Category: Our Kitchen

Loïc’s awesome smoked beef

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For us, the holidays are usually all about eating and drinking (and complaining about eating too much and then starting it all over again the following day). We are quite lucky that most of our guests are also food fanatics like us so we can spend hours upon hours talking about restaurants and recipes. This year, one of Loïc’s most popular holiday creations was the giant smoked beef we served on Christmas eve. Marinated for 24 hours with rock salt, Greek rosemary, zinfandel wine,  worcestershire sauce and a lot of love, this recipe was so rich in flavors thanks not only to the new recipe, but also thanks to all the little local ingredients such as coconut shells, sugar cane husks, banana leaves (and also apple wood chips hand carried from America…airport customs agents must have thought that we were nuts). Anyway, no more rambling, here is the recipe for you!

Ingredients:

2-4 kilos of Beef (Cube Roll if available)
Rock Sea Salt
Rosemary
1 bottle of Zinfandel wine
120-140 ml of Worcestershire sauce
 

Directions:

1) Gradually start massaging the rock salt and rosemary into the beef after cutting off any excess fat.  Depending on the size of the meat, this may take around 30 minutes to really work in the spices.

2) After the massage experience, place the beef in an airtight container and submerge the meat in Zinfandel wine and Worcestershire sauce. Be sure to use enough of both liquids to ensure that no part of the beef is exposed to air.  Seal off the container and place in the refrigerator for between 18-30 hours.

3) Remove the beef from the liquids but be sure to save all the marinade as it will be used during the smoking process

4) Light up your smoker and burn the charcoal for about 30 minutes or until the charcoal is hot enough.  After this (if you have access to it) begin adding coconut shells, sugar cane husks, banana leaves, and/or apple wood chips on top of the coals continually as you go along and add more charcoal as needed to ensure the temperature is sufficiently hot and smoky.

5) Once the fire is hot enough, place your beef in the smoker and let it slowly cook. The beef should have the remaining marinade brushed over it once after an hour and then re-brush the marinade over the beef every 45 minutes afterwards.

-depending on the size of the meat, total cooking time can vary between 3-4 hours on average but it can be useful to use a meat thermometer if available to ensure you don’t overcook the beef.

6) Remove beef from the BBQ, serve, and ENJOY!

 

Oh, you Glorious beef!

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The moment of truth…dsc_0510

When you can see the smoke oozing out of the beefdsc_0517

Our guests ask for a more well done version but you can also have to medium rare toodsc_0520

Pomelo Ginger Gin

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It’s quite serious, Loïc has turned into some sort of chemist since we opened Heron House. He has dedicated his heart and soul (and probably liver too) to experimenting and infusing the best liquor and cocktails in Hoi An. And goodness, the final results are surprisingly good too. As much as I love the special Lavender G&T, which has become a part of my daily diet, I have to give Loïc credit for his creativity in turning the freshest local ingredients into delicious cocktails. And with the Vietnamese sweet pomelo in season right now, we have been busy testing out the best pomelo gin recipe to offer to our guests.

The Vietnamese pomelo is quite different from the grapefruit in America and Europe. Our rich clay soil and abundant amounts of water and sunshine ensure the distinctive sweet flavor in each juicy fruit. We experimented with mixing two different pomelo varieties in our recipe to produce a sweet but slightly bitter tasting cocktail. The left over pomelo meat after the infusion process was then preserved in the freezer to add texture and more flavor to each drink. Needless to say, this is one of our popular sunset drinks when our guests chill out by the swimming pool.

Enjoy the recipe and let us know if the pomelo or grapefruit from where you are can produce tasty cocktails as well.

Ingredients:

  • 45ml Pomelo-infused gin, using the best quality Vietnamese pomelo
  • 15ml Cointreau
  • 1 large spoonful of frozen pomelo (save it when you make the gin)
  • Basil leaves for garnish (straight from our garden)
  • 10ml Basil syrup (also made from the basil in our garden)
  • 120ml Soda water
  • Ice

Instructions:

  • Place pomelo gin, Cointreau, half of ice, frozen pomelo, basil syrup, and a tablespoon of basil leaves into the blender
  • Blend on ‘Icy Drink’ setting or equivalent if possible
  • Pour contents over some ice in a glass
  • Top off with soda water, stir, and serve chilled
  • Place basil leaves on top as garnish

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Our First Summer BBQ

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During our time living in Hanoi, some of our best summer weekends were spent BBQ-ing with our friends at our rooftop apartment. We would shift from swimming in our rooftop pool, eating bellini popsicles, to sitting around the little balcony waiting for Loic’s famous yogurt chicken and Greek burger, and eventually moving inside for some drinking games or random Youtube session. With such great memories, we decided to invest in a nice BBQ the moment summer began. What is summer without nice pool BBQ parties after all, right?

Loic chose a custom-made Texan BBQ from a company in Saigon, and as you can guess from the name, it is huge! The BBQ also doubles as a smoker, which makes us immediately dream of smoked salmon and smoked sausages and smoked everything. We were so eager to try out the big boy that the moment we met David and his family who were hugely into food and having a good time, we had to ask if they would like to let us test out the BBQ and prepare them a special meal.

You can tell Loic was dying to get back on track with his passion of cooking the moment he started brainstorming the menu. After going through what we could pick up at the local market and big supermarket in Danang, we settled on pita with hummus and tzaziki to start, continuing with Loic’s famous watermelon haloumi with tahini honey walnut sauce, and finishing with a grand finale of big coconut-smoked platter: beef tenderloin, red snappers, potato with sour cream, and fresh vegetables from the organic garden (more recipes to come on the blog soon!).

The whole meal was such a big hit, and the conversations that carried on the night were even better. There was so much laughter around the table. David, Arlene, Mel and Alex were another group of guests that turned into our friends. We were even invited to visit their beautiful Airbnb castle near London (yes, we have friends who own a castle!). This new adventure has certainly taken us to places that we never thought of before.

Thank you everyone for such a good night and we hope to see you again in the near future!

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Water Apple Jam

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With summer officially arriving in Hoi An and our trees full of more fruit than we know what to do with, the time has come to get creative and ensure that our guests get to enjoy our fresh fruit long after our tree has run out of offerings for them.  While many people find the water fruit to be a bit too tart for many palates, we believe that with a bit of tampering we have created a universal favourite.

Though some of our guests prefer this jam to be served with our homemade bread at breakfast every morning, I have been equally content to serve it with a cheese plate in the afternoon or even piled atop a bowl of ice cream to be devoured on hot days by the pool.

Whatever your inkling, we find this option to be a new popular item that is moving fast.

 

Ingredients:

  • 500 grams water apples
  • 110 grams sugar
  • 5 grams of honey
  • 5 grams of vanilla extract
  • Heavy dusting of ground cinnamon to taste

 

Instructions:

  • Remove and tough parts of the water apples and dice up the rest
  • Liquefy the water apples in a food processor. Do not add water or liquids yet as the apples are predominantly liquid
  • Mix the sugar, cinnamon, and water apples thoroughly in an open wide mouthed pot before placing it on the stove over medium heat
  • Continue to stir your sweet concoction with a wooden spoon continually over the course of 30 minutes

(Note: If you have a bread machine this can be far more ideal than hovering over a stove for 30 minutes, but for those of us with stove tops, just be sure to be careful to watch the jam carefully while on the stove and to stir continuously or parts will stick to the bottom of the pan and the sauce may very well burn throughout)

  • Once the substance has begun to solidify and the excess liquid has burned off, remove your jam from the stove and allow to cool to room temperature
  • Once cooled off, stir in honey and vanilla extract to taste
  • Once satisfied, place spoon your finished product into air tight jars and place in the refrigerator so it can be enjoyed for a while to come.