mmm-yoso – Page 263

No Pho at Pho Hiep and Grill – Linda Vista

November 20, 2013 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Vietnamese Restaurants

I know, Cathy just posted on Pho Hiep a couple of weeks ago. Usually I'd wait a while, but recently I had someone recommend the Bun Bo Hue and Bun Mang Vit at Pho Hiep……she said the Bun Bo Hue was better than Mien Trung's and the Bun Mang Vit superior to Chinese Kitchen (Chi Tu Thanh Nha Hang)! Really?? Since I hadn't had the Bun Bo Hue here since 2006, when the place was still called Pho Hoa Hiep, I decided to forgo what I usually order (Pho, Com Tam, or the Bun), and go for it.

I honestly don't remember ever seeing Bun Mang Vit on the menu here……

Though on this evening, I went with the Bun Bo Hue. I was craving something with a little kick. Unfortunately, the large bowl of Bun Bo Hue ($7.40) just didn't do it for me.

First the good; man the veggies and herbs were fresh and crisp. The meat, especially the tendon and thick cuts were very good. The noodles were prepared decently. The broth was nice and hot…..and it kind of stops there. The broth had almost no spice, I did see some chilies, but it was really nothing. There was a lack of the distinctive lemongrass flavor I enjoy so much. The broth was way too light in flavor, even though the oil content was decent. I dumped the entire dish of fermented shrimp paste and chilies into this and nothing…… It was las if Pho Hiep decided to dump some chilies in a very light pho broth, drip some annatto oil on top and call it Bun Bo Hue.

For me, the broth, whether it's Pho, Bun Bo Hue, Niu Rou Mian, Ramen, or whatever is prime. In this case the broth was seriously lacking.

Still, in order to do my due diligence, I needed to return and try that Bun Mang Vit (large – $7.40):

Again, I loved the vegetables and herbs, especially what the rau ram (Vietnamese Coriander) brought to the dish. The dipping sauce was terrible, too sweet, like sweet chili sauce mixed with a scant amount of ginger. The noodles were again prepared well and this time the broth; though light, had some flavor, though it tasted more like chicken fat added to pho broth. The bamboo shoots had a nice texture, but the woodsy flavor was pretty muted.

The protein was the most problematic. Though there were two nice slices of duck…..

Everything else was combination of bones and large pieces of duck liver…not my favorite thing in the world. In the end this was pretty much a fail for me.

Perhaps I should have taken it as a sign when the person that recommended this place noted that she hated Bun Mam and Mam Nem. But heck, I don't live my life just laying back…..I was taught to try things, it's how you expand and grow. And often, failure is the price of progress. But I did learn something here……

Stick with the pho, com tam, and bun at Pho Hiep and Grill. Lesson learned….

Pho Hiep & Grill
6947 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Koon Thai Kitchen revisited

November 19, 2013 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

It seems like I do a post on Koon Thai at just about one year intervals…so I guess it's that time again! Before things got really busy around these parts, I managed to grab lunch with two of my co-workers, Stephanie and Lily, who are wonderful eating companions. Both of them have been to Sab E Lee before, so I thought it would be nice to drop by Koon Thai.

There have been a few changes since the last time I visited. There's some new specials and sadly, some items, though still on the menu, like the Nham Khao Tod are no longer served. On this day the Kha Pao Moo Krob and the Pad Cha Pla Tod were a no go as well.

Still, we managed to order more than enough food. Here's a round-up.

We started with the Nam Tok – Beef ($9.95):

I could tell by the color and the fragrance, or lack thereof, that this wasn't going to be a great dish. The beef was fairly tender, but the flavors were really lacking….not enough lime juice, not enough heat (at a 7), not enough fish sauce, just not enough……

I was never a fan of the Pad See Ew here, but thought I'd give it another try. So we ordered the chicken version ($8.95):

The was mediocre at best…to mushy and watery, not the best display of wok skills for this simple dish that is deceptively hard to execute well. Not enough heat, needed a bit more of the caramelized soy sauce-sugar flavor. The chicken was prepped decently.

Things began looking up when the Ka Na Moo Krob (Crispy pork belly with Gailan – $9) arrived.

The pork had a nice chewwy-crunchy texture, the flavors (mild garlic-sugar-soy-fish sauce) were nicely balanced, and the gailan were cooked perfectly.

The Pla Sahm Rod ($12) was even better.

I may complain about the wok technique, but these folks sure know how to fry. Crisp, light, and moist, along with what many would think of as classic Thai flavors.

Of course I had to order the Khao Karr Moo ($7.99).

For some reason, this dish always takes us back to a Hospital Food Court of all places in Thailand. This simmered pork shank dish, obviously Chinese influenced, is just plain hearty comfort food. Lily told me this reminded her of something her dad would make…….

In the end, thought not everything went over well; there were more good than bad dishes, making Koon my second favorite Thai restaurant in the area.

Koon Thai Kitchen
3860 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Vista: Vamos a Texcoco

November 18, 2013 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants

This past weekend had me up in the Vista area again. The last time I was up here, my intention was to check out a Barbacoa shop I'd heard about named Vamos a Texcoco. Apparently this place is pretty popular since the place was packed when I dropped by at about 1015 on that morning! So I ended up at Pho-ever. This time I got to the strip mall a bit earlier at just before ten.

The place was still fairly busy, but there was a table at the front that was open. I actually enjoyed my table, which right in front of the counter. I was amazed at the sheer amount of take-out orders.

The dining room isn't very large and all the "good stuff" comes out of that window in the back.

The menu is a single page….double-sided; Spanish on one side, English on the other.

This being a barbacoa shop; lamb appropriately dominated the menu. Even though it seemed like all the guys were trowing back Modelo Negro, it was much too early for me. I went with a cup of Café de olla. Not much in terms of cinnamon in this one and perhaps I just don't drink very much coffee these days, but this was pretty strong.

I placed my order and all the condiments arrived a short while after.

All the salsas were pretty straight forward, with that one in the background being quite spicy. I loved the way the onions, especially the habaneros y cebollas which really helped to cut the fat of the lamb.

A fairly large bowl of consomme made its way to my table. This was pretty spicy and much more smokey than I'm used to. That floating particle is actually a chipotle pepper! All of that over-powered the other flavors in the soup, which had decent fat, but seemed a bit too thin for my liking.

Not sure of the portion sizes, I also ordered a Quesadilla de Huitlacoche ($2.50), the black fungus folks call "corn smut".

I'm a big fan of the woodsy-earthy flavor of this fungus, which seems to also have a light kiss of sweetness at the end. This one didn't thrill me so much as it came across as being pretty bland.

My initial instinct was to go with the Barbacoa de Borrego (of course…), but I wanted something with a bit more ooomph and went with the Mixiote ($10.99). Man, this was a load…..

This arrived super steaming hot, the parchment and foil having sealed in all the flavors. It was topped with a load of nopales as well. I really didn't think there was going to be too much lamb in this, but there was more than I could finish….it seemed that there was an entire shank in this!

The texture of the lamb was perfect, pulling away cleanly from the bones, but not mushy. The spice mix used was smokey, but not very spicy, and much of the rich fat from the lamb had rendered off. The flavor teetered on being too salty, but all of this was solved by the lime and onions.

There was one piece of beautiful, gamey lamb, with connective tissue glistening that was just plain wonderful.

The tortillas….there were six provided were adequate.

I ended up taking about half of this with me. I also ordered Barbacoa for the Missus. The barbacoa was a total opposite in terms of seasoning from the mixiote. While still quite gamey, it seemed a bit under seasoned. The Missus ended up mixing the remainder of the mixiote with the barbacoa and the dish was suddenly perfectly balanced for Her.

Check out the mass of humanity waiting for a table as I waited for my check.

The two young women working the tables were very nice, even though they were super busy. The place is not quite in the league of Aqui es Texcoco, but that mixiote is pretty good. I enjoyed it more than the version at El Borrego, though EB takes the consomme vote. Overall, a nice meal, good enough to quench my lamb craving.

Vamos a Texcoco
950 E Vista Way
Vista, CA 92084
Hours:
Open Daily 9am – 9pm

Sauerkraut

November 15, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

So you remember that Fermenting Crockpot from a previous post?

Well, we've finally put it to good use. The water seal on these works really well….except for the periodic "bloop" of gases escaping from what you're storing in the crock. After a couple of days it stops.

I gotta say, I had to block the Missus form actually opening this too soon to "to just have a peek" or to "make sure it isn't rotting". You just have to chill and let nature do its thing.

I could get all scientific on you, but lets just say this turned out real well.

As a whole 6 grams per kilo of kosher salt massaged into finely sliced cabbage. We packed it tightly into the crock. We used food service gloves for the task. We placed the stone weights on the well packed cabbage and pressed down firmly. The Missus didn't feel real comfortable with the amount of liquid. Luckily we had that covered. We had boiled up a liter of purified water with 6 grams of kosher salt which we then cooled in a sterilized container. We used this to top off the liquid, making sure to fully cover the cabbage. The temps seemed right the last couple of weeks.

10 days later I was sterilizing Ball Jars and packing tightly with cabbage……viola, sauerkraut. For some reason, the Missus loves this stuff…to the tune of a large jar a week! Me, well, I like it on something like the beer braised-seared bratwurst on a pretzel bun with whole grain mustard…..

The Missus? Well, She's keeping a tight reign on our inventory and is itching for our next fermentation project. This was a fun first project. What's next? Suan Cai perhaps?

Thanks for reading!

Breakfast of Champions: Best Donuts Bakery & Deli

November 12, 2013 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Mexican Restaurants, Sandwiches

**** Best Donuts and Deli has become Barrio Donas

In her Ham and Cheese Baked Into a Bread post Cathy mentioned Best Donuts and Deli. Which kind of got me off my butt to actually put a post together about the place. I'd been there so many times that most of what I ate had faded into memory.

In recent years, Best Donuts looks like this when I stop by.

Remember the old saying "you don't need as much sleep when you get older…." Well, I think that's partly true. The amount of sleep I need has decreased marginally, but the hours I keep have changed. In other words, "nothing good happens after midnight", has now become "nothing good happens after 9pm"…..which means I miss out on all the late night specials….

Anyway, I often pass Best on my way to work in the morning; at about 530-545. When I'm running early and am hungry, or when I anticipate a late, or no lunch at all I'll drop by for a take-out breakfast. It's pretty slim pickins' at that time of the morning on the Mesa and I prefer spending my money at these smaller shops than at the other chain options open at that time of the morning.

Just so you can see how lazy I've been about posting on this place. When I first went, the cash register was stationed at the rear of the shop next to the soft drink cooler.

A couple of years later it moved to the side next to the pastries.

Earlier this year, it was moved back to the old location and the cold case was placed alongside of it.

A couple of months later, the menu for the sandwiches was taken off the cold case and taped to the wall.

And over the years items have been taken off the menu…simply taped over, now merely a memory…..

I'm sticking to the breakfast tortas here, since that's what I get most of the time. They're nicely priced at $3.99 and the bread has always been warm and fresh when I've gotten it in the morning. The wait time is about 10-15 minutes, not the fastest, but when I make a decision to visit, I've calculated the impact of my wait time.

My usual is the A la Mexicana and Eggs ($3.99)

Eggs, salsa, onion, tomato, cheese, jalapenos, and a smear of beans….breakfast of champions. An adequate bomb of calories to last until dinner.

The Salsa Verde and Eggs ($3.99):

Enough yeasty carbs to get you going in the morning. Eggs, nice green chili sauce (mild kick), beans, cheese, and mayo. Perhaps number two because some mornings I don't feel like mayo….I know, heresy perhaps, but the milkiness of the cheese also comes thru in this one as well…so I've got to be in the mood.

There was a Chorizo and Eggs somewhere, which I thought was ok, but I can't find the photo.

You'd think I'd enjoy the Machaca ($3.99) much more than I did.

I thought I'd enjoy this much more than I did. Perhaps because I found this surprisingly lacking in flavor. I like the chew of machaca, but this was really tough and sinewy. I felt the mayo really didn't go well with this at all. I would have probably enjoyed more beans to smooth things out and perhaps more jalapenos; even though it was breakfast, to help things out. Still, on the morning I ordered this, I had meeting through lunch and didn't have a chance to eat until (an early) dinner. I don't recall being hungry until around 3pm or so.

What about the other sandwiches which range from $5.99 – $6.99….well here's a gallery:

The Cubana.

The Pierna.

The Milanesa:

The Lomo…..

and so forth……

I'm sure there are dozens of shops like this all through San Diego county, I know I've been to a few. There are even versions that are rather mainstream and hyped up.

But for breakfast, $3.99 sounds like a right price for what I got at this little shop on Clairemont Mesa.

Best Donuts Bakery & Deli
4714 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Neua Nam Tok

November 11, 2013 mmm-yoso Cookbooks, Cooking, Recipes

After having Kai Kaphrao Khai Dao for breakfast, the Missus thought having Nam Tok for lunch would be the perfect thing. And it was…..

Like the Kai Kaphrao Khai Dao, this recipe was based on the one in Andy Ricker's Pok Pok cookbook. And just like the previous recipe, I made some adjustments for our taste; replacing the white sugar (we still used a bit) with palm sugar, using Thai Chilies instead of just ground chilies, since we had some growing in the yard. I also replaced the shallots with thinly sliced red onion.

The Missus really loved this. I'm thinking that there were several factors involved; first, we used grassfed wagyu skirt….'nuff said. Second, the recipe in the book mentions the use of 1 tablespoon of beef stock. What did was pour all the beef drippings into the "dressing". Third, I grilled over hardwood charcoal.

I believed this was going to turn out well, but the Missus shocked me when She said "this is better than Sab E Lee….."

The recipe format might seem a bit disjointed, but I thought I'd present it in the order I did things….

Neua Nam Tok:

Salad Prep:
1/4 cup small mint leaves
1/2 cup lightly packed cilantro coarsely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic sliced thinly lengthwise

Steak Prep:
1 Tb lemongrass thinly sliced
4-5 black peppercorns
1 clove garlic
1 Thai chili
3 tsp soy sauce
1/2 lb skirt steak

– Combine lemongrass, black peppercorns, garlic, and chili in a mortar and pound to a paste
– Scrape to a bowl, combine with soy sauce, and work into the steak.
– Marinate for an hour
– Grill the steak
– While steak is resting put together the dressing

The sauce/dressing:
3 Tb lime juice
3-4 Tb fish Sauce
2 tsp palm sugar
1 tsp white sugar
4-5 Thai Chilies thinly sliced
1 tsp ground chilies
1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
Beef Drippings

– Combine the first six ingredients and briefly heat to dissolve the sugar
– Remove from heat and add in onion and beef drippings

Putting it together:
2 tsp toasted rice powder
lettuce or cabbage

– Slice beef thinly on a bias against the grain place on a plate and sprinkle on half the rice powder
– Top with the dressing and sprinkle on the rest of the rice powder

Eat!

I can tell I'm going to have a lot of fun with this cookbook……

Rhodes Town (Greece): Indigo

November 10, 2013 mmm-yoso Greece, Greek Food, Rhodes, Travel

We'd been enjoying our time in Rhodes Town, ut had yet to experience what I'd call a good, solid meal. For dinner we decided to head past the Hora, now quiet after the tourists and day trippers had left and head out to the area called the "New Market".

Since things had been fairly plus/minus in he Old Town, we decided to try our luck out here. The New Agora seemed a bit touristy, full of fast food and tourist fare. But a little bistro-ish ouzerie named Indigo caught our eye.

We found the super bright and loud colors a bit gaudy…and yet charming in its own way. It was so somewhat tacky that it looked quaint and interesting.

The prices weren't bad and this place just looked so different from the others that we had to stop here.

We started with a favorite of the Missus; the Fava Skordalia.

The flavor was right on, nice and beany, perfect amount of salt and seasoning. The texture however, was kind of weird and glue-like.

The Missus went with what seemed like a simple roasted eggplant salad. It turned out to be quite a bit more than that.

This was one of the more memorable dishes we had on the trip. We loved the contrasting textures, the soft roasted eggplant, with the crisp fried filo dough and crunch greens. The addition of the crisp fried "noodles" would have usually thrown us off, but in this case it worked fine. The salty feta, offset with the acid in the dressing and tomatoes.

I ordered the grilled calamari.

I loved the vegetables which were nicely seasoned and had a good combination of tangy-sweet-salty flavors. The calamari had a nice grilled flavor, but was on the tough side.

Overall, this was decent meal, perhaps the best we'd had on Rhodes to date.

Indigo
New Market 105
Rhodes Town, Greece

As we walked back to our room, we couldn't help but be impressed with the imposing and grand walls of the "Old Town" at sunset.

And yet, I was still in the dark with regards to the food here……

Recently Consumed

November 9, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking

I haven't done one of these in a while, so I thought it was time.

It's nice to be spending at least a little time in the kitchen the last couple of days. I got some cold smoked scallops from Catalina and put this together….it was quite easy.

Most of my meals over the last couple of weeks have kinda looked like this though…..

But being really busy doesn't mean you can't put together something together quickly that you enjoy…..

I've never been a big fan of Soboro, basically a crumbled ground beef dish. I grew up eating something like this and I just never took to it. The Missus on the other hand, loves it. She's been requesting it a bit over the last couple of weeks.

I'm not quite sure why She likes this so much, but at least it gave me something…along with the salmon I smoked weekly, to make ahead of time so She has something to eat while I'm busy at work.

I played around with making a bourbon-maple sugar glaze for my last smoke session before things got crazy. I made smoked some pork belly…..I should have cured it a bit longer.

I thought the chicken came out nice, but the Missus said it just wasn't smokey enough for Her.

Anyway, I hope you're all having a great weekend….a long one for some of us!

Kai Kaphrao Khai Dao and a visit to Minh Huong Market

November 8, 2013 mmm-yoso Cookbooks, Cooking, Markets & Grocers, Recipes

I finally had some time off this past weekend. It has been a busy and stressful couple of weeks and it ain't over by any stretch of the imagination. Things are starting normalize as I finally got a chance to enjoy a couple of cookbooks that arrived during that period which I hadn't had the chance to open. So during the weekend, the one I opened first was Andy Ricker's Pok Pok. I've eaten at Pok Pok in PDX a couple of times and really enjoyed the food, which really did remind me of what came out of all those wonderful street stands in Thailand.

A couple of recipes jumped out at me and I decided to start with an easy one for breakfast the next day, the Kai Kaphrao Khai Dao.

Free range ground chicken, organic eggs, and greens and peppers from our garden.

One of the main ingredients in this dish is the kaphrao…."Hot" Basil, also known as Holy Basil. So early Sundya morning I headed off to Minh Huong Market and got some Holy Basil.

The recipes are quite precise; even though I deviated to our tastes, I appreciated the gram based measurements.

I've taken to measuring things fairly well nowadays and I basically changed a couple of things to fit our tastes and what we had in our pantry. More garlic, more fish sauce, more chilies, which didn't over-power the dish at all. The long beans looked terrible so we decided not to buy any. In terms of timing; in the book, the chef cooks his eggs first and places them on the side while doing the rest of the dish, making this a basic one-wok process. I prepped and completed the stir-fry portion up to the point of adding the hot basil, then started on the eggs….I also added some coconut oil for cooking as well. Once the eggs were almost done, I put the wok back on the flame, heated and added the basil to finish.

This turned out real well though the Missus told me She prefers regular Thai Basil in this…….

Kai Kaphrao Khai Dao

12 ounces ground chicken
3 Tb Fish Sauce
2 Tb Dark Soy Sauce
3 Tsp white sugar
3 Tb grated garlic
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
6 Thai Chilies sliced
2 Red Serrano Chilies thinly sliced
3 dried chilies crumbled
2 Cups loosely packed Hot (Holy) Basil
2 Tb grapeseed oil

3 Eggs
2 Tb grapeseed oil
1 Tb coconut oil

– Combine fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl. Mix to dissolve the sugar
– Heat the wok over high heat. When the oil is smoking remove it from heat, add the garlic and stir quickly.
– When the garlic starts to brown slightly, place back on the heat and add the onions and fresh chilies. Stir until fragrant.
– Add the chicken and stir fry, breaking up the ground chicken.
– When the chicken is almost done, add the fish sauce mixture and dried chilies, and combine well
– After about 30 seconds add the dark soy sauce – 1Tb first, until the color is right.
– Stir fry until the liquid has been completely absorbed by the meat.
– Start eggs in grapeseed and coconut oil
– When eggs are almost done as desired, put wok back on heat and mix in hot basil

Serve up with Jasmine Rice…..makes about 2-3 servings

Every once in a while I'll get an email asking where to get items like Holy Basil or Cha Om.

My usual recommendation is that they check out Minh Huong Supermarket.

Even if you're not looking for anything in particular and are in the general vicinity, drop by…..

You'll see some items you won't find in your local neighborhood Chinese/Vietnamese/Korean market. On this day we saw some young women with Thanaka, the distinctive Burmese cosmetic paste applied to their faces. Something I'd never seen in San Diego.

Minh Huong Supermarket
4029 Euclid Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Noodling Around: Mien Trung, Pho Lucky, Santouka, and Ramen Yamadaya

November 7, 2013 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, Vietnamese Restaurants

I believe I've mentioned that over the last couple of years, rice has been replaced as my starch of choice by noodles. Never has it been more apparent than over the last two hectic, busy weeks at work. Sheeesh….and like I've also said before, I don't think this blog would still be in existence were it not for Cathy and Ed from Yuma. Who always come to the rescue.

Anyway, long days, meant more than my fair share of long strips of dough. Here's a round-up.

Mien Trung:

There's nothing like a spicy, sweat inducing, end to the day….and soup is good too! Mien Trung just does Bun Bo Hue right for me; spicy, salty, sour, is the formula. The soup is always hot which welcomes the shredded veggies and herbs. When the broth does edge toward salty, a touch of lime tames the sodium.

The Missus still enjoys the Bun Rieu, though She take umbrage to Mien Trung's switching of the noodles for the Bun Rieu to the wrong style.

Mien Trung Restaurant
7530 Mesa College Dr
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Lucky:

I wanted a real bowl of Pho Bo Kho after the lack luster version at Spotted Cow, even though I had to wait a couple of weeks.

This bowl had twice the meat, twice the flavor, and was cheaper than the food court equivalent.

Oh, and there was a fire sale on tendon on this day….must have been a "Lucky" one for me.

Pho Lucky
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126

Santouka Ramen:

A cold snap means that the Missus is looking forward to ramen. Her favorite is still Santouka's Shio Toroniku Ramen with Egg, not cheap, but totally comfort food. This one with Chasu Gohan added.

Ramen's popularity has spawned one good thing….folks understand ramen now. I hardy hear all that whining about how ramen is so expensive compared to pho. Well, I still hear it sometimes, perhaps I've just gotten better at ignoring it.

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd
San Diego, CA 92111

Ramen Yamadaya:

**** Ramen Yamadaya has closed

I gotta ask….what happened here?

We ordered the Kotteri (extra rich) Tonkotsu and got this, watery and bland. A far cry from what I had just a couple of weeks ago. This was rather insipid and barely past lukewarm in temperature.

The chasu has improved and the kakuni pork was pretty good too. But the main reason we choose Yamadaya is for the broth.

This was disappointing……

Ramen Yamadaya
4706 Clairement Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117