Coconut Shrimp with Sweet Chili Sauce

Coconut Shrimp with Sweet Chili Sauce

20 Minute Meals 30 Minute Meals 6 Ingredients Appetizer Food Gluten-free Main Course Recipe Seafood Shrimp Thai Vietnamese

Unknown 02:40 Add Comment

After rounding up my tastiest shrimp recipes I realized that I had not shared one of my favourites, coconut shrimp! Coconut shrimp are large shrimp served coated in a crispy golden brown panko breadcrumb and coconut mixture that are just asking to be dipped into some sweet chili sauce or better yet pineapple sweet chili sauce! I sometimes like to add a touch of lime zest to the breadcrumb mixture for a hint of citrus and you can always kick up the sweet chili sauce with something like apricot preserves if the pineapple sweet chili sauce does not float your boat. (I think the coconut and pineapple flavour combo is just fabulous!) This coconut lime shrimp is the perfect finger food for your next dinner party, it's also great on game night and to be completely honest, I like to make a large batch and just eat it as a meal!

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Banh Mi Chicken Salad

Banh Mi Chicken Salad

Chicken Epicurious Food Gluten-free Main Course Recipe Salad Vietnamese

Unknown 14:48 Add Comment

Salads are always a great way to get more vegetables into your diet and I am always looking for creative ways of turning salads into light meals. Not too long ago I came across the idea of a banh mi salad on A Spicy Perspective which sounded pretty amazing given how much of a fan of banh mi sandwiches that I am and the salad would definitely eat like a meal! This salad starts out with a base of lettuce to which is added common elements of banh mi sandwiches such as cool and juicy cucumbers, sweet and salty pickled carrots and daikon radish and spicy birds eye chilies for heat. Of course this salad would not really be a light meal without some protein and chicken is always a great way to go for salads. I have always enjoyed using meat cooked in a Vietnamese caramel sauce that nicely blends aspects of sweetness, saltiness, sourness and spiciness in my banh mi sandwiches so a Vietnamese caramel chicken was definitely the way to go. With all of this the banh mi salad was just about ready; it just needed an insanely tasty banh mi dressing and the dressing had to include the final aspects of a banh mi sandwich such as the mayonnasie. (See below for the dressing.) This salad takes a bit of work to make from scratch but it is definitely worth the effort and you can make things easier by making some of the sub-recipes a day or more ahead of time. The final result is one extremely tasty salad that truly does remind you of a banh mi sandwich!

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Vietnamese Style Spicy Caramel Chicken Wings

Vietnamese Style Spicy Caramel Chicken Wings

Appetizer Chicken Food Gluten-free Recipe Vietnamese

Unknown 08:27 Add Comment

Last year when I visited Portland I got the chance to stop by Pok Pok to try their chicken wings, which were very good, and I remember thinking that I would have to try making them at home. When I made the buffalo wings the other day I recalled this thought and I could not resist making them for snacking on while watching the game. As it turns out there are several versions of the recipe online and they reminded me of a Vietnamese style savoury caramel sauce which I use fairly frequently and spicy caramel chicken wings sounded fantastic! The Vietnamese style savoury caramel sauce weaves a perfect blend of salty, sweet, sour, spicy by making a caramel and instead of adding cream or water it uses salty fish sauce, sour lime juice and spicy chilies or chili sauce along with some garlic for flavour. For the recipe, I decided to go with this simple savoury caramel sauce which I marinated the chicken wings in and then reduced it to thicken to toss the wings in and glaze them after baking. When I think chicken wings, I think spicy so I loaded up on the sriracha and the wings turned out super tasty and perfectly hot and spicy! The only real problem that I had was that the thick caramel sauce was a little sticky and messy but hey, they wouldn't be chicken wings without a little mess! These Vietnamese style spicy caramel chicken wings will make an excellent addition to my lineup of snacks for the big game!

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Bánh Xèo (Savoury Vietnamese Crepes Stuffed with Shrimp and Mushrooms)

Bánh Xèo (Savoury Vietnamese Crepes Stuffed with Shrimp and Mushrooms)

Food Gluten-free Main Course Mushroom Recipe Seafood Shrimp Vietnamese

Unknown 15:06 Add Comment

With summer here fresh herbs are more readily available and that means that it was time for me to try making bánh xèo. Bánh xèo are savoury Vietnamese crepes that are stuffed with various fillings and served wrapped in lettuce leaves along with plenty of fresh herbs such as mint, cilantro, and Thai basil. The name bánh xèo translates to sizzling cake and this is because the crepes are cooked at a higher temperature and sizzle when the batter hits the pan. Cooking the crepes this way gives them a slightly crispy edge. Despite the fact that these crepes look like an omelette they are actually not made with eggs but rather a rice batter where the yellow colour comes from turmeric powder. I decided to keep my bánh xèo on the lighter side and I stuffed them with some quickly sauteed shrimp and shiitake mushrooms along with a healthy helping of bean sprouts and I served them with lettuce, mint, cilantro, basil and a tasty nuoc cham for dipping.

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Vietnamese Caramel Salmon Banh Mi

Vietnamese Caramel Salmon Banh Mi

Food Recipe Sandwich Seafood Vietnamese

Unknown 15:01 Add Comment

I recently realized that it has been quite a while since I last did anything with seafood which is kind of disappointing considering how much I enjoy it. In order to resolve the problem I pulled out this idea for a Vietnamese style caramel salmon banh mi which has been on the back of my mind for even longer. When I first came across the idea of using caramel in a savoury dish in Vietnamese cuisine I was immediately curious and tried it only to be surprised at how well it really does work! I have been using the Vietnamese style caramel sauce ever since, using it in a number of dishes and I figured that it would go really well on creamy salmon and that that would go well in a tasty banh mi sandwich!

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