I
recently did a dumpling demo at the Menlo Park library where I got to meet Jay,
one of the banh mi recipe testers and a frequent visitor to this site. He told
me how he enjoyed the lists of interesting articles and products that I used to
post. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you may have seen them in
passing. But let’s be real, who has time to keep up with everything? Plus, a
140-character tweet or a long Facebook post isn’t quite the same as aggregating
and organizing a list of information that’s interesting and potentially useful
to you at a cocktail party or afternoon tea.
So
I’m thinking of reviving the lists and calling them “VWK Leftovers.” My dad, Bo
Gia (“old daddy” in Vietnamese), also culls the internet for stuff so I’d like
to give him a shout out for being a precocious 83-year-old man.
Shopping &
Eating
I
love Japanese yen ($1.50) stores but last week spent a little more money at this shop. Where else can you get a sphrerical ice cube tray? (Shouldn't that be called an ice ball tray?) At the store, there was an entire end-cap display of products to create instant double-eyelids, which make Asian eyes look bigger, more like Western eyes. Seriously.
A
UK journalist just queried me about hirata buns and I had to Google them. They’re
not Japanese, just a Japanese name slapped on Taiwanese gua bao – steamed rolls
filled with long-simmered pork or beef, cucumber and peanuts. Yep, the buns
that Momufuku made famous are trending
in the UK. Why not call the buns gua
bao?
Shanghai soup dumpling (xiao long bao) lovers, you’ll be happy to know that there’s a new Din Tai Fung opening in September. I was surprised for about 5 seconds at the location, which is posted here, not DTF’s website.
I
just got back from Los Angeles, where I ate a little too well at The Spice Table (modern Southeast
Asian), Night Market
(Northern Thai street food), Good Girl
Dinette (clever, farm-fresh Vietnamese), Musha (Tokyo-style izakaya), and Tsujita (ramen only at lunch). For non-Asian food, I had splendid meals at Bestia (urban LA Italian) and Moles La Tia (what else but mole?).
Vietnam Master
Chef Competition
A
Q&A with Harold Ngo (Ngo Thanh Hoa), the winner of
the first season of Vietnam Master Chef competition reflects how much the world
has changed. He’s an overseas Viet-Australian who returned to Vietnam to cook. The
article
comes from Vietnam and is in English.
To
see Harold in action, watch an episode; the full season is
on YouTube. It’s in Vietnamese but you get to see some cool Viet landmarks, the
inside of Viet kitchens, and modern supermarkets. You get the gist of the show
via the dramatic music.
Farming &
Food Supplies
How
China’s economic growth is affecting its food supply. Yes, it’s bad and
terribly sad. The plight of small-scale farmers in China may destabilize the
government. This WSJ story is eye-opening and I hope the paywall isn’t up when
you access “The
Bad Earth.”
The shrinking amount of farmland in Vietnam is forcing people to grow food in surprising
places.
On
an upbeat note, we can all learn a few things from Jamaica, where high imported
food costs have got people growing green thumbs and going hyper local with
their food
supply.
Bo Gia’s
discoveries
A
kick starter campaign dedicated to a very cool design for serving pho. The campaign
is over but you should check out the page to get the low down on the cleverness
of the lantern
pho bowl.
Ginseng isn’t just an Asian thing. It grows wild
in the Eastern United States and has enjoyed a long history in America. In fact,
Daniel Boone earned a little extra on the side by foraging for and selling
ginseng. Sadly, it’s endangered
and illegal
harvesting by ginseng rustlers is a major problem at National Parks.
So do you like these
kinds of posts? If you do, I’ll do them more often. Let me know. Thanks.
Related posts:
- Good Girl Dinette chef profile and a recipe for fried scallion tofu and rice snacks
- Japanese pork belly buns recipe (on Asian Dumpling Tips)
uncatim says
Yup. I like 'em.
Daniel says
Fascinating. Please do keep it up.
Candice says
I like this kind of post. I will have to visit Good Girl Dinette and Tsujita on my next LA trip. =)
Anne says
I love these miscellaneous roundups. Please keep up the great work (and your dad too)!
Andrea Nguyen says
Good! Thanks.
Andrea Nguyen says
Yeah, there's a lot of crazy stuff going on out there.
Andrea Nguyen says
The ramen at Tsujita (lunch only) is kind of amazingly good. I like the regular stuff, not the tsukemen (broth on the side for dipping).
Andrea Nguyen says
You know, my dad will love it.... 🙂
Carolyn Jung says
When will a Din Tai Fung open in the Bay Area? Now, THAT's what I'm waiting for. Got to get my fix.
Tami says
Love this. Btw, I can't wait for the DTF to open up in Seattle. It's gonna be a crazy thing but at least we don't have to trek east anymore.
Andrea Nguyen says
I dunno, Carolyn. DTF seems to like suburban space with a certain flash/bling. That mall in Arcadia, now Glendale's Americana. In San Fran, there's no such space yet.
Andrea Nguyen says
Lucky you! You had to move from the Bay Area to get a DTF fix. Ha. Where's it going to be located in Seattle? I know of the one in Bellevue.
Tami says
I know, seriously!! My sister is so jealous. It's gonna be in a new complex at the U-mall. More traffic jams for soup dumplings!
terri says
Yes, please keep posting these "leftovers." Many thanks to you and your dad for finding them!
sansai says
I love that your dad gets in on the action. And a nice find, now if he had only found that before it closed! can you get him to work on that? Love these posts. I hadn't seen even 1 of those links/stories.
Maggie says
I like leftovers! Reading about China's food challenges, I feel churlish complaining that only local ingredients are available in the region of France where I'm holidaying (only French cheeses, veg and wine in the local supermarket).
Kitt says
Love that pho bowl. And wish there were a Din Tai Fung in Denver! Or any decent soup dumplings at all.
I love these interesting nibbles.
Dave T says
I got a couple of the lantern pho bowls! They are nice, but maybe not as nice as you'd expect for $40 each, you know?
I've needed some Ramen & Pho bowls for a while (none of my bowls are large enough) so these fill that need!
Andrea Nguyen says
Dave T -- so the lantern bowls are more like functional art pieces. Got it. They may be worth big money some day. Slurp on!
jorgebob28 says
The lantern bowl seems to suffer from the same problem that afflicts bowls used by some of the "fashionable" pho houses here in Seattle, the bowl's too deep in relation to the diameter. It makes it a pain to eat because one's "angle of attack" becomes more vertical. No matter how far up the chopsticks one grips, the edge of the bowl interferes with your hand.