Gỏi Xoài Tứ Sắc (4 Color Mango Salad)

Ingredients:
-2 firm mangos
-1/2 bell pepper
-1 small onion
-1 large squid or prawns (approx ½ lb)
-1 large carrot
-sugar, vinegar, lime juice, salt
-basil
-fried shallots

What to Do:
Cut carrots and pepper into thin strips, mix with 4 tbs sugar and 3 tbs vinegar and marinate until “wilted”. Boil and slice squid, mix squid with onions (thinly sliced), 2 tbs sugar and 3 tbs lime juice. Wash and chop basil. Peel mango and cut into thin slices. Squeeze out excess juice in carrots, peppers, onion and squid. Mix together: mango, peppers, onion, carrots, squid, basil and fried shallots. Add salt, lime juice, and sugar to taste (if necessary); all flavors should be balanced.

Note:
-If using prawns just boil, peel and slice (no need to marinate in vinegar and onions).
-Make sure to use firm mangos.

Bông Cỏ Làm Bằng Rau Câu (Grass Flower Jelly made with Agar Agar)

Bông Cỏ literally translates to Grass Flower. This desert jelly is traditionally made by blending together bông cỏ seeds with water and a banana for flavoring. After blending, the seeds are filtered out the mixture is left alone to set from the natural pectin extracted from the seeds. These days bông cỏ seeds are very hard to get a hold of as the demand for it is just too low. Thus lead me to create this recipe for bông cỏ using agar agar as a thickener instead of the bông cỏ seeds.

Ingredients:
-10g agar agar
-9 cups water
-1 ½ cups sugar
-yellow food coloring
-1 tsp banana extract

What to Do:
Soak agar agar in water for a few hours, before boiling until agar agar dissolves. Add sugar and coloring. Bring mixture back to a boil. Turn off heat, add banana extract and cool until set. Skim and discard the top “skin” before serving (you can eat the top skin if you like but the texture is not what bông cỏ is supposed to be like). Serve cold. The jelly should have a very soft, melt in your mouth texture.