Entries tagged with 'Vietnamese'
Page 1 of 3
The best bánh mì in Chicago? [Photographs: Nick Kindelsperger] Nhu' Lan Bakery 2612 W. Lawrence, Chicago IL 60625 (map); 773-878-9898 The Short Order: Freshly baked bread and perfect bánh mì. Want Fries with That? Nope, but some shrimp chips are possible. Want Ketchup? This sandwich needs nothing, eat it as is. You can keep your paninis. I'll forever give up the club sandwich or limit my meatball sub intake—but me and thebánh mì have a serious, committed sandwich relationship that needs constant nourishment. The bánh mì's power lies in its striking balance. The fatty meat, which can include head cheese and pate, contrasts with the acidic, pickled vegetables like daikon radishes, cucumbers, and carrots. Have I mentioned the slight jalapeño...
Continue reading »
Note: It's time for another edition of Street Food Profiles. This week we meet a banh mi truck. [Photographs: Nom Nom Truck] Name: Nom Nom Truck Vendor: David Stankunas Twitter: @nomnomtruck Location and hours: All over Los Angeles for lunch, evening, and late-night. Primarily we've been heading out to west Los Angeles, but we still get to places like Hollywood, mid-Wilshire, Koreatown, Silver Lake and Torrance. What's on the menu? Banh mi, Vietnamese-inspired tacos (basically a banh mi in a corn tortilla instead of bread), and various other Vietnamese snacks and drinks. How long have you been street fooding? For about 5 weeks. How has Twitter affected business? Twitter is a huge part of our business. Not only is it...
Continue reading »
Note: Read part 1 from Tam for the phở recipe and other tips. [Above photograph: Robyn Lee / Other photographs: Chichi Wang] It's impossible to keep phở a secret, Tam informed me. Such was the start of our phở get-together. She arrived at my apartment lugging a backpack crammed with gallons of phở broth, chunks of deboned oxtail, and little jars of fish sauce. Neatly sorted packets of noodles, bean sprouts, and mint completed the ensemble. If she'd brought a portable stove, she could've set up shop on my curb. Defatting the broth. Unlike Tam, I didn't grow up eating phở. My education of the broth began in Vietnamese noodle joints, where bowls of noodles are assembled and slapped onto...
Continue reading »
"The tofu...looks and texturally feels almost like the tender ribeye on a Philly cheesesteak." [Photograph: Michael Nagrant] I've finally found a reason to stop making fun of vegetarians and to become one myself: lemongrass tofu banh mi at Nhu Lan, in Lincoln Square. I know people who are crazy banh mi freaks, who consider the Vietnamese sandwich their desert island or death row meal. I am not one of those people. In fact I probably wouldn't have stopped at Nhu Lan, but after getting through a laundry list of chores and shopping, I found myself in Lincoln Square with my two-year-old screaming for lunch and my own low blood sugar about to do me in. I turned to the iPhone...
Continue reading »
You know you're a big deal when you become airline food. Banh mi from Brooklyn's Ba Xuyen. [Photograph: Robyn Lee] If you had any doubt that the banh mi trend had taken off, consider this: Virgin America is now serving banh mi on its in-flight menu. A flat iron steak sandwich with cucumber, lettuce, cilantro, and a daikon-carrot slaw, plus "Asian ginger dressing"—no paté, but we'll take it. Related Customized Banh Mi Shell for MyTouch 3G Phone Serious Heat: The Quickie Banh Mi Grilling: Vietnamese Meatball Banh Mi...
Continue reading »
Photo from Gourmet.com Probably not, Matthew Amster-Burton at Gourmet.com concludes. After noticing the country's penchant for sweetened iced coffee and blended fruit shakes, he had wondered if the Vietnamese weren't the first to make the Frappuccino. His theory is soon disproved—since blenders have only recently become available to the masses in Vietnam, he learns, they couldn't have invented the blended coffee drink. Still, it seems like he's onto something: after sending his own Vietnamese iced coffee for a whirl in the blender, he's plenty happy with his own Vietnamese-style Frappuccino. Even if it's not quite traditional....
Continue reading »
Jackfruit Salad. Much ado is made about Heston Blumenthal's snail porridge, served at The Fat Duck, his three-star Michelin restaurant in Bray, Berkshire. But if you, like me, do not foresee yourself shelling out £130 for his tasting menu, fret not. Snails are a lot more accessible than you think. Snail Vermicelli. Long before the French started dipping escargots in garlic butter, the Vietnamese would gather snails from the fields and sauté them in garlic and salt. These sweet morsels star in Saigon Seafood's rendition of Bún Ốc (Escargot Tomato Soup with Rice Noodles). In a tangy tomato broth redolent with herbs (coriander and spring onions) and a good kick of ginger, the snails have a pleasantly firm bite....
Continue reading »
This Vietnamese caramel shrimp recipe from Closet Cooking is the perfect opportunity to try your hand at using caramel in a savory dish. "Simmering or braising in nuoc mau (Vietnamese caramel sauce) is fairly common in Vietnamese cuisine." Kevin, the blog's proprietor, uses a relatively simple recipe to make the caramel and sauté the shrimp. Once you make the caramel, the dish comes together in less than ten minutes. Follow Kevin's example and serve it over coconut jasmine rice so it soaks up all that salty-sweet saucy goodness....
Continue reading »
Photograph from he cooks she eats on Flickr How do you make an already delicious Vietnamese banh mi taste even better? Toast it into a panini press! Dylan of Eat Drink & Be Merry flattened his banh mi with a panini press to create the banhmi-ni. Crispy bread and warm meaty fillings were a plus, but the warm vegetables were "bleh." Now Dylan knows to add the vegetables post-press next time. Related Baoguette: Great Vietnamese Sandwiches in Murray Hill, Possibly the Best Banh Mi in NYC Cook the Book: Banh Mi with Daikon and Carrot Pickle Photo of the Day: Bahn Mi Closeup...
Continue reading »
January in Chicago means there are at least four months until prime grilling season. Maybe even five, as Chicago generally goes from face-numbing frigid winter straight to swampy summer in May, with nary a nod—except for a couple of drizzly, windy days—to spring. But right now my second floor window box is covered in a couple inches of prime snow dust, my windows are fogged by a roiling swirl of flakes, and my street, thanks to our cheap mayor Richard Daley, is an unplowed mess. Breaking out the grill is about the last thing I’d do. Still, the palate knows no season, and it’s always prime time for smoky treats. There’s no lack of spots to secure such goodies...
Continue reading »
