Little Saigon, a sprawling suburban neighborhood in Orange County, is home to the largest population of Vietnamese people outside of Vietnam. While I am familiar with Saigon’s culinary scene, when it comes to its American counterpart, I still have much to learn.
The city’s major arteries of Westminster, Brookhurst, and Bolsa are bustling with businesses hawking everything under the Vietnamese sun: from music to clothing to house wares and of course, food. What’s most notable about the Vietnamese food found in Little Saigon is the regional diversity. The distinct culinary styles of Northern, Central, and Southern Vietnam are well-represented and executed as authentically as America allows.
Growing up an hour and a half south in San Diego, I used to travel to Little Saigon with my grandparents every couple of years to visit their friends who resided in the area. The highlight of these trips for me was the meals we shared at Viễn Đông restaurant. My grandparents always dined here for the Northern Vietnamese fare (mon bac)—specific regional specialties that aren’t in my family’s culinary repertoire.
A recent road trip to San Diego with The Astronomer provided the perfect excuse to revisit Viễn Đông.
Viễn Đông is housed in a clean, spacious, and impressively understated (by Vietnamese standards) space. The restaurant was fairly empty the late Friday afternoon we dined, which meant prompt and pleasant service from start to finish.
I ordered a bowl of bun rieu oc tom moc ($6.75), one of my family’s standbys at Viễn Đông. Even though I’ve been back in America for nearly a year, I still can’t get over how large the portions are at Vietnamese restaurants here. The enormous bowl of bun rieu was filled with hunks of fried tofu, ground crab, vermicelli noodles, meatballs, tomatoes, and periwinkle snails. The orange-tinged broth was hot and sour, just the way I like it.
The bun rieu was served with a plate of garnishes that included bean sprouts, shredded romaine lettuce, a wedge of lime, and mam ruoc (fermented shrimp paste).
The Astronomer’s Cha Ca Thanh Long ($12.95) arrived on a sizzling platter that filled the air with the awesome scent of seared fresh dill. The generous fillet of turmeric-laced catfish was adorned with heaps of onions and scallions.
Everything about this dish was excellent, except that it wasn’t served Hanoi-style—in a pan atop a butane burner. The sizzling platter cooled down too fast, leaving the green and white onions mostly raw.
Accompanying the fish were warm vermicelli noodles, a mountain of fresh herbs, rice crackers, and toasted peanuts.
The perfect bowl of Cha Ca Thanh Long marries all of the ingredients together—a layer of noodles topped with chunks of fish, a smattering of peanuts, shattered rice crackers, an abundance of aromatics, and a drizzle of mam ruoc or nuoc cham.
Our Northern Vietnamese lunch at Viễn Đông left us stuffed to the gills and full of giddy memories from our travels.
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Viễn Đông Restaurant
14271 Brookhurst Street
Garden Grove, CA 92843
Phone: 714-531-8253
Several weeks ago, The Astronomer purchased a most lovely basil plant from Trader Joe’s for just $2.99. [Our friends B-side and SinoSoul are also proud owners of these bargain basement basil plants.] The Astronomer figured that even if the plant died after being harvested once, it wouldn’t have been any more expensive than purchasing packaged basil from the herb section. Indeed, a sound and rational call.
After weeks of spoiling our plant with the finest tap water and plenty of sunshine, we were rewarded with a thriving plant with an abundance of leaves. For our basil plant’s inaugural harvest, I baked sweet and savory basil cookies using a simple recipe from 5 Star Foodie. The cookies’ textures and flavors are both spot on—I added lemon zest to brighten up the entire package.
Pestos and caprese salads are great uses for basil, but savory desserts offer an unexpected and delicious surprise.
Finely chop basil by hand or in a food processor. Add lemon juice and mix until well blended. Pour into a bowl and whisk in the egg.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. In a third large bowl, cream butter, sugar, and zest together, then mix in the basil-egg mixture and flour mixture until the dough forms.
Shape into a ball, cover in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for at least four hours.
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Form the dough into golf ball-sized rounds. Arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until bottoms are nice and golden.
Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.
Makes 24 cookies.
