2007 August Archive at gas•tron•o•my

Archive for August, 2007 Page 3 of 5

62

Published

Astronomer

on August 15, 2007

in Hu Tieu Nam Vang, Restaurant Review, Saigon, Sua Dau Nanh and Vietnamese

. 0 Comments

July 30, 2007
Cuisine: Vietnamese, Noodles

62 Truong Dinh Street
District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

Phone: 8272108
Website: none

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Hu Tieu Mi (16,000 VND)

Sua Dau Nanh (2,000 VND)

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The Astronomer: As The Gastronomer noted earlier, our first few meals in Vietnam took place at pretty chain restaurants and were relatively low on the adventure scale. However, it was only our second full day in the city when hunger forced me to branch out. This is not surprising: hunger is the motivating factor behind a great many of my decisions.

My banh cuon portion at Banh Cuon La had been pitifully meager—a dish scarcely adequate as an appetizer for a growing American boy—so I wandered the streets in search of supplemental nutrients. Having already spent well over a dollar for my first course, I would settle for nothing less than a good deal.

For some reason, The Gastronomer and I were drawn to a plain-looking noodle shop located a block from our hotel. I lowered myself onto an 8-inch high stool, crouched over the foot-high table, and ordered a bowl of hu tieu mi—yellow noodles with slices of pork, ground pork, chives, and green onions in a savory pork broth. The noodles hit the spot; the broth was expertly seasoned and the pork added substance but was unspectacular. There were several ingredients in the soup that I could not identify—an experience that would be repeated often in the coming weeks.

Within 15 minutes or so, I had developed a back ache from bending over the small table. Fortunately, I have since learned to enjoy meals served on miniature furniture without experiencing discomfort. All-in-all, I found the dish quite satisfactory—future noodles would surpass the mi in terms of pure deliciousness, but my first experience was good enough to encourage me to delve further into the world of hole-in-the-wall restaurants and street food in Saigon.

The Gastronomer: As The Astronomer sweated his ahem-off eating a bowl of hot noodles on a balmy night, I sipped a cool glass of sua dau nanh—a sweetened soy milk popular in Vietnam. After soda chanh, sua dau nanh is my second favorite cooling drink.

Fair Feathered Friends

Published

Gastronomer

on August 14, 2007

in Chicken, Pho, Restaurant Review, Saigon, Vietnamese and Xoi

. 0 Comments

In America, I looked to websites like City Search and Chowhound for restaurant critiques and suggestions. However, in Vietnam, I’ve pretty much been on my own. While Saigon foodie websites exist, they’re mostly aimed at visitors and tend to recommend places near touristy areas that I’m far from. Without any sort of diner-driven guide through Saigon’s culinary landscape, The Astronomer and I more or less hungrily stumble into eateries that look semi-clean or ask random locals (i.e. mechanics) for recommendations. Thus far, our method has yet to lead us astray and stomachaches have been few and far between for The Astronomer and non-existent in my case. Woot.

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Whereas my favorite animal to eat is the pig, The Astronomer’s is the chicken. He was on cloud nine last week when we visited two restaurants specializing in the white meat.

The first chicken-centric restaurant was Quan An Dao Lan located at 92 Dien Bien Phu Street in District 1. We found Dao Lan after a visit to the pharmacy. The menu offers mien ga (piece of chicken), pho ga (chicken pho), bun ga (vermicelli noodles with chicken), xoi ga (sticky rice with chicken), and chao ga (chicken porridge) at three price points—10,000 VND, 20,000 VND, and 40,000 VND—depending on the quantity and cut of meat included. The Astronomer ordered a bowl of pho ga for 10,000 VND, while I had the 10,000 VND xoi ga.

The xoi ga was comprised of a bed of plain white sticky rice topped with pieces of shredded chicken and fried shallots. The xoi came with a small bowl of chicken broth sprinkled with onions and cilantro. Although the broth was meant for sipping, I preferred to dunk my sticky rice in it, while I dipped my chicken in a salt, pepper, and lime juice mixture made by a restaurant staffer. I was pleased with my selection and look forward to trying the 20K and 40K renditions in the future.

The Astronomer dug his pho too—the broth, noodles, and chicken were all delectable. He is curious to try a 40,000 VND bowl of pho, which is an exorbitant price for a bowl of noodles in Saigon.

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Our second chicken adventure of the week was at Su Su, a little shack located next to our office on Tu Xuong Street. Su Su makes a mean fried chicken using a drip method I’ve never seen before. Rather than deep frying a la KFC (which, by the way, is all the rage in Saigon), the restaurant uses a nifty concoction that rains hot oil on the meat. The chicken comes out crispy on the outside and moist and hot in the inside. Genius. The chicken is served on a platter with red fried rice (red due to tomato paste), fresh tomato slices, basil, and a vinaigrette made from chicken drippings. The wing platter (canh) goes for 19,000 VND, while the leg platter (dui) goes for 20,000 VND. Su Su was out of dui during our visit, so we both got canh. The only thing that would make this place tastier is if they served gizzards. Mmm, boy.

Vegetation Profile: Mangosteen

Published

Gastronomer

on August 13, 2007

in Saigon and Vegetation Profile

. 10 Comments

My brother sent me an interesting piece from the New York Times the other day about Mangosteens:

Don’t be surprised if you see a round purple fruit in a locked jewel case at the grocery. Small shipments of fresh mangosteen, a Southeast Asian fruit legendary for its exquisite flavor but long unavailable legally on the United States mainland, started coming in last week from Puerto Rico.

…

Mitchell Spitz, the owner of the Orchard, a high-end produce store in Brooklyn, said he paid $30 a pound wholesale and was selling the fruit for $45 a pound (about $10 each).

Mangosteens are seriously addictive, but at ten dollars a piece? I think I’ll stick to apples, oranges, and the mundane when I return to the states. Even though mangosteens are priced a little higher than other fruits in Saigon, their prices still trail far behind those in the US. I bought mangosteens the other weekend at a produce stand in District 4 for 25,000 VND per kilogram, which roughly equates to 75¢ per pound. ¡Que Ganga!

Continue reading ‘Vegetation Profile: Mangosteen’

Xinh Xinh

Published

Gastronomer

on August 10, 2007

in Bun Cha, Com Tam, Goi Cuon, Restaurant Review, Saigon and Vietnamese

. 1 Comment

August 1, 2007
Cuisine: Vietnamese

65 Tu Xuong Street
Ward 7 District 3

Phone: 9321099
Website: none

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Goi Cuong - summer rolls filled with shrimp, pork, rice vermicelli, basil, mint and a hoison dipping sauce (15,000 VND)

Com Tam Bi - thinly shredded pork and thinly shredded pork skin served over broken rice with fish sauce (12,000 VND)

Bun Cha - charcoal broiled pork with rice vermicelli (20,000 VND)

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Xinh Xinh is one of a handful of restaurants neighboring our office on Tu Xuong Street. Our colleague Binh recommended that we try the eatery for lunch on our first day of work.

Unlike the majority of restaurants in Saigon, Xinh Xinh has an extensive menu spanning 10+ pages. Besides being 9 pages too long, the other strange thing about the menu was the lack of prices on certain items. This sort of situation sometimes occurs in American restaurants on dishes affected by market forces, such as lobster and is generally denoted “M.P.” However, I don’t think that was the case here. Perhaps after a few more visits I’ll figure out their pricing scheme.

The Astronomer and I both ordered from the section of the menu without prices and hoped for the best. He had the com tam bi, while I had bun cha. Both items were superbly prepared and actually priced lower than the other items on the menu. The pork in the bun cha was seasoned well with nouc mam, sugar, salt, and other spices. Combined with the cool noodles, herbs (mint, lemongrass, basil), and nouc mam vinaigrette, the dish really hit the spot.

The Astronomer enjoyed his com tam bi as well, but as usual was left unsatisfied due to his enormous appetite. To supplement our entrees and to avoid leaving hungry, we ordered three spring rolls. The goi cuon was extremely fresh and contained lots of little shrimps, which I appreciated because the goi cuon in the states always contain wimpy shrimps sectioned in half. Xinh Xinh’s spring rolls are definitely the best ones we’ve had in Saigon thus far.

The Workers are Coming Home

Published

Gastronomer

on August 9, 2007

in Canh, Chicken, Com Binh Dan, Mam Chung, Saigon, Street Food, Thit Kho and Vietnamese

. 0 Comments

With the help of Rad and his wife, The Astronomer and I scored a spacious three-bedroom/two-bathroom apartment on the 9th floor of a high-rise building in District 4 soon after we arrived in Saigon. Although its a bit far from the touristy-action of District 1, we’re settling in nicely and discovering lots to like about the place everyday.

We moved into our new space on our third day in Saigon. After spending the morning unpacking, we headed out to explore our ‘hood and to find some grub in the afternoon. Clueless about our new surroundings, we stumbled into a small, residential neighborhood with narrow streets. With the assistance of a woman selling che (a genre of Vietnamese desserts) on the street, we found a home selling Com Binh Dan—cheap eats for laborers/workers. The woman running the joint had a kind face and her food looked pretty darn good, so The Astronomer and I decided go for it.

Com Binh Dan almost always consists of big plate of rice, some sort of boiled or pickled vegetable, canh (soup), and a selection of meat dishes. From the extensive choices available, I chose the thit kho (braised pork with eggs), dau hu kho (braised tofu), and mam (fermented fish and pork). I opted not to have any canh. The rice was a little dry, but all the dishes tasted just like grandma’s cooking. Mmm!

The Astronomer chose a piece of curry chicken, fried chicken, and dau hu kho. He didn’t like the pickled mustard greens and bean sprouts that came with his plate, so he passed them on to me. The curry chicken was his favorite, while the fried chicken was only so-so.

The Astronomer and I ate our lunches at the woman’s house on low plastic chairs and a slightly taller table. We shelled out 17,000 VND ($1.06) for our meal. We returned a few days later for lunch, but this time we took our meal to go, which was a much better choice.

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After such a pleasant experience with Com Binh Dan in our neighborhood, we decided to try a place near our office located off of Ba Tháng Hai street in District 10. I once again had thit kho, while The Astronomer had dau hu xa (tofu with lemongrass). We both had small bowls of canh. The food here was not nearly as flavorful as in our neighborhood and the ratio of rice to meat was fit for a famine. What really icked me out was the skinny cat sitting underneath our table; this was easily the worst meal we’ve had since our arrival. The cost of this meal was 16,000 VND ($1).

The workers are hungry, not desperate.