Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Robyn, I recently experienced a Portuguese donut in Hawaii and it totally reminded me of the mexican churro I know so well having grown up in San Diego. I wrote a silly review on yelp about it http://www.yelp.com/biz/leonards-malasadamobile-laie# but I'm also now very interested in the variations of frying dough...gotta love it!

Jenn - I was just there on Monday...wish I was still there. Here's some pics of the hot & spicy:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolenguyen/2400808847/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolenguyen/2400809759/

Cathy, nice post and lovely pics! My folks always made chao ga (chicken porridge) for my siblings and I when we had a cold - so it's very much a comfort food to me. I was never a big fan of the congealed blood (huyết), but it could be that I should re-taste it as an adult ;) Oh, and what's not to love about carb on carb action of the fried dough (giò cháo quẩy) in the porridge? Mmmm...feed me now!

Not too many restaurants in San Francisco offer this fine dish...wish they would.

Got it. I finished the easy level but I'm not going to attempt the advanced...I'm already feeling a bit dizzy. I'm a big sodoku fan as well as a top chef fan but the combination is much more difficult. Tip: choose nine pictures that are very different like the curly haired guy with glasses on the green background is an easy one to spot.

Nice photo, Grace! Saigon Sandwiches in San Francisco is the place to go for some great sandwiches!

When I'm stressed I crave Chinese take-out. "American-Chinese" food that is. Specifically, any chicken dish that is breaded, deep fried, and coated with a sweet, spicy glazey sort of sauce! General Tso's or sesame chicken type dishes. The oily, battered, sticky, yumminess of this less than healthy dish comforts and soothes my soul =)

This makes me hungry and nostalgic. My dad makes this every year (actually banh chung http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banh_chung, the square version) and shares stories of how his mom (my grandma who I never had the pleasure of meeting) painstakingly spent days making tons of cakes to give out to friends and family for Tet. I won't be making it home this year, but hopefully I can plan better next year to spend time with my dad to learn the tricks of the trade.