banana blossoms, whaaat!?

i love food too much to settle for mediocrity out of convenience... and that's where my passion for cooking and experimenting really developed. living in smalltown us of a, the ethnic food scene (notably my favorite!) is definitely lacking among a sea of more conservative and/or less diverse restaurants when you consider the landscape of my life! don't get me wrong, we have some amazing places with fresh new chefs among us moving away from the traditional, but my focus right now is mainly on the lack of a quality southeast asian spread in central and northcentral wisconsin!





i hate to admit this, but during my tenure in the big[ger] city i seldom cooked, if at all. and it was because authentic and quality cuisine across the board was available everywhere! from fine dining establishments to food trucks and hidden gems of mom&pop shops, there were always the joints that consistently lived up to their reputation and hype! in addition, there was always what seemed to be a new up and coming spot that offered cool little twists on traditional dishes and flavors too which were also a favorite passtime i regularly looked forward to exploring and enjoying.

the smell and nostalgia of asian marts and supermarkets are within some of my earliest childhood memories... fruits and vegetables that came imported fresh from asia were always readily available and considered staple ingredients for me growing up so i just assumed it was for everyone. little did i know what i thought to be common were actually "exotic" to the average person.

today, i bring you banana blossoms. another thing i'd not realized until recently was the amount of care and time we take in prepping these "exotic" vegetables for consumption! for instance, preparing these florets is no joke! you have to literally take out the stamen inside each piece before it goes in a bath of lime-aciduated water to keep it from browning... and it's quite time-consuming. no wonder they're not popular in menu item dishes... but i sure am glad i was raised with the knowledge and palate to be able to incorporate and appreciate them - heck, even experiment with them in various dishes like i did here - for my own satisfaction! :) yummm.

RECIPE: banh cuon

when i'm stressed, all i can think about is cooking! and if there's anything i make on a regular basis, it's my favorite - banh cuon aka fawm kauv! simple, cheap and comforting... though meticulous in execution! but it definitely doesn't hurt that find complete therapeutic enjoyment in the latter! this wasn't always the case though. for me, the learning curve was pretty steep..!

because this dish is pretty time consuming, they're not very popular or common on menus - regardless of the plethora of asian restaurants you may have at your disposal. and even when they are, i felt like they're half-assed... where due diligence just isn't paid and therefore never as good as homemade!

i've come to see the assembly as an art - the way everything works independently in tandem with one another with perfect timing. if that makes any sense.

i've also experimented with several different pre-packaged rice/tapioca flour mixtures and have uncovered the secret... adding 1 additional cup of water beyond what the package calls for. of course, there will always be its differences, but in my experience doing this allows for the best result for the brand. and i've come to develop my own preference... and ways to tweak it to my preferred consistency - a thin, transparent crepe-like steamed rice wrapper!

the only thing i enjoy as much as making banh cuon is experimenting with different dipping sauces to pair them with - but that's a post for another rainy day! :) mmmm! sometimes, the sauce is what keeps these little rolls of heaven interesting!