Minh Nguyen MINH NGUYEN'S AMAZING COOKBOOK

  To finish up the project, I decided to make a fusion dish based on all of the dishes I have made. I named it the Mexindorocco Chicken and Fry Couscous. I spent about 4 hours and 15 minutes in total: 2 hours and 10 minutes to prepare and cook, 5 minutes to clean up, 50 minutes to make the video, and 1 hour and 10 minutes to write down the recipe. For the Mexindorocco Chicken, I marinated the chicken first with India’s tikka masala chicken marinade and refrigerated it for 1 hour to get the creamy and earthy flavor.  Next, I make the mole sauce base by blending a chipotle pepper with chicken stock, almonds, peanuts, and tomato sauce as this would add some heat and nutty flavors to the dish. Then, I cooked the marinated chicken in a slow cooker, with the mole sauce on it, and ingredients from chicken tagine: onions, carrots, raisins, and dry apricots as it brought a sweet flavor to the dish. For the fried couscous, I used the same techniques as the Vietnamese fried rice but instead I coo

  Today, I finished my world culinary journey in South America. I decided to cook ceviche with homemade tortillas. I spent about 3 hours and 45 minutes in total: 1 hour and 40 minutes to prepare and cook, 5 minutes to clean up, 50 minutes to make the video, and 1 hour and 10 minutes to write down the recipe. The cooking process wasn’t hard, I just had to make sure to use fresh/sashimi quality shrimp and fish. Unluckily, I only got the shrimp for the ceviche today.  First, I quickly blanched, not cooked, through my shrimps to make sure that it would be consumable. Then, I would fully submerge the chopped shrimp in lime juice with other ingredients such as diced tomatoes, onions, sliced red chili pepper, and chopped cilantro. After that, I placed the bowl in the refrigerator and let the acid of the lime juice do the cooking. At first, I was a bit nervous that this method of cooking shrimp in lime juice wouldn’t work. However, after an hour, I took my shrimp out and saw that all of my shr

It was another fun and challenging week of cooking food for my senior project. I enjoyed cooking the dishes, making the videos, writing down the recipes, and especially the most interesting part out of all, eating my products. For this week, I continued my food journey around the world. I learned how to cook steak with mole sauce and homemade tortillas from Mexico, bulgogi and oi muchim from South Korea, mushroom risotto with pan-seared chicken, bruschetta, and pesto sauce from Italy, chicken kebab with Turkish bread and haydari from Turkey, falafel with pita bread and hummus from the Middle East, and chicken tagine and couscous from Morocco. This week, I was making a lot of bread and with my previous experience with naan bread; I figured out another way to knead the dough without making a mess. I decided to mix and knead the flour with the yeast mixture or just water in the dough to prevent the yeast mixture from spilling over everywhere. I benefit from this change of method because t

  Morocco, famous for its tagine dish that is cooked in an earthenware pot. Unfortunately, I didn’t have an earthenware pot, so I decided to cook my chicken tagine dish in a slow cooker served with couscous. I spent about 3 hours and 40 minutes in total: 1 hour and 40 minutes to prepare and cook, 5 minutes to clean up, 50 minutes to make the video, and 1 hour and 5 minutes to write down the recipe. For the chicken, I decided to use bone-in thighs because when slow-cooked, the bone would give the extra flavor and the thighs would bring some more juice to the dish.  When using the slow cooker, I set it on low so all of the flavors had time to build up from the onions, carrots, chicken, raisins, dried apricots, garlic, and seasonings. The low heat also made the chicken very tender and juicy. Meanwhile, I add in some extra ingredients like roasted bell peppers, cucumbers, butter, coriander, and paprika to the couscous to make it more colorful and flavorful. 

  Today I head to the Middle East for a vegetarian dish, the first in my cookbook. I cooked some falafel with pita bread and hummus. I spent about 4 hours 25 minutes in total: 2 hours and 15 minutes to prepare and cook, 5 minutes to clean up, 50 minutes to make the video, and 1 hour and 5 minutes to write down the recipe. The cooking process wasn’t meant to be too difficult, but I made it difficult for myself. I was meant to soak the chickpeas in water overnight, so it would be easier to blend with the other ingredients.  However, I was only able to soak the chickpeas for about 8 hours and when I was making the falafel mixture, my food processor wasn't able to fully break down the chickpeas. Therefore, I had to scoop out the mixture and separate the chickpeas, so I could deal with it alone. For the falafel, I decided to cook it two ways: deep fry and bake. Unfortunately, I might have overcooked the baked one. In the end, I preferred the deep-fried falafels with pita bread and dippe

  I’ve always wanted the opportunity to taste Turkish food. Now I have had the chance to taste it because I made some chicken kebab with Turkish bread and haydari, a Turkish yogurt dip. I spent about 4 hours and 10 minutes in total: 2 hours to prepare and cook, 5 minutes to clean up, 55 minutes to make the video, and 1 hour and 10 minutes to write down the recipe. The cooking process was not too difficult. I marinated the chicken in the fridge for at least 1 hour, so the chicken would have wonderful flavors when grilled.  For the Turkish bread, I made its bread dough almost the same way as the naan bread. However, I didn’t roll the dough as thin as naan and topped the bread with some olive oil, parsley, and chili flakes. Meanwhile, I decided to use Greek yogurt for the Haydari because it was thicker compared to plain yogurt. Therefore, I didn’t have to drain it. In the end, the creamy yogurt dip went well with the smokey kebab and the Turkish bread.     

  Italy, home to the famous pizza and pasta dishes and more. Today I took on the country’s other delicacy, mushroom risotto served with pan-seared chicken, bruschetta, and pesto sauce. I spent about 4 hours and 20 minutes in total: 2 hours and 10 minutes to prepare and cook the food, 5 minutes to clean up, 50 minutes to make the video, and 1 hour and 10 minutes to write down the recipe. Cooking the mushroom risotto wasn’t incredibly hard, but it was a battle of patience. Based on the recipe, it should’ve taken me 15-20 minutes to finish stirring the risotto with the chicken broth.  However, it took me about an hour to finish. At that moment I wanted to increase the heat to medium-high or high, so I could finish faster. Yet, I resisted the temptation and cooked the risotto at medium heat. I kept adding a ladle of chicken stock into the risotto and stirred until there wasn't much liquid left before adding in another ladle. Therefore, I just repeated this action until there wasn't

  Today I returned to Asia and decided to cook some Korean food. I made wonderful bulgogi, Korean BBQ beef, served with cooked white rice and Oi muchim, spicy cucumber and carrot salad.  I spent about 4 hours in total: 1 hour and 45 minutes to prepare and cook, 5 minutes to clean up, 55 minutes to make the video, and 1 hour and 15 minutes to write down the recipe.  When making the bulgogi, I had to make sure not to cut the beef too thin but enough to easily soak up the marinade. I gave the beef a lot of time to soak up the marinade because the marinade was the star of the dish. The salad was pretty simple. I just mixed the sliced cucumber and carrot with salt, Korean red chili pepper flakes, scallions, garlic, vinegar, sugar, sesame seeds, and sesame oil. The salad brought some citrus and spicy taste to the dish. The salad and the bulgogi combined well.    

  A new week has arrived, so I decided to spice things up with Mexican food. I cooked some steak with a wonderful mole sauce and homemade tortillas. I spent about 4 hours and 15 minutes in total: 2 hours and 3 minutes to prepare and cook, 7 minutes to clean up, 55 minutes to make the video, and 1 hour and 10 minutes to write down the recipe. When cooking the mole sauce, I decided to use chipotle peppers. At first, I wasn’t sure how many peppers I should use because I had never tasted it before. I was worried that I would use too much and the sauce would taste like hell. However, with the advice from my mentor, I decided to use 2 chipotle chilies with most of their seeds removed. The sauce still had some spicy kick in it but wasn’t like a hot bowl of fire.  On the other hand, with my previous experience in making bread dough, I didn’t have much difficulty making my tortillas. I changed my tactics a little bit by first mixing the water and flour in a bowl so it didn’t go messy and then I

 It was a very challenging but fun first week of the project. I  enjoyed cooking the dishes, making videos, and writing down the recipes. Besides three of the Vietnamese dishes, it was my first time learning how to make New England clam chowder, Manhattan clam chowder, and chicken Tikka Masala with homemade Naan bread and Cilantro Chutney. Not only that, they tasted way better than I would have expected. Furthermore, I also learned some new useful cooking knowledge that I could benefit from. For example, I learned that whenever I decide to make a fried rice dish, it is always better to use leftover rice to prevent the fried rice from being mushy. I learned how to make bread dough which will be helpful for bakery-related dishes like bread and also how to make a roux which is a great asset to make some gravy, sauces, and soups. However, the entire cooking process for each dish took longer than expected. First, I had to make sure I had enough ingredients. Then, I had to wash through the i

  My journey this time continued to India, where I made some chicken tikka masala, naan bread, and cilantro chutney. It was a very long and hard process as I spent about 4 hours and 45 minutes in total: 2 hours and 28 minutes to prepare and cook, 7 minutes to clean up, 55 minutes to make the video, and 1 hour and 25 minutes to write down the recipe. For the chicken tikka masala, I marinated the chicken in the fridge with different spices for about 40 minutes before frying it on the pan. Then I made the sauce with many different spices again before letting it simmer.  In the meantime, I had to make bread dough for naan bread. I had never made bread dough before so it was a battle and a mess. My yeast, water, and sugar flew everywhere when I mixed it with the flour. Luckily, I somehow got it back in control and created a good-looking bread dough before letting it rise in a warm oven. After that, I divided the dough and rolled them flat. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a dough roller therefo

  Today I worked on New England’s clam chowder twin sister, Manhattan clam chowder. With my previous experience on New England clam chowder, this should be a bit easier for me to work on. I spent about another 4 hours in total: 1 hour and 50 minutes to prepare and make the clam chowder, 5 minutes to clean up, 55 minutes to make the video, and 1 hour 15 minutes to write down the recipe.  For the Manhattan clam chowder, I didn’t have to stir as much as the New England one. I let the clam chowder simmer for about an hour to really get the flavor in there. I checked it every 10-15 minutes to make sure nothing goes wrong. Between the two chowders, I would say the New England one is the better twin. 

  Today I began my journey outside of Vietnam and tackled New England’s classic, clam chowder. I had never cooked clam chowder before nor had I tasted it. It was a hard process, but with my mentor, Gregor Makechnie , I had no problem making the dish. I spent about 4 hours in total: 1 hour and 40 minutes to prepare and make the clam chowder, 5 minutes to clean up, 55 minutes to make the video, and 1 hour and 20 minutes to write down the recipe.  During the cooking process, the part that scared me the most was making the roux. I thought I was going to make some big lumps when whisking the butter and flour together. However, it turned out to be golden and smooth just how I would’ve wanted it to be. Other than that, I just had to constantly stir the mixture to make sure that it wasn’t burnt at the bottom of the stockpot. When finished, the clam chowder looks amazing and tastes wonderful. Now I wonder what a restaurant-quality clam chowder would taste like. 

  With my chicken stocks ready after simmering from the previous night, I began to make the bean thread noodle soup. I spent about 4 hours in total: 1 hour and 45 minutes to prepare and make the noodle soup, 5 minutes to clean up, 55 minutes to make the video, and 1 hour and 15 minutes to write down the recipe. During the cooking process, I had to pay close attention to the chicken stock the most because the stock was the main star of the dish. All the flavors came from the stock, so it was mandatory to simmer it for at least 8 hours.  Nonetheless, when I boiled half of my chicken in the stock, I had to make sure that it was bone-in chicken because the bone and the chicken juice will add more flavor to the stock. The rest of the process was pretty easy. I just had to boil the noodles and other toppings to make sure they were cooked and present them in a bowl. For the cooking video and the cookbook, I kept them short and the same style as the fried rice recipe. I have spent a total of 1

  Today I worked on my Vietnamese fried rice recipe and ahead starts for my next noodle dish. It was easier compared to the spring rolls yet still very flavorful. I spent about 4 hours total: 1hour and 25 minutes to prepare and fry the rice, 5 minutes to clean up, 55 minutes to make the video, 1 hour and 10 minutes to write the recipe, and 25 minutes to prepare the ingredients to make chicken stock. Making the fried rice is pretty simple, all you have to do is finely chop the ingredients into nice cuts and stir fry it on a medium-high heat pan. However, I learned a few things during the cooking process. First, it would be better to use cold leftover rice because freshly made rice can be mushy at the end. Secondly, constantly stir the rice and try to keep it away from the center of the pan to prevent the rice from being burnt.  For the cooking video and the cookbook, I decided to make some adjustments. I made the cooking video shorter by mainly focusing on the cooking process more than

It was a very challenging day to complete the first recipe. It took longer than expected to fully cook the fried spring rolls, make a cooking video for the spring rolls, and write the recipe for it down, about four hours and forty minutes total: 35 minutes to prepare the filling, 30 minutes to wrap a total of 28 rolls, 1 hour to double fry all of the rolls, 5 minutes of clean up, 1 hour and 5 minutes to make the video, and 1 hour and 25 minutes to write the recipe. I also faced some difficulty during the cooking process because it had been a long time since I have cooked something that requires so much skill. My knifing skills were pretty rusty as I wasn’t able to cut ingredients into pieces like I would’ve wanted and it was at a slow pace. I had some trouble wrapping the first few rolls but I got the hang of it quickly after that. I was able to fry the rolls to my liking, golden brown crispy on the outside, tender and flavorful on the inside. The cooking video was not incredibly hard