A little twist on the classic Vietnamese soup! Perfect for a cold, rainy night - just the right amount of spice, heartiness, and warm broth. You can substitute most of these ingredients for what you have on hand - I'm sure it will still come out delicious!
Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 pack ground lamb (or meat of your choice)
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth (can sub 2 cups water + 1 bullion cube)
- 1 pack rice noodles (whatever noodles you have on hand will work)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 thumb ginger, peeled and minced or sliced thin
- 2 baby bok choy, chopped or broken apart with the leaves whole (can sub spinach or other greens)
- 1 jalapeno (optional)
- 2 scallions, chopped into small rounds with the white parts separated from the green
- 1 lime (optional)
- 1/4 cup panko
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1-2 tablespoons chopped red onion
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- Salt to taste
- Fresh mint leaves for garnish
Recipe:
- Use a large basin or mixing bowl to combine the ground meat with the onion, garlic cloves, cumin, chili powder, panko and salt. Mix just well enough to combine, don't over-mix.
- Form meatballs out of the mixture and lightly sear them in a wok or pot with the vegetable oil.
- Add the ginger and sautee for about a minute, then pour in the broth and noodles.
- Let the noodles cook for 2-3 minutes before adding the bok choy and the white parts of the scallions. You can also add the jalapeno slices now if you're using them.
- Once the noodles are cooked through (about 5-7 minutes), serve hot garnished with the fresh mint leaves and green parts of the scallions!
Whenever I re-create one of my favorite Guyanese dishes, I feel extra excited to share the recipe with you all! This recipe is now approved by my parents, grandparents & fiancé, phew! Enjoy!
Time: 45 mins
Ingredients:
- ~4-5 lbs of lamb meat (ask the butcher to chop it up for stew)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 2-3 plum tomatoes
- 3-4 hot peppers, whole
- 2-3 potatoes, diced
- 1-3 cups of water
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup fresh ginger, chopped
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
Recipe:
- Cut the lamb meat into smaller bite-sized pieces.
- In a large pot, bring the vegetable oil to medium heat. Add the onion & let it cook until opaque.
- Add the garlic & ginger, sauté for about 3-4 minutes.
- Put the lamb meat into the pot with the potato pieces.
- Add the tomato paste, stir to coat the lamb & potatoes with the paste.
- Pour in the water, salt, & plum tomatoes.
- Bring a water to a boil, add the hot peppers, then lower to a simmer & cover the pot.
- You'll want to stir the stew every so often to make sure the tomatoes are melting down & the potatoes are cooked through. If you see the stew drying down, add some more water & salt. I always put 2 cups initially & that seems fine for this amount of meat.
- When the potatoes are cooked, uncover the pot & raise the heat to medium. You want the liquid to reduce to about half, so you have a nice gravy. Taste for salt at this time too.
- Serve with white or brown rice, or roti!
Comfort food can be healthy! Lightly breaded fish in with a warm tomato stew - YUM! Definitely a winner for cold nights like this. I used cod because it's what I had in the freezer but you can try this with tilapia also.
Time: ~45 mins
Ingredients:
- 4 pieces of cod (I had frozen pieces that I defrosted)
- 1 tablespoon chopped onion
- ~2 tablespoons of dry all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 can tomato puree or 1/2 can tomato paste with 1/2 cup water
- 2 fresh plum tomatoes (or a few grape tomatoes)
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil for frying the fish
Recipe:
- Wash fish and pat dry. Season with salt, garlic powder and pepper.
- Coat the fish in dry flour and fry each piece for about 2 min on each side until light brown (in medium-hot oil).
- Remove the fish from the oil, drain some of it so there's only about a tablespoon of oil left.
- Heat remaining oil back to medium heat, throw in the onion and minced garlic.
- Add in all the remaining ingredients above (excluding the fresh tomatoes), let simmer until the gravy is thick.
- Carefully put the fish back in so it does not break apart.
- Cut the fresh tomatoes and layer around and on top of the fish - cook for only 2 mins.
- Serve with plain rice & some lime or mango chutney!
