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Recipe Corner
Andrea L. Rademan
4/2003
Meet Giao Tran of
Florida’s Peabody Orlando Hotel
 "People eat and cook very differently in the U.S
and the Far East," says chef Giao
Tran. In Vietnam fast food is virtually unknown. We use mostly fresh
ingredients and prepare them every day, marinating our meats
and fish to absorb flavors and building most meals around
rice. Usually the whole family eats together at home.
Tran came to Florida as a refugee in 1989. Growing up, he had helped his mother, Nguyet,
prepare meals for their family of 11. In Orlando he started as a prep cook at the Peabody Orlando Hotel, where
he has been employed for the past 13 years. He studied at the
American Culinary Federation in Central Florida
and "when the Peabody Hotel's Culinary Department offered
an apprentice program to help their chefs improve their
skills, I attended and learned how to cook, how to serve food
safely, plan menus and deal with food costs."
Tran has worked in all of the hotel’s restaurants and
the banquet department and today he is responsible for
supervising the entire food preparation staff and all cooking
operations at the 24 hr B-Line Diner, plus room service.
 He is divorced from ThuVan
Tran, chef at the nearby Renaissance Hotel and Resorts. They
have two daughters, ages 9 and 11. The rest of his family
lives in Saigon.
Through the years Tran has won the Golden Duck award
and been sited for his exemplary culinary skills at the hotel
but he insists that the only “secret” to his success is
ambition and hard work. He says, "I learned from my
co-workers, I watched cooking shows, read cooking magazines,
and even when I went out, I tried to learn how how
the chefs prepared the food." And now, Giao
Tran’s is the one doing the teaching.
Tran shares two recipes with with
Sushi and Tofu. Crispy Red Snapper is a favorite dish at
B-Line Diner. Vietnamese Grilled Pork chop is “my mom’s
recipe.”
Crispy
Red Snapper with Spicy Black Bean Sauce.
2 servings
Ingredients:
- 2 ea. 7oz Red Snapper with skin on (cut
an “x” into the skin)
- 1/2 cup corn starch
- 1 oz white wine
- Salt and white pepper to taste
- 2 oz cooking oil
Directions:
- Marinate fish with wine, season with salt
and pepper. Dust with cornstarch.
- Heat oil
to medium-high on non-stick pan.
- Lay fish in the pan
skin side down and cook until golden and crispy (reduce heat
to medium if necessary).
- Turn over and cook until done.
- Serve
with sautéed baby bok choy
or other green vegetable, steamed rice and Spicy Black Bean
sauce.
Spicy Black Bean sauce:
Ingredients:
- 1 oz vegetable oil
- 1 cup cooked black beans (discard liquid)
- 2 Tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon flake chili pepper
- 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- 1 oz
Red onion diced
- 1 oz Red and Green Pepper diced
- 1 oz tomato diced
- 1 teaspoon Sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
Directions:
- Heat oil to
medium-high in saucepan.
- Add diced onion, diced pepper.
Sauté for about a minute.
- Add
garlic, chili pepper flakes and cook for 10-15 seconds being
careful not to burn the garlic.
- Add black Bean, oyster sauce,
sugar, black pepper.
- Bring to boil and reduce to simmer for
about 3 minutes.
- Add diced tomato, sesame oil and cilantro.
- Serve immediately.
Vietnamese Grilled pork chop
4 servings
Ingredients:
Marinade:
Ingredients:
- 4 Tablespoons fish sauce
- 8 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 Whole shallots chopped
Directions:
- Mix ingredients together and marinate the
pork chops in the refrigerator for 2 to 4 hours
Lime fish sauce:
Ingredients:
- 2 Tablespoons fish sauce
- 8 Tablespoons water
- 1 whole lime juice
- 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (amount
optional – increase to taste)
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
- 6 gloves chopped garlic
Directions:
- In mixing bowl, mix all ingredients well
Scallion oil:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup cooking oil
- 1 cup chopped scallion
Directions:
- Heat oil in pan until hot and add
scallion. Cook for about a minute, then
set aside in bowl
Sweet and sour carrot:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup julienne carrot
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 2 Tablespoons white vinegar
Directions:
- Mix carrot, sugar and vinegar in bowl.
Put aside for 15- 20 minutes. Discard liquid. Add carrot to
the lime fish sauce
Method:
Ingredients:
- 4 large lettuce leaves
- 16 slices cucumber
- 16 half-slices
tomato
- fresh mint and
cilantro
- 4 cups cooked basmati or jasmine rice
Directions:
- grill pork
chops until cooked
- divide
ingredients into 4 serving dishes: First place 1 green leaf, 4
slices cucumber, 4 half-slices tomato, fresh mint and
cilantro. Next to this, place 1 cup of cooked rice. Lay a
cooked pork chop on top of the rice. Drizzle meat with
scallion oil.
- Serve immediately with the lime fish
sauce on the side.
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