Pickling

One of my earliest memories of pickling with my parents was when I was 6yrs old. My parents had these huge wide mouth one gallon glass jars that would pickle different veggies. I fondly remember them making Som Pak Gaht (pickled mustard greens), spicy kimchi, some sort of sweet and sour pickled veggies (radishes, napa cabbage, green onions, and other veggies I can't remember), and of course the pickled chili peppers to eat with pho.

I thought I would attempt pickling. I have a great love for banh mi and I like to have some pickled carrots/daikon for when the banh mi craving hits me. I had bought some ready pickled carrots/daikon from the Asian market once and it tasted awful. It wasn't anything like the pickles from my beloved Saigon.

I searched the interweb for a recipe and found this one :

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. carrots -shredded in food processor, sliced in thin rounds or thin match-like strips.
1/2 lb. daikon radish – cut same as carrots.
3 cups warm water
3 Tablespoons distilled or rice vinegar
2-3 tablespoons sugar, depending on how sweet you want your pickles
2 tablespoons salt

1. Mix warm water, vinegar, sugar and salt until everything is dissolved. Choose a pitcher or bowl with a lip that can be used for pouring mixture.

2. Peel, wash and cut daikon & carrots to desired size. Combine both together in bowl and blot dry with paper towel.

3. Fill carrot & daikon mixture into a tight lid jar, bowl or similar container.

4. Pour liquid salt mixture into carrot & daikon container till full. Close lid and let it pickle for about 3-5 days, or till desired sourness. For immediate use, let marinade for about 1 hour.

Pickled Thai Chili Peppers

When I eat pho (my most favorite dish since I was a little girl) I only use certain condiments and garnishes. I like to season my bowl of pho with some fish sauce, sugar, white pepper,and lime juice. Then I top it with fried garlic, chopped green onion and cilantro, lots of bean sprouts, and Thai basil. And I always have a small dish with pickled thai chili peppers and shrimp paste (kapi).

I don't have an exact recipe for this.

*Fresh peppers, cleaned and stems removed

*Cloves of garlic, peeled

*Distilled white vinegar, enough to fill entire jar

*Salt

*Sugar

I put my peppers and 2 garlic cloves in my small jar. I then poured some vinegar into a measuring cup and added 3 T sugar and 1 t salt and stirred. I then added the liquid into the jar and added more vinegar until the entire jar was all the way filled with liquid. The pickle is left out on the counter for 2 days then afterwards refrigerated.

I hope it turns out good. I look forward to eating a lot of pho and noodle soups now.

Hao Vi Chinese Restaurant

Hao Vi

4451 University Ave.

San Diego, CA

(619) 280-8688

I was craving shrimp fried rice and was too lazy to drive to National City for it. I love the fried rice at Golden Chopsticks. So I drove along University Ave. and saw this restaurant. I parked on the street and went in. It was a hole in the wall but the lady behind the counter and the server were so friendly so I grabbed a menu and looked it over quickly and placed my order.

I wanted shrimp fried rice and beef chow foon dry.

The portions were huge, but I don't think I liked the flavors of the food. The fried rice was lacking umm what's that called, the taste of being cooked in a wok.
And this is not what I ordered and on top of that it was not 'dry'. I don't like sauces or soupy food unless I'm eating a soup. This noodle dish tasted ok, but I was expected wider or larger rice noodles.

I thought that if I liked the food, I would return and dine in. While I was waiting for my order, I watched as the restaurant filled up. I noticed that upon seating the customers, the server would take over water, a plate of you char kway (Chinese fried bread stick), a small plate with bean sprouts and lime wedges, and hot tea. Later, the server would take over 'bone soup'. I wonder if this was all included in the meal. I watched the server do this with each table.

Maybe I will return and order something else. All the food I saw leaving the kitchen looked delicious.

Day Trip to Julian for Oktoberfest and Pie

Growing up in the midwest, I'm used to celebrating the Fall season. The Fall means sweatshirt/hoodie and jeans weather. Football games and tailgating. Leaves turning colors. Picking apples, eating caramel apples and drinking apple cider from the Apple Barn. It seems forever since I've experienced those things.

I was very excited when I read about Julian's Apple Days, however I missed it last weekend. Fortunately this weekend was Oktoberfest in Julian. I left home early and got a good parking spot. It was a long, winding drive to Julian. The downtown area was small, just like the ones back home! The buildings and shops were small and quaint.

After checking out all the shops and side streets, I headed for the Oktoberfest which was located at the parking lot of the bank.

Picnic tables were set up in the parking lot. Oompah music was playing and bratwursts were grilling. The menu was bratwurst with sauerkraut, hotdogs, baked beans, and potato salad. They also had various pie slices and drinks. I didn't check on what beers they had since I don't drink.

I loved all the Fall decorations!

As for the food...it was horrible! But honestly what did I expect. The bratwurst is the kind that is is already cooked and only needs to be warmed through over the grill. I guess I was expecting the Johnsonville kind( that is like a raw Italian sausage). The potato salad was bland, but the potatoes were cooked perfectly. The beans were too firm and tasteless. I'm used to baked beans that melt in my mouth.

At Mom's Pie House, all kinds of yummy goodies sat on the counters. Cookies, breads, jams, and slices of pie.

Apple, apple-cherry, strawberry-rhubarb, boysenberry, and other berry pies that I can't even pronounce.

Flakey or crumb top?

Yummmmmy....

Look at all those pies! I would get fat working there.

Here's my Mom's pie. I picked out an apple-cherry flakey. There were MANY bakeries in Julian but the long line was at Mom's. So that was where I was going to get my pie. The pie was about $14 and I don't know what the size is. It's huge though.

Look at the height.

The pie was good. I loved the sweet and tart taste.

Short Ribs

I have been craving Korean bbq lately, unfortnately I don't have anyone to go out to eat with. So I drove down to Vien Dong and got 2lbs of short ribs for around $5 and marinated them in about a 1/4 jar of kalbi marinade (16oz size) over night. I then cooked them on my stove top in a grill pan. I served them with steamed brown rice and Chinese broccoli. It was a lot of food for one person. Lots of leftovers.

Banh Mi: Saigon Sandwiches & Deli

Saigon Sandwhiches & Deli

4133 University Ave.

San Diego, CA 92105

(619) 284-3034

I love love LOVE the banh mi. There's just no other perfect sandwich for me. I could eat one every single day. There's just something about the combination of pickles, jalapeno peppers, cucumber and cilantro in a crusty, airy baguette. The only kind of banh mi I order is the dac biet (special). I've never been interested in the grilled chicken or the bbq pork. And I've never encountered a meatball banh mi that I've liked.

I have not tried every banh mi shop in San Diego, but I have worked my way up and down University Ave. and El Cajon Blvd. Most of them I have never returned to. Out of all these shops, my favorite is Saigon.

Here is their menu. I ALWAYS get the #3. Today we got that and the bbq pork. I love the dac biet banh mi here. I have to admit that it's the pate that won me over. It's the best I've had in San Diego so far. Other places the pate either has a wax taste or fermented fish taste. That's too funky for me (at least in my sandwiches).

They offer boba drinks as well. I've never personally tried any of them yet. I prefer bottled water to sugary drinks.

Packaged homemade foods line the counters here. I think these are desserts. I've never tried any. I don't know what they are, but they look yummy. I've never been a dessert person.

Under the heat lamps, there were eggrolls (yummy), pate chaud, banh bao, baked bbq buns, and (I think) nem nuong.

More prepared foods on the counter. I usually see a lady from the back of the kitchen come out and replenish them as they sell down. I love their goi cuon (summer rolls with hoison sauce). I haven't tried any of the other items but they look delicious.

Nem chua and Chinese sausage.

Various chips.

My sandwich, the dac biet. It's about 8"long. The bread was nice and crunchy on the outside. Inside, is pate, headcheese, cha lua, pickled daikon and carrots, onions, cilantro, jalapeno peppers, cucumber, and 'butter'. I loved it as usual. I take my first bite and can never stop until it's all gone. You can have them make your sandwich anyway you like. Sometimes I like to omit the 'butter', which is some kind of mayo.

Here is the bbq pork. My partner said that the meat was sweet and salty and went with the pickled veggies. I'll take his word on it.

If you go to Saigon, they are closed on Mondays. Try the dac biet, eggrolls, and goi cuon. Although there is a parking lot, I always have a hard time finding a parking space. I usually park on the street since customers like to park anyplace and block other cars in.

Chilli Crab ( via Singapore)

I have a loved one that is overseas right now. He promised me before he left that he would take many foodie pictures for me. Of course I was excited about this. I made of list of places and dishes for him to try in all the places he would be visiting. The only thing he was willing to try in Singapore was the chilli crab. He's only adventurous if I'm with him.He and our friend, John (pictured here) hand picked their crab and it was cooked to order. I was told they went to a hawker center in Chinatown.
Wow, the dish looks delicious. (sigh) I hope to one day visit Singapore myself and try all the wondeful cuisine there.

Sang Dao

Sang Dao

5421 El Cajon Blvd

(619) 263-0914

I finally get to eat Asian food again. I've been living off my banh mi excursions to Saigon Deli and A-Chau for almost 3 weeks. Finally, I decided to go to Sang Dao for some take out. I remember Kirk and Ed from mmm-yoso blogging about it. It's a family owned Lao-Thai restaurant.

My first impression upon arriving there was that the parking lot was much too small. The restaurant is located in a small strip mall. I think the parking spaces right in front of the shops are 15min parking only. I always have the bad luck of getting towed so I always stay clear of colored/labeled spaces or signs that indicate restricted parking.

The restaurant itself was small with 9 tables or so. Right away I could tell the majority of the customers were Lao. The place was packed. We grabbed a take out menu and quickly looked through it. We placed our order with the nice young lady who took orders, waited the tables, and refilled water glasses.

I loved how next to the cash register was a cooler case with all kinds of freshly prepared goodies. On top of the case were beef jerky, Nam Khao 'kits', Thai sausages, steamed squash with custard, and soup nor mai. Inside the case were other desserts and som moo.

The food:

1. Tam mak hoong - We ordered medium heat and Lao style. I think the difference between Thai and Lao style is that Lao papaya salad has padaek (fermented fish) in it. I thought it was just ok. I really enjoyed the deep fried pig ears with it. There have only been 2 places in San Diego that I prefer to get papaya salad. One is an organic produce store on University and the other was the now closed Oriental Food Market. Of course I have not tried all the papaya salads in San Diego, at least not yet.

2. Deep Fried Fish - Is that tilapia? It's served over cabbage and topped with fried garlic. Yummy.

3. Chicken wings - It was ok, nothing special. It came with a dipping sauce, I didn't try it but it looks like sweet chili sauce. Maybe it was for the fish? I prefer sweet chili sauce with eggrolls.

4. Khao Tom (steamed rice in banana leaf) - Was not as good as my Mom's khao tom. My mom uses green bananas not plantains. And these had red beans or black beans (?) in them that were hard. Maybe they needed to be soaked longer in water. The texture was off for me.