BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: Steve in Idaho
Date: 25 Jan 01 - 11:04 AM

Yes Mark I have tasted San Magoo. We loved it as it tasted great even when warm! Ice was a luxury we usually didn't have so this was our favorite. Seems like we only had three or four selections, Budweiser (my Aussie Mate called this stuff worse than drinking P*ss - and we called it B**twipe), Schlitz (your imagination will tell you what we called this stuff), 33, and Pabst I think. So when the occasional San Magoo showed up we were happy campers. My First Sergeant saved a bunch up and we got toasty on it for the Marine Corps Birthday in 1965 up at Phu Bai.

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: MarkS
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 11:37 PM

Hi Norton - Did you ever have the chance to try San Miguel out of the Phillipines? RUN to get some if you can. Its like Ba Mui Ba but without the formaldehyde.
MarkS

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: Susan A-R
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 08:30 PM

I'm HUNBRY!!!!! It's good food. I believe that they also do awesome stuff with mangos.

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: Steve in Idaho
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 01:56 PM

dwditty, marks, and folk1234 - been there and done that! I still love Vietnamese food! And you are correct that folks don't want to know how Nuoc Mam sauce is made!! And BTW - Thank you for your service to your country.

As far as "Guest's" comment - I wonder if this is the same bigoted racist who was on the last Viet Nam thread? Maybe the outfit that runs this forum could block his/her ISP? Semper Fidelis - Steve

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: guinnesschik
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 12:16 PM

We have a very large Vietnamese community near us, and Pho is about the BEST hangover cure in the WORLD! And, it's also the best thing to try if you're a newbie.

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: folk1234
Date: 24 Jan 01 - 09:47 AM

Lonesome EJ:
The beer is "33", or in Vietnamese, "Ba Mui Ba". We had a Vietnamese Marine Corps Advisors' reunion several years ago and someone brought a case of 33. It sure was good. I remember having 33 poured over salt water ice in some small village. Sounds terrible now, but it was fine then.

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: alison
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 12:48 AM

they also do marinated meats that you BBQ on your table on a little burner thing.... yummmmmmmmm

add my vote for pho.... great stuff, (my only problem is that they are usually pretty salty)

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 23 Jan 01 - 12:27 AM

Soft shell crab fried in batter is really good. I also like what is usually called "noodle bowl", shrimp, chopped egg roll, along with noodles and fresh vegetables including mint and cilantro. Great stuff. What's the beer called? "55"?

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: Lepus Rex
Date: 22 Jan 01 - 06:54 PM

their=it's

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: Lepus Rex
Date: 22 Jan 01 - 06:53 PM

Ever notice when a lame-ass member wants to share one of their fucking hilarious racist jokes, it deletes it's cookie first?

---Lepus Rex

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Jan 01 - 06:13 PM

Ever notice when a Vietnamese restaurant opens, the stray dog population goes down in the neighborhood?

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 22 Jan 01 - 11:10 AM

Hot as in spicy is no problem for me. My sis-in-law once made a chili con carne and misread teaspoons for tablespoons and I was the only one who finished it ("...and Sid's and Bill's...."). I don't know when we'll get around to trying it but the contributions here have been a great help.
RtS

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: folk1234
Date: 22 Jan 01 - 11:01 AM

Vietnamese cuisine is one of our favorites. Having spent one year with the Vietnamese Marine Corps, I became quite familiar their food and culture. Later when we lived in North Branford CT, a VN refugee family opened a restaurant in the Branford Town Square. We got to know these folks and found that we had some mutual Vietnamese friends. The wife also wrote a cookbook.
A fish sauce 'nuoc mam', is the basis of VN cooking. Don't ask me how its made - you don't want to know. However you DO want to use this amazing sauce. A little splash on any meats or veggies adds a wonderful flavor. It is also a great marinade. If you add garlic, sugar, red pepper, and lime to nuoc mam, you will have 'nuoc cham'. It is one of the wonderful dipping suaces frequently served in VN restaurants. Its not thick and red, rather it is brown and clear, with bits of pepper, lime, and garlic suspended/floating in it.
I agree with Rana, above, about 'pho'. The soups make a fine lunch bacause they are so very light and they contain so many various items. You may find 2 or 3 meats, cut very thinly, a type of cabbage, perhaps bok choy, other greens, including lemon grass and scalions, garlic and other herbs, perhaps Vietnamese cilantro, maybe a little shired egg, and of course that ubiquitous nuoc mam. Then at the table you must add the bean sprouts, freash basil leaves, (where do they get such beautiful herbs?)and lime.
My wife does great VN pork roast, baby back ribs, and fish recipes - all with many of the above ingredients.
As with all 'good' ethnic food. Avoid the large very popular (with Americans) restaurants. They are much more likely to be mostly Chinese (American style) spin offs. Seek out the VN section of town. We have a fine "Little Vietnam" area in OK City where we eat and shop.

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: Jeremiah McCaw
Date: 20 Jan 01 - 03:36 PM

Brantford (Ontario, Canada) has one of the country's best Viet restaurants: "Quan 99" (at 99 Colborne Street). Ask Garnet Rogers.

Hot & sour soup is quite different from the Chinese version. They have a won ton soup that is close to Cantonese, yet quite distinctive.

One caveat: peanuts are often an ingredient in many dishes.

Having said that, wade on in. It'll be fun.

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Jan 01 - 12:29 AM

PS, the restaurant I referred to above was in a Vietnamese neighborhood-- home cooking for new arrivals in the city of Chicago. So... maybe the trendier places are as tame as the "genuine" Thai restaurants I have visited.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: MarkS
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 08:56 PM

Hey dwditty - Did you ever light a ball of C-4 and then tell a cherry to step on it? Really though, C-4 sure worked better than heat tabs.
MarkS

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 03:48 PM

I beg to differ on the topic of heat-- hot can be VERY HOT. Be sure you ASK, and watch out for innocent looking hot oil... there was some served as a condiment with spring rolls, I neaarly had to go to the ER. Really. ASK.

And, oh, there was a funny story, but CRS prevents me from recalling who I heard it from, it may have been here at Mudcat in a thread. It involved hot oil migrating to a location neither spouse would wish to inflict on purpose to the other, unless of course settlement negotiations have failed.

Be sure you wash hands and mouths before you head for home!!!!

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 03:12 PM

I love food and I'm willing to try just about anything. I've had Vietnamese only once and quite enjoyed it. I moved out of the area that the restaurant was located not long after trying it otherwise I would have gone back. I found it lighter and sweeter than the the other styles of Oriental food that I've tried (Szechuan, Cantonese, Japanese, Thai). I also found it to be the least filling of the bunch. All in all quite different to the others, quite refreshing. I found it to be a good summer meal, but I prefer a hardier meal this time of year.

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: NH Dave
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 02:08 PM

Check out the menu yourself a couple of times to see what is available and how hot they cook it. Ethnic food will vary by location depending on what is available locally. I recall finding sweet pickle in Chinese food in Oslo once.
If you live near a large city with a good sized Vietnamese community, this will make it easier for the restauranteur to find ethnic raw materials, otherwise he will use local substitutes.

Dave

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: Chocolate Pi
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 12:46 PM

Vietnamese restaurant food, like Japanese and Chinese but unlike Thai, often contains a lot of monosodium glutamate; for those of us who are MSG-sensitive, Thai is ususally the best option.


Chocolate Pi

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: kimmers
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 12:31 PM

Vietnamese is a great compromise for the couple who wants both the familiar and the exotic. There are usually plenty of Chinese standards on the menu, but it's the Vietnamese dishes that really shine. Flavors of soy, sugar and garlic are present, just as in Chinese cooking, but you'll also find additions such as lemongrass and hot chili paste. And the French influence does show up as well, especially in some of the chicken dishes.

Our local Vietnamese place does a great veggie noodle dish with eggplant and fried tofu. Yum!

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: mousethief
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 12:24 PM

Love Vietnamese food. The noodle dishes are especially good, but there's a sort of do-it-yourself burrito type meal, except instead of tortillas you use lettuce leaves. Delish. And Pho is to die for. You have to go the whole hog, and put in all the sprouts and mint leaves and squeeze the lime wedge, and squirt rooster sauce and hoisin sauce into it. Heaven in a bowl!

Then again I love just about all food.

Alex

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: Biskit
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 12:05 PM

don't order anything with the eyes still in it

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: GUEST,Rana
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 12:04 PM

Lots of Vietnamese restaurants within 5 min of work - replacing some of the chinese ones.

Certainly not as spicy as Thai and can be much lighter than Chinese.

The soups (Pho) make a meal - beef slices in a broth which basically cooks it (unless well-done requested). Can also have beef balls. The soup will have noodles and then you add basis or colantra, pepper alime and bean sprouts.

Other staples are X and y with vermicelli, X might be pork, chicken etc, Y might be spring rolls. A cold summer roll is also good, pasta type roll which encloses bean sprouts, shrimps maybe etc and you eat cold dipping in a peanut sauce. There are lots of other dishes including curries etc. The coffee drink is a favourite of a colleague. Expresso amount of coffee dripped onto evaporated milk, stirred and then poured into a glassful of ice.

Might just pop out now for a pho - runs at about 3.99 canadian dollars for a large filling bowl.

Cheers Rana

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: Biskit
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 12:04 PM

don't order anything with the eyes still in it

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: dwditty
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 11:54 AM

Find out if they cook by lighting a ball of C4 plastic explosive. That's what I used to do. Talk about flash cooking.

dw

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: GUEST,Russ
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 11:22 AM

I've eaten at lots of Vietnamese restaurants east of the Mississippi. I have found them as a group to be more variable than Chinese and Thai. Not in terms of quality but in terms of flavors. Some serve food indistinguishable from Chinese, some serve food clearly related to Chinese but with very interesting and often delicious twists. Personally, the most disappointing have been those most indistinguishable from Chinese. When I'm in the mood for Chinese I go to a Chinese restaurant. Bottom line: you won't know what your local restaurant serves until you actually taste it.

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: Lady McMoo
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 09:38 AM

I regularly eat Vietnamese food, one of my favourites, as we have a number of reasonably-priced Vietnamese restaurants near us in Brussels. In general, it's healthy and easily-digested food, and less spicy and hot than Indian or Thai.

Enjoy your meals!

mcmoo

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: CamiSu
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 09:32 AM

The best restaurant in the town north of us (located under the Post Office and next to the dumpster--honest!) has these heavenly Vietnamese sweet potato fritter things with sauce... now MY stomache is rumbling!

CamiSu

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 08:42 AM

Thanks, guys, (I'll try not to drool on my keyboard). If we manage to find an evening when we're both free at the same time and manage to get there I'll report back.
RtS

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: Allan C.
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 08:28 AM

I have to agree with Spaw. If you want particulars, go to this site:

http://www.vietgate.net/vietnam/cooking/

and click on a recipe or two to see what they're made of.

Subject: RE: BS: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: catspaw49
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 08:14 AM

If she likes Thai, she'll like Vietnamese.

Spaw

Subject: Vietnamese food?Advice please.
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 08:06 AM

A pub I pass on the way to work has been transmogrified into a Vietnamese restaurant. I quite fancy trying it as I've never had Vietnamese food. I like Chinese, Thai (and Indian, Italian, French, Greek, let's face it I like FOOD!) but if I am to persuade Herself to join in I need some information.
I imagine there are plenty of Vietnamese restaurants in the States so I hope someone can tell me what their food is like. I guess Chinese ingredients with a French touch?
I know most 'Catters are foodies as well as musos so I have high hopes of helpful hints (hey, that was h'alliteration!)
RtS (the diet starts tomorrow, honest)