Archive for the 'Bun Bo Hue' Category

Gia Hội 2

Published
by
Gastronomer
on July 2, 2008
in Banh Beo, Banh It Tran, Banh Khoai, Banh Ram It, Banh Uot, Bun Bo Hue, Bun Thit Nuong/Xao, Hen, Restaurant Review, Saigon and Vietnamese
. 7 Comments

June 19, 26 and 27, 2008
Cuisine: Vietnamese

2 Nguyen Huy Tu Street
District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

Phone: 8202385
Website: none

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Imperial Cuisine - clockwise from top left - com hen, hen xao, banh uot thit nuong, bun bo Hue, banh it tran, banh beo, bun thit nuong, banh khoai, banh it ram (center)

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Who loves Hue cuisine? We do!

The Astronomer and I ate at Gia Hội 2 for the first time three weeks ago and we’ve been back three times since then. You could say that we’re crushing hardcore on this place, and it’s not hard to see (and taste) why. The menu here is short, sweet and focused on the foods of the former imperial capital. Hen (baby clams) are heavily featured.

Last fall, The Astronomer and I visited Hue and tasted com hen for the very first time. Dare I say it was love at first bite. After my grandpa, I am convinced that com hen is the second best thing to come out of Hue. Prior to discovering Gia Hội 2, we only had mediocre versions of this dish in Saigon.

The com hen (12,000 VND) here is as close to the real deal as we’ve come across down south. All of the essential components of com hen are present and splendid—fresh herbs (Vietnamese coriander, basil), banana flower, crispy pork rinds, sesame seeds, peanuts, warm clam broth, fermented shrimp paste and of course, flavorful baby clams. Unlike your average Vietnamese, I’m not too good with chillies. Gia Hội 2 serves up a sweet and subtly spicy variety that I’m totally down with. Mmm, boy.

Another spectacular baby clam dish is hen xao (16,000 VND), which consists of clams stir-fried in lots of butter along with Vietnamese coriander and onions. The clam mixture is scooped up with toasted rice crackers. I like not bothering with utensils. The clams are packed with so much flavor that this simple preparation highlights all of its natural goodness. A squeeze of lime juice and a bit of shrimp paste add the finishing touches.

Another one of our favorites is the banh uot thit nuong (18,000 VND). Growing up, banh uot was served plain with nuoc mam, not stuffed with thit nuong (grilled meat). It’s hard to believe that the plain-ish dish I had as a kid is related to the one served here.

Gia Hội 2’s banh uot thit nuong consists of a sheet of rice paper wrapped with pieces of barbecued pork and a single mint leaf. The banh uot is served with a special dipping sauce with little pieces of minced meat that’s thick and sweeter than you’d expect. The restaurant also serves a shrimp (banh uot tom) variety that we’ve yet to try.

The banh it ram (right - 17,000 VND) and banh it tran (15,000 VND) are two lovely appetizers or post-meal space fillers. The Astronomer isn’t a fan of dough-y chewy balls, but luckily our dining companions have been game to share them with me. The banh it ram are filled with a single caramelized shrimp (tom kho), while the banh it tran are filled with mung bean paste. Another difference between the two is the crispy rice cracker that the banh it ram sits upon. I like both equally.

Banh beo (20,000 VND), steamed rice cakes, is served two ways here—in individual dishes and stacked on plates. When Nina dined with us, she requested that we order the individual ones. Each banh beo was sprinkled with minced shrimp, scallion oil and crispy pork rinds. Banh beo’s signature sweet nuoc mam was served on the side.

There are a lot of winners on Gia Hội 2’s menu and no all-out losers, but the bun bon Hue (15,000) VND and banh khoai (20,000 VND) didn’t quite move us.

If a trip to Hue isn’t in the cards, Gia Hội 2 is a great place to go for a taste of the emperor’s cuisine.

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Click here for a New York Times article about Hue cuisine: “Vietnamese Cuisine: Echo’s of Empire.”

Her noodles brings all the boys to the yard…

Published
by
Gastronomer
on May 29, 2008
in Banh Canh, Bun Bo Hue, Bun Mam, Bun Rieu, Bun Thai, Hu Tieu Nam Vang, Mi Vit Tiem, Mon An Chay, Saigon and Street Food
. 10 Comments

I’ve been enamored with the Lunch Lady’s noodles ever since I started my gig at AsiaLIFE. Unless I have commitments beyond my control, this joint near 23 Hoang Sa in District 1 is my go-to place for afternoon refueling.

After frequenting her stall everyday for the past month, The Astronomer and I have figured out that bun bo is always sold on Fridays. Monday through Thursday are still a bit of a mystery, but more often than not it’s delicious. Regardless of what’s on offer, her standard rate is 12,000 VND per bowl.

I usually avoid slurping up broths in noodle dishes because they tend to be too oily. However, I throw caution to the wind when dining here because her broths are chug-worthy.

Bun Bo: According to The Astronomer, the lunch lady’s best dish is bun bo. I’m still up in the air about which one I love most, but her bun bo definitely ranks high. The broth has a deep lemongrass flavor and just a hint of spiciness, and there’s always a generous amount of tender meat. By the way, the lunch lady’s secret to avoiding gristly meat is pineapple. She adds a whole one to the broth, which tenderizes the meat and imparts a bit of sweetness to the broth.

Hu Tieu Nam Vang: Andrea Nguyen at Viet World Kitchen says that hu tieu nam vang is a “Cambodian-Chinese concoction that the Vietnamese ‘borrowed’ and then made their own. Nam Vang is the Viet word for Phnom Penh, and the southern part of Vietnam has deep Khmer roots.”

Hu tieu nam vang is The Astronomer’s least favorite because it contains too many odds and ends (i.e. quail eggs, innards, liver). I, on the other hand, really love the sweet porky broth and find offal awfully tasty. I always request mi (egg noodles) rather than hu tieu (opaque rice noodles) with this dish because I like the taste and texture much better.

Bun Thai: The broth tastes just like tom yum goong soup and has a spicy kick that hits the back of my throat. Thick rice noodles, squid, fried fish cakes and a single shrimp round out the dish nicely. This little number is my colleague Fiona’s favorite.

Bun Rieu Chay: On the first and fifteenth of the Lunar calendar, the lunch lady prepares vegetarian noodles. Her bun rieu chay is so believable that The Astronomer and I didn’t even know it was vegetarian until we asked. Tofu and bean curd make fine substitutions for snails and crab.

Banh Canh: Mmm, banh canh. I never fully appreciated these chewy tapioca noodles until recently. When I was a kid, I just thought they were a bitch to eat because they were so gosh darn slippery. The lunch lady makes at least two types of banh canh—a simple one in a pork broth and this one which contains all sorts of fish cakes, fried shallots and a quail egg. I love how she puts quail eggs in everything!

Mi Ga Tiem: This dish is traditionally made with duck, but the lunch lady uses chicken because it’s less fatty. However, from looking at the broth, I’d say the chicken isn’t cutting that many calories. The chicken version is pretty darn good, but I always prefer duck over chicken. The pickled green papaya served on the side is really good, but the best part is the sweet star anise broth.


Bun Mam: I’m not quite sure what’s exactly in bun mam, but I really really like it. The broth is deeply flavorful and doesn’t really taste like mam (fermented shrimp paste). The soup comes with pineapple, eggplant, barbecued pork (thit heo quay), shrimp, okra, chives and thick rice noodles.

My lunch lady is incredible!

Bún Bò Huế Yên Đỗ

Published
by
Gastronomer
on August 16, 2007
in Banh Beo, Banh Bot Loc, Bun Bo Hue, Bun Mam, Bun Thit Nuong/Xao, Cha Gio, Mi Quang, Restaurant Review, Saigon and Vietnamese
. 3 Comments

August 2 and 15, 2007
Cuisine: Vietnamese

252/68B Ly Chinh Thang Street
District 3, Ho Chi Minh City

Phone: 9312975
Website: none

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Banh Beo (12,000 VND)

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Cha Gio (15,000 VND)

Bun Mam (15,000 VND)

My Quang (15,000 VND)

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Bun Thit Nuong (15,000 VND)

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UPDATE: Banh Bot Loc (12,000)

UPDATE II: Bun Bo Hue (16,000 VND)

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Bún Bò Huế - Yen Do is quickly becoming one of my favorite eateries in the city. A short walk from the East Meets West office, Yen Do serves up cuisine from the city of Huế, which is regarded as the culinary capital of Vietnam and also the birthplace of my ong ngoai (grandpa). The restaurant is named after Huế’s most famous dish—Bún Bò, which The Astronomer and I have yet to sample during our two visits.

As per usual, we stumbled upon this restaurant hungrily during lunch time. On both my first and second visits, I ordered a bowl of My Quang. My Quang’s broth is orangey, mild, a bit sweet, a little spicy, and used sparingly in this uncharacteristically dry noodle dish. The noodles are wide like fettuccine and yellow due to the employment of turmeric or saffron. The yellow noodle trend seems to be unique to Vietnam because the My Quang I’ve had in the states uses regular rice noodles. Banh trang (sesame crackers), pork slivers, spring onions, peanuts, braised shrimp, and cha (pork forcemeat) add a variety of tastes and textures to this complex and hearty dish. My Quang is served with a plate of fresh herbs; I like to add thin shavings of banana flower into my soup. I did not grow up eating My Quang and have probably had it twice in my life before coming to Vietnam, but I just can’t get enough of it these days.

On The Astronomer’ first visit he ordered a bowl of Bun Mam, which he declared the best noodle and broth combination he’d had so far. The dish’s dominant flavor is fermented fish, which is oftentimes too strong for the untrained palette, including some Vietnamese folks, so I was very impressed that The Astronomer enjoyed it so much! To supplement his noodles, he ordered a plate of banh beo, which are steamed rice and tapioca flour morsels topped with dried shrimp, mung bean paste, and eaten with sweetened fish sauce. Banh beo is definitely one of The Astronomer’s favorite dishes.

On his second visit, The Astronomer ordered bun thit nuong, which consists of vermicelli noodles topped with grilled pork, peanuts, bean sprouts, herbs, and fish sauce. The “chef” also added an eggroll for good measure. On these hot Saigon afternoons, bun thit nuong is a cool alternative to the regular broth and noodle dishes. Additionally, I ordered five eggrolls for us to share. The eggrolls were the best I’ve had thus far and the ratio of meat to wrapper was better than average. I have adopted the Vietnamese way of eating eggrolls, which involves wrapping them in lettuce leaves and dipping them in fish sauce. The flavors are really fabulous.

UPDATE: My aunt Phoung came to Saigon last week from San Diego and I took her to Yen Do for lunch one day. We ordered a plate of banh bot loc and they were awesome. I hate to admit it, but they were even better than my grandma’s! Most of the time, the overly-chewy texture of banh bot loc makes me choke, but these were pleasantly chewy.

UPDATE II: The restaurant’s signature dish was quite good. The gio heo tasted just like home.