Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Che Dau Trang

So recently I've been getting into food blogs. It kinda just came to me one day while I was checking out knitting blogs that there must be food blogs out there too. So I decided to start with Asian food blogs and found some really good ones. Next goal is to find some good American ones. If you know any, let me know.

I have a potluck at work tomorrow, and I decided to make something a bit non-traditional.

Behold, Che Dau Trang!


I made a test batch last night, and I'm so glad I did because I was able to make tonight's official batch much better. The first batch was still good, but it was bit thick for me.

Basically, Che Dau Trang is a Vietnamese dessert. It's a thick, sweet bean pudding. This is what it looks like if you were to buy it at a Vietnamese market.


When I had posted my name on the sign-up sheet with the dish name while also putting in parentheses "Vietnamese" dessert, one of my co-workers actually had the gall to approach me and ask if there will be blood and guts in my dish. I thought she was joking, but she actually looked pretty serious. I found that highly offensive. I'm sure that if I had put up "Zucchini Bread" or "Blueberry Cobbler" nobody would have questioned whether there would be chopped guts. Besides, what practical person would mix blood in a dessert? (Okay, maybe a vampire, but I can't think of anybody else.) I held my tongue, but secretly I really wanted to ask her for a blood sample to see how she would react. Grr. Ignorant people.

If you're interested in trying this, I got the recipe here. My mods were to add more water, more sugar, and less glutinous rice. :-)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree, its offensive. I'm sure it is delicious.

twigletqueen said...

I love food blogs (despite the fact that I hardly ever find time to cook at the moment) Some of my favourite American ones are http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking, http://smittenkitchen.com/, http://simplyrecipes.com/ and http://desertculinary.blogspot.com/

betty said...

I don't read too many food blogs, but I have tons of cooking magazines!
I love ethnic cuisine, and living in the S.F. bay area, there are tons of dining opportunities. However, I tend to shy away from the ethnic desserts. For some reason, they are too much of an acquired taste. This also applies to Chinese desserts, even though I grew up in S.F.'s chinatown!

Jess said...

I just started reading food blogs as well. In addition to smittenkitchen and simplyrecipes, I like:
http://www.101cookbooks.com/index.html
http://happyherbivore.com
http://www.cookiemadness.net/
Happy cooking!

Jasmine's Mommy said...

Yummy, thanks for the recipe link. I always love a good recipe!

There are lots of stupid people out there and it's sad that they don't realize how "stupid" they really are.

Hope your desert was a big hit at the office! =)

Unknown said...

I second Smitten Kitchen! Mac n' Cheese, boozy french toast, tomato and sausage risotto, best birthday cake, etc, etc! I have only had one recipe go awry, and that likely was my ignorance of making rice pudding, lol! And actually I believe the Scottish use blood in one or more desserts, so ignorant to assume, but there is precedent in other ethnic desserts...

Yarnhog said...

Weird comment.

The English make "blood pudding", which is probably the most disgusting "food" I've ever heard of.

.nodame. said...

I'm not Vietnamese, at all, but even I was offended by that comment.

I have to say, those look gooooooood :O

D.H.Thomas said...

I cant wait to make this . I loved it as a kid . I got my father in law to taste it when I got it at the store . He said it was good and handed it bak to me hah. Oh well more for me to eat . I hate when people ask me I I eat dog . He jerk just because I'm Asian doesn't mean I eat dog . So annoying . People can be so rude .