a little, throw in the chopped chili peppers, simmer some more until sauce caramelized.

5. Add the chopped scallions last, baste sauce over to coat scallions well before turning off heat.

Enjoy!