Stir-Fry / Vietnamese Pork with Green Beans and Carrots

   PORK WITH GREEN BEANS AND CARROTS   So anyone who knows little old Saba, knows that  I’m a sucker for a barging. Especially when its food related!  So the other day I went to the supermarket to get me some bread and a few other little bits and pieces. I don’t head out to […]

Pho on the go!

Just add water #1   Throw away those instant noodle packets that don’t actually taste anything like what the packet suggest. Lets make our own. This will be the first instalment of my new series “Just add water”. This series will be dedicated to instant noodles. But not the type your thinking. We gonna prep […]

Beef in Betel Leaf – Bò Lá Lốt

    Grilled Beef in Betel Leaf Bò Nướng Lá Lốt Everyone in Australia loves having a barbeque. Its our national favorite past time. We call it a barbie here in Australia cause we like to shorten all our words. We are just a laid back sort of people down under. So as every good […]

Vietnamese Crispy Pork Spring Rolls Chả giò

Saba’s Crispy Springers!     In Australia we call these little bad boys Spring rolls.  I know in other parts of the world you may call them Egg rolls.  In Vietnam they are called  Chả giò. But I call them Springers. Either way, call them what you must. One thing I’m certain we can all […]

Spring Onion Oil Mỡ Hành

    SPRING ONION OIL  Mỡ Hành     Where I live we call these spring onions. In other parts of the country and world you might call them scallions, green onion, shallots or something else. In Vietnam they are know as Hành lá.  They are a staple of Asian cooking. They have a great oniony […]

Cheats Recipe Vietnamese Meatballs Xíu Mại Chén

  Vietnamese Meatballs Xíu Mại   When ever I think of comfort food, one dish always springs to mind. Vietnamese Meatballs or xíu mại as its know in Vietnam. Every Vietnamese family has there own version of it. In essence its a pork meat ball with a tomato sauce. Growing up my mum would make her […]

Vietnamese Sate Chilli Oil

  Sa tế   So in my last post I made annatto oil. The reason I made the annatto oil was that I wanted to use it in this sate recipe.  I want to make this sate cause I will be using in a Spicy Beef Noodle soup recipe. Bún bò Huế or BBH for short. […]

Annatto Seed Oil. Dầu hạt điều

  Annatto Oil   I know what your thinking. What is Annatto oil right? Annatto is used in many cuisines including Vietnamese. We use it mainly for its color. Add a bit to your noodle soup broths and it is gives a beautiful yellow to orange color. To make the Annatto oil we add annatto […]

Homemade Ground Chilli Sauce

  Homemade ground chilli sauce.   A friend of mine grows these large red chillies. Cause he knows how much I love chilli, he was nice enough to give me a few of them. I find that these long chillies are not very spicy.  However do have a very nice flavour to them. Also I […]

Love Heart Shaped Spring Onion Garnish

Edible Love heart shaped spring onion garnish. Having a beautiful garnish can lift the look of your dish from simple to down right mouth watering. I find using simple little tricks and changing the shapes of a garnish you already use can really make the food on the plate pop. Just like this love heart […]

Vietnamese Vegan Scrambled Eggs and Bitter Melon

Vietnamese Vegan Scrambled Eggs and Bitter Melon     I know what you are all thinking and want to ask me. Saba what’s going on, a Vegan dish??      Don’t hit the panic button just yet.  I’m not turning Vegan, not that there is anything wrong with that, it’s just not for me. A […]

PORK ON PORK! Vietnamese BBQ Pork Chops

VIETNAMESE BBQ PORK CHOPS   In todays post I’m not really focusing on the food. What I hear you say. That’s right. I said it. I’m not focusing on the food. I’m going to focus on the BBQ I cooked it on. For thoese who know or follow me. You know that I have a […]

Vietnamese Pickled Garlic Chives & Bean Shoots

Now you all know I’m a huge fan of anything pickled. The zesty zing they add to a dish can change a boring meal into something special. In this recipe we are going to make pickled garlic chive and bean shoots. It’s super easy to make and will be ready to eat in just about […]

SPICY VEGAN OKARA SEASONING POWDER

I often make soy milk at home, it’s cheap and easy to do and only needs 2 ingredients to do. Soy beans and water. Yep that’s it. However making soy milk produces a lot of byproduct or waist. One thing I’m not a big fan of is wasting food.  The byproduct I speak of here […]

Game Day Prawn Platter

I’m a big fan of sports, more so watching then playing it hihi. Of late I’ve been spoiled for choice. World Cup soccer, Wimbledon tennis, golf, football, motorsports. You name it and I’ll watch it. So in today’s post I thought I would show you 3 really simple game day snacks you can prepare in […]

Vietnamese Grilled Pork Marinade

For 1Kg of meat   THE SHOPPING LIST 4 Lemongrass stem, white part only, smashed and roughly chopped  (80g)  1  Large brown onion, roughly chopped 5 Cloves of garlic, minced  1 tablespoon of ground chilli paste  (or 2 fresh chillies minced)  ½ tablespoon of fish sauce  ½ tablespoon of Soy sauce 1 tablespoon of Oyster sauce 1 […]

How to cook rice on the stove

  I know some of you may laugh when you see this post. For the most part I’m sure it’s a very simple task, but for the novis cook it can be quite the challenge to get right.  But I kid you not. I remember a time when I was a teenager and a dear friend of […]

Vietnamese Green Mango Salad, Gỏi Xoài Xanh

  Chúc Mừng Năm Mới     Happy New Year everyone!! So I had planned to do a traditional Vietnamese New Year dish for todays post, but I’ve been so busy doing work on the lion brand rice blog posts that I didn’t get time to do one. Sorry about, I’ll have to make up for it next […]

The Broken Lion!

 My Cơm Tấm Burger   So in this post today I’m not sharing a recipe with you. Sorry about that.  I just want to share with you one of my cooking stories. I hope it can inspire you to have fun and be creative in the kitchen. Cooking is an essential part of life. We cook […]

Guest Blogging For The Lion! Lion Brand Rice

Lion Brand Rice So this website is only a few weeks old now and I’m super happy how its coming along.  When I started conceiving and building the website, I actually didn’t even know what a blog was. I didn’t even know where to start to create a website. I’m not even that computer literate. All I […]

Pork Chop on Broken Rice with a Sunny Side Up Egg!

  The Story of Pork Chop on Broken Rice with a Sunny Side Up Egg!   You know I’ve been told that every dish has a story to tell. Here is the story of my dish and I hope it brings a smile to your face. Did you ever hear the tail about the pig and the […]

Vietnamese Pickled Carrot and Daikon, đồ chua

đồ chua Vietnamese Pickled Carrot and Daikon I love anything pickled, the zesty zing they add to a dish can change a boring meal into something special. In this recipe we are going to make pickled carrot and daikon. Or đồ chua as its now in Vietnamese. These pickles are best known for being used […]

Nước chấm. Vietnamese dipping sauce

Nước cham You know that saying that goes like this. “we eat with our eyes first” Well this was the dish that taught me that. I remember when I was young and I was helping my mother to make up some nuoc cham, she asked me to chop up the garlic, so I went at […]