One of my favorite meals that I have always liked to eat is a Vietnamese roll called bò bía; which includes carrots, jicama, herbs and lettuce wrapped in rice paper, and is usually dipped in a peanut sauce. Other non-vegetarian or non-vegan versions include a combination of eggs, Chinese sausages and, sometimes, shrimp. I haven’t been really fond of those additions, as I’ve found fried tofu to be more than sufficient. I also shun the rice paper wrapper, as the filling makes for a perfect salad when combined with lettuce.

What you’ll need (sorry metric-phobes):

• 3 medium carrots, washed but not peeled
• 1 small jicama, peeled
• 1/2 sweet onion, julienned
• 250 g of fried tofu
• 10-12 leaves of thai basil, roughly chopped
• A handful of cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
• 150 mL roasted cashews, chopped
• Salt, white or black pepper, red chili flakes

First, you will need to cut the carrots and jicama into about 5 cm by 2 cm slices. The carrot slices should be fairly thin while the jicama slices can be a bit thicker. Next, cut the fried tofu into about 7 cm long by 1 cm thick slices. Combine the carrot and jicama slices and julienned onion in a non-stick saute pan. Sprinkle a pinch of kosher or sea salt, grind in some white or black pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Lightly saute over medium-high heat until the carrots and jicama slices have partially softened. Lower the heat to medium and add the sliced fried tofu and continue to cook with the pan covered, until the tofu is heated thoroughly. Turn off the heat, remove the lid, stir in the 100 mL of the chopped cashews and leave to cool.

While waiting for the bò bía to cool, combine 120 ml of hoisin sauce, the remaining 50 mL of chopped cashews and 10-15 mL of Siracha hot sauce in a small bowl.

Once cooled to about room temperature, lightly toss in the herbs. Serve the bò bía as-is with some of the sauce made earlier as a salad, or wrapped with butter or green leaf lettuce with the sauce as a dip.

Now, if you really want to add meat to this, you can replace the fried tofu with boiled chicken breasts that has been shredded or sliced Korean-style bacon. Want surf-and-turf? Add some cooked 36-40 shrimp with the Korean-style bacon. If you are going to do that, I would recommend skipping the bò bía and eat it with rice noodles, omlette and pickled carrots doused with a mixture of fish sauce, lime juice, Siracha, grated ginger and garlic. Serve that with cilantro and thai basil… yum. That right there is my favorite comfort food.

So, I decided to stop by a local Asian supermarket to pick up about 0.5 kg (a bit over a pound) of honeycomb tripe (the blanket-style tripe would work as well, but it was sold out), a pack with two cuts of bone-in pork belly and 0.5 kg of chicken hearts. Normally, a pozole would include hominy, but I decided to serve it over long-grain rice or sop it up with some crusty sourdough bread. I had the rest of the ingredients at home, but more on that later.

Preparing the tripe took the most time, though still pretty simple. First, I cut the tripe into 4 cm x 4 cm (about 1.5″ x 1.5″ for metric-phobes) pieces and tossed it into a stockpot with several pinches of kosher salt and about a quart of water. I brought it up to a boil and let it simmer for about 2-3 minutes before pitching the liquid. This was done to help clean out the tripe and cut the funk that tripe brings a little bit; as, I didn’t want to lose all of it… that would defeat the purpose of making pozole. I lowered the burner down to simmer and added 0.4 L (about 14 oz.) of tomato sauce to the drained tripe.

Next, I cut out the two ribs bones from the pork belly pieces and threw the bones into the stock pot. With the bone gone, I started slicing up the pork into about 4-5 cm x 4-5 cm pieces and tossed them into the pot as well. I then added some ground black pepper, a couple pinches of kosher salt, 2-3 cloves of minced garlic, a heavy pinch of onion powder (not onion salt), a good amount of red hot sauce, two heavy pinches of cayenne pepper, and a heavy pinch of ground cumin. Then, I brought the burner up to medium-high heat and let the herbs and spices bloom for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, I poured in 0.5 L (about 2 cups) of low-sodium vegetable broth and let the stew come up to a low boil. I opted against using the normal low-sodium chicken or beef broth that I would use in a stew, as both would stump all over the tripe and pork flavors.

Once the stew comes to a low boil, I reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and let it cook for an hour. After an hour, I tasted the stew to make sure it had enough salt and had a spicy kick. Add salt or vegetable broth to adjust the saltiness to your choosing. Next, add the cleaned chicken hearts and continue to cook for another 30 minutes (or until the chicken hearts are cooked, but not rubbery). Turn off the burner, remove the pot and let it cool down for 20 minutes.

As mentioned earlier, I opted to serve it over rice or sop it up with some bread. If you want to go traditional with hominy, you can either add it with the chicken hearts or serve it over hot hominy. While I usually do not garnish my pozole with diced onions and cilantro, I spritzed a bit of fresh lime juice on top with a couple drops of vinegary hot sauce.

And, yes… it hit the spot just right. Now only if I had some chapulines and roasted and spiced pepitas with it.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoon grapeseed or olive oil
• 2 teaspoon cayenne powder
• 5 cloves garlic, roughly minced
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon oregano (Mexican, sweet oregano recommended)
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 large bay leaf
• 1 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
• 8 ounces crimini mushrooms, washed and quartered
• 1 medium eggplant, diced
• 3 cups cauliflower florets, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 3/4 cup carrots, diced
• 1 can chick peas (also known as garbanzo beans)
• 4-5 small tomatoes, diced
• 1 quart low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 2/3 cup frozen corn
• 2 teaspoon soy sauce

Directions

Heat up half of the oil in an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat along with the garlic, herbs and spices (except for the bay leaf), let steep until the flavor blooms. Add the mushrooms and 1/2 tablespoon of salt, along with the remaining oil and increase the heat to medium-high. Saute the mushroom until the edges are golden brown. Add the diced eggplants next along with another 1/2 tablespoon of salt and continue to saute until the eggplant starts to soften.

Reduce heat back down to medium, then add the carrots, cauliflower, corn, chickpeas and tomatoes. Stir together and cook for 2-3 minutes, then add in the remaining salt, broth, water, soy sauce and bay leaf. Bring to a slow boil, partially cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until the cauliflower has partially softened. Remove the bay leaf right before serving.

Optionally, serve the soup with chopped cilantro or parsley and squeeze a bit of lime juice into each bowl.

Ingredients

• 1.25 cups of white basmati rice (grown and aged Indian basmati rice highly recommended)
• 8 ounces of young coconut juice without coconut meat or pulp
• 10 ounces of homemade chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 medium shallot, peeled and minced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 6 whole cardamon pods
• 1 small stick of cinnamon (ground cinnamon not welcomed)
• 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black or white pepper

Directions

Rinse the basmati rice in a strainer until the resulting water runs clear. Let the rice sit and partially dry for 10-15 minutes. In a medium saucier or sauce pan over medium heat, sweat the chopped shallot with salt, half of the butter and cardamom pods until the shallot becomes partially translucent. Add the other half of the butter, along with the cinnamon stick and rinsed rice. Raise the heat to medium-high and saute the rice for 2-3 minutes before adding the young coconut juice, chicken stock or broth. Add the ground pepper and bring to a rolling boil. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the rice is tender and easily fluffed with a fork.

For a vegan version of this pilaf, replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock and the butter with grapeseed or non-extra virgin olive oil.

Ingredients

• 1 medium poblano pepper, stem removed
• 2 medium jalapeno peppers, stem removed
• 2/3 cup of frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
• 2 cans of chick peas (also known as garbanzo beans)
• 2 tablespoons of tahini
• 1/4 cup of lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon kosher or pickling salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (freshly toasted and ground if available)
• Grapeseed, sunflower or extra virgin oil

Directions

Rinse and dry the peppers, lightly coat with oil and roast in a toaster oven or on a gas stove until nicely charred. Rinse the peppers under running water and remove as much of the charred peel as possible. Cut into 1-inch segments and place into a food processor, along with the artichoke hearts. Add the two cans of chick peas with about a tablespoon of the liquid. Pulse 4-5 times, then add the tahini, lemon juice, salt, cayenne pepper and ground cumin. Pulse for about 10-15 seconds. Wipe down the edges of the bowl and continue to process while drizzling in enough oil until the desired smoothness and texture is achieved.

The amount of lemon juice can be also adjusted depending on the desired level of acidity. If lemon juice is not available, white wine or rice wine vinegar can be substituted (note that rice wine vinegar has lower acidity than other vinegars and lemon juice, and is only recommended for those that do not like highly acidic foods).

The hummus can be stored in the refridgerator for up to 7-10 days.

Instead of a traditional cobbler topping, I decided to use challah (noticing a trend here?) with raisins, and more raisins. I started with the rhubarb and peach filling recipe from Good Eats, but ignored the part about the topping. Instead, I lined the bottom of a greased 9×13-inch baking dish with 1/2-inch cubes of  challah and mixed in about 1/3 cup of golden raisins with 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of grated nutmeg. Before putting the baking dish in the oven, I covered it with aluminum foil.

I baked the un-cobbler in an oven heated to 375-degree F for 45 minutes. After that, I removed the foil and finish baking for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let it cool for 20 minutes before serving.

For something with more of a bread pudding consistently, mix in an equal amount of 1-inch cubed challah as rhubarb with the rhubarb and peaches and up the amount of cornstarch by an additional tablespoon.