#7 Cucumber – Snack & Chill
Here to literally slash metaphorically spice up your Sunday is the seventh edition of the Cosy Delicious newsletter, featuring a lazy ass hidden champion, beef, Uyghur cuisine, and more. Stay cosy!
🤌🏻 Try this at home, kids!
Do you identify as lazy yet discerning? Then we have something for you. The Lazy Bánh ướt is both a reasonably simple, healthy dish and a sophisticated snack to impress your friends with. For Duy Anh, it evokes the childhood memory of Sundays on which his Mum rather wanted to relax than cook.
If you haven’t heard of this underrated snack that is Bánh ướt, you might perhaps made the acquaintance of a classic Bánh cuốn (What’s the difference?). Which is significantly more laborious to prepare, so we’re going for a store-bought rice flakes version here. These Vietnamese rice rolls can be found in the form of thin sheets of steamed rice batter at any Asian supermarket.
Usually, we opt for this dish when we have leftover herbs around, like mint, cilantro, Vietnamese basil, and/or Thai basil. But obviously you can buy them specifically for this dish. Chop and set aside.
This little show's star is the sliced cucumber's freshness and chill. We cut one cucumber pieces in a longish form so they are easier to pick up with the chopsticks (told you we were lazy).
Then, of course, there’s a dipping sauce to be prepared, as we did for our #2 Pomelo Newsletter: For our nước mắm, we follow a 5-3-2-1 rule, meaning five parts water, three parts fish sauce, two parts sugar, 1 part lime. Blend and add minced garlic (1 clove) and bird’s eye chili to your liking.
Disclaimer for vegetarians: Fish sauce, by any means, isn’t vegan-friendly, as you might have guessed. For a nước mắm chay, you can use water (8 tbs), lime (4 tbs), sugar (3 tbs), soy sauce (2 tbs), salt (0.5 tbs) plus bird’s eye chili (1 pc) and garlic (1 clove) to season.
The only actual cooking action this dish needs is the quick blanching of the bean sprouts (2-3 hands full) as well as the preparation of the rice flakes. Both go super fast; watch out to avoid overcooking the flakes. You can drizzle them with a few drops of neutral oil to prevent them from sticking together.
Now let’s assemble our plates: The rice flakes go with a generous amount of cucumber, herbs, fried shallots, and nước mắm. Optionally, if you’re into Duy Anh’s flavors, you can finish the dish with a couple of slices of hearty garlicy
Vietnamese sausage. (Note: there are plenty of vegan copies by now, ask your local Asian sausage dealer!)
That’s it. That’s really all there is to it. Make sure to pick up a bit of everything for each bite to get all the softness of the rice flake, the chunkiness of the fried shallots, the freshness of the herbs and cucumber, the spiciness of the nước mắm at once. Ngon ngon!
This is your shopping list to copy-paste:
Mint, cilantro, Thai basil, Vietnamese basil, cucumber, fried shallots, rice flakes, bean sprouts, garlic, chili, soy sauce, lime, sugar, and optionally Vietnamese sausage (pork or vegan).
💕 You know what this tastes amazing with!?
A chilled can of Sprite. (Thank us later!)
👀 So apparently, you’re into lazy cooking, aren’t you?
In this case, we may interest you in a book with only a handful of super-easy recipes but a wealth of inspiring content on dreamy markets, ingenious gastronomy figures, artisan food products, and hidden gems in the restaurant scene?
Monocle being Monocle (aka an elaborate media brand with prestigious travel guides, a radio station, and global retail ventures under its belt), they amounted their book “The Monocle Guide to Drinking & Dining” to a FOMO-inducing collection of wonderful places around the world. Or as they describe it, “a handbook for anyone who appreciates honest eating.”
As for the recipes, the editors assembled a few fuss-free snacks and dinner ideas: a Gruyère and Speck Toastie here and a Roasted Celery Soup there. In addition, they featured a minimalistic Asian Fish Burger that we've enjoyed a couple of times and a mean Crab Omelette with Miso Butter we love. But overall, the book's vibe is that there are so many aesthetic kitchen essentials, restaurateurs, interviews, and interior designs to indulge in you might even postpone the plan to cook. Just grab a bag of chocolate cookies instead and read on.
📍 Here’s a restaurant recommendation for you
Our fellow foodie and favorite blogger Alice M. Huynh was in town to spend two weeks with her godchild and us. And obviously, to eat really well! So one night, she went out with Duy Anh and her sister to discover an Uyghur place that we had been recommended. With me staying behind at home, she texted me midway through their menu: “Alice had a little lamb … and it tasted terrific, hehe.” Yep, she’s got a dark sense of humor.
So read Alice’s take on Munich’s Tengri Tagh Uyghur: “Since I first tasted Uyghur food in Suzhou, China, I was craving more. Until I found this place in Munich! Tucked away behind a Döner counter at first glance, you find the extended Uyghur menu with all the deliciousness here! Get the chewy hand-cut noodles (Gan Bian Cau Mien, no. #44) with lamb and the grilled lamb skewers (no. #52). Also, I very much loved the Samsa (filled meat pockets, no. #47), the Lamb Mantra (dumplings, no. # 49), and the Uyghur Polo fried rice (no. #50)! Enjoy!”
🏆 If you like us, you’ll love
Thomas Pokorn. On his Instagram story highlights, you'll find a detailed description of the most genuine lasagna recipe (I dare you to watch it hungry). Being the incredibly talented copywriter/wordsmith/branding wizard that he is, he's also hilarious and takes good pictures. Don't some people just have it all 🙄
Oh, speaking of which, he's in New York City frequently and takes his followers on elaborate food tours that can only be described as orgiastic. Sigh.
📺 Worthwhile to watch
We'll keep this short: Go watch (binge) your new favorite show "Beef"! Full stop. The quirky, and sad, and entertaining series follows two strangers, Danny Cho (Steven Yeun) and Amy Lau (Ali Wong), who turn into enemies through a road rage incident. Two equally complex and weird characters locked in a manic-depressive spiral of mutually assured destruction and cynicism, aptly capturing the post-pandemic struggle of trying to find balance in our human togetherness.
And gosh, we loved everything about it – the cast, the dark humor, the cultural references, the graphic design, the randomness. The characters grow on you as the storyline unfolds and let you follow their tracks through funny, erotic, or horrifying situations. It might qualify as our favorite beef recipe yet!
💌 A random quote on food
“When a server asks me if I saved room for dessert, the answer is Yes. I walk to the corner bodega late at night for a piece of chocolate on the rare occasion that I don’t have any in my apartment. Whipped cream is my favorite food of all times.”
✌🏻 Who are we even!?
We’re a journalist slash a designer by day and foodies by night. Sonja has spent around 15 years in hospitality (big love!), and Duy Anh learned his craft mostly by watching his talented mum whip up the most amazing Vietnamese meals. So when we cook, it’s all about that sweet spot between cosy and delicious. Although admittedly, our days of the extravaganza have changed pace ever since our harshest critic (aka now two-year-old daughter) came into our lives. Hence the delay with the promised cookbook. We’ll keep you posted!
🎤 Lastly, let’s turn to our foreign correspondent Alice M. Huynh
Oh, by the way, here’s one of Alice’s most genius recipes: It’s called The Love Sandwich, and what you need are a foldable bed and a godchild. The preparation is easy; squeeze all into the mattress and enjoy.
We’ll be joining her in Berlin next week, so if you’re curious to know where she takes us for brunches, lunches, cakes, and dinners, follow her around. 💫
🍳 What’s next?
Wow, I realized I completely neglected this last paragraph for three newsletters. Have you noticed? Either way, if you like what you just read, consider tuning in again in two weeks. There might be a fun burger recipe. Until then, stay cosy! 💋