Bun

We just got a new camera at work, and since I had to take lunch, I thought I'd take a picture of it, you know, just to test the camera.

This is a picture of my favorite Bun dish, #47, from Saigon Restaurant in Oakland. It's grilled pork with spring roll. I like two bowls of the pickley-carrot sauce.

And this is a GREAT camera. I haven't messed around yet with resizing images or anything, so I think this one is honking HUGE. But look at that detail! You can see the ridges on the scallions, and the finely chopped peanuts, and the different strands of the rice noodles!

I've learned that Kodak Easy Share cameras are crap. Spend the extra $150 or whatever and get a good digital camera!

Faux Pho

The Bug and I had a craving for Pho and Bun. Who doesn't love noodle soups? I didn't have any rice noodles in the house, and sure didn't have any scrumptious spring rolls. But I did have some good odds and ends, and ended up making a darned good Faux Pho.

Faux Pho
1/2 Yellow Onion, minced
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
One tablespoon olive oil
One tablespoon sesame oil
About one teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamon
3-4 alspice seeds
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
Fresh or dried ginger, to taste
Chicken broth
Angel hair/vermicelli pasta
Thinly sliced beef, pork, or chicken (I used leftover steak)

For garnish--use what you have around:
Minced scallions
Mint leaves or cilantro
Sliced jalepenos
Lime wedge
Hot sauce
Bean Sprouts

In a large, deep saucier pan/pot, saute onion and garlic in oils until soft and fragrant. Add spices and cook about 30 seconds, or till fragrant. Add the chicken broth--I've left amounts of the broth and noodles up to you. Some like it soupier, some want to make pho for four, some for one. Heat to boiling and reduce to a simmer. Let simmer about five to ten minutes (this is a good time to prep all your garnishes). Use a hand-held strainer, like a tea strainer, to remove alspice and fennel seeds. If you can't get them all, don't sweat it.

Bring broth back to a boil and add pasta. Cook according to directions, stirring frequently. You should have a lot of pasta in relation to your broth, but remember, it will continue to suck up the broth as it sits in the pot, so not too much pasta!

Add sliced meat about one minute before serving. Serve in a deep bowl with garnishes on a plate on the side.

For a bonus, I threw in a couple of Ling Ling's potstickers--it was a wierd combo dish of pho and potsticker bun.

The Bug said it was as good as the pho we get when we're at pho places. I take that as a big compliment, since he's become a pho expert!

Our Pho Field Trip

The Bug and I are doing field trips every Saturday. One weekend we went to Oakland's famous Chicken 'N Waffles (like Roscoe's, but not) as part of our "EXPLORE Oakland" field trip. We saw Jack London's little Alaskan shack, we looked at a lighthouse boat, we drove through West Oakland and looked at the folks working on their yards and corner gardens, and we spent some time in the giant, beautiful cemetary.

Last weekend we went to the Benicia Camel Barns. No eating involved with that one.

This weekend I had lots of shopping to do and didn't have time for a historic field trip. Instead, we went to Saigon #1 on North Texas Street in Fairfield and tried out some Vietnamese food. I'm no stranger to Bun and Pho, but I knew the Bug was and figured he'd enjoy it. I was right.

We arrived at 2pm to an empty, clean strip-mall hole-in-the-wall. It seemed to be staffed by 14-year old boys. We ordered a small Pho with brisket ($4.95) for the Bug (no tendon, thank you very much) and Bun with grilled pork and fried roll ($6.50) for me.

Oh. Guess I should mention that my kid had a bike accident a few days ago and bashed apart his two front teeth, doing himself some pretty nasty damage. No biting into foods and no hard food for at least 6 weeks. So I figured nice soft rice noodles and soothing broth would be a comfort.

I wasn't impressed with the veggies that came with the Pho. A lot of crunchy bean sprouts, one sad sprig of mint, three slices of jalepeno, and a tiny wedge of lime. No cilantro at all. But then again, I thought my kid would really only touch the lime, so I didn't say anything.

We also got one summer shrimp roll and one fried pork roll. Both were a hit with the kid...I objected to the substitution of lettuce for mint in the summer roll.

The grilled pork in the Bun was GREAT. Really flavorful, a little crispy, and perfectly cooked. The broth in the Pho was pretty good too. The only thing we didn't like was the watermellon smoothie, no pearls ($2.47) which was so fake and powdery tasting neither of us drank it. Imagine...a kid not liking a cold shake that tastes like Watermellon Bubbalicious!

The Bug ended up falling in love with bean sprouts. He wrapped up a package of them in a large lettuce leaf and munched on them in the car on the way to Costco. Very happy kid. We'll go back.

Saigon #1
1972 N. Texas Street
Fairfield, CA

How to Cook Rice Noodles

I'm just an Irish girl, born to Canadians. We never had rice noodles when I was a kid, but fell in love with them after I moved to California. In the past when I cooked them they turned into a gloppy, sticky mess. Not any more. Last night I figured out the key to cooking rice noodles.

You can buy rice noodles in Asian Markets, or, if you're very lucky, in the Asian food aisle of your grocery store. I like the ones that are flat and broad like fettucine.

How to Cook Rice Noodles
Take the entire package of noodles (unwrapped, of course) and soak in cold water in a large, flat container like a covered casserole, for at least 30 minutes. Some packages and recipes state this is all you need to do. Don't believe them. If you like soft rice noodles, and you're not planning on cooking them in an additional recipe, do the following:

Bring a broad pot of salted water to boil. You'll be lowering your metal, hand-held strainer into it, so make sure you can reach that water. If you use a big pasta pot, you're going to have to fill it nearly to the top with water--so it would *not* be a good choice.

Right before you're ready to serve, place individual portions of the noodles in your metal, hand-held strainer. Place the strainer in the boiling water for about 20-30 seconds, stirring with chopsticks to seperate. When tender, strain the water out and serve.

Vietnamese Shrimp Rolls

Had to work late tonight so I picked up some shrimp rolls from the Vietnamese restaurant down the street. Normally they are cut in half, at an angle, but maybe they saw I like my food and figured I'd eat the whole thing in one bite.

Shrimp rolls are a big favorite of mine. They are served cold, and are made mostly with rice paper and rice noodles or rice sticks. The shrimp are sliced in half so they lay flat against a mix of mint and lettuce leaves. Bean sprouts give extra crunch, and sometimes julienned smoked pork or carrot sticks are added.

They are almost always served with nuoc cham, which is a dipping sauce with a fish sauce base. Anyone who knows me knows that Fleas hate fish sauce, which is why I love that this place adds peanut butter to theirs, which cuts the rotten fish taste.

Since they aren't fried or loaded with fat, these are a good option at restaurants for anyone watching their weight.