Food Without Borders

Thien Ahn is one of Houston’s best Viet­namese restau­rants. I fre­quented this eatery often , since it was deli­cious, a great value, and only a trol­ley ride away from my office. How times have changed. The shut­tle is no more and Thien Ahn has moved a few blocks away.
It was once located in the spot where Reef is cur­rently. This was a run-down mini mall with a hair salon, sev­eral small eater­ies, and a Asian gro­cery store. The stores sold out a few years after the gen­tri­fi­ca­tion of the mid-town area begin. Thien Ahn was closed briefly dur­ing the move. When it reopened it like an event for the many loyal patrons who had been wait­ing for their favourite Viet­namese restau­rant. Thiehn Ahn is the type of small Viet­namese
restau­rant you take your friends to when you really want to show them how good authen­tic Viet­namese food can be. I pre­fer skip­ping the large scale palaces located in Houston’s Chi­na­town West.

Thien Ahn spe­cial­izes in grilled items, Viet­namese pan­cakes, and sand­wiches. The staff is prompt, but always friendly and the own­ers greet you with a gen­uine “Nice to see you again”. While there try their com ga nuong xa (lemon grass grilled chicken, banh xeo (Viet­namese crepes), or a bun dishes (rice ver­mi­celli with grilled meat of your choice). Many Viet­namese grilled dishes require some mar­i­nat­ing so be sure to plan ahead for the best flavour.

Recipe for Com Ga Nuong Xa (Viet­namese Lemon­grass Grilled chicken)

1 lb. bon­less, skin­less chicken thighs, trimmed off fat and cut into thirds.
2 cloves gar­lic chopped
1 stalk lemon grass chopped or 3 tbsp. lemon grass
1tbsp. molasses
2tbsp. light soy sauce
1 tsp. good qual­ity fish sauce
2 tbsp. veg­etable oil
1tbsp. lime juice

Place chiken into a medium bowl.
Mix all ingre­di­ents except chicken, then put over chicken and mix.
Refrig­er­ate for at least 2 hours, or up to 12 hours.
Heat a grill to 400 and grill the chicken for 5 min­utes per side. The sug­ars in the mari­nade will cre­ate a beau­ti­ful fin­ish to the dish.

Serve with bro­ken rice or a good qual­ity short grain rice.

Kaldereta, also spelled Caldereta is a hearty Fil­ipino dish orig­i­nat­ing out of Spain. The name Caldereta comes from the the span­ish “caldera”, mean­ing cook­ing pot. In most of Spain caldereta is made with lamb, beef, or goat. In the Balearic Islands and Minorca it is com­monly made with lob­sters. Caldereta is sim­i­lar to the cook­ing style of guisado (stewed) com­monly found in Mex­ico and Texas — think carne guisado with the Fil­ipino touches of soy sauce and a sweeter taste. This is one of my favourite main­stay dishes. We have it in some form sev­eral times a month. It fuses flavours of toma­toes, olives, pep­pers, and sherry or red wine. This dish can be cooked with a num­ber of meats includ­ing lamb, chicken, beef , or goat. My favourite prepa­ra­tion is with goat.

2 lbs. chicken (prefer­ably a mix­ture of chicken breasts and bone­less, skin­less, chicken thighs)
1/2 cup cook­ing sherry
2 cloves gar­lic, minced
black pep­per to taste
1/2 cup onions
1 cup sliced toma­toes
1/4 cup diced red bell pep­per
20 sliv­ers of red bell pep­per, sliced.
1/2 cup diced bell pep­per
1.5 tbsp light soy sauce
2 bay leaves (prefer­ably Turk­ish)
1 tsp paprika
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup chicken stock
kosher salt to taste
1/2 cup uncooked chicken liv­ers
1/2 cup green olives, pit­ted
2 oz. Edam cheese (can also use Gouda)
3 tbsp. olive oil for chicken + 2 tbsp. (kala­mata works very well)
2 Thai chilies (optional) if you want spicier.

Cut the chicken into pieces (not to small). Remove the excess fat.

Heat the olive oil in pan on medium, then braise each piece of chicken until light brown. This method will help keep the chicken from falling apart as it sim­mers. Remove each piece as it is browned. Then add 2 tbsp addi­tional olive oil to the pan. Cook the gar­lic and onion for 1 minute. Add the toma­toes, diced bell pep­pers, and chili pep­pers (if wanted) and cook for 3 minutes.

In order add the chicken and stir in, then bay leaves, paprika, tomato sauce, soy sauce. Cook for 3 more min­utes. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to sim­mer. Cook on sim­mer low for 1.5 hours.

Bring mix­ture to low, add sherry, cheese, the 20 sliv­ers of red bell pep­per, sliced, salt and pep­per to taste. Cook for 10 min­utes. Cook liver in a sep­a­rate pan in a small amount of oil until done, then chop up and add to kalder­era. Add olives and cook for 2 minutes.

In small bowl, cut up thai chiles and add 1 tbsp of fish sauce. Sprin­kle this over kaldereta.  Serve with steamed jas­mine rice.

If you are new to Fil­ipino cook­ing also check­out my recipe for Adobo Chicken