Com Ga/ Vietnamese Chicken with Mint Rice

Vietnamese Com Ga is probably one of the simplest, homeliest meals of our culture. Simple as it is, it's still one of my favorite meals.

I love how simple everything is, yet there's so much flavor, and the chicken really shines through. That's why it's super important to use free-range chicken in this recipe, because since the chicken is your main ingredient, you really want to use the best quality available. What makes the meal spectacular though, I feel, is the ginger fish sauce! It's sweet, tangy, salty and sooo delicious. Actually almost any kind of fish sauce makes me happy! The mint, cucumbers and marinated onions add great freshness to the dish as well.

The soup is optional but if you've never had fresh chicken stock before, please try this! With the leftover stock, you simply add some fish sauce to season it, then some fresh "Gai Xanh." I'm not sure what the English name of this is but it's similar to bok choy, so you can also substitute that. The broth is just so rich with flavor, it's incredible. I love this meal especially because though it's super healthy, you feel so satisfied after eating it.

Com Ga/ Vietnamese Chicken with Mint Rice

Yields: 4 servings

1 small, whole, free-range chicken

2 cups rice

4 cups chicken stock (reserved from cooking the chicken)

1 cup mint leaves, julienned

1/2 large white onion, sliced

1/4 cup white vinegar

1 1/2 tsp. black pepper

3 persian cucumbers, washed and sliced

nuoc mam gung, for serving (recipe below)

For the soup:

gai xanh or vietnamese bok choy (regular bok choy is fine too), roughly chopped

fish sauce, to taste

black pepper, to taste

In a large pot, place the chicken (whole) inside. Fill the pot with enough water to almost cover the chicken. Heat over medium-high heat until the water is boiling, then reduce heat to medium to allow the water to simmer and the chicken to cook, about 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the chicken to rest and the water to cool down. Once cool enough to handle, remove the chicken from the stock, but DO NOT discard the water. Cut the chicken into small pieces, for easier eating.

In the meantime, put the rice in a large bowl with a few cups of water. Gently swirl your fingers in the bowl to allow the starch to separate from the grains. Once the water becomes white, drain and repeat this process twice more. With each time, the water will get less cloudy. The idea is not to get rid of all the starch, just enough so that the rice will not be too sticky or too dry when cooked. Put the rice in a sieve and drain until the rice is fairly dry. In a rice cooker, combine the rice with 4 cups of chicken stock and cook according to your machine's setting (alternatively, you can also cook this on the stovetop). Right before serving, stir in the mint. You do not want to do this ahead of time because the mint will turn brown.

With the remaining broth, you can either save it for future use or make soup. To make the soup, re-heat the remaining broth over medium heat until just boiling. Add fish sauce, to taste. Add the gai xanh/ Vietnamese bok choy until just wilted. Turn off the heat. Enjoy sprinkled with some black pepper, alongside your Com Ga.

In a medium bowl, combine the onions, vinegar and black pepper. Let sit for at least 5 minutes to allow the vinegar to soften and marinate the onions. To serve, place some rice on a plate. Top with some marinated onions, cucumbers, pieces of chicken and a drizzle of the nuoc mam guon. Enjoy!

Gai Xanh/ Vietnamese Boy Choy:

The ginger-fish sauce concoction & the marinated onions:

Nuoc Mam Gung/ Vietnamese Ginger Fish Sauce

2 - 3 limes, juiced

2 tbsn. fish sauce

2 tbsn. sugar, to taste

2-inch piece of ginger, finely minced

1 red chili, finely diced (optional)

Combine everything until well mixed and the sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Tailored Tuesdays

1. Smythe 'Dickens blazer with detachable vest'

2. Kiki de Montparnasse 'Cotton boyfriend fit shirt'

3. Superfine 'Jeannie low rise cropped jeans'

4. Michael Kors 'Midsized chronograph watch'

5. Mulberry 'Clipper small weekend bag'

6. Church's 'Classic burwood brogues'

all images can be found at net-a-porter.com

Peach Cobbler Bars, Mango Mojitos & A Farewell to Summer

I love summer, but I love fall & winter more! There's something about cold weather, scarves, boots and mittens that make me so incredibly happy. I seriously cannot wait for all things hot chocolate, pumpkin and spiced! Fortunately though, even though summer is incredibly hot and sticky, it provides us with the most luscious fruits of the year: the juicy peach and the perfect mango, two of my favorites! Fruit desserts have always been one of my favorites because their freshness cuts into the sweetness, since I like my desserts not overly sweet.

These bars taught me something important: not all bars have to be super sweet or crispy/ chewy. I'd always had a certain vision of what bars are supposed to be and these are the total opposite! They're cake-y, subtly sweet, delicate and quite possibly the best farewell to summer I could have asked for.

Peach Cobbler Bars

Yields: about 20 bars

Original recipe here.

For the bars:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. almond extract

4 eggs

3 cups flour

3/4 pinch tsp. salt

For the filling:

6 - 8 peaches, peeled and thinly sliced

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

For the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsn. cream

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a large cookie sheet, set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time making sure well incorporated after each addition. Add in vanilla and almond extracts. Slowly add flour and salt and mix until incorporated. Spread 3/4 of the mixture into the prepared pan. Mix peaches, brown sugar and cinnamon together then evenly distribute over the batter. Drop the rest of the batter by tablespoons over the peaches and bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until edges start to turn brown. Whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla and cream and drizzle half of the mixture over the warm bars. Allow to cool, cut into 3 inch squares and drizzle over the remaining glaze.

Mojitos are one of my favorite mixed drinks on this earth. Most often, I'd prefer a beer or a glass of wine rather than a mixed drink but Mojitos are just always, always sublime. The mix of lime and mint is perfection and so refreshing on a hot summer day!

Add mango, and you've got perfection x 100! Mango is my favorite fruit ever and when you use a perfectly ripe, summer mango in this recipe, it's flavor is just heightened to infinity. Please enjoy this on your last summer day!

Mango Mojitos

Yields: 4 servings

Original recipe here.

several mint leaves

6 oz. rum (I used mango rum)

2 cups club soda

4 oz. simple syrup

4 oz. fresh mango puree

Muddle the mint with a muddler or the bottom of a wooden spoon. Mix all the ingredients together, then serve over ice. Enjoy!

Cháo/ Vietnamese Rice Porridge

Cháo is the Vietnamese version of rice porridge, if you're unfamiliar, you might recognize it as congee or jook. Some people think rice porridge is boring, but I happen to think it's comforting. It's warm, creamy and delicious. Oh, and the best part? It's e-a-s-y, which probably is the most comforting thing about it.

Usually, I eat mine with some shredded chicken, maybe some shredded pork and some fried Chinese cruton-like things. I recently saw someone eat it with a poached egg and in my head, an alarm went off, and I knew I had to try it immediately. I love all things egg and this just sounded too good to ignore!

This porridge is as simple as can be. Simply simmer some rice and chicken stock together and it's all done. This is best with homemade chicken stock, but canned or even simply water will do! Let me just say, the poached egg is a fantabulous addition! It adds this extra layer of unbelievable creaminess, mmmm creamy yolk all up in my porridge. Yum yum yum!

Cháo or Vietnamese Rice Porridge

Yields: 1 servings

For the porridge:

1 cup cooked jasmine rice

2 cups chicken stock, homemade is best!

1" piece of ginger

fish sauce, to taste

To serve:

1 green onion, sliced

1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped

black pepper, to taste

1 large egg, poached (instructions below)

lemon wedges

In a large saucepan, bring the chicken stock and ginger to a boil over medium heat. Add the rice and lower the heat to medium-low and allow the mixture to simmer until the rice is soft and the liquid has thickened. Once thickened to your preference, remove the ginger. Taste the porridge, if it is already salted enough from the broth, skip the fish sauce, if it is not, add the fish sauce to your taste. To serve, divide among two bowls. Top each with a poached egg, then garnish with black pepper, green onions and cilantro. Drizzle with the lemon wedge and enjoy!

1. Bring a sauce pot filled with water to just under a boil.

2. If your water has already started to boil, lower the heat until the water is no longer boiling.

3. Crack an egg into a small bowl.

4. Add 1 tbsn. of white vinegar to the water.

5. Slowly drop the egg into the water.

6. Use a spoon to push back the egg whites onto the egg, so that it can form together.

7. Turn off the heat.

8. Cover the pot.

9. Let sit for 4 minutes, then remove the egg with a slotted spoon.

Eating Out

Now, introducing the "Eating Out" page! Here you'll be able to find all of my adventures of finding good food other than from my own home :).


I always thoroughly investigate restaurants before I eat them, I don't know why, but I feel it's necessary! If you like to do the same, then that's what this is for. Don't take me too seriously though, I wouldn't consider myself to be the best food critic since I am far too easily pleased!


Added bonus: there's a nice little button on the left side to direct you to all of this goodness. Yipeeee!
Orange County

Napa Rose {Anaheim, CA}

The Ramos House Cafe {San Juan Capistrano, CA}

Citrus City Grille {Orange, CA}

Ikea {Costa Mesa, CA}

Sprinkles {Newport Beach, CA}

Mochilato {Irvine, CA}

Anepalco's Cafe {Orange, CA}

Empanada's Place {Costa Mesa, CA}

Kaju Tofu House {Garden Grove, CA}

Fukada {Irvine, CA}

Bo 7 Mon/ 7 Courses of Beef {Garden Grove, CA}

Lola Gaspar {Santa Ana, CA}

Disneyland {Anaheim, CA}

Joe's Italian Ice {Anaheim, CA}

Thai Nakorn {Garden Grove, CA}
Slater's 50/50 {Anaheim, CA}

Gorguyeo Korean BBQ {Garden Grove, CA}

Ruth's Chris Steak House {Irvine, CA}

Cream Pan {Tustin, CA}

The Lime Truck {Irvine, CA}
In & Out {Orange, CA}
Milk + Honey {Costa Mesa, CA}
Bruxie {Orange, CA}
Boiling Crab {Garden Grove, CA}
Cafe Casse Croute {Anaheim, CA}
Tranquil Tea Lounge {Fullerton, CA}
Chapter One: The Modern Local {Santa Ana, CA}
Layer Cake Bakery {Irvine, CA}
Jagerhaus {Anaheim, CA}

Los Angeles County

Paulette {Los Angeles, CA}

Milk {Los Angeles, CA}

Porto's Bakery & Cafe {Glendale, CA}

Pampas Churrascaria {Los Angeles, CA}

Wat Thai New Years Festival {Los Angeles, CA}

The Oinkster {Eagle Rock, CA}

The Donut Man {Glendora, CA}

Phillipe's {Los Angeles, CA}

Gaja {Torrance, CA}

Europane {Pasadena, CA}

Best Fish Tacos in Ensenada {Los Angeles, CA}

The Spice Station {Los Angeles, CA}

Little Dom's {Los Angeles, CA}

Intelligentsia {Los Angeles, CA}

4100 Bar {Los Angeles, CA}
Class 302 {Rowland Heights, CA}
Boiling Point {Hacienda Heights, CA}
Daikokuya {Los Angeles, CA}
Bottega Louie {Los Angeles, CA}
King's Hawaiian Restaurant & Bakery {Torrance, CA}
Louise's Trattoria {Los Angeles, CA}
Simple Things {Los Angeles, CA}
Proof Bakery {Los Angeles, CA}
The Kitchen {Los Angeles, CA}

Other

Mad Greek Cafe {Baker, CA}

Serendipity 3 {Las Vegas, NV}
Erick Schatt's Bakery {Bishop, CA}

Bay Area

Taylor's Automatic Refresher {San Francisco, CA}

Bi-Rite Creamery {San Francisco, CA}

Bob's Donuts {San Francisco, CA}

Katana-Ya {San Francisco, CA}

Mama's {San Francisco, CA}

Osha {San Francisco, CA}

Zazie {San Francisco, CA}

Ike's Place {San Francisco, CA}

Kan Zaman {San Francisco, CA}

New York


Clinton Street Baking Company {New York, NY}
Shake Shack {New York, NY}
Ippudo {New York, NY}
Russ & Daughters {New York, NY}
La Bella Ferrara {New York, NY}
Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles {New York, NY}
Chinatown Ice Cream Factory {New York, NY}
Kee's Chocolates {New York, NY}
The Doughnut Plant {New York, NY}
Sullivan St. Bakery {New York, NY}
Wafels & Dinges {New York, NY}
Sigmund Pretzels {New York, NY}
Num Pang {New York, NY}
Stand4 {New York, NY}
People's Pops {New York, NY}
Perilla {New York, NY}
Momofuku Milk Bar {New York, NY}
Levain Bakery {New York, NY}
63rd & 5th Halal Cart {New York, NY}
Caracas Arepas Bar {New York, NY}
Grimaldi's {Brooklyn, NY}

Oahu, HI


Waiola Shave Ice {Honolulu, HI}
Mana Bu's {Honolulu, HI}
Diamond Head Market & Grill {Honolulu, HI}
Leonard's Bakery {Honolulu, HI}
Giovanni's Aloha Shrimp Truck {North Shore, HI}
Tamura's Fine Wine & Liquors {Honolulu, HI}
Yama's Fish Market {Honolulu, HI}