Saigon Remembered

We were going to spend the day in Fells Point, but my allergies were kicking my ass so much, I couldn't walk and breathe at the same time. And there's lots of walking to be done in Fells Point. So we stayed home. I scrounged around the medicine cabinet and found a decade-old Sudafed, which I popped while cursing the fact that the stuff is hard to get a hold of these days. Fkn meth addicts. Eventually I was able to breathe well enough to walk from the parking lot to a restaurant, so we discussed where we should go for dinner. Not to Fells Point, since Towson and environs were so much closer. Granted, there's not as much choice for good grub in the 'burbs, but we do ok.

One restaurant we hadn't been to in ages had moved to a new location a couple years back, so it seemed like a good idea to revisit the place. Saigon Remembered, once across the street from the Senator Theater, is now in a shopping center on Cranbrook Road in Cockeysville. The new digs are smaller and prettier, simple and elegant with light colors and white tablecloths. The menu seemed less voluminous than in the past. I once found it a bit intimidating, but now it was easy to navigate.

I knew right away that I wanted their grape leaves appetizer. Absolutely nothing like the familiar Mediterranean preparation stuffed with rice and sauced with lemon, the Vietnamese version is stuffed with tender marinated beef before being skewered and grilled. While not as charred as the ones I've eaten at Saigon Remembered in the past, these were still delicious, especially when dipped in the little ramekin of nuoc cham. Nuoc cham is the ubiquitous dipping sauce of Vietnam, made with fish sauce, garlic, sugar, and rice vinegar and/or lime juice. It's savory, sweet, and tangy all at the same time and perfect with pretty much everything on the table.

That include the rolls that we also ordered. Saigon Remembered has a large selection of the soft rice paper-wrapped rolls that are sometimes called summer rolls. They are typically filled with vermicelli noodles, herbs, and a protein or two. We chose grilled shrimp for ours, and I must say I was a bit disappointed. While Mr Minx seems to have received a whole shrimp in his roll, mine was mostly noodles. For $7.50, I expect a bit more, especially since I can make these at home fairly easily.

We also tried the papaya salad, which was quite different from the spicy and sour Thai version we are used to. At Saigon remembered, the shredded green papaya has a sweet, but not spicy, dressing, and includes a generous amount of both medium shrimp and bits of pork, plus the unexpected addition of Thai basil. The accompanying dish of nuoc cham and giant fried shrimp chips added punches of extra flavor and crunch.

After we polished of our appetizers, we headed on to entrees. I ordered the golden crepe, which I had never had before. It was huge and resembled a giant omelette. The crepe itself was light and crisp, embedded with bits of shrimp and onion and filled with a plethora of bean sprouts. The filling was a bit bland, but livened up when I added the nuoc cham, pickled carrot and daikon, and Thai basil on the side.

Mr Minx went for the chicken in a clay pot. The chicken and black mushrooms over a layer of steamed rice were bathed in a rather pungent and savory ginger sauce, without a hint of the sweetness we're used to in Vietnamese food (keep in mind we've never been to Vietnam!). I'm not sure how I felt about the dish, but Mr Minx seemed to like it quite a bit.

I remember being disappointed when Saigon Remembered closed its doors a few years back, mostly because of the terrible loss of those beef-stuffed grape leaves. But now I can rest assured I can have them any time I want, along with a plethora of other Vietnamese dishes. Next time: pho.




Posted on Minxeats.com.

Memorial Day Snacks

Come holiday time, I tend to bite off more than I can chew. I always plan a grandiose menu of items and kill myself cooking and for what? A blog post or two. Not that my guests aren't receptive to my fare, but I could probably serve hot dogs and make them just as happy.

(Note from MinxBro: Hot dogs would not make me happy.)

This sweaty Memorial Day, Mr Minx dragged out the grill and cooked up a beer can chicken, pork chops, and skewered shrimp, all with an Asian flavor profile. The beer can chicken got a dose of Cambodian lemongrass curry seasoning, the pork chops were marinated in coconut milk, ginger, and garlic, and the shrimp we all garlick-ed up. But man does not live by meat alone, so I whipped up some coconut gazpacho  (this time adding red bell pepper and cucumber, hold the onion), and a cucumber/radish salad.

But that's not all, folks. I also made what I'm going to call tǎn zhū, or pigs in a blanket, Chinese-style.

Basically, I used puff pastry, a la the samosas I made last week, to encase a mixture of sautéed onion, Chinese sausage (lap cheong), and raw scallion. Served with a dipping sauce made from hoisin, sesame oil, and soy, they were a big hit.

I also made some summer rolls stuffed with chicken meatballs made with this recipe, with carrot, radish, and cucumber, plus fresh mint, basil, and cilantro from the garden. Not pretty, but really really good.

(The dark bits in the meatballs are chia seeds to add moisture. See this post for more info.)

After all that prep, I wasn't about to make dessert. Luckily, Yia Yia's was open and my brother picked up a huge cherry pie, which we served with coffee ice cream.

And a good time was had by all. Hope your Memorial Day was as tasty. :)

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

Ma Peche

Because I had enjoyed Momofuku Ssam Bar last Spring and wanted to experience more of Chang's Asian-esque food, the first thing I did when I arrived in New York last Friday was to make a bee-line to Ma Peche, David Chang's first Midtown restaurant.

Ma Peche is a larger restaurant than Ssam Bar, but to maximize the space most of the seating is at communal tables. I'm not a big fan of eating with strangers, but this time I really lucked out. Across the table from me was a lovely couple, Blaine and Tim, who were celebrating Tim's birthday with a Changian feast. Like me, they were foodies, and did not object to my obnoxious photo-taking.

summer rolls – shrimp, lettuce, hoisin, peanut

I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to eat. The menu offers a three course prix fixe for $25, with a Milk Bar cookie serving as dessert. I find those to be a bit too sweet for my taste, so instead I opted to spend a few more dollars and order a la carte. I chose a fairly tame appetizer - the summer rolls stuffed with shrimp, pickled carrot and daikon, lettuce, and the unusual addition of long pieces of scallion and grissini (Italian bread stick) which stuck out of the back end. Also unusual was that instead of whole crustaceans, the shrimp appeared to be in the form of a mousse, cut into pieces.

While the flavors were fine and traditional, I think I would have preferred the natural crunch of a well-cooked shrimp over the artificial crunch of the bread stick.

pork ribs (newman’s farm, mo) – thai basil, lemongrass caramel

For my second course, I chose the pork ribs. The ribs themselves were toothsome, yet fall-off-the-bone tender at the same time. Unfortunately, the caramel sauce was so extremely sweet, I couldn't really taste the lemongrass or Thai basil at all.

While chatting with my tablemates about food and blogging and whatnot, they decided that I needed to taste more of the menu's offerings; to allow me to do this, they shared their food.

Clockwise, from top: fried shrimp po boy
pork loin chop
rice noodles with lamb ragout

I have to admit that I am spoiled by the po' boys at Cajun Kate's. While Chang's version was delicious, I felt it was a bit over-sauced. My favorite on the very generous sample plate was the loin chop, which was nearly fork-tender and had a very subtle flavor profile. The noodles, however, were not quite what I expected. I'm used to Chinese rice noodles, which are soft and slightly chewy; these Bún du riz had been crisped a bit, making them very chewy and rather crusty. While I know that's the texture that was intended, it reminded me too much of pasta that had been left out or uncovered for a long period of time and had air dried. The sauce itself was an interesting Bolognese-like concoction with a huge chile kick that I'd love to try on softer noodles.

Because it was Tim's birthday, they had ordered a small Milk Bar cake, which they also very kindly shared with me. The cake was pretty much straight-up banana bread, accented by the various textures of fudge and crunch. Mmm!

Banana Cake - banana cream, hazelnut crunch, gianduja fudge

While I wasn't as impressed by this meal as by the one at Ssam Bar, I did enjoy it, particularly the company. Thanks again, guys, for sharing! And once again, happy birthday Tim!

Ma Peche
15 W. 56th St.
New York, NY 10019
www.momofuku.com/ma-peche/
(212) 757-5878


Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.