Minh Nguyen MINH NGUYEN'S AMAZING COOKBOOK

  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 a...

 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 thro...

  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 rolle...

  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 t...