​Today I come back with a salad dish. Since March is here, we’re feeling the spring weather, and with spring come dishes with veggies and herbs. So this Vietnamese rice noodles and grilled lemongrass chicken will give you that fresh spring feeling. 

This rice noodles and lemongrass chicken dish is not strictly traditional. In Vietnam there is a commonly known dish with rice noodles and grilled lemongrass beef, and this grilled lemongrass chicken dish is just one of its variations. This version is very new, I only know about this dish a few years ago. With this version, we swap beef with chicken and we use a different mixing sauce. In the traditional dish with lemongrass beef, fish sauce is used while in this lemongrass chicken dish we use peanut butter.

Without further ado, let’s get to the making of this dish! In the ingredient list below, you may find that it’s very long but the cooking time is very fast. We just need to cook the chicken and boil the noodles, everything else is just salad ingredient to mix together. From the freshness of cucumber, lettuce salad and carrot to the crunchy and smoky texture of roasted peanuts. When you make a salad mixing dish, it is always good to mix different textures and flavors so that with each bite you get everything at once. This salad dish will surely give you that needed freshness after too many rich and heavy winter dishes.
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This is going to be quick, hot, yummy!

When you come to Romania and delve into traditional Romanian food, papanași is one of the most common sweets you will find, especially in and around the capital and major cities, in most restaurants and as dessert suggestion from local foodies. Papanași is a fried or boiled doughnut type cheese-based pastry, served with sour cream and delicious jams. The word appears to originate from the Latin papa ( "small food", "food for children") and it will definitely make you feel like a child indulging in a lavish sweet that covers your mouth in cream while you eat it.

If you've tried papanași or look for this dessert online you will find it under this modern, restaurant form of puffed doughnuts, where the dough is mostly made of flour and flour raising agents such as baking soda or yeast, with some cheese in there. What I inherited from my grandmother is a simple recipe, with loads of cheese, very little flour and no additives, and this family heirloom will allow you to taste the rustic, homemade, truly traditional papanași. It's quick too!  Let's get to it...

By Thao Uyen

​Today I return with an unusual recipe because it’s a drink. And it’s not just any drink, soy milk is yummy whether it is served hot or cold and it’s also packed with nutrients and thus very beneficial for health. I presented another drink before which is corn milk. It is another delicious drink yet you may not often have heard about it. You can find the link to that recipe here.

Okay let’s get back to soy milk. We call it milk as it looks like cow milk but it is actually just a mixture of blended cooked soy beans with water.

Here we begin a new journey, a new year, a new era at Nomades Gourmandes, and what better way to do it, as far as Romanian cuisine goes, than to inaugurate the ciorba on our blog. An essential dish and experience, festival of flavors, heat and health. When you think "ciorba", you think hot, sweet, salty and sour, a luscious garden, herbs and the flowing river of water. This is why I thought and mentioned health, this is what makes ciorba so healthy: the boil, the steam, the water. A giant teapot of vegetables, meat, herbs.

Hi guys, how have you been? I have been running left and right to prepare for the biggest Vietnamese celebration of the year: TET. For those of you who don't know, TET is the Vietnamese lunar new year. In some Asian countries where the people still use the Lunar calendar (along with the Gregorian calendar), this occasion is celebrated with events enriched with traditions. Of course no two countries have the same traditions, but the principle of the Lunar new year is for families to be reunited, and also to pay respect to the elders in the family. 

TET is fast approaching. In fact, it will begin next Saturday and will last at least for 1 week. Usually Vietnamese consider that TET lasts until the Lunar 10th of January. Last year I spoke about TET and its traditions (you can read about it here). This year I want to present to you a traditional TET dish that every household in Southern Vietnam has for this occasion: braised eggs and pork belly. 

​Zazulete Ynn Anuca Romanța Ion

I love the cold, the snow, the awakening air of winter!
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But as it crawls in, we do feel this hunger for light, for vitamins, for strength. Maybe not yet, maybe winter is too young for us to long for the sun hidden in colors of fruits and vegetables, but this is one of the most important times of the year when we need to pack our cells with bricks of health and inner anticold furs helping us to be out there and enjoy snowball fighting until the birds come back, like the inherent kids we are.

Speaking about kids, you may have hated it when you were a little one, but spinach is an all-seasons favorite, a bundle of health, a superfood. In my country, we usually eat fresh spinach in spring, cooked with tomato and lemon juice, which makes it very refreshing and tasty, and ever since I was a kid myself, I have associated the taste of spinach with lemon and even find it funny to eat it without the citrus flavor. Lemongrass is an adulthood discovery (not being common as herb or ingredient in Romanian cuisine) and I had this idea it must compliment what I know and love about spinach very well, the way I've known it.  l love the result and I hope you will enjoy it too. 

​Zazulete Ynn Anuca Romanța Ion

Season your juicy beef steak with this heavenly combination:

-less salt (but make it a quality, flavor salt, such as fleur de sel, charcoal or Himalayan salt; remember each one is or can be a gourmet treasure in itself)

- butter

- thyme (dried or fresh, depending on the season)

-and PARMESAN! It gives the steak a smokey, cheesy, pungent flavor that you will want to taste again. 

Hey Nomades Gourmandes squad,

Today it’s not about food recipe but a travel guide post. As my travel to Japan has been the best adventure for me so far, I decide to write a Japan travel essential guide for folks who plan to visit this summer. I’m not one to stress out about packing, so these are my 4 absolute tips for an enjoyable trip to Japan. Let’s get to them right away! 
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​Zazulete Ynn Anuca Romanța Ion

When summer feels close, one of my favorite dishes for enjoying fresh herbs and other goodies is zucchini croquettes, an easy and quick recipe that you can enjoy both hot and cold, as a simple crunch or with your favorite dip (such as any refreshing yogurt or cheesy dip). I often cook them through summer and autumn and they are a tasty and nutritious alternative to meat. I prefer to cook them as deep fried in vegetable oil, for the extra crustiness, but if you prefer the healthier version, cook them in your oven, over parchment and sprinkled with some olive oil. 

Moreover, you can use this recipe as veggie burger idea. Quite a versatile dish, when it comes to its uses, possible combinations of veggies or when it comes to the sauces and dips you can enjoy it with.  And a great addition to any party, you know me, a part girl, always thinking of party food!