"Vietnamese Cookery" - Sweet-Sour Short Ribs - For Ken Burns' "Vietnam" documentary

Date I made this recipe:  October 1, 2017 – For Ken Burns' Vietnam documentary

Vietnamese Cookery by Jill Nhu Huong Miller

Published by Charles E. Tuttle Company: Publishers

© 1968; sixth printing 1986

Purchased at annual Bloomington Crime Prevention Association (BCPA) sale

Recipe:  Sweet-Sour Shortribs – p. 41

So listen, the first part of this blog is going to be rather depressing because I just have to talk about Ken Burns' most-recent documentary, Vietnam, as well as my recollections of growing up during that period. Can't be helped. 

Let's start with the basics:  Once upon a time, the country of Vietnam was a French colony.  The  Vietnamese wanted nothing to do with the French and so in 1954, the Geneva accord was drafted kicking out the French and dividing Vietnam into North Vietnam which was communist, and South Vietnam that was democratic.

The North Vietnamese wanted control of the south and so they started a civil war shortly thereafter.  The United States which at the time didn't have a stake in the game, decided that it did not want to see the communists take over the south and so we started sending troops to help the South Vietnamese. Prior to that, we were minimally involved in the country.

In 1961, President Kennedy, a Roman Catholic who did not favor the communists, started ramping up the U.S. involvement and thereafter, every president not only sent more troops but helped escalate the border war into the disaster that Ken Burns documented.  The U.S. finally left Vietnam for good in 1975 (under Nixon) utterly defeated as we failed and failed miserably.  Not only did we fail to prevent the communist takeover, but for the first time in a long time, we failed to outright win a war.  This did not sit well with WWI and WWII veterans and military personnel.

That's the dime version.  To get the long version, you should watch Burns' documentary which as always, was thorough and compelling.

When I think about the Vietnam era, here are some impressionable moments from the past that come to mind:

Watching the war on TV.  Yup. As unbelievable as it sounds, at six o'clock every night, my family, along with millions across the country, tuned into CBS News to get updates on how things were going for the U.S.  Answer?:  Not good.  We saw footage from the field, we saw body bags being loaded onto airplanes, and we got daily totals of those killed in action (KIA), missing in action(MIA), and prisoners of war (POW) all relayed to us by the calming voice of "Uncle Walter," CBS News anchor, Walter Cronkite. 

I know, it's weird.  It's actually a little morbid when you think about it, but it was all we knew.

The "Domino" Effect.  The domino effect was how the U.S. justified our ongoing involvement in Vietnam and it went like this:  "If we let South Vietnam fall to those godless communists from the north, then other neighboring countries will fall like dominos to communist control as well." 

Well, this created a problem for many peace advocates like my very-Catholic mother.  She didn't want us in the war, but she didn't want the communists to take over, either.  She was not alone in her thinking which is probably why our involvement in Vietnam lasted as long as it did. 

The 1970 Kent State (University in Ohio) Massacre made an indelible impression on me.  On May 4, 1970, anti-war protests on Kent State's campus escalated such that the Ohio National Guard was brought in.  Although I've read that the guard was supposed to have used rubber bullets (which raises the argument "Why shoot in the first place?"), that didn't happen, tensions escalated between protestors and the guard, shots were fired and four people died leaving nine more injured. One photographer, who later won a Pulitzer Prize for his photographs, took a photo of a woman on her knees next to a man who was laying face down on the ground, her arms out, and her expression one of complete disbelief if not horror.  If you Google "Kent State Massacre," that is likely the first photo to appear.

To put this in perspective, this happened when I was not quite 12 years old and was in 6^th grade.  Never mind that I still had six years to go until I started college, I was completely freaked out and decided right then and there that I shouldn't go to college because what if I got shot like those students?  It took me forever and a day to calm myself down and I don't think my parents ever suspected my anxiety over this event.  To make matters better, or worse if you will, the band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young immortalized that event with their song "Ohio" (1971) which is one of their best songs even though it was about this depressing event. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRE9vMBBe10

The "Fall" of Saigon.  The city of Saigon was not only the south's capitol, but it was home to the U.S. Embassy as well.  Although many Americans had already left the area, many were left behind to work at the embassy. These people were ordered to leave and started packing up when things became very dire:  word reached the embassy that the North Vietnamese were advancing on Saigon at which point, the U.S. started making preparations to leave in a burning hurry.

Complicating matters though, was the promise to evacuate several thousand South Vietnamese families, particularly those families who assisted with U.S. war efforts.  You have probably seen video footage of the evacuation and I just have two words to say about that:  widespread and chaos.

Although my husband and I differ slightly on our interpretation of the urgency of the situation, I tell you what:  I will never forget watching this unfold on TV and being frightened that all these people would not get out in time. Once again, this was something that was broadcast on TV and also repeated in the documentary.  I was 16 years old at the time.  What a childhood.

Of the thousands of Vietnamese who were evacuated by the U.S., many came to the United States to live, assisted by Lutheran Social Services and Catholic Charities.  A good number of Vietnamese refugees relocated to Minnesota, specifically St. Paul, and once they got settled, opened Vietnamese restaurants so that we here in the Twin Cities, could experience the fare they once enjoyed in their homeland.  It was the first win-win of the war.

Today, one of the areas along the Green Line (light rail system) in St. Paul has been dubbed "Little Mekong," named for the Mekong Delta in Vietnam because of the plethora of Vietnamese businesses have set up shop in this area. One of our favorite restaurants on the Green Line in St. Paul is Ngon Vietnamese Bistro, a restaurant that features both Asian and French-influenced food.  Another, Bona, is on the Green Line in Minneapolis in Stadium Village at the University of Minnesota. We love their food and I particularly love Pho (pronounced "Fuh"), a noodle soup that is practically Vietnam's national dish.

This brings us now to this featured cookbook, the only one I have that focuses solely on Vietnamese food.  For those who haven't had Vietnamese food but have had Chinese food, the dishes are similar and yet not.  Vietnamese eggrolls are deep fried, same as their Chinese cousins, but I think are lighter and better.  Vietnamese egg rolls contain bean thread noodles in addition to pork and other ingredients.  The Vietnamese spring roll is very popular and is made with a rice wrapper stuffed with fresh shrimp, Thai basil, mint, and cilantro; this dish is not fried. I have been known to do a lot of damage to a plate of these puppies.

The Table of Contents for this cookbook is fairly brief and you should know that you can probably substitute other proteins for many of these dishes.  The lineup is:

• Basic Recipes
• Soups
• Pork Main Dishes
• Beef Main Dishes
• Seafood Main Dishes
• Chicken & Duck
• Salads
• Desserts
• Hors D'Oeuvres

 Recipes featured in the "Basic Recipe" category include all the essential Vietnamese sauces you will need as well as a recipe for cooked rice.  In the "Soups" category, I considered "Chicken-Long Rice Soup" – p. 37 but thought there were more interesting recipes elsewhere in the book. (By the way, in Vietnam, "long rice" is bean thread noodle which I love.)

Next we have the "Pork Main Dishes" category, and reader, I have a confession to make.  When I photocopied the recipe I made for "Sweet-Sour Pork Ribs" on page 41, I neglected to note that it was from the "Pork" category and so used beef short ribs.  Duh.  That said, the recipe was still delicious.

All the dishes in the "Beef and Seafood Dishes" categories sounded good but I passed on them but when I got to the "Chicken & Duck" category, I added "Baked Chicken" to my list of possibilities.  This dish is chicken marinated in soy sauce and fish sauce, sugar and garlic and then baked  Yum!

In the salad category, the "Cucumber Salad" recipe is one I've seen in Vietnamese restaurants and it sounded great. It's a mixture of cucumbers, boiled shrimp, boiled pork and Nuoc Mam Sauce which is fish sauce plus other ingredients. 

Okay, let me just say that I am seriously starving right now.

In the "Desserts" category we have a lot of dishes featuring coconut and also bananas as well as rice puddings.  I have to say that I don't think I've ever ordered dessert at a Vietnamese restaurant but I could be convinced to try any one of these.

The final category behind "Desserts" is "Hors D'Oeuvres" and here you will find many recipes featuring shrimp.  My favorite item here is "Shrimp Toast" (p. 106) which I could eat and eat and eat to my detriment as these are deep-fried but totally delicious!

Okay, now I'm really, really hungry.  Really.

In conclusion, if you haven't had the chance to watch the PBS documentary, I recommend you do so.  If you are of similar age to me and my husband (or older), it may be hard to watch but it was informative and even a little bit healing.  If you are younger, then definitely watch the show because Vietnam (and also Korea) go in the history books at the war the U.S. just couldn't win. 

And once you've done all that, eat!

Sweet-Sour Shortribs – Four Servings

1 ½ lb. shortribs (Ann's Note:  pork shortribs, not beef.  I didn't catch that and so I used beef.  Still delicious!)

4 cups water

2 shallots (or white part of green onions), thinly sliced

1 tsp. salt

1/3 fresh pineapple or small can crushed pineapple + 1 tablespoon vinegar

2 large carrots, shredded

1 large tomato, cut into eights

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 cup water

2 tbsp. fish sauce

½ tsp. cornstarch

Slice shallots in thin rounds. Cut lean short ribs into serving pieces.  Place in a large skillet and add shallots, salt, and water.

Ann's Note:  My short ribs were beef short ribs on the bone so cutting them into serving pieces didn't really work for me.  I decided to cook the ribs in a larger pot rather than a large skillet for the length of time listed below and then pull the meat off the bone.

Bring the shallots, salt, water and short ribs to a boil on high heat, cover and reduce heat to medium.  Simmer, covered, for 2 hours.  If water evaporates before cooking is completed, add about 1 more cup.  If all water is not evaporated at the end of 2 hours, bring heat to high, uncover and boil until water is all evaporated.

Clean pineapple, take out core, then cut into small chunks.  (Ann's Note:  These days, most grocery stores have pre-cut pineapple available.)  Squeeze chunks of pineapple between the hands, getting out as much juice as possible.  This will crush the pineapple.  (Ann's Note:  I used a potato ricer.)  Save the juice for drinking, salads, etc.

Shred the carrots, using a vegetable peeler or large section of grater.  (Ann's Note:  Next time around, I might grate the carrots or thinly slice it rather than use a vegetable peeler.)

Cut tomatoes into eights.

Crush the garlic and add to meat in skillet, which will begin to sauté in its own fat. (Ann's Note:  Not really!  Sure, had I cooked the ribs in a skillet as directed, this might be true, but if you did it like I did which was to boil them in a separate pan, then plan on adding some of that fat to the skillet or the pan will be too dry.)

Sauté the garlic and meat (and oil) on medium high.  When the smell of garlic begins to be noticeable, put in the pineapple, carrots and tomato.  Sauté about 1 minute, stir often.

Add the water and fish sauce, stir well, cover and steam about 10 minutes, still on medium high heat.

Take some of the juice from the skillet, mix the cornstarch with it so it won't get lumpy, and stir into the mixture in the skillet.  Let cook about 1 more minute.  Serve hot with rice.

"The Val-Kill Cook Book" (Eleanor Roosevelt's home) - Tony's (Elliot Roosevelt, Jr.) Sunday Night Chili

Date I made this recipe:  September 14, 2014 – The start of Ken Burns' 7-part series, The Roosevelts:  An Intimate History

The Val-Kill Cook Book with Illustrations and Photographs of Eleanor Roosevelt's Life at Val-Kill, compiled and Edited by Eleanor R. Seagraves; Illustrated by Eleanor Roosevelt Wotkyns; Photographs courtesy of Franklin D. Roosevelt Library

Published by:  The Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill, Inc.

© 1984

Purchased at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Washington D.C.

Recipe:  Tony's Sunday Night Chili, submitted by Elliot (Tony) Roosevelt, Jr., Texas; basic chili recipe derived from the following recipes:  Simple, Perfect Chili, Recipe courtesy of Ree Drummond (Food Network), © 2011 Ree Drummond; 2014 Television Food Network and Chili by Betty Crocker, © 2014 ®/TM General Mills.

Not to brag or anything, but PBS just launched a new Ken Burns documentary series, The Roosevelts:  An Intimate History and of course I have a Roosevelt-related cookbook!  I tell you, just when you think you are never going to be able to use it, life occurs.

First, a bit of a history lesson:  Just like the famous Kennedy family, the Roosevelt family of New York was quite the powerhouse group in their day. Teddy Roosevelt, cousin to Franklin, served as our 26th President from 1901 (taking over after President McKinley was assassinated) until 1909.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt, our 32^nd president, ushered our country through the Great Depression and most of WWII.  And Eleanor Roosevelt, niece of Teddy and wife of Franklin (so she was Eleanor Roosevelt Roosevelt) led a life of service to the world that is unparalleled:  delegate to the newly-formed United Nations, chairman of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and chairwoman of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women under JFK.  All this came after serving as First Lady.  All in all, this is a mighty impressive family.

Andy and I have been excited about this documentary as we're history buffs and have also done our "homework."  Years ago, I read a lot about Eleanor and often re-quote her quote "You must do the thing you think you cannot do."  In fact, I might have used this in my law-school application essay.  And Andy has read up on both FDR and Teddy Roosevelt and so he's good to go for those two.  In fact, as of late, Andy has read a steady stream of books about Teddy, having polished off all the FDR books of interest.  When we were in NYC this July, we also stopped briefly at Teddy's Birthplace at 28^th East 20^th Street (between Park and Broadway).  Alas, we couldn't spend much time as we had to get back uptown but we will return another day.

The documentary, produced and directed by legendary documentary-maker, Ken Burns (The Civil War; Baseball; New York, among others), takes us through the entire history of the Roosevelt family, starting with Teddy and his childhood.  As always, everything that Ken does is interesting and informative.

One of the things Ken talks about in the documentary is that the entire Roosevelt clan had several homes in NY state, and one of Eleanor's favorite places was a cottage in Val-Kill, NY.  Today's featured cookbook contains recipes from Val-Kill. 

Other notable housing:  Teddy had home called Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay, NY.  His birthplace in NYC is now a part of the National Park Service.  (Note:  it's not the original house, which was torn down but a replica rebuilt to look like it would have between 1865-1872.)

And then there's Springwood estate in Hyde Park, NY that was FDR's childhood home.  He and Eleanor and FDR's mother lived in Springwood after they got married, much to Eleanor and her mother-in-law's chagrin as neither really liked the other. The Hyde Park house is a popular tourist attraction, as is the famed Culinary Institute of America.  Hmm—coincidence that I mention that in a cookbook blog?

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt's cottage retreat, Val-Kill, located about two miles from Hyde Park, is where Eleanor liked to go to unwind and where she moved to after she left the White House.    Author Eleanor R. Seagraves was Franklin and Eleanor's granddaughter, born to Anna Roosevelt and Curtis Bean Dall.   The book's illustrator is Eleanor Roosevelt Wotkyns, Eleanor Roosevelt's niece.  And to make the family picture complete, today's recipe is from Elliott (Tony) Roosevelt, Jr., grandson of Franklin and Eleanor.  "Tony's" father, Elliot was one of Franklin and Eleanor's six children.  As to the rest of the family connections, watch the series!  (You can also read the history of Val-Kill in the preface to the cookbook.)

The recipes in this cookbook were all submitted by friends and family of "ERVK" – Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill – and it reads very much like any other community cookbook but with the twist of being connected to a famous person/family.  And while many of the dishes were likely more modern than Eleanor enjoyed (Tamale Pie? Taco Salad?), they all looked good.  I was leaning toward one of the soups, and also a couple of chicken recipes until I spied "Tony" Roosevelt's chili recipe and laughed out loud at the directions:  "Prepare any traditional chili recipe, but use pieces of round steak instead of hamburger meat."  Could it get much easier?  I think not!

So with that selected, I then had to go about obtaining a "traditional chili recipe."  The book has a few recipes, including a Tailgate Chili which would have been appropriate given that it was Sunday and that means NFL football, specifically, Packers football, but nothing hit me so I looked to the internet. (Note, I am just not a big fan of green pepper so that recipe was out as was one that contained corn.)   Most chili recipes are a lot alike and so I mainly used Ree Drummond's from the Food Network  (online) but also added onion as per the Betty Crocker recipe, also available online.  I like cooked onions in my chili although not raw and on top as some recipes suggest.  I also intended to use a can of diced tomatoes per the Betty Crocker recipe but forgot to buy it.  Let's just say I got distracted in my grocery story by the vast selection of beans.  Who knew there were so many brands? (There are also too damned many canned tomatoes which is irksome when I am just trying to find plain tomatoes, with nothing else added.)

So---as directed by Tony, I purchased and then diced about 1.5 pounds of round steak to use in my cobbled recipes.  Note that you may need to cook the round steak a bit longer than directed as it won't cook as easily as ground beef. As to the spices, just about any combination of chili powder, oregano and cayenne pepper will do.  Although this chili was good, I'm hoping that the flavors developed a bit more overnight when I reheat the leftovers.  Not that I want throat-searing heat, you understand, but I expected more of a bite than I got.

Tony advises us to top our chili with chopped onion (pass), chopped avocados (loved) and grated cheese (yum).  His directions also call for the chili to be served over rice and I love rice so that was easy.  The thing I liked the best though, was the round steak.  Sure, ground beef is fine and it is standard and it is slightly cheaper but I like to change things up a bit so there you go.

By the way, one of the last recipes in the book was for FDR's martinis but it calls for 1 part dry vermouth and that is just wrong in my cocktail playbook though I appreciated the inclusion of the recipe in this book.  I think I'm more like Winston Churchill who was rumored to have poured the gin and looked across the room at the vermouth.  Luckily for us all, these world leaders managed to overcome their martini differences – whew - and worked very well together during WWII.

Oh—almost forgot to mention that I was about halfway through making the chili when I realized that the New York Jets were playing my Packers in Lambeau Field and wouldn't you know, Val-Kill is in NY state. ("When you're a Jet you're a Jet all the way from your first cigarette to your last dyin' day...." – West Side Story; lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.)  And the recipe was called "Tony's Sunday Night Chili" and Sundays are all about football, am I right?  So quite inadvertently, I nearly jinxed the game by cooking from a NY cookbook and sure enough, the Jets were way out in front until a miracle occurred and we pulled a "W" out of it all.  Luckily, this game ended just before Andy and I tuned in to watch the first episode of The Roosevelts or all might have been lost all because of a chili recipe! 

So—watch the series, make the chili, get the cookbook, eat well and be prepared to learn something.

Tony's Sunday Night Chili  - serving size not given but typically chili serves 6-8

Ingredients (select from below for your own personal preference)

1-2 pounds round steak, diced into small cubes – or 1 pound ground beef (Betty Crocker) or 2 pounds ground beef (Ree Drummond)

1 large onion (Crocker)

2 cloves garlic, chopped (Drummond) or ¼ teaspoon garlic powder (Crocker)

One 8-oz can tomato sauce (Drummond) or 1 can (14.5) diced tomatoes, undrained (Crocker) or both!

2 tablespoon chili powder (Drummond) or 1 tablespoon chili powder (Crocker)

1 teaspoon ground cumin (Drummond)(Crocker)

1 teaspoon ground oregano (Drummond) or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves (Ann's Note:  I used and liked the ground oregano)

1 teaspoon salt (Drummond) or ½ teaspoon salt (Crocker)

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (Drummond) or ½ teaspoon red pepper sauce

¼ cup masa harina (corn flour) (Drummond only) (Ann's Note:  check out a local coop as they usually sell it in bulk and you don't need that much.  I found mine at the Seward Coop).

One 15-ounce can kidney beans (Drummond says rinse and drain, Crocker says undrained)

One 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed (Drummond only)

For Tony's chili, top with chopped onion, chopped avocado and cheese.  (Drummond used cheese, onions, tortilla chips and lime wedges; Crocker didn't use toppings)

Instructions: (combination of Drummond and Crocker)

Peel and chop the onion and/or garlic.  Place the ground beef/round steak in a large pot and throw in the garlic/onion, cooking over medium heat until browned (Drummond) or thoroughly cooked (Crocker), approximately 8-10 minutes.  Ann's Note:  you'll need to go a bit longer if using round steak like I did.  Drain the grease and add back to the pot.

In the same pot, add your spices and your tomato sauce, diced tomatoes or both (but not beans).  Simmer, covered, for 1 hour.  If the mixture becomes overly dry, add ½ cup water at a time as needed (Drummond). 

(Drummond only) After an hour, place the masa harina in a small bowl.  Add ½ cup water and stir together with a fork.  Dump the masa mixture into the chili.  Stir together well, and then taste and adjust the seasonings.  Add more masa paste and/or water to get the chili to your preferred consistency, or to add more corn flavor.

Add the beans and simmer for 10 minutes (Drummond) or 20 minutes (Crocker).  Serve with toppings.  Ann's Note:  remember, Crocker uses the beans undrained while Drummond uses two types of beans, both of which need to be drained and rinsed.  I've made chili before using either direction and don't find a discernable difference with the choice.  Your call.