Post Tagged with: "vietnamese"

travel … friday … (nha trang)

travel … friday … (nha trang)

Just a little late with travel “tuesday” this week guys.

Earlier this week (or possibly last week) I learned about a blog called The Dropout Diaries from Sally (Unbrave Girl). I love it. And it was this blog that got me thinking about the several weeks I spent in Vietnam as I travelled around the world, solo, at the ripe old age of 21.

On the beach in Nha Trang this group of guys flirted with me and my camera as the sun set and a hot air balloon took off.

Earlier that day the world’s most type-A traveller (an MBA student at a Southern California university who raced catamarans) found me on the beach and declared he needed another body to share a catamaran, would I join him? I found myself racing across the ocean, and heeling so far that we were practically parallel with the water. After my new friend tipped his hat and left to catch his bus I set out on that beach walk.

This was followed by one of the best meals of my life—a hot pot, but I’m pretty sure the hot stuff-in-the-pot was vinegar. It was so delicious I went back to that restaurant every day of my stay in Nha Trang. Does anyone know what that dish could have been? Now that I’ve remembered it, I’m on a mission to find out what it was, and find it somewhere in Vancouver.

[Update: So I decided to Google this, and it was actually really easy to find (note that last time I googled this about four years ago, I came up blank). But it's called Bo Nhung Dam. Now to find it in Vancouver!]

September 28, 2012 0 comments Read More
Sriracha Pulled Pork Bahn Mi

Sriracha Pulled Pork Bahn Mi

Remember item 14 on my 30-before-30 list? “To Cook Something That Takes More Than One Day”? Well folks, I’ve scratched it off the list (a couple of times, if you include my home-made bread from last-last week).

Months and months ago I came across Matt Bites’ post about Sriracha Pulled Pork from the Sriracha cookbook. I knew the very moment I saw it that I was going to have to make it. The only problem? It requires way-advance planning because it takes more than one day. Yup. Pretty much the perfect answer to item 14.

I decided to make this pulled pork on the last night we spent at Sam and Graham’s because these guys love their Sriracha (so much so that they went as Soy Sauce and Sriracha for halloween last year). They also had two pork butts in their freezer. Perfect.

I couldn’t figure out what to serve with my pulled pork, but it came to me in a flash: Bahn Mi (or for those of you who aren’t fluent in Vietnamese: vietnamese subs). These delicious french/south-east asian sandwiches were sriracha pulled pork’s perfect twist to a southern favourite.
meal for my 30-before-30 list.
The night before you want to eat your pulled pork, you need to brine it. Some of you might say “oh… only a brine… that’s not a real two day meal”. To you I say “my list… my rules”. Woohoo! And brine-ing’s not super fast, either.

The next morning you wake up, prepare your pork with a sriracha mustard rub, and pop it into the slowcooker on low, where it will stay for the next 12 hours. You read that right. 12 hours. Then you want your pork to cool for 45 minutes before you pull it. And next time I would heat it in the sriracha sauce for 30 minutes. So you basically need to be cooking about 14 hours before you are going to eat supper.

Before dinner, prepare your accoutrements (for bahn mi traditionally julienned carrots, julienned cucumber, and cilantro. I made some pickled red onions to up the “pulled porkyness” of the meal.

Butter your baguettes with soy-sauce butter and broil them till they are crispy.

Then, it is simply a matter of making your banh mi and enjoying. YUM!

Sriracha Pulled Pork

From The Sriracha Cookbook, via Matt Bites.
Ingredients
Spice Rub

  • 6 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika

Brine

  • ¼ cup kosher salt
  • 4 cups cold water
  • ¼ cup freshly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 medium red onion, sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 bay leaves

Other

  • 6- to 8-pound bone-in pork shoulder (Boston butt) roast
  • 3 tablespoons yellow mustard
  • 1/3 cup Sriracha
  • ½ cup cold water

Directions

  1. To make the spice rub, in a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, garlic powder, salt, pepper, cumin, and paprika. Reserve.
  2. To make the brine, in a small bowl, dissolve the salt in the cold water. Add 2 tablespoons of the spice rub, the brown sugar, onion, garlic, and bay leaves, stirring to combine. Put the meat in a large bowl or ziplock bag and pour the brine over, making sure that the meat is completely submerged in liquid. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
  3. The following morning, drain the brine, reserving the pork and onion. Pat the roast dry with paper towels. In a small bowl, mix together the mustard and Sriracha. Using your hands, rub an even coating of the mustard mixture all over the pork. Sprinkle the remaining spice rub evenly over the entire roast, pressing it into the meat, making sure it adheres.
  4. Put the reserved onion in a crock pot. Pour in the cold water. Place the pork on top of the bed of onions, with the fattier side of the roast facing up. Cover and cook on low for 12 hours. At this point, the meat should simply flake away with the slightest touch. Remove the roast from the crock pot, and let rest for 45 to 60 minutes. This will allow the meat to cool slightly, which will in turn make it easier to shred. Pull the meat apart using two forks, discarding extra fat and other less-than-palatable bites.
  5. Here I would divert from the recipe and reheat the pork in a sriracha & water mixture so the pork is a little spicier and a little more saucy.

Pulled Pork Bahn Mi (Vietnamese Subs)

Ingredients

  • Sriracha Pulled Pork
  • Baguettes, sliced lengthwise
  • 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
  • 2 tbsp Softened Butter
  • Carrots (julienned)
  • Cucumber (julienned)
  • Onions (sliced, pickled in boiling vinegar and water if you prefer)
  • Cilantro
  • Sriracha

Directions

  1. Combine softened butter and soy sauce and spread on baguettes. Broil until toasted.
  2. Prepare subs by adding pork, carrots, cucumber, onions, cilantro and sriracha to taste.

June 1, 2012 2 comments Read More
Pho Lan :: Richmond Pho

Pho Lan :: Richmond Pho

Big day today folks: my very first Richmond restaurant review! If you get your last vote in for me today (before 4pm P.S.T) you may guarantee me a spot in the next round. Then, when I win, I’ll take you for a fun lunch, dinner or dim sum on Tourism Richmond!

Last week was a bit chilly and rainy in the lower mainland. The perfect weather for a steamy bowl of the quintessential Vietnamese beef noodle soup: Pho. (Technically pronounced “fuh”, but commonly referred to as “fo”).

Pho Lan


Pho Lan’s been feeding Richmond for about 18 years, and they are always busy. They are clearly doing something right. My husband actually told me about Pho Lan’s delicious pho years and years ago when he was a management consultant working in Richmond and lunching at Pho Lan quite regularly. It just took me until last week to get there!

Pho Lan is all about business. The menus, chilli oil, sriracha, oyster sauce, chopsticks, and spoons all live on the tables. Tea is served immediately upon your arrival. You wave a server over and order by number. You pay the cashier (cash only) on your way out the door.

But sometimes places are all about business for a reason. Here, that reason is because it is busy. And what really matters—the food—is fresh and delicious.

The Food

First up, tea! On a cold and rainy day, that first sip of steaming hot tea warms you from the inside.

We ordered one deep fried spring roll to share. When the hubs suggested this (ordering just one), I looked at him as if he was crazy. That is until the spring roll arrived: it was gigantic. And super hot. And delicious. 1 (huge) deep fried pork & shrimp spring roll sets you back only $2.50.

Then we got our pho. I ordered a small #13 (rare steak & well-done flank) ($6.50) and the husband a medium #7 (Pho Lan special: rare steak, well done flank, tendon, tripe and beef ball) ($7.50). Luckily for me, he shared his beef ball with me. Yummy! The accompanying lime, mint, and bean sprouts were super fresh, the soup was piping hot, the broth flavourful. I’ll be back. FYI – small is the bowl pictured, medicum is a regular sized bowl of pho, and large is gigantic (according to the hubs). Next time, I think I would order a small #10 (rare steak and beef ball, I didn’t love the flank).

The Bottom Line

Pho Lan, 6950 No. 3 Road, Richmond, BC (at Granville Ave), open for lunch and dinner, cash only.

At $18.50 for two people Pho Lan was great value. Service was fine. Food was delicious (and fresh). I will certainly be back!

May 1, 2012 0 comments Read More