Da Nang - Bánh Mỳ Bà Lan

After soldiering our way through numerous mediocre-to-bad bánh mì on our visits to Hanoi, we finally hit the jackpot in Da Nang at Bánh Mỳ Bà Lan.



This place was hopping - they were selling sandwiches as fast as they could make them.



This was simple perfection. Great bread, tasty pâté, nice meats (an assortment of pork), crunchy veg, and a tasty chili sauce.



As a bonus, we got a cute mini-baguette with just pâté and some chili sauce on it. Really good, and a great little snack for 8000 dong (or about 30 cents).

Hanoi - Food Tour with HanoiKids

HanoiKids is a great organization that pairs visitors up with local Hanoi University students for cultural and food tours. The visitors get a tour by knowledgeable local guides, and the students get a chance to practice their English and show off their beautiful city - everyone wins.



Our guides were Nga and Yen, and they took us on a fun, informative and delicious food tour in Hanoi's Old Quarter.



Our first dish was Xôi (sticky rice).



The stand was just down the street from our hotel, but we probably never would have stopped there without Nga and Yen's guidance. The rice is served either "hot" (Nóng) or "fried" (Rán).



We had the hot version - a bowl of sticky rice hot out of the steamer and flavored with savory stock before being stacked with a variety of tasty toppings. You can choose what kind of toppings you like. We had a bit of everything - egg (with a bit of fried coating on the outside), a few kinds of sliced pork, pork floss, pâté, Chinese-style sausage, and likely some other bits I'm missing. Every bite of it was really good. We ended up coming back here and having the exact same thing a few days later.



Next up was a stewed, "medicinal" chicken soup with noodles. The soup stock and the chicken were both black, and the flavor definitely had a bit of a medicinal quality. This was accentuated by the greens - mugwort - which were decidedly bitter, but enjoyable. The noodles were like a ramen and came as a block on top of the soup, quickly softening.



Our third stop was at a Chè ("sweet soup") shop. Our tastes run more to the savory, so this is something we probably would not have tried without the tour and we liked it more than we expected.



We tried three different kinds. The one pictured above was probably my favorite - a refreshing bowl of slightly sweet coconut jellies.



The one above on the left had black bean, mung bean, lotus seeds and jellies (and some other stuff). The one on the right was simpler - black rice and yogurt. The menu is below, but I'm currently at a loss to pick out which ones we had.



Our last stop was at a little shop for coconut coffee.



This was a soft, lightly flavored mountain of coconut ice resting in rich coffee. Spoonfuls of the ice dipped into the coffee made for a very refreshing way to end the evening.

We also tried another one - this time flavored with green sticky rice.



Overall, we had a very nice and tasty evening. A big thank you to our guides Nga and Yen from HanoiKids!

Chiang Mai - Northern Thai food at Tong Tem Toh

One evening in Chiang Mai we ventured a bit outside of our normal old city stomping grounds to the Nimman district. The reason was to have dinner at Tong Tem Toh, a restaurant that specializes in Northern Thai food.



The setting was very nice, and the place was busy - which gave us a chance to peruse the menu as we waited for a table.



The heart of our dinner was a massive Northern Thai food sampler plate:



In the center are two bowls of Nam Prik - Thai chili dip. The one in front is Nam Prik Ong - made with minced pork, tomato and chili. The one behind it is Nam Prik Noom, which is primarily made from very hot roasted green chilies.

Both dips were very good with the provided veggies and pork rinds - we particularly enjoyed the green Nam Prik Noom.

Also on the plate was some Sai Oua sausage (which was better than the version we had tried earlier) and some Jeen Som Mok Kai - a fermented pork and egg mixture that we were not particularly fond of.

We also ordered Burmese pork curry:



It was absolutely delicious, as was a plate of grilled pork:



They were grilling this out front of the restaurant while we were waiting and the smell was irresistible, so we had to order some even though we ended up with too much food.

Overall it was a delicious and very interesting meal in a nice atmosphere.

Smoking a Picnic Ham

While grocery shopping this past holiday season, we found ourselves unable to resist buying a lovely, and inexpensive, fresh pork picnic "ham". I say "ham" because it wasn't ham yet, but it was soon to be.

The picnic cut is the shank end of the pork shoulder (the other half of the shoulder is the pork "butt" - the cut often used for pulled pork). The meat on the picnic is a bit darker and tighter, and is perfect for turning into ham. The picnics we've used have been around ten pounds.



The process is actually quite simple. The first step is to put it in a salty brine in a cool place (we use a cooler in our beer-chest at about 45 degrees F).

The brine is 10 liters of water, 500g kosher salt, 100g pink salt (curing salt), 75g sugar, 75g brown sugar, 1 T black pepper corns, 2 t coriander seeds, 1 t yellow mustard seed.

We boil part of the solution for a few minutes to soften the spices, add water to reach 10 liters and cool to 40 degrees F before adding to the pork.



After six days in the brine, take it out, rinse it, dry it off well and put it into the refrigerator uncovered for two more days. This allows the skin and surface to dry a bit which allows it to take up the smoke more readily.



After brining and drying, it is time to smoke. We use our Weber Smokey Mountain with apple and pecan wood smoke for 7 to 8 hours. Keep the smoker at about 180 degrees F for the first couple hours, then up to 215-230 for the next four-five hours, finishing at 240-250 degrees the last hour or two until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Here is what it looks like when it comes off of the smoker:



Make sure you plan to feature the ham in a meal the same day you smoke it - it is super good hot off of the smoker.



No need to do anything fancy - just slice it and eat it. Yum!



The part of the ham under the skin has a nice fat layer that is reminiscent of pork belly:



We've  found that these fattier slices make a nice substitute for chashu in ramen:



Ham is now solidly in our list of things we make instead of buy. If you've got a smoker, you owe it to yourself to give it a try.

Holidays 2013 - A Fishy Feast and Other Treats

We've had relaxing and tasty holiday season thus far. We kicked things off Monday evening with happy hour at California Kebab. We'd had their current batch of Pig Nose Pale at the recent Bikes, Boards and Brews festival here in Pacific Beach and were happy to find it on tap at the brewery. Pig Nose is probably my current favorite low(ish) ABV west-coast-style IPA.

And the view never gets old:



Christmas Eve we had our annual "Feast of the Seven Fishes" dinner. This year we did a Korean meal.

We started out with Shrimp and Kimchi Jeon:



For banchan, we had Odeng Bokkeum (fried fishcake), along with cucumber pickles, and kimchi:



The main event was a Seafood Jjigae. We've been making Jjigae at home for a while, now, but we've been cheating by using soup mix packets. This was our first time making stock from scratch - a mixture of dried anchovy, kombu, onion, garlic, shiitake and a few dried shrimp:



After straining you end up with a nicely savory stock:



For the Jjigae, we heated minced garlic, onion, and Korean chile powder in our individual Jjigae bowls:



We added a cup of the stock along with a bit of soft tofu, our fish and seafood (white sea bass, squid, bay scallops and asari clams), and some kale for color.



It turned out really well. Spicy, savory and rich with seafood flavor.

For Christmas dinner, we roasted a pork shoulder in the oven at low heat for 5 hours. The house smelled amazing, and the pork came out perfectly moist and sticky.



Last night we used leftover seafood and anchovy stock to make Chawanmushi:



We also have a few ongoing food projects. We brewed up a batch of our Imperial Stout earlier in the week and it has been happily bubbling away.

We also couldn't resist picking up a 10lb pork picnic shoulder roast to transform into a ham. It is currently brining in our beer fridge, and will later get smoked. It is our first time doing a ham, and we are really looking forward to the result!



Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!

Ten recipes of ours that you should make right now

This blog is almost six (!!) years old now, and we've posted quite a few recipes along the way. Here are ten of our favorites.

Go make them right now!


Lamb Rogan Josh


While Chicken Pathia is the most popular of our reverse-engineered Indian takeaway recipes, Lamb Rogan Josh is probably the one we like the best.


Pancetta Tesa


Making your own Pancetta is super easy, and doesn't require any special equipment. The rolled version is a bit more involved, but still quite manageable. Using pretty much the same technique and then smoking it afterward will get you your own Homemade Bacon.


Taco Shop Hot Sauce


We use this hot sauce almost every day - particularly at breakfast. You should, too. The green stuff is pretty darn good as well.


Cream Cheese


Cream cheese is one of the easiest cheeses you can make. Infinitely better than the store-bought stuff.


Zesty Dill Pickles


We haven't bought a jar since we started making these simple refrigerator pickles. Our version is modeled after the taste of Vlasic Zesty Dills - twangy and spicy.


Smoked Almonds


Smoked almonds are quite possibly the perfect snack food. Once you start eating them it is very, very difficult to stop.


Chile-Lime Chicken


The salty earthiness of the soy-based marinade for this chicken works so well with the acidity and chile heat from the dipping sauce.


Fish with Spicy Lentils


"Spicy" here refers to complex, intense flavors, rather than heat. It is impossible to adequately describe how delicious the lentil base for this dish is.


Cochinita Pibil


Cochinita Pibil is pork with a complexly flavored achiote marinade, cooked in banana leaves. Pure Yucatán flavor.


Chori-Migas


We first had chori-migas on a trip to Austin, and they've been a breakfast favorite ever since.

So, there you go - ten of our favorite recipes. Go make them right now!