Essays

evergreen

My Homemade Low-cost Asian Recipes

Living on a low income, I have learned how to improve my calorie intake with local food supplies and survive.

Assumed Audience

If you live in Europe, a Western country, or America, you may not find the ingredients for these recipes in your city or country. But if you're reading this to learn about what Asians eat at home, you've come to the right place. Let's find out what Asians typically eat at home and how it differs from your experiences at Asian restaurants and shops.

Fried Apple Snail meat

Apple Snail meat could be a very simple recipes, I deep-fried the apple snail meat in cooking oil for 5 minutes, or more until it was golden brown and crispy. I then prepared the dish with some sliced lemon leaves and chili peppers.
Fried apple snail meat can be paired with noodles to enhance the flavor. This is the second recipe that I use to eat every day, besides fried apple snail meat with freshly cooked rice.

Sliced Water Spinach Peanut Salad

This combination of water spinach, kumquat, chilli, lemon leaf and peanuts is most commonly found in Thai Binh, The Northen Vietnam, where both ingredients grow plentifully in the summer.

Prepare your "roadsted peanut", slice water spinach in half, or fours piece. Slice lemon leaf, chilli into very small well.

Make the Kumquat water, and combine with lemon leaf, chilli, add some of Hoisin sauce for flavor.

Finally is add everything together and mixing.

Hu Tiu Kho Noodles

Hu Tiu noodle soup is the rebel of all Vietnamese noodle soups. There are no rules. You can add whatever delicious topping you want (chicken, pork, eggs, innards and/or seafood). You can have it with broth, without broth (dry) or with broth on the side. You can have it with rice noodles (Pho noodles), tapioca noodles (Hu Tiu noodles), egg noodles (Mi noodles) or any combination of them. It’s delicious chaos in a bowl.

Before we proceed, just a quick clarification. There’s a difference between Hu Tiu, the dish and Hu Tiu, the noodle. Having a bowl of Hu Tiu noodle soup doesn’t necessarily mean you will be served with Hu Tiu noodles. That was pretty confusing to me in the beginning so I wanted to clear that up. Moving on.

The broth in Hu Tiu noodle soup is made primarily from pork bones but chicken bones can also be used. Since there are so many variations in what makes up Hu Tieu noodle soup, a telltale sign of a version of Hu Tiu noodle soup (the dish, not the type of noodle) is the use of garlic chives. You see garlic chives? Bam, it’s Hu Tiu noodle soup for simplicity.

For this particular version of Vietnamese Dry Pork & Seafood Noodle Soup, I use two types of noodles: Hu Tiu noodles, a chewy and clear noodle made from tapioca starch, and Mi noodles, a noodle made from eggs and wheat flour. The meaty toppings include sliced BBQ pork (Thit Xa Xiu), hard-boiled quail eggs, squid and shrimp. Since I’m having it dry, the noodle bowl comes with a generous dollop of a savory and sweet and soy-based tomato sauce. The bowl is topped with blanched garlic chives, bean sprouts, crispy fried shallots and garnished with green onions and a dash of black pepper. For those who like it spicy, you can add a spoonful of chili garlic oil (sate sauce) and a some pickled jalapeno peppers. Mix everything together before shoving it in your face.

Serves 5-7

Ingredients

Stock

  • 3 lbs pork bones (shoulder/neck/marrow/tail bones, can also use chicken bones)
  • 3 liters water (about 12-1/2 cups)
  • 1/4 dried shrimp (about 10 small shrimp, soak in warm water for 5 minutes, rinse and drain dry)
  • 1 daikon (peel and cut into large chunks)
  • 1 yellow onion (peel; leave whole)
  • 1 tablespoon sea salt
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon pork/chicken/mushroom stock powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon MSG (optional)

Noodles

  • 1 package (1 lb/16 oz) fresh or dried tapioca noodles (Hu Tieu noodles; presoak if using dried noodles)
  • 1 package ( 1 lb/16 oz) fresh or dried egg noodles (Mi noodles; presoak if using dried noodles))
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil

Protein Toppings

  • BBQ Pork (Xa Xiu)
  • 10 hard-boiled quail eggs
  • 10-15 large shrimp (size 21-15, peeled and deveined)
  • 1 bag frozen already prepped and scored squid

Vegetables/Garnish

  • 1 bag bean sprouts (blanch)
  • 1 bunch garlic chives (trim off ends, cut into 2 inch segments and blanch)
  • Fried shallots
  • Green onions (trim off end and slice thin)
  • Fried pork fat
  • Black pepper

Tomato-Soy-Based Sauce

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 large shallot (peel and mince)
  • 4 cloves garlic (peel and mince)
  • 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 5 tablespoons tomato sauce
  • 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon MSG (optional)
  • 2 cups stock
  • 1 tablespoon tapioca starch and 1 tablespoon corn starch dissolved in 4 tablespoons room temperature/cold water
  • Chili garlic oil (sate sauce)

Instructions

Clean pork/chicken bones by boiling the bones in a medium-size pot filled with water for 3-5 minutes. Remove bones, rinse under cold running water and drain dry. Clean the pot that was used to parboil the bones thoroughly and return to stove. Add blanched bones, water (3 liters), dried shrimp, daikon and yellow onion. Bring pot to a low simmer and cook for 2 hours. Occasionally, use a ladle or strainer to remove any impurities/scrum that float to the surface to keep the stock clear. In the meantime, cook the noodles. If you are using dried noodles, make sure to presoak them in cold water for 2-3 hours to become pliable. Blanch noodles in a rolling boil water for 30 second to 1 minute. Drain noodles into a colander placed in the sink, rinse with cold water and drain dry. Gently toss noodles with sesame oil (1 tablespoon for each type of noodles).
Prepare the potein toppings and vegetables/garnish.
To the stock pot, remove all the solids. Drop the raw shrimp and precooked squid directly into the stock to cook or to liven up for 1-2 minutes (make sure not to overcook). Use a strainer or slotted spoon to remove squid and shrimp. Set aside. Season stock with sea salt, sugar, stock powder and MSG.
Make the tomato-soy-based sauce. In a medium-size sauce pan, add vegetable oil and heat on medium-high. Add shallots and garlic. Saute until fragrant (1-2 minutes). Add oyster sauce, soy sauce, tomatoe sauce, sugar, MSG, 2 cups stock and tapioca/corn starch slurry. Heat on medium until sauce thickens then set aside.
To assemble, add egg noodles and tapioca noodles to a bowl. Top noodles with a few slices of BBQ pork (xa xiu), one or two hard-boiled quail eggs, 1-2 shrimp, 2-3 slices of squid, some bean sprouts and garlic chives. Garnish with fried shallots, green onions, fried pork fat and a dash of black pepper. Lastly, add a big dallop of the tomato-soy-based sauce to the bowl and serve with a small bowl of stock, garnished too with a bit of green onions and a dash of black pepper. Now enjoy!.

Countryside Potato Soup Asian

The homemade Countryside Potato soup in Asian, use cooking oil to cook fresh and sliced potato in about 2-3 minutes, add water and cooking until 10 minutes then turn off, serve your with topping like BBQ Pork or beef, fresh sliced water spinach, sliced lemon leaf, chilli, and enjoy.

In my previous post,

, I wrote about how I developed my own garden farm to produce apple snail meat as a low-cost and sustainable alternative to buying meat from the market. You may not find apple snail meat in your city, as I live in a different country, but I am developing many homemade recipes using this ingredient and I want to share them with you all. The taste is delicious, and I can eat these recipes with fresh rice, vegetables, and a drink, all at no cost.

Drink recipes

Here are a few of the many natural recipes from Asia, especially Vietnam. All with zero sugar, fresh or dry natural recipes for drink healthy.

Licorice a.k.a Liquorice

Many researchs has proof that Licorice good for health, and used for treatment and medicine as well over thousand of years.

The licorice drink recipes is simple, boiled water and put some of licorice and enjoy late with tasty sweet but zero sugar.

Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) has been used in food and as medicine for thousands of years. Also known as "sweet root," licorice root contains a compound that is about 50 times sweeter than sugar. Licorice root has been used in both Eastern and Western medicine to treat a variety of illnesses ranging from the common cold to liver disease. It acts as a demulcent, a soothing, coating agent, and as an expectorant, meaning it helps get rid of phlegm. It is still used today for several conditions, although not all of its uses are supported by scientific evidence.

Licorice that has the active ingredient of glycyrrhiza can have serious side effects. Another type of licorice, called DGL or deglycyrrhizinated licorice, does not seem to have the same side effects and is sometimes used to treat peptic ulcers, canker sores, and reflux (GERD). Practitioners still sometimes suggest whole licorice for cough, asthma, and other breathing problems. Topical preparations are used for eczema and other skin problems.

Still in process of working, please check back later for new recipes update when I ready to publish.

Want to share?