Vietnamese Seafood Volcano Soup

VIETNAMESE LEMONGRASS COCONUT SEAFOOD SOUP

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large nonstick saucepan over medium heat.
• Add lemongrass, lime leaves, ginger, shallot, and garlic and cook until they become fragrant and soft, about 3 minutes.
• Add tomato paste, shellfish stock, coconut milk, fish sauce, and palm sugar and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes.
• Put the prawns in the pan and cook for 2 minutes.
• Add the mussels and clams and cook for 3 minutes with the pan covered and until the shellfish have opened. Discard any clams and mussels that didn't open.
• Taste the broth and and adjust with additional fish sauce, sugar, or stock to your taste.
• Transfer the seafood to serving bowls, ladle the soup in the bowl, garnish with cilantro and serve immediately.

VIETNAMESE SEAFOOD NOODLE SOUP (HU TIEU NAM VANG)

Steps:

• Toss Ingredient A into a pot and set to boil, skim off any scums that floating on the pot. Add Ingredient B into the pot and let simmer for 60 minutes under low heat.
• Continue to simmer the broth for another 60 minutes. Remove pork loin from the pot and soak with cold water for 10 minutes, rinse dry then cut into thin slices.
• Turn off the heat and strain the broth thru a strainer while transferring the soup into a new pot. (Adjust the taste of broth by adding additional salt and rock sugar if needed.)
• Heat up a pan with cooking oil, add Ingredient C into the pan and light saute until turn golden brown, set aside for later use.
• Heat up a pot with water and cook the rice noodle for 3 minutes, let chill under running tap water then rinse dry. Continue by boiling the remaining Ingredient D in the same pot for 2 minutes,
• Place rice noodle on each bowl as the base ingredient. Arrange shrimp, pork slices, fish ball and caramelized shallot garlic on top. Pour a hearty amount of broth into the bowl then sprinkle Ingredient E as garnishment. Ready to serve.

VIETNAMESE FISHERMAN'S SOUP

Steps:

• Blanch salmon in boiling water for 10 to 20 seconds. Lift out; drain in a colander. Blanch scallops for 10 seconds; drain.
• Heat oil in a small stockpot over medium heat. Add chile paste and garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add stock, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; stir in salmon and scallops, tomatoes, pineapple, onions, fish sauce, sugar, salt, and lime juice. Cook just until seafood is cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in scallions, bean sprouts, basil, and cilantro. Divide among 8 soup bowls, garnish with Fried Shallots, if desired, and serve immediately.

VIETNAMESE SEAFOOD VOLCANO SOUP

Steps:

• Heat oil in a wok.
• Lightly brown garlic and shallots.
• Add chili sauce, tomato sauce, chopped tomato, fish sauce and sugar.
• Blend well, then simmer for 2-3 minutes.
• Add stock with tamarind juice or lime juice. Bring to a boil.
• Add seafood and wine to stock. Bring back to boil.
• Cover and simmer for 3-4 minutes until mussel shells have opened. Discard any that remain closed after cooking.
• Taste soup and adjust seasoning to your liking with salt & pepper.
• Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve hot.

VOLCANO

Steps:

• For the tuna: Mix the paprika, granulated garlic, Italian seasoning, granulated onion, parsley flakes, black pepper and salt in a bowl. Sprinkle and cover both sides of the tuna steaks with the blackened spice mix. (You will have leftover spice mix that you can store for future use. The blackened spice is great on any meat.)
• Coat a large skillet with olive oil and put over high heat. Sear the tuna on both sides, about 15 seconds. Remove, slice and set aside.
• For the Cajun shrimp: Fill a saucepan over half full with water and put over high heat. Add the Cajun seasoning and shrimp to the water. Once you start seeing the water come to a boil, the shrimp are done. They only need a few minutes. Drain the shrimp in a strainer and put to the side.
• For the crab salad: Add the crab, mayo and sriracha to a bowl and mix. Set aside.
• For the spicy mayo: Add the mayo and sriracha to a bowl and mix. Set aside.
• For the taco salad bowl: Fill a deep pot with 5 to 6 inches of oil and heat to 350 degrees F. Place a tortilla in the middle of the pot and push down with a ladle to create a bowl shape. Keep the tortilla emerged in the oil until the tortilla turns a golden brown color, 1 to 2 minutes. Once done, flip the tortilla over and fry the other side for an additional 1 to 2 minutes. Remove and set aside. (Alternatively, premade taco bowls can be purchased in any Latin markets.)
• Arrange the shredded lettuce in the center of a plate. Alternate the avocado and tuna slices around the rim of the plate. Put the shrimp in the center of the bed of lettuce. Drizzle with some of the spicy mayo, eel sauce and sriracha around the rim of plate over the avocado and tuna slices. Place the taco salad shell upside down on top of the lettuce and shrimp. Top the taco salad bowl with a large round scoop of the crab salad and drizzle the remaining spicy mayo, eel sauce, and sriracha over the top of the crab salad and on the sides of the taco salad shell, giving the appearance of an erupted volcano.