Happy Lunar New Year! Tet also known as Lunar New Year is a holiday that celebrates the arrival of spring and marks the first new moon of the lunisolar calendar.  It's celebration where family members gather, celebrate and feast around comforting traditional Vietnamese foods. 

Bun Thit Nuong (Vietnamese noodles with grilled pork), this popular traditional dish consists of grilled pork, vermicelli rice noodles, and fresh herbs.

Happy Lunar New Year aka Tet! The year of the rabbit or cat in the Vietnamese zodiac.These duck eggs are called Hột Vịt Lộn in Vietnamese, aka its Filipino name, Balut, is an asian delicacy and comfort food that is especially popular during Lunar New Year. The delectable and prized egg yolks & broth (literally liquid gold) are often served with Rau Ram, a Vietnamese coriander.

Wow, Bun Cha!  This is one of my favorite childhood dishes. It's also a classic Vietnamese street food made of caramelized pork meat patties, served with vermicelli noodles, fresh herbs and a tasty nuoc cham (a tasty quintessential Vietnamese dipping sauce). 

What you didn't know, is that this dish, is entirely plant based! 

Cooking lobster can be a bit intimidating but broiling lobster splits in the oven makes it much easier. I got frozen lobsters that have been cleaned and split in half.  Then all I have to do is broil and douse them in an herby melted butter. For the herb butter, I like to melt down butter and then stir in some fresh cilantro, minced garlic, a pinch of salt, lemon zest and a little bit of red chili.

There's many ways of cooking the razor clams including steaming, baking, and broiling them whole in their shells. One of the most popular methods is steaming them in a Vietnamese butter/wine sauce with scallion onions and garlic.

Fresh New Zealand cockles/clams are simmered in an aromatic sauce garnished with fresh coriander, scallions, ginger and Thai red chilis. Click to read more and for recipe!

Perfectly peeled eggs every time!

I’ve tried every method from baking soda, to adding vinegar and salt in boiling water but for me I only prefer one method. If you haven’t tried steaming your eggs, you will now. Try steaming them for 13 minutes then dunking them in an ice bath for 5 minutes. Then crack and lightly roll eggs to crush the shells more. The result is perfectly peeled eggs every time!

Air fried Falafels- My favorite way to cook these delicious chick pea patties!  Perfect accompaniments for these are fresh pickled red cabbage and a tasty tahini sauce to these crispy delights. Click through for recipe!

It’s pumpkin season and one of my favorite sweets is Pumpkin Bread with a cream cheese glaze.

Bánh Xèo - This Vietnamese favorite is simply translated as a “sizzling cake" which refers to the sizzling sound when the crepe is cooking. The crepe is actually eggless and simply consists of rice flour, dried mung beans, and seasoned with turmeric and coconut milk.

Today, my Auntie Trang teaches us how she gets that extra crips to these famous crepes, exactly how do they do it in restaurants!

Did you know there are 5 really important & common dried spices in a fragrant pho broth?

These spices include star anise, whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, and coriander seeds. My dad’s secret spice blend also includes a couple other spices like white pepper and licorice for that super flavorful pho.

Click for recipe!

Spring Rolls, aka Vietnamese Gỏi Cuốn, are filled with fresh vegetables and herbs alongside a protein (often shrimp & pork, buttered beef or baked salmon).

Instead of baked salmon, I'm using sushi grade Copper River Salmon and flame torching it. For the filling I'm doing all the traditional stuffings including lettuce, thin rice vermicelli noodles, cilantro, carrots, and some scallions. Click to view recipe!