Monthly Archive for August, 2008

Noodlepie's Sarnie

Published by Astronomer on August 31, 2008 in Banh Mi, Saigon, Street Food and Vietnamese. 7 Comments

There was an era a few months back when I would read Noodlepie almost nightly for dinner ideas. The Gastronomer was working late, so I was on my own to scour the streets of districts 1 and 3 in search of new dishes, and I found a lot of winners. Once, I stumbled upon a post entitled “Is this the best sandwich in Saigon?” It was about a lady selling banh mi thit nuong in the evenings at 37 Nguyen Trai Street. He writes:

I’ve tried many a sarnie in this mad megalopolis, but this particular specimen is undeniably the bread’s bollocks. Enjoy. I did. Burp.

Of course I had to try it. There are two primary styles of banh mi thit nuong in Saigon—one is nuoc mam-based, while the other is dressed with some version of barbeque sauce. This lady’s sandwich was my first taste of the latter style. The sandwich is simple, just meat, do chua (pickled daikon and carrots), cucumber slices, and barbeque and chili sauce. Being a weakling, I typically decline the chili sauce, but I’ve tried the sandwich spicy a few times and it’s still pretty damn good. The pork pieces are circular—closer in shape and texture to bun cha patties than the meat typically featured in banh mi thit nuong.

On my first visit to the stand, I had to wait 10 to 15 minutes behind a line of motorists and workers from nearby shops to receive my sandwich. This has become a routine—there’s no doubt this lady is popular! She starts selling banh mi and bun thit nuong in the late afternoon and typically runs out of meat by 7:30. It’s no wonder—the sandwiches are awesome. I can’t quite go so far as to proclaim them the best in town (my favorite sandwich vendor in District 4 still has a special place in my heart), but they’re definitely a must try, and two for 14,000 VND is one of the best dinner deals out there.

There are few things I’ll miss more upon leaving Saigon than banh mi thit nuong. This is the dish that almost singlehandedly convinced me that it’s okay to eat meat for breakfast every morning, and on more than one occasion, I’ve eaten three sandwiches in one day. The nuoc mam-flavored variety seems more traditionally Vietnamese to me, while the version with barbeque sauce brings back memories of Alabama. Either way, nothing brings joy to my heart like spotting a miniature grill on a street cart. It’s a sure-fire sign of good times to come.

Bánh Tráng Trộn

Published by Gastronomer on August 29, 2008 in Banh Trang Tron, Saigon, Street Food and Vietnamese. 5 Comments

Banh trang tron is a hodge-podge salad-type creation that I’ve only encountered in street food form. Whereas most of Saigon’s pavement eats are sold on some sort of rolling metal cart, banh trang tron is sold exclusively by conical hat-donning women carrying weighty baskets over their shoulders.

The surest sign that you’ve stumbled upon a banh trang tron dealer is the small hoard of business suit-clad women crouching around her baskets waiting for their take of the stuff.

The base of the dish is banh trang (rice paper), which are cut into strips and kept dry as a bone. A packet of flavoring agents that includes chili powder and MSG are added to the banh trang strips. Next, an abundance of fresh rau ram (Vietnamese coriander) is torn into the mix, followed by a squeeze of sour Vietnamese kalamansi juice and hard boiled quail eggs. The vendor combines (tron) the ingredients with her hands and serves up a portion in a plastic bag with two skewers serving as makeshift chopsticks.

Even though banh trang tron is a painfully dry dish, it manages to meld all of the ingredients into a cohesive flavor. Although edible, it’s just not all that appealing, especially the clumps of chili powder. The Astronomer conjectures that this dish was thought up during an era of extreme poverty to spruce up plain old rice paper. I think he may be on to something.

26.2 Miles & Asiana Airlines

Published by Gastronomer on August 28, 2008 in Airplane Food, Korean and Scenes. 3 Comments

On our final morning in Beijing, The Astronomer woke up super-early to catch the men’s marathon. I was wiped out after a late evening of track and field and chose to sleep in before boarding our trans-Pacific flight. I know, I’m weak. The Astronomer caught the pack of runners at three different points along the course. Here they are around four minutes into the race. The lead pack cleared the first mile in 4:41. Insanity!

The conditions on race day were 74 degrees in the shade and 84 degrees on the course. Here are the leaders 36 kilometers into the race (six kilometers left). Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya is in first at this point, and he pulled away to win in a time of 2:06:32. What pollution?

After playing groupie, The Astronomer returned to the hotel and we got in our own (much slower) run and then headed off to the airport.

On the first leg of our flight from Beijing to Seoul, we were served beef with rice, peas and carrots. Side items included a roll, butter, potato salad, fruit salad and a tube of Korean chili paste. Although it’s hard to tell from the picture, the portion of beef seemed quite generous. Our idea of what constitutes a proper protein portion has been forever distorted after residing in Vietnam for a year. We thought this meal was on par with the ones we’ve eaten on United and Cathay Pacific—solid airplane fare.

Before leaving us alone to watch movies and pass out on the second leg of our flight from Seoul to LAX, the stewardesses served dinner. Our choices were Korean or Western. The Astronomer and I had one of each—Korean for her and Western for him. I think it’s so wonderfully cool that Asiana serves bi bim bap on board. Imagine if Vietnam Airlines served pho. Wouldn’t that be a trip (literally and figuratively)? The bi bim bap came with a little fold-out note card instructing fliers in English, Chinese and Korean how to assemble and eat it. I saved the foldout because it was just too precious to throw away with the garbage.

The instructions advised me to add the hot rice to the beef and vegetable mixture first. Then, I squirted Korean chili paste on top. Lastly, I mixed it all together well. The instructions suggested that I eat the bi bim bap with the hot soup and the banchan (kimchi, burdock with peanuts and tiny salty dried fishes), which I did. The bi bim bap was probably the best thing I’ve ever eaten on board a plane.

The Astronomer’s Western steak and potatoes didn’t come close to matching the awesomeness of my bi bim bap. The steak was anti-tender, but The Astronomer said the sauce was good. Suuuure.

Eight hours later (two hours before landing at LAX), we were served a final meal. I chose the crispy fried seafood, which wasn’t so crispy by the time it arrived in front of me. The soba noodles with wasabi weren’t the least bit gluey, and they actually tasted quite good! What’s cool about flying on a non-American airline is that soba noodles are considered a perfectly normal thing to serve on board. Love that!

The Astronomer went for the “bulgogi” for his final meal. It tasted exactly like the beef and rice dish we were served from Beijing to Seoul. Before we knew it, we were back on American soil. Unbelievable!

And because reader Nate inquired, here’s some ping pong action from Day 2 in Beijing. The Astronomer and I were rooting for the French dude in blue because he looked like a dad and had a little beer belly. Too bad he lost to the ultra-fit eastern European. Give the old man a break!

Farewell Fuwa*

Published by Gastronomer on August 27, 2008 in Beijing, Chinese and Scenes. 4 Comments

My last full day in Beijing started with a warm soy milk and an egg McMao sandwich from the bread outlet on Third Ring Road. The bread place is located a few doors down from a hair salon. Every morning during our stay in Beijing, The Astronomer and I watched as the hair stylists performed their daily hand/eye/aerobic exercises. Whereas the women in Saigon are full of energy when they work out, these Beijingers were an unenthusiastic bunch.

Peking Duck? Check. Silk Road? Check. The Great Wall? Check. We saved visting the Forbidden City for last.

The Forbidden Citywas the Chinese imperial palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. For almost five centuries, it served as the home of the Emperor and his household, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government. Built from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers 720,000 square metres. The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere.

The Astronomer and I enjoyed the Forbidden City, but weren’t blown away by it. It seems that after a year of living in Asia, we’ve become desensitized to this type of architecture. Granted, the Chinese invented this style of architecture, but at the end of the day, it was “same, same” in our book. The Forbidden City was scorching when we visited, so this peach icy popcicle (3 RMB) was crucial to our survival.

Ancient sundial.

Nature making wonderful use of negative space.

Local tourists were keen on buying these faux royal head dresses for their little girls. They reminded me of the characters from the Chinese movies—the ones that come in sets of 50 VHS tapes—that my grandmother loves with all of her heart.

After a couple of hours exploring the Forbidden City, we shopped for Olympic merchandise at the flagship store nearby. While I think Black Friday is a blast, the crowds here were much too much! We picked up a few items for our loved ones back home and then headed down to the basement food court for dinner.

After two weeks of bravely holding out, The Astronomer finally gave in and chose the most sesame chicken-like item he could find. The texture of the sauce and chicken pieces were spot-on, but the flavor lacked the sweet and sticky punch that’s characteristic of Chinese-American hits like sesame chicken, General Tso’s chicken and orange chicken. It was also kinda cold. Unforgivable.

The pan fried dumplings were excellent, except that The Astronomer chose the celery and pork ones (and everyone knows celery is sort of inferior).

I couldn’t leave Beijing without indulging in one more stick of candied fruit. This time around I chose a mixed-fruit variety with pineapples, tomatoes (!), grapes, plums and crab apples. To encourage more Americas to consume fresh fruit, I highly advocate candy coating.

After our food court dinner, The Astronomer and I rushed to the Bird’s Nest for the last evening of Track and Field action. This time around, we sat on the stretch of track facing the torch and the finish line. We were also seated next to a bunch of Americans so it was good times, especially when the women’s and men’s 4×400 teams took home gold. The group of Finns behind us were the most enthusiastic javelin fans we’d ever met.

Victorious Kenyan and Ethiopian runners after the 5K. It’s too bad that track stars are only elevated to super-star status once every four years.

Goodbye, Bird’s Nest. You are a damn sweet piece of architecture. Don’t get rusty while I’m gone.

–

*The Fuwa are the mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The designs were created by Han Meilin, a famous Chinese artist. There are five fuwa: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini. Together, the names form the sentence “Běijīng huānyíng nǐ,” which means “Beijing welcomes you.” Originally named ‘The Friendlies,’ they were promoted as ‘Fuwa’ when there were concerns the name could be misinterpreted.

Maison Boulud – Beijing

Published by Gastronomer on August 27, 2008 in Beijing, Fine Dining, French and Restaurant Review. 5 Comments

While in Kunming, I received this amazing offer from my brother via email:

Hey. If you want to have dinner here in Beijing, keep it under $250 and it will be my treat.

Talk about an irresistible offer! I booked a reservation straightaway on an evening without any Olympic sporting action scheduled. Leading up to the big day, The Astronomer and I closely monitored our meals in order to ready our palettes for an onslaught of Frenchy food.

Maison Boulud is housed in the former American embassy building in Beijing’s Legation Quarter. The exterior looks stately, while the interior feels like a library. Granted, a rather hip library, but a library nevertheless. According to the extremely detailed press release for the restaurant, “Maison Boulud’s approach can be compared to that of Chef Daniel Boulud’s highly acclaimed New York restaurants, combining the sophisticated informality of his Café Boulud with some of the grandeur and elegance of Daniel.”

There are a number of rooms inside Maison Boulud, including a few private dining areas. The Astronomer and I were seated in the main dining room—for a layout of the entire facility, see page 16 and 17 of the press release (I told you it was detailed). Dinner started off with a selection of warm breads and slightly cool butter. Why is it that fancy restaurants forgo tongs for two spoons when delivering bread to diners? It’s the most awkward thing, especially for a waiter who’s new to the fine dining scene. After a bit of a struggle (spoon vs. bread), The Astronomer and I were delivered three breads each. My favorite was the rectangular one that had whole cloves of roasted garlic and rosemary. The long one was too crusty for me because I’m more of an innards gal, but the roundish one was solid.

An amuse bouche of tomatoes and creamy cheese served with a cheesy puff (not to be confused with Cheesy Poofs, which were what my friends and I ate in college while inebriated). The pin-like utensil reminded me of the funky tableware Grant Achatz used at Alinea. The tomatoes were perfectly ripe and sweet—I wonder if they were grown in China.

Sometime between placing our order and snacking on bread, I realized that I was being attacked by a hungry swarm of mosquitoes. With several bites on each arm and feeling extremely irritated, I asked one of the suited gentlemen if the restaurant had any sort of repellent on hand. He offered me a pashmina, which protected my guns for the rest of the evening. When these two martinis arrived without being ordered, I suspected it was because of the bug bite incident. As far as I’m concerned, strong drinks are just as good as cortisone cream to stop the itching! The lime (L) and lychee martinis were well mixed and stiffer than Martha Stewart.

Feeling bold, The Astronomer and I ordered three appetizers. Our table was only designed for two, so things got a bit tight with all three appetizers arriving at once, especially with two bread plates and one butter dish already taking up space. I should have requested that the appetizers arrive in courses since we were sharing, but in restaurants this nice, waiters are usually familiar with the protocol. To be fair, the restaurant has only been open for a couple of months, so the waitstaff isn’t as polished as those at Boulud’s other outlets.

I chose the roasted beet salad with Chinese black walnut goat cheese and summer greens (90 RMB) to start, because its been way too long since I’ve enjoyed roasted beets. The dressing was a straightforward vinaigrette, and the greens were a basic mesclun mix. The highlight of the salad were the balls of goat cheese crusted in walnuts that were creamy, rich and nutty.

Our second appetizer were caramelized sea scallops with cauliflower, orange glaze, capers and croutons (195 RMB). This dish was comprised of a number of layers—a florette of cauliflower formed the base, then came the succulent scallops, capers and bits of tart mandarin oranges. The capers stood out among the toppings because of its sour tinge.

The broccoli tortellini, fried artichokes, crispy pancetta and Parmesan emulsion (130 RMB) was our favorite appetizer. With all this street food we’ve been eating, it’s been ages since we’ve dug into some proper foam! The pancetta and chunky tomato sauce coupled with the Parmesan emulsion flavored the delicate pasta wonderfully.

While the appetizers didn’t knock our socks off, the entrees rocked like old school Weezer. Knowing that the pig is my favorite animal to eat, my brother heavily hinted that he wanted me to order the crispy suckling pig with daikon sauerkraut, apple coleslaw and Dijon mustard jus (230 RMB). And boy am I glad I did. Seriously, this dish ruled. The skin was taut and crispy, while the meat was SO tender that I’ve vowed to only eat baby animals for the rest of my life. Is that wrong? The sides were a fine accompaniment, but there was no competing with the star of the show.

The Astronomer went for the cumin roasted loin of lamb with sweet pepper stew, Persian dried figs and summer squash (260 RMB). Although it wasn’t specified on the menu, we suspect that the meat came from a baby lamb because there wasn’t a trace (or taste) of hard living. I find that lamb, even the tenderest of cuts, is usually slightly chewy. However, the texture of Boulud’s lamb was anything but—a cross between foie gras and butter. No joke.

For dessert, I chose the mocha tart with coffee-chocolate ganache, caramel sauce and whiskey ice cream (95 RMB). Everything about the tart was perfect—the crust was buttery and a little crumbly, while the chocolate ganache was intensely rich, silky smooth and not overly sweet. Words can’t do the ganache’s texture justice, it was simply incredible. I haven’t had enough shots of whiskey in my day to tell you if the ice cream was accurate, but I can tell you that it tasted fabulous and provided a cool contrast to the bombardment of chocolaty goodness.

The Astronomer ordered the napoleon with raspberry chilboust, puff pastry and lychee sorbet (90 RMB). The puff pastry didn’t meld with the chilboust, which made it difficult to enjoy all of the napoleon’s components in one bite. Other than that minor glitch, this one was also a winner. The lychee sorbet was absolutely refreshing.

The petit fours arrived next. We were stuffed of course, but that didn’t stop us from eating each and every one. The sugar-coated passion fruit jelly was my favorite. I think petit fours are the best part of fine dining—they’re just so impossibly cute!

And just when we thought we didn’t have room for any more, freshly baked madelines arrived at the table. How can anyone resist freshly baked madelines? I enjoyed one and The Astronomer valiantly polished off the rest. The boy can eat.

After we paid our bill, the waiter brought us additional petit fours and madelines. We tried to explain to him that we had already received both, but the language barrier was too much and he just kept saying, “No, they are complimentary.” The Astronomer squeezed in one more madeline, but the petit fours remained on the table untouched. I hope this newby glitch never gets worked out.