Showing posts with label little saigon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label little saigon. Show all posts

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Central Vietnamese Cuisine at Quan Vy Da (Little Saigon, Westminster)

Not too long ago I blogged about the northern Vietnamese food during a Little Saigon North to South tour with Wandering Chopsticks. This was our second food stop, Central Vietnamese cuisine at Quan Vy Da (well, she said it was more South Central). I had been looking forward to this stop all day, because they have banh beo and banh it ram. I'm biased and I declare central my favorite food region of Vietnam, because I love chewy rice cakes!

Yes, my favorite: banh beo chen Vy Da - steamed rice cakes topped with dried shrimp, served with fish sauce ($5.95)

Banh Beo
While it may seem a simple dish, it's easy to screw it up by having the rice cake too thick or too dense. The ones at Quan Vy Da were just right for me. You can top it off with pork rinds if you want extra flavor and crunch (and yes, you do).
Banh Beo close up

Friday, June 17, 2011

Northern Vietnamese Cuisine at Vien Dong (Garden Grove, CA)

To raise money for the earthquake relief efforts in Japan, Wandering Chopsticks led a North to South Vietnamese tour in Little Saigon. I joined her and her readers who had each donated $50 to specific charities for the first parts of the tour. We started at Vien Dong in Garden Grove for Northern Vietnamese food.

While waiting for WC's other readers to arrive, we ordered some Cha Gio (Vietnamese Spring/Egg Rolls). The cha gio here is made with rice paper, which is both crispy yet maintains some chewiness when fried. This is the traditional wrapper used in Vietnam.

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PhotobucketBeing a long and late day, I had to get some Ca Phe Sua Da. They brought it out in a mini coffee press laying on top of a cup of condensed milk. It wasn't until then that I realize just how much condensed milk is in this drink! No wonder it's so tasty...

We shared an order of Banh Tom which are Vietnamese Shrimp and Yam Fritters with a turmeric batter.
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Most of the dishes we tried here were new to me, and among my favorites was the Cha Ca Thang Long (Vietnamese Hanoi-Style Turmeric Fish with Dill)
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The best part with going to eat Vietnamese food with WC is of course the knowledge you gain from her. She said that dill is mostly not used in Vietnamese food other than in the Northern part, and this dish originated from a restaurant in Hanoi which became so popular that the street is now named after the restaurant (Cha Ca). Apparently non-Northerners consider using dill strange, but I certainly liked it!

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