July 2013 – Page 3

Another Roadtrip Two-Fer: Pho Tau Bay (Santa Ana) and a revisit to Ngu Binh (Westminster)

July 10, 2013 mmm-yoso Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

After striking out a couple of times when ordering Banh Cuon from Nhat Vy, the Missus was, well, how to put it……a bit bitter, perhaps? So we decided to jump in the car and head to "the OC" for another one of the those "two stop" roadtrips. Recent trips to Banh Cuon Tay Ho have left us less than satisfied, so I thought a visit to Pho Tau Bay was in order.

Pho Tau Bay:

A very nondescript, one of a million, type shop in (of course) a strip mall. This one actually in Santa Ana and kind of on the outskirts of all that is Little Saigon, at least for me.

A look at the interior and you quickly realize that this could be but one of hundreds of restaurants in the area. The service is to the point, you sit, are dealt a menu, and you order.

There's really only two items to get here and really only two basic savory items on the menu; pho and banh cuon, which we love….."do what you do and (hopefully) do it well".

Of course we came here for the Banh Cuon…Dac Biet – Lon (large – $7.25).

If you're after a huge plate of thick banh cuon topped with all sorts of fried stuffs, you've come to the wrong place. The banh cuon here is wonderfully thin, tender, with a nice stretch, served at a nice warm temp. The two types of cha lua were fine, but I've had better. It's all served with blanched bean sprouts, very nice, "not from a bottle" fried shallots, and pork sung (pork floss). And even though, like Kirbie has said, that I'm perhaps "the one non-vegetarian she knows that doesn't care for pork sung"……it was not bad here…really Kirbie, really!

The Missus and I each had an order.

Pho Tau Bay L.T.T.
3610 W 1st St
Santa Ana, CA 92703

Isn't it nice when a dish takes you back to another time and place? No, it wasn't as good, but good enough to trigger some images…..

You know what? I thought this pork sung was ok too……

Ngu Binh:

The Missus had also been craving the Banh Nam from Ngu Binh. So, of course this was our second "snack" of the roadtrip.

You can read all about that stuff in my previous post. All I have to say about it is, that the Missus loves the rather thin smear of rice flour dough and the flavor of the banana leaves.

As for me….well FOY (Friend of Yoso) "TFD" mentioned the Com Suon Tom Riem….all I knew was this had rice and shrimp, but I took a flier and chanced it. This was a combination of a wonderful high – the rice was perfect, fragrant, and hot. The spare ribs, aren't really "grilled" but braised to a nice tender, but not falling apart stage. The flavor is the wonderful salty-sweet that elevates pork.

The low was that the shrimp was very one note in flavor; spicy and that's it. No nuance, no balance. It was also fishy, overcooked, and tasted like it had been kept past its "due date", if you know what I mean. I'd love to have that pork again. But no on the shrimp.

Still the Missus got Her Banh Nam….and Her Banh Cuon. All was good in the world, at least for the next few hours!

Ngu Binh Restaurant
14072 Magnolia St
Westminster, CA 92683

Eggplant with Tamarind Sauce

July 9, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Call me crazy….it was pretty hot and humid today. I really didn't feel like going out of the house. So what did I do? I stir-fried. What the heck was I thinking?

Anyway, I used basically the same technique as my Spicy Chinese-style Eggplant, but went for more of a Thai inspired dish. In other words, totally lost for ideas, I found stuff around the kitchen and went for it…….

Two types of chilies and chili paste brings the heat. Palm sugar, white sugar, and the red bell peppers add sweet. Soy Sauce and Fish Sauce add the umami saltiness. Garlic and onions add depth of flavor. The kaffir lime leaves and cilantro give this a definite Southeast Asian touch. And the sour and tangy tamarind paste tops it off. I'm looking at this as a nice starting point and will add to the recipe in the future……

It turned out rather well. I actually measured stuff out initially as I made things. There are three acts to this play…..

Eggplant with Tamarind Sauce:

First the Tamarind Sauce:
4 Tb tamarind pulp or concentrate
2-3 Tb palm sugar
2 Tb premium soy sauce
3 Tb fish sauce
2 Tb sambal olek

– Combine all ingredients and let sit

Then prep everything you'll need for parts 1 & 2 below:

Part 1:
2-3 medium sized Chinese Eggplant cut into 1/3 inch dice
3 dried red chilies seeded
Dash of white pepper
2 Tb White sugar
2 Tb Shaoxing Wine
2-3 Tb premium soy sauce
3 Tb canola or grapeseed oil

Part 2:
1/2 large red bell pepper diced
1/2 medium onion diced
5 kaffir lime leaves thinly sliced
4-6 Thai Chilies Sliced
6 cloves of garlic minced
2 Tb canola or grapeseed oil
1/2 cup loosely packed chopped cilantro

– In a hot wok heat first 3 tb of oil add dried chilies to scald
– Add eggplant, white pepper, and sugar, and stir fry
– Add Shaoxing and stir fry
– When eggplant starts to dry out, add soy sauce to moisten a tablespoon at a time
– When the eggplant has browned and is cooked through, remove to a plate and start Part2

– Allow wok to come back up to temperature and add oil
– Quickly add kaffir lime leaves and Thai Chilies, stir fry until fragrant, about 10-15 seconds
– Add red bell pepper and stir fry to coat and let soften slightly
– Add garlic and stir fry. Do not allow garlic to burn
– Add onion and stir fry
– Return eggplant back to wok and combine well.
– Add sauce, combine, bring up to temp, and remove from heat
– Add the chopped cilantro, saving a few tablespoons for garnish

Looks like a lot, but things go pretty quickly. In fact, I even made some chili-garlic shrimp as well. Didn't even use the Big Kahuna.

Interesting thing was…..that I felt a lot less sluggish after making this….dunno why….

So, did you cook at home today?

A buncha’ lunches at Do Re Mi House 8 years later……

July 8, 2013 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

** Do Re Mi House has closed

Man, it's been almost 8 years and maybe three owners since I first did a post back in 2005. By the time I did an update in 2009, I believe the place had changed hands, though the food was about the same. Some time after that I returned and really had an awful lunch, after which Do Re Mi went "no ami", just kinda slipping my mind. Over the last year, folks have been recommending Do Re Mi House which had left me wondering; was it that much better, or had it just returned to being decent food for a good value…..nothing wrong with that at all. Curiosity piqued, and my office having moved to a location fairly close by, there really was no excuse for not returning.

The sign had been refreshed and I believe the divider removed from the back of the restaurant along with the large, almost communal table in the rear. It looks a bit cleaner for some reason.

Of ocurse prices have gone up….hey, it's been 8 years. The base prices here are no longer $5.99, it's $7.99, with a higher range of $12.99 for "combos". Still, this isn't too bad. That said, there's a bit more panchan then I recalled….the usual suspects.

The flavor and basic quality varied during each visit. My first visit was the best…..

The worst was on my last visit where the baechu kimchi, your basic, standard issue napa cabbage kimchi tasted like it hadn't been marinated long enough, the fishcake was dry as cardboard, and sadly, one of my favorites, and something the "old" Do Re Mi House did so well, the gamja jorim, the simmered potatoes were hard and undercooked. Honestly, I thought these were apples when they hit the table.

As for the free soup……

Well….it's free, though they might as well serve you hot water. Man, I've had so many bad bowls of this stuff recently, I wish they'd just stop already.

On my first visit, I went with the Bulgogi lunch ($7.99), which looked perfectly fine.

This wasn't nearly as sweet as I recalled, though the meat was on the dry side. Overall, it wasn't a bad deal for $7.99 (which includes a drink). Standard issue mandu, a green salad, and seaweed salad accompanied everything. Oh, and I kept forgetting to take a photo of the teacup of Su Jung Gwa, the cinnamon tea/drink that comes at the end, a bit too sweet for me.

A week or so later I decided to check in at Do Re Mi again.

It was a pretty hot day, but I was quite hungry. I went with one of their combos where you can get either Kimchi Chigae (you gotta be kidding, not on this day), or Bi Bim Naengmyun and a protein ($12.99).

The Naengmyun was pretty stretchy, almost too hard and elastic. The flavor was pretty mild, I didn't find it very spicy as it needed a good dose of vinegar and hot sauce, but it wasn't bad overall.

I got the Daeji Bulgogi, the spicy pork as my protein. The old Do Re Mi really made a nice version of this…..this latest incarnation not so much as it was pretty bland. The portion size was quite generous though.

Oh yes, it would be a good idea to wear a darker colored shirt when eating the stretchy naegmyun. Otherwise you'll take the chance of returning to the office with a bunch of red specks on it.

I recently decided to return and have yet another lunch here. The kalbi during previous regimes had not been that great. I wondered how it was now….so I ordered the Galbi lunch ($9.99).

This was better than what I'd had here before. My previous experiences with kalbi here had been enduring thin, tough, cross-cut ribs. This was still LA Kalbi and I didn't expect anything different, but the cut was thicker and the grade a bit better. The flavor was decent, your basic kalbi, it was still a bit chewy, but not bad at all.

What disappointed was the panchan on this visit.

To me, Do Re Mi delivers a decent value. It's nothing fancy, but will do the job for lunch. The woman running the place can be a bit surly at first, but after I'd been here a couple of times, she's started….well maybe not smiling, but being a lot more friendly with me.

So for all those folks who told me I had to return….did I miss anything? Maybe dinner?

Do Re Mi House
8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd Ste M
San Diego, CA 92111

King Clip? Yes, King Clip, two ways…….

July 7, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes, Seafood, yoso-silly

When not travelling, I'm totally a creature of habit….or as the Missus puts it, "boring". Of course She's the one who doesn't like to go shopping in places where She doesn't know the lay-out. Anyway, on most Saturdays you'll find me at Catalina Offshore. I'm there buying shrimp to keep us stocked, some fish to smoke for the Missus' lunch during the week, and maybe a thing or two for the weekend. Over time I've had the pleasure of chatting with Tommy Gomes whose title is Director of Public Relations and Marketing, but is much, much, more than that……those who know him can attest to the fact that he's quite a character, he also has quite a story, and a fisherman's sense of humor.

On days like this past Saturday, when he's done giving me a hard time, he asked me a simple question; "are you cooking this weekend?" And pointed me to this….. King Clip? I believe that I've eaten a good deal of seafood in my life, but this was a new one. He explained, "really fresh, firm, good fat, large flake…. Don't screw around with it." As I mentioned before, when Tommy makes a recommendation I'm all in. So I got about 1.75 pounds of it.

Catalina Offshore Products
5202 Lovelock St
San Diego, CA 92110

Still, I went home wondering what the heck is King Clip? So after looking it up, I discovered that it's a type of Cusk Eel and is called Kingklip in South Africa.

Whenever I get some type of fish I haven't tried before, I do something rather simple. We've had an abundance of basil growing in our makeshift garden this year, so the Missus made a almond and pumpkin seed, oven dried tomato pesto. I seasoned the fish with simply sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and just a tiny bit of crushed oregano.

We had it with a simple arugula salad. Man this was some moist and tender fish. There's a bit of sweetness to it as well. The flakes are large and the flavor mild….oh, and the Missus loved it.

I had a bit left and decided to try something more "Asian" for dinner. I did the typical Shaoxing – ginger juice – white pepper Chinese style marinade. Seasoned with sea salt and five spice from QingDao and dusted one side with potato starch. Served up with my basic dressing for Purple Cabbage Slaw, this was very nice.

This fish would probably be very nice steamed. The firmness of the fish would allow for use in stews and even some braising, but I think you might lose the benefit of the fresh and sweet flavor.

Heck, if you see this at Catalina, just don't bother buying it……..I'll take care of that, ok?

Oh, and I need to send thanks out to "YY", I made the Bo Luc Lac her dad prepared. It came out nice! Thanks so much!

I was going to make this on the Big Kahuna, but we ran out of propane, so did it on the stovetop.

Hope everyone had a great Independence Day weekend!

Lisbon Day 2: Frango Assado at Bonjardim and the Church of São Domingos

July 6, 2013 mmm-yoso Lisbon, Portugal, Portuguese Food, Travel

Close to Rossio Station is a street full of somewhat touristy restaurants, with mildly pushy touts attempting to get you into their restaurants. This is Rua das Portas de Santo Antao. In one of the small side streets leading back to Praca dos Restauradores is one of the most well known and highly recommended restaurants in Lisbon, Bonjardim. There are actually two Bonjardim restaurants across the alleyway from each other….kind of strange. I read that the food at both places are the same so we just picked the newer looking one, sitting outside with a nice view of the graffiti.

Like most places in Portugal, there will be bread and other items placed at your table, if you touch, you pay. There was one item that looked especially good.

I just couldn't resist these Pastéis de Bacalhau, which were piping hot. Loved the flavor, not too salty, but wonderfully savory, light, moist, and tender, without too much filler. Very nice croquettes (4.8 E)

The Missus and I were still not super hungry after our morning pork-fest so we just kept to the point. Plus, we had dinner reservations at Assinatura. Bonjardim is renowned for their Frango Assado, roasted chicken, which borders on legendary. So how could I resist…..call it pollo ala brassa, kai yang, or whatever, I'm fascinated by different takes on spit roasted chicken. I ordered a third of a chicken, which wasn't very hot when it arrived.

The skin was rubbery, the flavor quite salty, but not bad. The meat was very dry, not quite what I was expecting. I loved the piri-piri sauce which I could probably drink. It was decently spicy with a nice kick to it.

The Missus had the chicken soup, which She said was delicious.

Overall, my most disappointing meal in Lisbon. I'd read about rather surly service, but our Server was decent if somewhat detached. Perhaps this was just a bad day/time…..

Bonjardim
Travessa de S. Antao 11
Lisbon, Portugal

After lunch we headed back to Largo de São Domingos and decided to take some time to visit the church there.

This location has a tragic past which is reflected in it's somewhat spooky and haunting interior. Before the church was built, a convent as located here. This was also the site from where sentences were read out during the Inquisition. Even before then, an event called the Lisbon Massacre, where hundreds of Jews were tortured and killed. The site is marked by this memorial.

The church was rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake with material left from the ruins. Part of the church was destroyed in a fire in 1950 and you can still see the scorch marks from the fire on some of the pillars.

All of this adds up to give the church a somewhat eerie vibe.

The church also has as one of it's relics part of the handkerchief used by Lucia Santos during the Fatima Miracle.

Looking toward our left we noted the figure of two children in rather modern looking attire. This chapel had the most candles. We came to find out that this was a chapel to Our Lady of Fatima. The two children represent Jacinta and Francisco Marto, two of the three children, along with Lucia santos who witnessed the three apparitions at Fatima. Both children were victims of the 1918 Influenza epidemic. There are only two children because Lucia Santos was still alive when this chapel was constructed. She died in 2005 at 98.

The square itself is the gathering place for Lisbon's African immigrant community.

We spent a good amount of time in the church. Soon it felt like a good time for a nap.

As we walked back to our room, the Missus mentioned that the sky just seemed so much more blue in Portugal……..

Recently Consumed – influenced by our trip edition

July 4, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking

First off, Happy 4th to everyone!

Here's another collection of stuffs we've been eating at home over the last couple of weeks, starting with today's lunch.

07042013 011

The Missus has to go back to work soon, so I asked Her what She wanted. It was an easy one, teri-beef, wrapped in lettuce, with green onions, thinly sliced raw garlic, red onions, tomato, sorta ssam style.

She also wanted grilled brussle sprouts and some peppers. I decided to grill up the rest of our chicken wings seasoned with peri-peri chili powder. A nice and easy Fourth of July lunch.

As always, our travels inspire and influence our cooking. The Missus loved the hearty and simple food in Portugal. Simple items, like this black pork grilled over hardwood charcoal, with a "sauce" of vinegar, garlic, and olive oil, stayed with us. This version is from Ze Manel dos Ossos in Coimbra.

And these very tasty potatoes at a fantastic seafood grill joint called Tito 2 in Matosinhos, right outside of Porto.

We ate so much pork that we renamed Portugal, "Pork-y'all". Pork has a stigma here in the states and much of what is sold is called the "other white meat". I don't eat that stuff…….I look for nice tasty and fatty pork, like Berkshire. The Missus never used to eat pork, but after Portugal things have changed. I told Her that the pork I make, the stuff I eat and She doesn't is actually good stuff. It's all about not making a pig of yourself (pun intended). The portions are reasonable, .25 – .3 pounds per person.

So after returning I pan fried a Berkshire Pork Rib Chop seasoned with Maldon Sea Salt, flavored with that three ingredient "sauce".

Along with those potatoes. A single chop seasoned well was more than enough for the two of us. Turns out that the Missus preferred the chop sliced, pounded flat, seasoned, then grilled.

See those mushrooms in the back there? That's another influence. We had mushrooms served that way a couple of times, like this example from Botequim da Mouraria in Evora.

These were always full of mushroom flavor. So I came home wondering how these were made…..it seems so very simple and it was.

These are usually grilled. I use creminis. I place them gill side down on the grill under direct heat. Once it browns I turn them over. As the cap side gets wrinkled, I carefully move the mushrooms to the indirect side of the grill….carefully because liquid starts accumulating in the naturally formed cup of the gill side.

Season with salt and that all purpose mixture of garlic, vinegar, and olive oil. Be careful not to spill that mushroom flavored juice.

The same theme was followed for subsequent meals…….

This version featured a version of the classic Maltese Fava Bean Dip called Bigilla.

Here's a version with an easy over egg on it…..kind of over the top, collards sauteed in bacon fat topped with lardons of bacon, halibut pan seared in bacon fat, and an egg fried in duck fat.

And the requisite drippy egg photo……

Speaking of Malta….we were surprised at how well we ate in Malta. We hadn't heard much about the food. I really enjoyed the tuna sandwiches in Malta….yes…tuna sandwiches, like this one from Cafe Cordina in Valletta.

The traditional breads are fantastic. I had an even better tuna sandwich at a tiny coffee shop off the main street in Valletta. All the older locals seemed to be having breakfast there, it was one of my favorite meals on the island. Here's a version the Missus made for me.

I'd say the Missus did a great job. don't you think?

That pretty dish of quail eggs and linguica is also from Botequim da Mouraria in Evora.

It was a wonderful dish which copied a couple of times in our apartment in Porto with linguica from the local Pingo Doce supermarket.

We've made this after returning from our trip as well. They key is to fry the eggs in the rendered fat of the sausage. We're still looking for good linguica here in San Diego.

So there you go, everywhere we travel we learn something and add something to our cooking repertoire.

I'm wondering if the Missus will let me try this at home?

Jury Duty Day: Ch-ch-chains – Breakfast at Specialty’s and Lunch at Tender Greens, Downtown

July 3, 2013 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Chains, Salads, Sandwiches

Being sort of the old fart that I am, I clearly recognize the importance of that all important civic duty that is Jury Service. Though I don't think that you'd blame me for being a bit tired of it all after having jury service scheduled 9 of my 12 years in San Diego. Heck, I never got called once in LA and only twice after 30+ years in Honolulu! I'm especially puzzled since some of my friends, many whom have lived in San Diego for most of their lives have only been called once or twice, some not at all!

After entering the Hall of Justice so many times, you could say that the "bloom is off the rose". Falling off your routine and falling behind at work doesn't help your attitude, though this year I went with the mindset of making the best of things.

It used to be that I'd park at Old Town and catch the trolley, this year I walked to the bus stop and caught the trolley, though this meant leaving a bit earlier.

After taking so many turns at jury service, I'd been to quite a few places, from Grab n' Go, Currant (10% Jury Duty discount), to the food court at Horton Plaza(what was the name of that burger place that was in Horton Plaza for a blink of an eye?) , Rei do Gado, and Lucy's Taco Shop. You'd think I'd have quite a collection of posts….well, not quite. I felt somewhat self-conscious and, well, a bit weird for having to take a camera to jury service. But this year I had my iPhone, which looked perfectly natural.

I always go a bit early for jury service, this year was no exception. I decided to stop into a place I've been to before while performing my civic duty; Specialty's.

**** This location of Specialty's has closed

This 40+ location, fast-casual type chain was founded in San Francisco in the 80's. I like the fact that it has an almost fully functional Peet's integrated in the place. I don't remember the iPad ordering kiosks the last time I visited, but that was an interesting addition. I was just going to have a coffee, which you can just step up to the counter and order, but decided on getting something to eat just because……

I ended up ordering a Classic Egg Sandwich, customized with bell peppers and red onion, topped with swiss cheese.

It did look a bit too perfect and processed, but this was hot and fresh and the ciabatta was pretty decent. Nice mild milky tones from the Swiss cheese, though it had a bit too much black pepper for me.

I ordered a small Americano, which was pretty weak. After our recent trip to Europe, it seems that coffee in the states is too large, weak, and without character. And Peet's is one of my favorite chains!

Still, this adjusted my attitude, putting me in the right frame of mind for having to sit for who knows how many hours.

Specialty's Cafe & Bakery
101 West Broadway
San Diego, CA 92101
Hours:
Mon – Fri 6am – 6pm

And though I might joke about it, the Jury Lounge and process has improved over the years with wi-fi(on the weak side) and heck, they even changed that pitiful orientation video that looked like it was from the 70's a couple of years back!

Of course, during the whole morning I was looking forward to….well, lunch of course. I had just read in Eater San Diego that the downtown location of Tender Greens had just opened.

It just seemed like a great fit and was only two blocks from the Hall of Justice. So once the lunch break was announced I was off like a bullet. After eating at the Point Loma location a couple of times (you can read Cathy's posts here and here), I figured lunch at Tender Greens downtown would be a zoo.

I got there with just a couple of people ahead of me in line.

I got a nice laugh at the side of "Pardon Peppers", which had a nice poetic tie-in to my jury service, but I think they should probably use the correct spelling for padron peppers since they do claim to sell local produce.

According to what I read on Eater, the unique menu at this Tender Greens location is the Buttermilk Fried Chicken. I decided to get this in a sandwich with a side salad of arugula ($11).

I really don't think one should mess around with fresh, crisp, peppery arugula, and decently ripe tomatoes, Tender Greens really does a nice job here.

I thought the sandwich was over-dressed as my fried chicken got soggy pretty quickly. Bread to protein ratio seemed a bit too heavy on the carb side as well. I poached a couple of pieces of chicken when I sat down. It was nicely flavored and moist. I'd recommend on a hot plate or salad.

After reading the sign, I just had to have a side of those PardonPadron Peppers ($4):

This was my favorite item. While I enjoy padron/shishito grilled, which adds a layer of smokiness while further developing the sugars, this was quite nice. Perfectly salted and tender. Not quite to the level of melt in your mouth Padrons we recently had in Lisbon, but still darn good.

I gotta say that the speed while keeping a good level of service left me impressed. When I looked up from my meal, I noticed that the line was snaking itself around the block!

And while the dining room filled up, things proceeded smoothly, never rushed, tables getting cleared and folks actually having their waters refilled!

I think Tender Greens has a great concept and good food. If things keep this way downtown, who knows….

Tender Greens
110 W Broadway
San Diego, CA 92101

To kind of give you a clue on how quick lunch service was….jury service lunch breaks are long, at almost an hour and forty-five minutes. I had so much time on my hands I didn't know what to do. So I just walked around……here's a shot from Horton Plaza:

So for those who have jury service in Downtown San Diego; what's your pick? The jury-duty discounted Currant? A sandwich, maybe the Hall of Justice Food Court (maybe not….). Perhaps you've taken your chances and run down to East Village? Where do you eat?

Nhat Vy Vietnamese Restaurant revisited

July 2, 2013 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

**** Nhat Vy has closed

I first posted on Nhat Vy back in November when they had just opened, and while only one dish stood out, the Banh Cuon, the prices were right and the folks working here were very nice. Over the next couple of months we visited a couple more times. Here's what we found. After a few months they moved things around and even had a grease board put up. Unfortunately, it's hidden behind the palm…..

As you can see, there's a nice representation of items I really enjoy listed, bot chien, banh xeo, and of course, what they make to order, the Banh Cuon.

I brought the Missus right after my initial post and She was sold……granted, not the best Banh Cuon in the world, but good by San Diego standards. That would be thin, slightly stretchy……

The goi cuon, on the other hand is nothing to write home about……

Too much bun…with iceberg lettuce (!). Dirt cheap though at $2.25 for two.

We returned for the Banh Cuon, but were shut out on subsequent trips, which gave us a chance to try other items on the menu.

The Bun Tom, vermicelli with shrimp was quite good according to the Missus.

Shrimp plump and juicy and the bun prepared well.

On this trip I tried the Bun Mam ($7).

In the case of Bun Mam, I expect a rich, funky, complex, almost heavy broth broth, full bodied with the flavor of fermented shrimp paste almost bubbling to the surface creating what I call an "umami bomb". This was pretty weak. The broth seemed to be the kitchen's standard issue soup broth with some mam nem dumped in it. Not much else to say, other than this really isn't bun mam.

We returned the following week, hoping for Banh Cuon…..my pronunciation of certain Vietnamese words can be almost tragically funny. Like I've often said…."I barely speak English and you want me to try a six-tone language?" So I've started typing the words out on my iPhone showing the folks working here what I want. Well, no Banh Cuon on this visit either…….

So the Missus ordered the Banh Xeo.

We were both surprised when not one, but two crepes were brought out. Along with the veggies and herbs, this was quite a bit of food. These were ok, the scant pork really tough and the meager shrimp overcooked and rubbery. If I recall, this was like about five bucks….really cheap. But we'd have preferred a smaller portion with a better product.

I decided to try the simple bot chien, but it was a "no go". So I went with the Bánh canh giò heo ($7) a clear broth soup with pigs feet.

This was their standard issue clear broth with some well prepared and slippery rice/tapioca flour noodles. There were two smallish pieces of pig's feet which was pretty tender, but nothing special. The broth was light on flavor, but kind of heavy on the MSG as I started to puff up a bit after the soup.

After striking out twice on the Banh Cuon, the Missus and I concocted a strategy. I'd park in front, motor running, the Missus would walk in the door and ask if they had Banh Cuon today. If not, She'd thank them and we'd be on our way. That way, we'd minimize wasting time and calories on dishes we really didn't want.

After coming up empty handed three more times we just gave up. The folks here are nice, but there's just really one item on the menu we want, and they never seem to have it anymore. Too bad…….

Nhat Vy Vietnamese Restaurant
4595 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

The Missus Yakyudori obsession

July 1, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Cooking, Japanese Restaurants, yoso-silly

One of the side benefits about doing this blog for so long is that I get to document things, how our eating has changed over time, ditto with my cooking, our travels, and so forth. One of the really fun and interesting items I've been to post about over the years are the Missus's food feet-ishes umm, obsessions, some of which are narrowly focus on a single item, sometimes from a single place, or perhaps a dish with a common "mechanical" function, many of have been documented here in detail.

And just as many times, the Missus has "sworn off" things after finding out what the ingredients are, or perhaps how something is made. The longest running "item that shall not pass my lips" was chicken and turkey. Folks have asked for the cause of this. All I have for you is a video of this commercial:

Which somehow traumatized the Missus so much that She refused to eat chicken or turkey (except on vacation). The Missus was very good at keeping Her word as I've noted several times. This, other than the Asian Pear overload (a story for a different day) has been the longest running "I shall not eat"……starting in November of 2009, as I mention here. It only ended a bit over a week ago, though with strict conditions….I do believe turkey is still not welcomed, though.

So, what ended the historic and epic chicken prohibition? It was victory by Binchotan as duly noted in this recent post. It seems that those bincho-tainted wings won Her over….so in essence we've grilled in that manner 5 times over the last two weeks. Always with something interesting; in this case "Kamo", duck breast.

And with chicken wings of course. During one of our sessions, the Missus mentioned how good the wings were, probably among the best She could recall. Instead of showing restraint, I made the mistake of saying that our grilled wings were not as good as Yakyudori's. Thus began the interrogation. All that was missing was the bright light blasting into my face, the water dripping into my eye, and maybe a dentist drill. "Just what makes Yakyudori's wings better!", "Well, it's decent quality wings, second joint only, heavily seasoned with good quality salt, but the main thing is how the wings were skewered." "Well……." Showing no will-power I instantly spilled the beans: "The wings are skewered in such a way to stretch the skin, maximizing surface area. The bones are separated making it easy to pull out without burning your fingers." Yes, such is life in the mmm-yoso household, an entire conversation about stretching chicken wing skin…….what happened to us?

Suddenly, Yakyudori went from a shop the Missus wasn't interested in, to one we just had to go to…..as in the next evening. And of course we had those wings…….

And of course I was right………..it was better than what we made at home.

My gloating was short lived however, as the Missus directed me to Marukai on the way home. You guessed it. To pick up chicken wings.

The next evening, as the Missus prepped Herself for wing surgery, I got the other stuff ready. Lit the binchotan and prepared the shishito peppers, shiitake mushrooms, okra, and some pork "toro"…..

25 minutes had passed and the charcoal was white and hot when the Missus finally finished Her 6 wings. I gotta say, She did a great job.

She basked in the glory of Her wings…..

With a side order of gloating thrown in, "Ha, after 15 years, I finally got a cooking point over you! Fifteen years!"

I gotta admit, these were pretty darn good, and I told Her so. Immediately, the Chinese daughter came out, "hmmm, the bones don't break away as easy as Yakyudori…maybe the skin can be stretched a bit more…."

Remember our drooling "friend" from our previous post? He was back again.

The Missus said he reminds Her of this character from the old series Home Improvement.

As dinner was finishing up, I told the Missus what a good, albeit rather long job She had done. She absently told me, "I don't really remember how I did that……."

She had already moved on, mentioning how much She enjoyed the Tsukune at Yakyudori.

Oh-oh, another obsession coming up?

Stay tuned…….

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111