Andrea Nguyen
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BUY NOW @ iTunes storeSeptember 26, 2013VWK Leftovers: September 2013
Many people like the August leftovers post and a few emailedand tweeted cool info too. I created a folder for the tasty tidbits andrealized that it was getting full. Time to unload September’s leftovers!
First off, after the post about the glowing reviewof Asian Tofu from The Art of Eating, I got a very niceemail from Ten Speed Press publisher, Aaron Wehner. He edited my first book, Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, and despitehaving moved on to shouldering greater responsibility as head honcho at thehouse, he retains tremendous pride in the works of his editorial past. In fact,Aaron sent along the image at the top of this page. It’s a drawing of mega-starchef David Chang’s cookbook collection, as rendered in My Ideal Bookshelf, a book filled with drawings of influentialpeople’s book collections.
The Viet book is in the mix (can you find it?), along with a few of my all-timefavorite works. I’d heard from friends that my book was in the bathroom at Chang’sMomofuku Ko in New York City. Well, Mr. Chang, I keep issues of Lucky Peach in my bathroom. Bathroom readingis important. In fact, esteemed author Margaret Atwood saidthat the bathroom is a great place to read because no one can interrupt you. Itis your reading throne, sort to speak.
If you’re looking to add to your collection in the monthsahead, there’s going to be a slew of new cookbooks authored or co-authored bychefs. Asian-centric books are well represented. I look forward to checking outbooks by Ivan Orkin (ramen),Andy Ricker (Thaifood), Luke Nguyen (Vietnamese),Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat (Japanesehome cooking) and Roy Choi (meltingpot Los Angeles) work; note that Choi’s co-authors are Viet gals Tien Nguyen and Natasha Phan.
Speaking of words, the British had a verbal skirmish aboutwhether or not “pho” could be trademarked. It was a war between restaurants andfood journalist Jay Rayner captured the debate in a UK Guardian post.Many thanks to Mike for the heads up.
Denver Asian FoodScene
The Mile High City has developed its Asian food options sinceI was there in 2009.While in Denver last week, stylist Karen Shinto and I shopped at the Pacific Ocean Market (POM), abrand spanking new Asian market on Alameda, just shy of Federal the main drag.POM wasn’t fully stocked up but it was clean, with a great housewares section.The inventory was a bit odd and didn’t include a lot of the reliable brandsusually stocked at Asian markets. For example, there were tons of imposterbrands of Gold Pagoda Shaoxing rice wine but only one bottle of the actualbrand. I hope things will improve. There are smaller markets on Federal that Ididn’t get a chance to check out. POM has a bigger store in Broomfield, andthere’s an H-Mart in Aurora.
Joe at the Denver Postsuggested that I go to reliable PhoDuy for a bowl of beefy goodness. He was so right. Karen was ill and thehot broth hit the spot. The small bowl is all you need for solid phosatisfaction. They should charge more.
I dined at Cho LonBistro in a more upscale part of town. It’s pan-Southeast Asian and borrowsa bit of the playbook from RockSugar in Los Angeles. That said, they make aremarkable soup dumpling filled with a French onion soup mixture.
Vietnamese Cooking
On Twitter, Silvie pointed me to an interesting YouTubevideo of a 5-minute Viet cooking lesson. It’s done by a Vietnamese-American galwho speaks fast Vietnamese but you can hear the Viet-glish too. They sped upthe camera work in this video for banh beo (small steamed rice pancakes toppedwith shrimp, mung beans and scallion oil; see Into the Vietnamese Kitchen for a recipe). In case you wonder, theshow hostess uses food coloring to make her ground shrimp a startling orangered; a commenter frowned upon it and suggests natural options. Nevertheless, Ilearned a lot from watchingher though.
Love it when readers use my recipes for new recipes. Gail inPhiladelphia wrote: "I thought you'd be interested to know how I use yourrecipe for Tomato Egg Drop Soup to make an easy faux Bún Riêu Cua. I omit thepork, use stock made from shrimp shells, add m?m tôm and add lump crab meat atthe end. Very easy and delicious." Follow Gail’s lead. She's a smartie.
Bo Gia’s Discoveries
My dad found a evocative photos of Saigon in the 1920s. I’mgoing to Vietnam at the beginning of the year so it was great to brush up onthe scene. Of course, I’ll be adding a zillion motorbikes, cars, andpedestrians! The YouTube slideshow has lounge music but if you endure it (or mute it), you’ll see imagelike the one above.
Last Thursday was the Harvest Moon festival (aka Mid-AutumnFestival, ZhongqiuJié, ???, ???, T?t TrungThu). It’s the time of year when the moonis at its brightest and kids parade around with colorful lanterns. If youcelebrate the Chinese and Vietnamese holiday, it’s also a time for moon cakes. Goahead and roll your eyes at the Asian version of fruitcake. I love them.
Yesterday afternoon, I dug around my freezer and found one last moon cake thatI made – get this – a couple of years ago. We ate tiny wedges for dessert, accompaniedby hot tea. It was a scrumptious way to count our blessings and savor life’sgoodness.
If you come across things to share with VWK readers, let meknow.
Related posts:
How I make moon cakes (photos and video)Posted in Asian Markets, Asian Restaurants, Cookbooks, Cooking Tips & Tools, Vietnamese Culture | Permalink | |
| Comments VWK Leftovers: September 2013 Many people like the August leftovers post and a few emailedand tweeted cool info too. I created a folder for the tasty tidbits andrealized that it was getting full. Time to unload September’s leftovers!
First off, after the post about the glowing reviewof Asian Tofu from The Art of Eating, I got a very niceemail from Ten Speed Press publisher, Aaron Wehner. He edited my first book, Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, and despitehaving moved on to shouldering greater responsibility as head honcho at thehouse, he retains tremendous pride in the works of his editorial past. In fact,Aaron sent along the image at the top of this page. It’s a drawing of mega-starchef David Chang’s cookbook collection, as rendered in My Ideal Bookshelf, a book filled with drawings of influentialpeople’s book collections.
The Viet book is in the mix (can you find it?), along with a few of my all-timefavorite works. I’d heard from friends that my book was in the bathroom at Chang’sMomofuku Ko in New York City. Well, Mr. Chang, I keep issues of Lucky Peach in my bathroom. Bathroom readingis important. In fact, esteemed author Margaret Atwood saidthat the bathroom is a great place to read because no one can interrupt you. Itis your reading throne, sort to speak.
Stay Connected
Asian Tofu in the News"Informative, engaging, well written and researched, this is also the best book about tofu."— Winnie Yang, The Art of Eating
"A whole cookbook devoted to tofu? Yes, please."
— Kate Williams, Serious Eats 2012 Favorite Cookbooks
"Cooking with Tofu (Are You Serious?!)"
— Michael Rulhman on his tofu conversion
Book info, reviews, radio & TV . . .Classes & EventsHands-on @loveapplefarms, Santa Cruz
Sun, Oct 6, 12-4pm: Asian Dumplings
Sat, Oct 26, 12-4pm: Into the Vietnamese Kitchen
Sat, Nov 2, 12-4:30pm: Pho Workshop
Hands-on @SFCooking, San Francisco
Fri, Oct 18, 5:30-10:30pm: Asian Dumplings [date night!]
Sat, Oct 19, 10am-3pm: Asian Dumplings {waitlist only}
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