BityBite

I've always loved these little fried pieces of dough, but after visiting Vietnam.  I crave it even more.  I heard of the name "Hollow Donuts" before.  A better way to describe it is a Vietnamese version of a beignet.  I prefer it to be densier and pillowy not so much the air pocket kind that way when you have it with coffee you can dunk it and it soaks up nicely.


Here is the recipe I used from Javaholic.

My first attempt of making them was a failure.  They puffed up nice and looked perfect, but was very firm and chewy.  I assume I over kneaded the dough.

Mixture after 4 hours.

-1/3 cup bread flour
-1/3 cup lukewarm water
-1/2 tsp active dry yeast
-pinch of sugar

-2 cups bread flour
-2/3 cup sugar
-1/2 cup lukewarm milk
-1/2 tsp salt




-Sesame seeds  (used black instead, provides a nuttier flavor)
-Oil for deep frying


Make a sponge by mixing the first four ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Cover and let sit at room temperature for 4 to 6 hours.

Stir the next four ingredients into the sponge.  Add enough flour to make a fairly stiff dough.  Knead well for five minutes until the dough is smooth.  Place in a clean bowl and cover with a damp towel.  Let rest at least one hour.  (This will not rise noticeably.)

Divide the dough into balls about the size of ping pong balls.  After slightly flatten.  Sprinkle sesame seeds over and then proceed in rolling it out some more.  If you want to retain a circular shape.  make sure to rotate and you roll it out.  You should have a flat disk about the size of a CD.

In a wok or a deep fryer heat the oil to 370º.  Lower a disk into the hot oil.  As soon as it rises to the surface, turn it over.  After a few seconds one portion of the dough should begin to bulge.   As soon as the dough takes on color, remove from the oil and drain.  Each piece takes about thirty seconds or less.  Enjoy with a good strong cup of coffee.

Ho Chi Minh City at Night and Day.

We just got back from very long trip to Vietnam.  In our normal fashion we traveled all over.  It was both our first times there so we really wanted to get into it.  First off, the food is amazing.  Everything is lighter and smaller compared to the American versions of Vietnamese food.  They just eat all day long because it is never heavy or too filling.

Eating in the streets of Ha Noi.

Com Nieu Saigon - Featured by Anthony Bourdain where they throw the rice.

Picked our own chicken for lunch.

Making coconut milk candy.

Bun Xeo

Besides the food, the culture there is so different.  The things they are able to carry on their motorbikes can make anyone speechless. 

Saigon at night comes to life.

Houses along the river in Mekong Delta.

Anyone that knows me will tell you that I'm a little obsessed with flan or créme caramel. I have always liked it, but I didn't become obsessed with it till I ate at Bouchon in Yountville and had Thomas Keller's créme caramel. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. It wasn't too sweet and was rich in flavor and color. Perfect amber color and just firm enough to hold its shape, but also delicate enough to melt in your mouth.


Anyways, to most people these two are interchangeable and mean the same thing, but there are difference and mean different things in certain regions of the world. According to wiki, overall it is a rich custard dessert with a layer of soft caramel on top, as opposed to créme brûlée, which is custard with a hard caramel top. In latin countries, flan mean créme caramel, but in European countries, flan usually means a custard tart with fruit toppings.


With the fruit stuff aside, I'm going to tell you what the difference is in my mind. I also relate créme caramel with europe and flan with latin countries, but there also a difference in taste and texture. To keep things simple, I'm going to refer to this custard dessert as créme caramel.


Texture is easy. Every latin-spanish related créme caramel (also known as Leche Flan), I've every had has always been very firm and rough with lots of bubbles. Taste wise, it is overly sweet and the caramel is usually very dark brown color. But what I like about it, is it has a strong and distinctive egg flavor. When you eat it, you know that it is a custard made from eggs and not anything else.


European versions are smooth, delicate and rarely with bubbles, which I like. Most of the time the caramel is a light yellowish color and not as sweet. The custard is more milky tasting rather than egg tasting.


My goal is to find the perfectly balance of the things I like- the eggy taste and the delicate, smooth texture, but not too sweet. Anywhere and everywhere, if I see it I have the urge to try it. So this brings me to why I bring this up. I was in Whole Foods the other day looking for cream and sitting there was a small package for Flan. So I got all excited and purchased it.

I went home and open it up. I had great potential. I looked smooth thru the container and had good dark color. I turn it out onto a plate and the caramel itself was rather light. I take a scoop and it's pretty delicate, but still a bit firmer than I like (I'm nit picking here). Then I bite into it and there was no egg flavor. It's not that sweet, which was good, but there was no egg flavor which is critical and interestingly enough there wasn't a milk flavor either. Upon closer inspection, it leads me to believe that it is made with some sort of gelatin. It has the firmness of jello does. It jiggles, but still holds its shape really well. A true custard, would start breaking. So the search continues to find the perfect créme caramel so that I may have it readily available when I want.

Very Firm

No Bubbles though

No Bubbles though

Must stop in NOLA- Cafe du Monde

One of the Brass Band members showing the guests how to eat crawfish.

Monell's- home turned restaurant.   Eating family style at dinner table with 15 perfectly good strangers.

Not a complete trip without the birthplace of KFC.