finecognac

I think "mi" means "egg noodle" and "lacay" means "soup." ("Hu tieu" means "rice noodle.")

Speaking of noodles, I wonder how Greg Oden's (*) week is going (probably better than John Edwards').

(*) Get it? Noodle? Oden? Wo[n]ton?

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ETA - "You fucked up. You trusted us." -- Otter

I think Lacay either was the name of the the area or a famous noodle house within a Chinese enclave ( Cholon) in Saigon. I incline to think the earlier.

Hu tieu is the broth which can be used with either rice noodle (Pho noodle) or tapioca noode ( Hu Tieu Dai-dai means chewy).

When a dish is referred to a area, it indicates what kind of tradition that dish is based on. Hu Tieu My Tho should be made according to the My Tho tradition with southern Vietnam and Cambode influence ( clearer broth) as opposed to Lacay which is more of Chinese influence ( broth is similar to Chinese noodle house).

I think Hương and Hưng are the same word, they both mean district but I don't know when one is used vs the other. As for Sông, I think it might mean river.

Hương means fragrant as in Sông Hương-fragant river. Hưng means favorable, raise, good in business sense. Sông means river while Song means 2 or twin as in Song Long means twin dragons. Phát means prosperity.

So Hưng Phát (Grocery Store) means good prosperity for the store and Song Phát means twin prosperity for the restaurant. Sông Phát is not the right name.

You are the one that called looking at a dirty sole abusive and you are questioning my logic?

May be you enjoy looking at dirty sole right next to your table while eating. I don't. As for me, I will never go to that restaurant again.

Same dirty sole, same distance from your table, I am not sure why it would matter whether there was an issue with her leg or not. Either way, unless you are looking to be offended, such things are easily ignored.

According to your logic, there should be no first and second degree crime because either way, the same crime was committed. To me the difference is whether the event is beyond a person ability to control. I am not looking to be offended and usually just ignore these sort of things. I didn't expect the manager to do much beyond dropping a hint like "Can we take your coats".

I agree that having someone intrude upon your personal space is annoying but I'm not sure that any restaurant would've done anything to rectify the situation. I think if this situation happens, you're just hosed. It's kind of like getting stuck next to a fat person on the plane (few airlines will require that person to buy 2 seats).

Agree!. I would not complaint sitting next to a bigger person on an airplane and believe me, I put up with more than my share. I would if that person lean over and breath down my neck and that is what I think this situation is.

Again, did you make any attempt to ask her to stop? If you had, and been informed that she had a leg problem would that have changed your take on the situation?

No, I thought I ask the manager. Yes, it would. No, she did not have a leg problem as evident by her moving about. She was sitting in the bench big enough for 2 persons and she was almost laying on it. The only thing I was hoping for was that the manager offered to take the coats away.

Would you also blame the restaurant if the person sitting at the table across from you was chewing with their mouth open and food falling out? By chance did you bother to politely ask the woman to move her foot? I guess the reason I thought that this might be some horrible attempt at jest is that you found it abusive to have to look at someone's sole.

There is a difference. There is an invisible border between her table and mine and crossing that border with your dirty sole up is different than staying within your table and chew with the mouth open or talking loud. I think there is a different between showing it and pushing it !

I was aware that displying the soles of your shoes is considered rude in Arab cultures, but was not aware of similar opprobrium attached to such behavior here in the states. Annoying, yes; but I am not sure I would write off a restaurant based on this one incident. Would you have been similarly outraged if seated next to someone who sat with legs crossed to reveal the soles of his/her shoes (i.e., not crosssed in the fashion you see on talk shows, but the other way closer to a right angle)?

First, I am not Arab.

Second, I would be annoyed but not outraged if the legs were crossed. The leg was straight on the bench almost touching our table. We were wondering if there is anything wrong with her leg !

This is a joke... right?

Why is it a joke ?

I went to Black Salt for lunch today. Didn't even know it was a Restaurant week. I generally avoid the restaurant week because services and foods are not usually up to the normal standard

Anyway, we were seated next to 3 older ladies in the bench section and one of the ladies sitting by herself in the bench had like 3 coats on the bench and she was sort of almost laying on the bench with her leg stretching out to almost to my table with her sole prominently displayed. I asked the manager if anybody can talk to the lady to ask her put her feet down and the manager said no. He basically said He can't do anything about it as long as the customer is not abusive to others. I guess spending your whole lunch looking at some body dirty sole is not abusive to him. I still don't understand why a manager in the service field can not come up with indirection and discretion like asking the lady "May we take your coats!".

I went to Black Salt many times before but this is my last !

After 3 years reading in here, I think it's about time I introduce myself. I live in Falls Church, VA and am of Vietnamese origin. Started cooking a few years ago and not a very good one even thought my wife thinks I am the best cook in the world. I started cooking after watching Goodfellas, The Score, The Godfather and realized that tough dudes cook. I learned and continue to learn from members here. Thank you !

Did you pick them up at Rodmans?

Yes. At Rodmans. I think they only have 1 case.

Bought 2 4 pack of Founders' breakfast stout on Tuesday. Drinking it right now. Tasty bastard!

Open since Father's Day, I decided to stop in after a grueling match to cheer myself up. Owned by Tom and Theresa Nugen (pronounced Noojin, an alternate spelling of Nguyen),

No, that's not an alternate spelling of Nguyen. Nguyen is pronounced win - 1 syllable. The person change her name based on the wrong pronunciation. Sad, it really is.

How did you like it? I didn't think there was much of a difference between their soup and the ones commonly found at Cantonese restaurants but it's been a long time since I've had Cantonese egg noodle soup (I don't like the thin Cantone egg noodle at all).

Take it from a Vietnamese. The foods serve in there is loaded with MSG !

Sorry, I have to correct myself once again because it's actually huge blocks of bone marrow. I have always requested to have it removed from the soup because it reminds me of liver (not in a good way).

Anyway, here is the recipe:

Bun Rieu - Crab Meat Noodle Soup

3 qts. chicken broth, 2 qts. water

1/2 lb. Shrimp (peeled, devined and cut into small pieces)

3 1/2 oz. Crab paste (even better with real cooked crab meat)

4 large eggs

1 pkg. rice noodle (bu'n)

3 1/2 Tbls. cooking oil

1 bundle green onion (chopped)

1 medium onion (chopped)

3 cloves garlic (minced)

4 large tomatoes (each cut into quarters)

1 cup ketchup

2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 cup hot chili sauce

1/2 cup Vietnamese fish sauce

1/2 cup Shrimp sauce (ma'm to^m)

1 pkg of Bu'n (Vietnamese rice noodle)

1/2 lb. fresh bean sprouts

1 head green lettuce

2 Limes (cut into wedges)

1 bundle of fresh mint

**This internet recipe forgot to add: FISH PASTE. That is the most important ingredient to Bun Rieu.

1. In a large pot, combine 3 qts. of chicken broth with 2 qts. of water. Bring to boil. Meanwhile, peel and devine the shrimps. Chop it into small pieces. Add 1/2 tsp. pepper, 1/2 tsp. salt and sugar and mix well. Chop green onion into small pieces. Place in a bowl and set aside. Also, chop the white onion in small pieces. Cut each tomato into quarters. Mince the garlic. Clean bean sprouts and green lettuce. Cut lettuce cross-wise about 1/4 inch wide. Also cut the mints into small pieces. In a bowl, mix bean sprouts, lettuce, and mint together. Set aside.

2. When the broth boils, reduce heat to medium and add ketchup to broth. Then, in a frying pan, heat 2 Tbls. oil. When oil is hot, add garlic. Mix for 10-20 minutes and add shrimp and chopped white onion. Saute the shrimp for about 2 minutes. Place the cooked shrimp in a bowl, add eggs and crab paste and mix well. Slowly pour the shrimp mixture into the broth. Add tomatoes and turn the heat down to low. Let it cook like this for 10 minutes and then turn the heat up to high. Do not try to stir up the shrimp mixture or else it will not form nice chunky clusters. When the broth boils, it will mix everything up.

3. Mean while, cook the noodle in a boiling water for 7-10 minutes or per directions on the package. When rice noodle is cooked, add 1 tsp. of oil, stir well so the noodles don't stick. Rinse noodles with cold water and drain well.

4. When the broth returns to boil and shrimp paste floats to the surface, taste the broth to see if more salt and sugar are need. If needed, add more salt or sugar depending on your taste. Add the green onion pieces and 1/2 tsp. of oil to broth and turn off heat. Cut the lime into wedges and set aside.

5. Put the vegetable mix on a plate along with wedges of lime. Place noodles in a bowl and pour hot bu'n rieu soup into the bowl on top of noodle. Serve hot with hot chili sauce, shrimp sauce, and fish sauce if needed.

There shouldn't be any bone marrow in bun rieu. What you think is liver is actual rieu which is crab meat paste. Where did you get recipe for this ? Bun rieu is made from crab meat catched in the river. This recipe is terrible and does not even have any crabs in it.

Here is a authentic Bun Rieu recipe if you are up to it. Not even the restaurants in Eden do it this way cause it just too time consuming. They use mostly pork broth.

Crack 6 live maryland crabs open, quarter the meats and mash them till they become fine paste. Mix them with 6 quarts of water, use your fingers to rub out the meat of the crab and let them mix with water, filter the shells of the crab, what you have left is milky water. Bring it to a slow simmer, not hard boil, pour in a cup of fish sauce and let it simmer, you will see the crab meat stick together and float to the top, take them out. What you have left is the crab broth for Bun Rieu. Let it simmers.

If you have crab meats in the can, mix them with fish sauce, freshly ground black pepper to taste and 2 egg white, scoop them slowly in the broth, there's your rieu.

Use 2 tomatoes, cut each into 8 pieces, fried tofu ( I bought them already made in Thanh Son tofu in Eden), slice 2 shallots into thin pieces and slice some garlic as well.

in a sauce pan, heat up annato seed oil, put in tomatoes, shallots, fried tofu, stir fry for about 3 minutes and pour them into the broth.

Bring the soup to taste with salt.

You can serve your Bun rieu with noodle of course, add banana blossoms that were shredded, Kinh Gioi, Tia To, mints, hot pepper, slice of lime, pork blood, all the standard that you see they serve in Eden and no bean sprout please. If you use shrimp paste (mam ruot), take enough of the broth in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil, keep the crab meat separate, add shrimp paste and mix well. I don't eat shrimp paste uncooked.

Sorry, I do not have detail written instruction, it's from observation and doing it at least once a month. My wife loves bun so I alternatively cook bun rieu, bun bo hue, pho, hu tieu every week for her. The smashing, mixing and filtering of the crab is hard labor. It takes me an average of 3 hours just to do that. but if you're patient enough, you will be rewarded with the sweetest Bun Rieu you ever taste.

Cheers

Care to share yours then?

Sure, which type chicken or beef ?

Nhu Lan pulls out a bit of bread to spread on far too much "mayonnaise" - an oily, yellow spread that I don't want to know the details of. Song Que used far less spread, theirs having more of an orange tint. The "Bi" itself is a little hash of tiny, shredded, steamed pork meat mixed in with shredded, steamed pork skin, the mild pork skin looking like vermicelli in long, thin strips, and having a texture not unlike tripe or jellyfish. Both sandwiches used shredded strips of turnip and carrot, Song Que's being marinated a bit more in a sugarized vinegar. Song Que opted for some jalapeno, and Nhu Lan went with some cilantro and a bit more sweet onion.

Cheers,

Rocks.

The mayonnaise is nothing but egg yolks beat "butter". I don't know how nasty egg yolk beater is.

Bi is cooked pig skin cut to thin long strips and mix with dried-rice crumbs. There should be no meat there if you only ask for Bi. BTW, Bi is a Chinese word for skin.

Has anyone tried to make Pho at home? I did find a few online recipes from the usual suspects epicurious, recipezaar, and food network. Any others out there?

Cook it at home every 2 weeks. Wouldn't trust any of the recipes listed.

There are not a lot of good options for Hu tieu in this area. Little Saigon is better than Hai Duong for sure. You can also try Viet bistro. I made them myself

Sorry. You're doomed. Hu Tieu is never good out in a restaurant, in my opinion.

You should try the Bun Rieu (Tomato Soup with Crabmeat, Shrimp, Liver, and Vermicelli) on the West Side of Eden Center diagonally across from the Gift store. I also like Thanh Long in Saigon East for almost everything except the Banh Xeo.

Liver in Bun Rieu ? What's next ? Pasta for lomein ?

Thanks for the kind review, Joe!  I'm still working, by the way, on the identity of the mystery vegetable in that appetizer dish.  I now have come to realize that the third and fourth characters refer to a famous historical figure in Chinese imperial history, the great beauty Yang Guifei, who was a particular inspiration for a number of dishes.  Unfortunately, this does not help to figure out what the vegetable is, but it might imply that it's more the preparation that's important than the actual vegetable used.  The search continues.

Those dishes must have some lychee in it. She was known to have a deep affection for lychee and the story was that her lover ( the emperor's adopted son) had to ride the horse all the way from the south to the capitol with her favorite fruit to make her happy.

Order online. http://www.thefreshlobstercompany.com/Merc...roduct_Count=15

or

http://www.farm-2-market.com/products/scallops.html

I've not tried either, if you do let us know. Welcome to DR.com. What dish are you hoping to make for your wife (lucky woman!)?

F2M has live spiny lobsters. Jerk lobstersssssss yum.......

Was it a recent visit?  I used to go to Pho Xe Lua pretty often and never had that experience.  I have not visited in a while and am sad to hear it about this.

I agree that Pho 50 is very good.

Not too recent but I do not see the need to try again. We do not go out for pho any more. We make it at home. Now, we can slurp all the broth we want without worrying about MSG.

Sorry for the late chime in but Pho Xe Lua in Eden uses too much MSG in their broth. I ate there once and had to douche myself with .gallons of water to quench my thirst

If you want real authentic pho that do not use much MSG then you should try pho 50 in loehmann plaza at the corner of route 50 and graham rd

The saw tooth herb is very common nowsaday and you can get it in almost any vietnamese groceries store for 50 cents a bag. Just ask them for ngo gai. That's an essential herb for tiet canh ( gelatinous duck/chicken blood) which I doubt many will indulge given the bird flu scare.

I am about 2 minutes from Great Wall. I don't shop there as much cause I think their vegs are not that good. They need sprinkler system for their vegs. I'll check them out again.