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red snapper (sun-dried) • sweet and sour sauce • Green onions

Cooked rice (brown or white) • salmon fillet • bell peppers (one green, one red) • Minced garlic • Butter • Salt, ground black pepper • Honey or sugar • Soy sauce • White vinegar or lemon juice • Cilantro • Optional vegetables for serving

avocados (about 1 kg; adjust amount based on servings, you can use just one avocado if desired) • coconut milk • tapioca starch • sweetened condensed milk • unsweetened milk (about 120 ml) • Roasted peanuts or cashews, as desired

Almost 1 large cantaloupe (leftover, no one wanted to eat it, but everyone fights for the ice cream!) • Whipping cream • whole milk (150 ml) • sweetened condensed milk • Toasted coconut crumbs • rolled wafer cookies for garnish

Nha Trang fish cakes (make sure to buy good quality ones) • small handful of dried shrimp for color • tomatoes • pineapple • rice vermicelli noodles (about 500 grams) • Fresh herbs (choose the ones you like! This dish is usually served with purple cabbage and some bean sprouts) • Seasonings (salt, MSG, fish sauce, chicken bouillon powder)

chicken breast bones (500 g) • chicken or duck heart (100 g) • duck liver (200 g) • pork skin (300 g) • pork fat (500 g) • duck blood curd • bean sprouts and garlic chives (300 g) • minced garlic (70 g) • shallots • Dried napa cabbage • soy sauce (about 120 ml) • dark soy sauce (about 80 ml) •

Glutinous rice flour (for making rice balls) • Ripe, sweet mango (choose a firm one) • Sugar, cane syrup, or brown sugar (for filling) • Fresh shredded coconut, toasted sesame seeds • Ginger

beef tenderloin (this is the most tender cut, but you can use your preferred cut. I like it soft and not chewy) • Pho noodles: If you can't find fresh pho noodles, use dried ones. Adjust the amount based on your appetite • Cornstarch • Baking soda • large eggs • Choy sum, baby bok choy, or Shanghai bok choy • small carrot • onion • fresh shiitake mushrooms (or substitute with king oyster mushrooms) • Green onions, garlic • Cooking oil, bouillon powder, sugar, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce (optional, but adds aroma), oyster sauce, black pepper, sesame oil (optional)

pork belly (about 400 grams) • Egg rolls (use leftover filling from making stuffed pumpkin, enough for one meal) • Chopped onion and garlic • Lettuce, fresh herbs (such as cilantro and mint), green onions • carrot 🥕 • cucumber 🥒 • fresh rice vermicelli noodles (about 500 grams) • Sweet and sour dipping fish sauce • Fried shallots • Seasonings: shrimp paste, oyster sauce, lemongrass powder, garlic powder, fish sauce, black pepper, MSG, sugar

large shrimp (one per roll) • Bánh hỏi (fine rice vermicelli sheets) • Small rice paper wrappers, halved, or large wrappers, quartered • Scallions (green onions) • Lettuce • Roasted peanuts, crushed • Fried shallots • Carrot, kohlrabi, and daikon radish, cut into small • water, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 lemon or vinegar • Shallot, thinly sliced • Garlic and chili, finely chopped

Glutinous rice flour • Tapioca starch • Sweet potato: 1/3 of a small one • Cooked mung beans • Rock sugar (or granulated sugar) • Shredded coconut (optional) • Palm sugar or raw cane sugar • Ginger • Toasted sesame seeds or roasted peanuts (optional) • Shredded coconut (optional)

Ingredients for one bánh chưng • glutinous rice (large, even grains, fresh, fragrant) (about 1 cup or 200 grams) • dong leaves (not too old or too young) • split mung beans (choose fresh, crumbly, yellow, beautiful beans) (about 1/2 cup or 100 grams) • Giang strings (choose flexible ones that won't break when tying) • pork belly (with both lean and fat, thick, thin skin; don't use only lean meat or the cake will be dry) (about 3.5 oz or 100 grams) • Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

White or yellow Mì Quảng noodles (I prefer the yellow ones) • Free-range chicken, pork ribs or pork shoulder, quail eggs, shrimp • Shallots, small garlic (or pearl onions), green onions, seasoning: chicken bouillon powder, salt, sugar, fish sauce, black pepper • Annatto oil, turmeric powder • Vegetable oil (peanut oil is even better) • Crispy rice crackers • Fresh herbs: young mustard greens, Vietnamese balm, banana blossom • Hoi An chili sauce (store-bought or homemade) • Pickled shallots • Onion • Roasted peanuts

ground pork • pork belly • Marinade for each type of meat: fish sauce, MSG, pepper, honey, oyster sauce (about 1 teaspoon each, adjust to taste) • Finely chopped onion and garlic (I also pound them for extra juiciness) • boiling water • sugar • fish sauce (measured with a regular spoon) • large lemon or 2 small ones • carrot • young papaya (or kohlrabi) • shallot, thinly sliced • Shredded water spinach •

strawberries (including one for decoration😊) • ripe banana • unsweetened milk • ice cubes

water spinach • large garlic bulb or 2 small ones • Coarse salt • Cooking oil, 1/2 tablespoon sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons seasoning powder, 1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce

Crawfish claws (choose large ones) • Chili peppers • Roasted salt • Garlic powder • Olive oil

Mơ village tofu • Green onions • large tomatoes, or 4 small ones • Lard • shallots

sweet potatoes (purple/yellow/white). Note: 150g is for one type of sweet potato with the ingredients below • tapioca starch (25 g) • arrowroot powder (or substitute with glutinous rice flour) (8 g) • powdered sugar (15 g) • corn syrup (or thickened sugar syrup) (30 ml) • coconut milk or you can use fresh coconut milk • Sugar for coconut milk: adjust to your family's taste • small bunch of pandan leaves (about 2-3 leaves) tied together

vegetarian sausage • (there are many types of sausage, but I only like the ones made from tofu skin) • tofu skin • rice vermicelli noodles

large napa cabbage • medium or large carrots • medium daikon radish • small bunch of chives • green onions, choose ones with thick stems • pear or apple (I use South African pear, but any will do) • large onion • garlic • chili powder (I use Korean chili powder; Vietnamese chili powder will be very spicy) • ginger powder (or use finely minced ginger) • rice flour (if you don't have rice flour, you can use mashed or finely ground cooked rice, or grind rice into flour) • fish sauce •

Carp (choose one weighing about 1.75 pounds or more for more meat, not just bones) • Rice, mung beans (optional) • Green onions, dill, ginger, turmeric, shallots, pepper, fish sauce, salt, MSG

rolled oats (you can also use quick oats if you prefer) • yogurt, plain or unsweetened • ripe banana • apple, diced (you can also use blueberries, kiwi, mango, pineapple, etc.) • honey (adjust to your preferred sweetness) • unsweetened soy milk

soft flour tortillas • chicken breast (about 680 grams) • Mexican-style rice (about 6.3 oz or 180 grams, such as Rice-A-Roni) • butter (about 10 grams) • water (about 475 ml) • onions, one white and one red • tomatoes • avocado • cilantro • crisp lettuce • lime • chicken taco seasoning •

For the cake: This recipe makes one 8-inch (20 cm) round cake, but you’ll need to make two cakes to stack for a taller cake • shredded carrots (about 300 grams) • all-purpose flour (about 280 grams) • baking soda • baking powder • ground cinnamon • salt • large eggs • chopped walnuts (about 50 grams) • chopped pecans (about 50 grams) • granulated sugar (about 200 grams) • vegetable oil (about 250 grams) •

pho noodles (about 200 grams) • mixed seafood and meats, such as shrimp (peeled, tails on), chicken, and catfish (about 300 grams) • firm tofu, cut into cubes and fried until golden • mushrooms • bell peppers (one green, one yellow) • broccoli • onion, green onions • Chinese broccoli (gai lan) • tomato, 1 carrot • Soy sauce, cornstarch, seasonings