Bò Viên (Vietnamese Beef Meatballs)

If you ask my daughters what their mommy's favorite food is, they would tell you it's "Phở", the quintessential Vietnamese dish. Yes, a bowl of comforting Phở (Vietnamese beef/chicken noodle soup) will satisfy my tummy at anytime - I can eat it for a week!

Most of the time, I would make Phở Gà (Vietnamese chicken noodle soup) as it is easier and less time consuming. A pot of Phở Gà can be cooked in an hour while Phở Bò (Vietnamese beef noodle soup) takes at least half of a day to prepare and cook.

Phở Bò Viên (Vietnamese noodle soup with meatballs) is no exception to Phở Bò but you can always take a short cut by using ox tail (đuôi bò) to make the broth which takes less time than using beef bones. A simple bowl of Phở Bò Viên is just Bò Viên and noodle. It's simple but flavorful. You can also enjoy Bò Viên with chicken broth, sprinkled with chopped scallions and white pepper and served as a soup.

Homemade food is always the best as we know exactly what goes in it. Some of the Bò Viên brands you would find at Asian stores are very chewy due to the hàn the (borax) that is added. In oriental cooking, hàn the used as a cooking ingredient is to add a firm rubbery texture to the food, or as a preservative. It is banned in the United States.

This Bò Viên recipe is very tasty and easy to make. The spicy ginger and aromatic garlic add bold flavors to Bò Viên. The result of Bò Viên is firm, crunchy but not chewy as you would find it in store-bought Bò Viên.

For those who live in Melbourne, click here to check out Cannings Free Range Butchers where they have a wide range fresh meat and seafood with home delivery too. How convenient that is!

RECIPE: Bò Viên

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

4 pounds lean Ground Beef Chuck or Ground Beef Shank (bắp bò); ask the butcher to ground it for you

2 bags Alsa Baking Powder

8 tablespoons Fish Sauce

2 tablespoons finely chopped Garlic

3 teaspoons Sugar

2 teaspoons Ground Pepper

2 teaspoons fresh grated Ginger

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Directions
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Preparing Beef

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix it well. Cover and place it in freezer for about 2-3 hours until the beef is really cold or frosty but not yet frozen. You can also place it in the frigde overnight instead freezer. This process will help the meat to bind together.

Remove from freezer or fridge then place it in the food processor with 1/4 of the beef at a time; do not overload the work bowl. Process to a completely smooth but firm paste. Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides of the work bowl. Transfer the beef paste to another bowl. Process the remaining beef.

Place the beef in the freezer for about 30 minutes. This process will help make the beef balls more crunchy.

Beef Chuck makes great meatball due to its richness of flavor and balance of meat and fat.

Beef Shank (bắp bò) is filled with tough, dense muscle tissues. It takes longer to cook meatball. The result of meatball is chewy and a little bit dry.

Making Meatball

Bring a pot of water to boil.

Prepare a bowl of ice water. Set aside.

Use a spoon to scoop the meat and make it into balls. To avoid the beef from sticking on our hands, wet your hands and a spoon with water.

Place meatballs into the boiling water. When the meatballs float to the surface, let them cook for a few more minutes. The total time is about 7 minutes.

Remove meatballs and place them in an ice water bowl for about 3 minutes. By doing this, the meatballs will bind together and become crunchy.

Remove meatballs from ice water.

These meatballs may be frozen for a few months in the freezer. They actually taste crunchier after they have been in the freezer for awhile.

Presentation

Add it in Pho broth to make a delicious bowl of Phở Bò Viên (Beef Noodle Soup).

Served separately as an appetizer with Sriracha and hoisin sauce.

Meatballs can also be added to a well-seasoned beef broth or chicken broth, sprinkled with chopped scallions and white pepper and served as a soup.

Ăn Ngon! Eat Well!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

My Little Mermaid

This blog entry is of sentimental value and is more of food for the soul than it is for the belly . . .yet for those planning a party, hopefully this will stir your creativity to create a memorable celebration.

My older daughter Nhã-Hân just turned 5 a week ago. She started Kindergarten a few days after her birthday. My oh my, how time seems to slip us by ...it was just yesterday when I cradled her in my arms and now a kindergartener?! I feel so old.

Everytime I look at her, I missed those chubby cheeks adorned with two deep dimples. The dimples are still there but the chubby cheeks have firmed up. It sounds crazy but I reminisce of those diaper-changing, baby-burping, luke- warm -water-bathing and I-can't-wait-until-she-grows-up days. Well in a blink of an eye, she's 5 years old! How I miss the baby talk and the anticipation of her first steps. Now she swims, dances ballet, does gymnastics and carries an I-Don't-Care-Response attitude.

My little mermaid at 7 months old

Her first experience riding a bus

Nhã-Hân's 1st birthday

2nd birthday

3rd birthday

4th birthday

As life is full of surprises, who knows what it will bring the very next moment; so I like to spoil my daughters so that they can enjoy it to the fullest. That way I'll have a blast as well preparing for these celebrations.

This year, my daughter wanted an under-the-sea theme party. Throughout the year, everywhere we went, we'd collected seashells, starfishes, crab and lobster models and anything that reminds of the ocean.. My two darlings and I had so much fun planning, shopping and preparing for the party.

Hence, what could be better and more fun than a message in a bottle to serve as an invitation!

While we were vacationing in Mendocino, my birthday girl didn't forget to bring her mermaid costume with her on the trip to get some poses by the ocean...This costume was intended for her summer ballet recital in July but given her birthday theme, it served a perfect purpose.

I have two opportunities a year to fulfill my creative hunger, both from a culinary standpoint and aesthetically. I would rummage for new ideas and make it happen. On my youngest's third Ballerina birthday party, I made cutouts of butterflies and flower straws and it was a big hit. I continue that success but for octopus, dolphin, starfish, and seahorse straws. They were fun to look at and the kids love them.

My children and I made many trips to Michaels and A Dollar Tree store to collect those inflatable sea creatures. We planned to transform our backyard into an ocean full of sea creatures by hanging these inflatable sea creatures with the seaweeds and ocean waves that I made out of plastic tablecloths.

For the last couple years, my sister-in-law would make these gorgeous birthday cakes but this year, last minute changes left us to our own devices; my daughter suggested that I make the cake and she will be the helper :-). At first, it sounded like an exciting idea, but soon realized that it would be too much work to bake and decorate the cake. So, off we went to the stores and ordered 3 cakes without any decoration. That way, I can partake in the decoration and personalization of her cake.

Gummy sea creatures, fish cookies, fruit loops cereal, fruit roll, rock candies as part of the decoration

The leaning tower of Nhã-Hân, a personal touch.

On Nhã-Hân's 5th birthday party, I managed to serve every dish with a seafood touch in them. The Octodog ( made out of hotdog) was a big hit. There were also bánh bèo tôm cháy, bánh bột lộc nhân tôm, chả ốc (new recipe to be posted soon), chả tôm Huế sandwiches, seaweed and calamari salads, hến xúc bánh phồng tôm, xôi tôm cháy, sushi (masago rolls) and mango seashell pasta salad.

Octodogs

Chả Ốc (Vietnamese Ham and Perwinkle Snails)

Mango Seashell Pasta Salad

Xôi Tôm Cháy và Da Heo Chiên Dòn (Sticky Rice with Shrimp and Fried Pork Rinds)

Masago Rolls

I love the colors of the ocean; I wanted to incorporte its colors through my drinks; the blue berry punch and the green mixed punch along with the earthy flavor of mojito for the adults provided a cool and refreshing combination to quench their thirst and keep their thoughts somewhere close by the water.