I’m jumping the gun a bit this year and darting past Halloween to Thanksgiving. I still love Halloween, but the holidays I look forward to most are the ones that have us saying, “Let’s eat!” No worries though, a Halloween post or two might still be in me.
Growing up, my family and I would celebrate Thanksgiving with tons of food. But what I always noticed (but never complained about) was that we always did double-duty on the cooking. There would be this lavish buffet of traditional Thanksgiving foods like turkey, stuffing and potatoes, and then you’d find mingling in between, different Vietnamese treats like banh uot, egg rolls and bun dishes. Yes, I was in heaven.
Years later though, I find myself making the expected Thanksgiving eats and missing out on the lovely traditions of my own culture. There must be a solution right? A mix between the two that doesn’t have me slaving away in the kitchen while family and friends enjoy each other’s company in the living room. (If you’ve been over for dinner at my home, you know I like to take the reins and do it all myself – I invited you after all.) Of course, I wasn’t able to Google the solution, so I made my own.
During the next few weeks we’ll be taking a recipe trip through a Thanksgiving that has been influenced by Vietnamese flavors. The menu includes:
Lemongrass and Anise Turkey with a Sweet and Spicy Plum Sauce
Butternut Squash Potstickers with a Spicy Soy Sauce
Green Beans with Chinese Sausage and Water Chestnuts
Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Ginger and Green Onion Butter
Pumpkin and Coconut Croissant Pudding
Are you excited? I am! And so are my family and friends that got to enjoy this pre-Thanksgiving meal.
Oh, if you have a preference of which recipe you’d like to read about first, please let me know in the comments section below. Thanks!
[...] just in case you need to keep this dish warm while cooking and baking up your other menu items, place it in a 200 degree F oven for no longer than 30 minutes; it will stay warm and crisp without [...]