On their appetizer menu, fresh and crispy spring rolls are both typical of Lao cuisine. We ordered the Crying Tiger, which is sliced and grilled flank steak served with spicy lemongrass sauce and soy sauce. Lemongrass, galangal, and padaek (Lao fish sauce) are key ingredients in Lao cuisine. This dish and Larb (also on the menu), is one of the most famous Lao dishes (Wikipedia: Lao Cuisine) and is spicy marinated meat and/or fish combined with herbs, greens, and spices. The dish may be served raw. Our Crying Tiger was very flavorful and spicy.

We also ordered Pad Thai and Panang, which they also have in Laos. The most emblematic dish they suggested we order was Kai Yang (barbecued chicken), which was slowly grilled chicken that was seasoned and served with sticky rice. We also ordered the recommended Green Papaya Salad to go along with it. According to Wikipedia’s entry on Kai yang:

Kai yang or ping gai is a dish originating from the Lao people of Laos and Isan (Northeastern Thailand), but it is now commonly eaten throughout the whole of Thailand. The dish is a standard staple of street markets and readily available at all times. Being a typical Laotian/Isan dish, it is often paired with som tam/tam mak hoong and sticky rice. It is also eaten with raw vegetables, and often dipped in spicy sauces such as Laotian jaew bong. The Laotian name for the dish is means “roast chicken.” In Laotian restaurants in the West, it is known as “Laotian barbecued chicken” or “ping gai”.

A whole chicken is often halved and pounded flat. It is marinated and then grilled over a low heat on a charcoal flame for a long time, but is not cooked to be burnt or dry. The marinade typically includes fish sauce, garlic, turmeric, coriander root (cilantro), and white pepper.

We thought that this dish was really delicious. The sticky rice really separated it from Thai cuisine. We read on Lao Food that this is one of the key staples of Lao cuisine, where the food is often raw or room temperature and served with sticky rice. Diners take small handfuls of the rice, knead it into a ball, and then dip it into condiments and eat it, along with fish or meat. The sticky rice went really well with the chicken, and it also came with a tangy sauce, which was probably tam mak hoong, which is a traditional sauce eaten with sticky rice.

Lao cuisine has many regional variations, according in part to the fresh foods local to each region. A French legacy is also apparent in the capital city, Vientiane, such that baguettes are sold on the street, and French restaurants (often with a naturally Lao, Asian-fusion touch) are common and popular.

The final dish we ordered was Wild Boar Basil, which the owners said was also Lao. According to Lao Food, hunted or wild animals are common in Lao cuisine, due to the proximity to the forest. We couldn’t find a lot of information on this dish, aside from the fact that it seems common at other Thai restaurants.

Hot pot is kind of like fondue in dining style, with a pot in the middle of the table and a bunch of meat and vegetables. You cook the food yourself and its best to eat it with a group of friends or people you’re close to, since you’ll be sharing everything. Chef Liu is from Chengdu, and according to A Fiery Feast: Sichuan Hot Pot, hot pot is a Sichuan institution. It’s especially an important cooking technique in Chengdu, because the weather is frequently damp, so the hot pot helps natives withstand the bad weather. The experience in Chengdu is much less sophisticated than in Mala Tang, where it’s eaten as a street food and also in large and chaotic dining halls. Also, the food is extremely spicy, while the spiciness at Mala Tang is toned down.

What makes Sichuan (or Szechuan/Szechwan) cuisine different from other regions of China is that it is famed for bold flavors, spiciness, strong tastes and the usage of garlic, chili pepper, peanuts, sesame paste, and ginger. The four best known regional sub-styles are Chongqing style, Chengdu style, Zigong style, and Buddhist vegetarian style. Mala Tang follows Chengdu style.

We ordered dumplings and spicy cold noodles for our appetizer. The spicy cold noodles are apparently another famous and ever present piece of Sichuan culinary tradition (a recipe is featured here). We thought they were really delicious, although we recommend stirring them since we didn’t realize there was a lot of sauce on the bottom of the bowl. The dumplings were also delicious. Unlike typical Chinese restaurant dumplings, these were thinner and more crescent shaped with a thinner wrapper. They were also served with lots of chili oil, scallions, and spices.

Our waitress was incredibly helpful and advised us that we should have on mala style hot pot and one mild kind, so we could try both. She lit our hot pots and we picked sirloin and tofu for our meat options and broccoli, potato, bean sprouts, and enoki mushrooms for our vegetables. She brought us bowls of soy sauce along with several other condiments we could add to our soy sauce, like chili paste and a barbecue sauce. The meat and vegetable platters were huge – there was no way we could come close to eating all that we were served.

A Fiery Feast: Sichuan Hot Pot has this to add about hot pot style:

Whatever can be boiled, can be thrown into the pot to augment the basic chili pepper oil foundation. Standard ingredients include: all parts of the pig, chicken and cow; various freshwater creatures, such as river eels, snails, frogs and fish; any and all vegetables, including but not limited to potatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, lotus root, bamboo, leeks and onions and a variety of gourds and tubers for which there are no English translation.

Hot pot is the pinnacle of all culinary experiences for Sichuanese. Hot pot is a social event, a bonding experience and a rite of passage. Courage is measured in a man’s ability to eat hot pot repeatedly and vigorously, while drinking as many beers as possible. Acceptance into the heart of a Sichuanese woman requires several demonstrations of hot pot eating prowess. Business deals and marriage proposals alike can be sanctified before the hot pot altar.

We really had fun with the hot pot style. Our waitress brought us bowls and served us broth from the hot pots themselves. After cooking meat and vegetables in the hot pot, the broth becomes a soup. The meat curled up as we cooked it, which we read is because they slice it frozen so it curls up while cooking. Every so often the waitress would add more water to the pot. The tofu was a little difficult to pick up because it became slippery. We had a lot of leftover food we couldn’t cook and eat, and our waitress was kind enough to put all of it into our hot pots, cook it for us, and then package it all as a soup we could take some. She was so nice!

For dessert we had the sesame balls and the pumpkin pie. Sesame balls, or Jin deui, are round balls coated with sesame that are chewy and filled with a sweet paste. Wikipedia states that they are very common and very old. The pumpkin pie was a round disc and served warm. It wasn’t sweet at all, but was still kind of nice to eat. It’s rare that Chinese restaurants have traditional desserts. This dessert is also traditional, but we couldn’t find a lot about it.

We ended up ordering a large amount of food (we were starving). We admit we ordered pretty much only food we recognized (we were hungry and incoherent!). The food that arrived was yummy, but also tasted like the Middle Easter cuisine that we are used to. Wikipedia implies that there are a lot of unique foods to Israel (from the Jewish influence). We didn’t see these on the menu, but it is very possible we missed them. Any thoughts and comments to extend our experience are welcome.

Also, they have a lot of pastries you can carry out. We loved the crescent shaped cookies.

Cassoulet

It’s Bastille Day! We are celebrating it by eating at Bastille, a cute and cozy restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia. It is a little pricey, but sometimes we have to splurge. We didn’t really think much of French food…until we came here and everything was delicious. We ordered a bean cassoulet, and it so rich, hearty, and tasty, it upset our notions of French food – which centered around fish. What we learned is that French food, like much cuisine, is very regionalized. According to the Wikipedia entry on French cuisine, in Toulouse, Quercy, and Aveyron harricot beans are extensively grown, which are used in cassoulets. It’s actually a pretty old dish:

During the 15th and 16th centuries, French cuisine assimilated many new food items from the New World. Although they were slow to be adopted, records of banquets show Catherine de’ Medici serving sixty-six turkeys at one dinner. The dish called cassoulet has its roots in the New World discovery of haricot beans, which are central to the dish’s creation, but had not existed outside of the New World until its exploration by Christopher Columbus.

Our cassoulet from Bastille was traditional and typical. The traditional cassoulet is a slow-cooked stew with meat in it. Ours contained sausage and duck, as well the white haricot beans. It arrived in the standard cooking vessel and was piping hot. There are regional variations of cassoulet, although Castelnaudary, is the self-proclaimed “Capital of Cassoulet,” along with Toulouse, and Carcassonne. According to the Wikipedia on cassoulet:

All are made with white beans (haricots blancs or lingots), which have replaced the medieval broad bean Vica fava, and duck or goose confit, meat and sausages. In the cassoulet of Toulouse, the meats are pork and mutton, the latter frequently a cold roast shoulder. The Carcassonne version is similar but doubles the portion of mutton and sometimes replaces the duck with partridge. The cassoulet of Castelnaudary uses a duck confit instead of mutton. Cassoulet is traditionally topped by fried bread cubes and cracklings.

Cassoulet is so popular and traditional that you can also get canned versions in France (of course with varying quality). The cheapest, of course, substitute other meat for duck and goose.

However, in learning about the history of drunken noodles, we learned that they aren’t Thai in origin! Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao) was made popular by ethnically Chinese residents in Laos and Northern Thailand. It’s similar to Pad See Ew, but has more flavor and uses broad noodles. So, actually aside from being made by permanent residents in Thailand, it isn’t a staple of Thai cuisine – just wildly popular.

According to Wisegeek, in order for a drunken noodle dish to be legitimate, it must contain Thai basil, although Holy basic is more common and traditional and sweet basil is also used. Vinegar, sugar, and oyster sauce is also sometimes addend.

There’s a lot of debate regarding where the name comes from. Wisegeek says that ”most people say that the name of the meal refers to the spiciness it tends to have, making diners heavily drink to combat the heat.”

Wiki Answers writes:

No one is sure where the name of this dish comes from. Some believe it is called drunken noodles because it’s an excellent hangover cure. Others believe that it is so hot that the eater has to be drunk to be able to stand it, while some are sure that it’s because one becomes drunk trying to drown out the heat with alcohol. Still others believe that the name comes from the wide assortment of ingredients the dish contains: The chef is drunk enough to throw in a bunch of vegetables and spices without thinking it over. The most probable explanation is that this is one of the only foods available on the streets of Thailand late at night and in the very early morning, the times when inebriated revelers are leaving places of celebration. It is very possible that the extremely “wobbly” noodles themselves give the dish its name.

Llajua or llajwa is a hot sauce prepared from hot chili peppers called locotos and tomato. Sometimes onions are added, and one of two seasoning herbs cultivated especially for this purpose: kilkiña in Cochabamba and wakataya in the Altiplano and other valleys of Bolivia. It is preferably prepared on a grinding stone called a batan, which can be found in most Bolivian households of Cochabamba and Altiplano. In the absence of a batan, it can be prepared in blender.

It is consumed all over Bolivia.

Llajua is used to season a wide variety of dishes. A traditional use is as a dip for plain cooked potatoes or bread, or an addition to soup prior to the main course. Food carts usually have it available for customers and for take-away food it is dispensed in small hand-tied clear plastic bags.

In the north of Chile (Arica and Iquique) the same sauce receives the name pebre, which in the rest of Chile refers to a completely different dressing.

The name “Llajua”, despite being the traditional name for this recipe, was accorded trademark protection in 2008 by the Bolivian government.

We ordered two sandwiches. One was with chorizo, more like a sub/hoagie type bun with sausage, veggies, and lots of sauces. We also tried one with with a thin breaded meat. We couldn’t find much information on the chorizo sandwich, or really any types of Bolivian sandwiches. These sandwiches were very inexpensive, very large, and very messy. They had sauce and rice in them – they definitely were flavorful. The thin breaded meat is known as silpancho. Wikipedia has this to say about silpancho in general:

Silpancho is a typical Bolivian food from the city of Cochabamba. It consists of a base layer of rice, followed by a layer of boiled and sliced potatoes, followed by a thin schnitzel-style meat, followed by another layer of chopped tomato, onion and parsley mixed together and topped with either one or two fried eggs.

We realized that our knowledge of Bolivian food and its flavors are pretty much limited to saltenas, and what we learned about them awhile back in The Washington Post article “The Saltena Circuit.” But, we’d love to know more about the sandwich culture – is it an American invention? Sandwiches aren’t really mentioned as key lunch or dinner staples, from what we’ve seen.

Also, it seems like the word “Pike” is a good indication that a restaurant is Bolivian, but we couldn’t find much information about the significance of “Pike,” either. A lot of Bolivian restaurants are on Pikes (Columbia Pike, Little River Turnpike), but some aren’t at all and still have Pike in their names?

Myanmar Restaurant is located in Falls Church, Virginia, and tucked into a strip mall set back from Lee Highway. It has a cozy interior and when we arrived the two dining rooms were pretty full. They also have leather-backed chairs, which are pretty comfortable. The service there is low-key, and looks like a family run business. About half of the diners seemed to be Burmese (speaking in an unidentifiable language to the waiters). We’d read as far as the first line of the Wikipedia entry, which stated that Burmese cuisine is a combination of Indian, Thai, and Chinese cuisines. However, after trying the cuisine, we’d have to say that it doesn’t really taste like any of those three, and tasted to us like its own unique species.

Our waiter was more than enthusiastic to help us decide what to order (he did not want us to order spare ribs and a pork dish – in fact, he didn’t want us to order the spare ribs at all!). We ended up ordering as appetizers two types of salad: Pickled Tea Leaf Salad (which our waiter kindly combined with the Pickled Ginger Salad so we could try both) and a Curried Tofu Salad. Burmese salads, rather than being insipid and light appetizers, are very flavorful, highly spiced, and filling. The Pickled Tea Leaf Salad had great textures and flavors, including whole peanuts and raw cabbage. The Curried Tofu Salad was like no salad we had ever tried, with slices of cooked tofu in it. Both dishes were quite spicy and very unique.

Wikipedia informs us that pickled tea leaves, or Lahpet, is unique to Burma and is considered a national delicacy and plays a significant role in Burmese culture. In fact, Burma is one of only a few countries where tea leaves are used in drinks and eaten, as well. They’re served in special dishes and are every day staples. The pickled tea leaf salad is common all over Burma.

We also learned that the tofu is different, and that Burmese tofu is not made from soy, but from chickpea flour. It’s texture and flavor is different than soy-based tofu. Also, it is prepared in Burma in many different ways. The tofu salad we had is another extremely common dish in Burma, and is eaten as a snack and as a meal.

We also ordered a vegetable tofu dish, which was bland and tasted like one of those “healthy options” dishes on Chinese carry-out menus. Our other entree was Nan gyi, recommended by our waiter. It was a spicy dish with spaghetti-like noodles with a curry-like flavor. We’ve since learned that this has been called Burmese  spaghetti. One of the common garnishes on all the food were white crispy wonton-like strips.

Our spare ribs, although we were advised not to order them, were delicious and came with a molasses-tasting sauce.

The menu here is quite extensive, but the salads were what we found most delicious.

The different regions of India have markedly different cooking techniques and foods. Staples across all of the regions include rice, whole wheat flour (atta), and pulses (red lentil or masoor, channa or bengal gram, pigeon peas/yellow gram or toor, black gram or urad, and green gram or mung). The most common spices used in India include chili pepper, black mustard seed (rai), cumin (jeera), turmeric (haldi), fenugreek (methi), asofoetida (hing), ginger (adrak, coriander (dhania), and garlic (lassan). Often these are combined to form masalas.

North Indian cuisine includes Punjabi cuisine, Mughlai cuisine, Kashmiri cuisine, Awadhi cuisine, Uttar Pradesh cuisine, Rajasthani cuisine, Bhojpuri cuisine, Bihari cuisine, and Sindhi cuisine. All these cuisines share a higher use of diary products, the use of the tawa (griddle) to make flat breads (such as roti, paratha, and kulcha, the use of the tandoor, deep fried breads like puris and bhatoora, and the use of goat and lamb. North Indian desserts include gulab jamun, jalebi, peda, petha, kulfi, falooda, ras malai, barfi, laddu, and halwa. Kebabs can also be found in North Indian cuisine.

East Indian cuisine includes Assamese cuisine, Bengali cuisine, and Oriya cuisine and is most famous for its desserts like the rasagolla, chumchum, chhena poda, chhena gaja, etc.

South Indian cuisine includes the cuisine of Kerala, cuisine of Karnataka, the cuisine of Tamil Nadu, and the Cuisine of Goa. South Indian cuisine has considerable variation, most notably its emphasis on rice, use of coconut, pickles, vegetable stews, and curries. The dosa, poori, idli, vada, bonda, upma, and bajji are all South Indian staples. Due to the emphasis on rice, biryanis are southern dishes. Paneer (a soft cheese) is also common in southern cuisine.

Western India includes Goan cuisine, Maharashtrian cuisine, Saraswat cuisine, and Gujarati cuisine. Dishes, depending on the region, may rely more on rice, coconut, and fish (especially coastal regions). Goan cuisine reflects the influence of Portuguese colonization. For example, chicken vindalu is a Konkani/Goan dish whose name is derived from the Portuguese dish “Carne de Vinha d’ Alhos,” which is typically made with meat, pork, wine, and garlic and served on special occasions.

Delhi Dhaba’s special Punjabi cuisine includes a tandoor specials menu with a variety of meats, fishes, and shellfish. Additionally, the infamous butter chicken is a typical dish that is thought to have come from Delhi and to have originated during the Mughal Empire. Delhi Dhaba also has cuisine from other regions of India, like biryanis and on Sundays boasts over 45 different types of Indian cuisine for $10.95.

We ordered the Quick Pick (which is two curries with rice and a choice of naan, roti, or rice), which is $5.95. Ours featured butter chicken, saag paneer, and rice. We found the meal to be flavorful. We also ordered pakoras, which they cooked fresh for us and were yummy. The pakora is a fried snack food that typically consists of potato, spinach, onion, or chicken dipped in a batter of gram flour and deep fried. Delhi Dhaba serves both meat and vegetarian pakoras, although we tried only the vegetarian types. We also ate samosas, which are piping hot. We learned that the samosa is the most infamous North Indian snack food. The word “samosa” is traced to the Persian word “sanbosag,” and similar sounding terms exist for similar stuffed items throughout the Middle East and South Asia, as well. In fact, the samosa was thought to have existed prior to the 10th century. Abolfazi Beyhagi, an Iranian historian, mentioned it during his lifetime, which was from 995-1077.

We were also offered samples while we waited for our food to be cooked and were able to sample some delicious mulligatawny soup. We learned that the soup is Anglo-Indian in origin (the soup preparation is probably the British influence). The soup’s name is translated literally from Tamil and means “pepper water.” Millagu means pepper and Thanni means water. They also kindly gave us samples of chole, or chana masala, which was rich and flavorful. Chana masala is an extremely popular dish in the Punjab region. Finally, to round things off, they also gave us a taste of their dessert of the day, which was kheer. Kheer is similar to rice pudding and is made by boiling rice, milk, sugar, and seasonings together. Their kheer was thin and sweet. The word kheer is derived from the Sanskrit word “ksheer,” which means milk.

We loved the fact that on the weekends they have a special menu that features popular Indian street foods from different regions. Included in this menu is bhelpuri, a puffed rice snack served with potatos and a tamarind sauce. This dish is tyupical of Bombay. They also papri chat, a favorite North Indian street food of fried dough cut into strips and fried, then served with potatos, chick peas, chili, yogurt, chutney, chaat masala, and sev. Finally, they also serve panipuri (or gol gappa), another street food common in the North and West of India. The snack is served with a thin hollow fried ball that is then filled with water, tamarind, chili, chat masala, potato, onion, and chickpeas and then eaten before it dissolves. The fried ball is bite-sized and the entire snack is made to be eaten in one bite. We thought these foods are fairly uncommon, and liked the fact that the service was firnedly and seemed to enjoy their jobs.

TOTAL: $5.95 per person for the Quick Pick, otherwise between $5.95-$15, depending on the entree

One theory advanced at the seminar is that the name comes from the French feu (fire), as in the dish pot-au-feu, which like phở uses the French method of adding charred onion to the broth for color and flavor, one of the techniques which distinguishes phở from other Asian noodle soups. Some believe the origin of the word to be the Chinese fen (this character is pronounced phấn in Vietnamese.

There are some regional variations in pho, particularly between the different regions of Vietnam. Wikepdia notes that there are three regions and types of pho: “northern (Hanoi, called phở bắc or “northern phở“; or phở Hà Nội), central (Huế), and southern (Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon).”  Regional variations include sweeter pho or using bolder and spicier flavors. Northern pho uses wider noodles and green onions. At Pho 75, the noodles did not look particularly broad, but our pho did contain green onions. Southern pho has the thinner noodles as compared to Northern pho. Our pho seemed to be the Southern pho variation, despite the green onions. Southern pho tends to have bean sprouts, a greater variety of fresh herbs (such as hung que, or Thai/Asian basil), meat/broth variations, and tuong (bean sauce/hoisin suace). Pho 75 has a large variety  of different types of meats available and all of our pho came with herbs and spouts, etc., which was served on a communal plate. Despite all these variations, pho didn’t actually become popular in South Vietnam until the mid-1950s.

Our pho was served in large steaming bowls and came with green onions. The side dish of herbs and vegetables included sprouts, basil, and green chilies. The table also had a selection of condiments, including sriracha and hoisin sauce.

At Pho 75, seemingly one surly man runs the whole place and waits on all he diners, which can be quite a few during peak hour. The servings were large and steaming. Ordering a large bowl and being able to eat the whole thing would be difficult. We ordered well-done brisket, which featured thin slices of beef, allowing it to stay tender. The pho by itself was not particularly flavorful, but the addition of the herbs, sprouts, and condiments made it sweeter, spicier, and more textured. The bean sprouts gave it a pleasing crunch. We also tried the pho containing meat balls, which were fattier than typical meat balls and made the soup a little greasier. Pho 75 also serves the following meat variations: eye-of-round steak, well-done flank, fat brisket, soft tendon, tripe, skirt flank, and chicken noodle soup. We ordered the regular bowls and were completely filled. In fact, no one could completely clean their bowls.

The red bottle of sriracha sauce made us wonder about the history of this sauce and what country it originates from, since it seems over present in a variety of restaurants. The New York Times had an interesting article explaning the sriracha’s history. Actually, sriracha is manufactured by Huy Fong Foods and was created by a mysterious Mr. Tran, who was Chinese but born in Vietnam. He said that he invented the sauce for the Asian community after coming to America and being inspired by Heinz 57 ketchup. He developed the sauce in Los Angeles in the early 1980s as his own version of a traditional Asian chili sauce. Sriracha is a town in the Chonburi Province of Thailand where, ironically, they do not recognize the infamous sauce and prefer to make their own homemade hot sauces. Evidence of sriracha’s multicultural focus is reflected on the bottle, which displays ingredients five languages and suggests using it on pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, and more. Mr. Tran added the rooster as a formal symbol of his product.

In addition to pho, we also tried some of the drinks listed on the menu. Pho 75 features some of the most traditional dishes and desserts, like sticky rice based desserts and gelatin based desserts. We ordered Vietnamese coffee, which was extremely strong. We also ordered a canned sweet and mild soybean drink and a refreshing coconut water drink, which came with a slice of young coconut.

Although we did not get to try any other Vietnamese cuisine, we learned that the yin yang balance applies to preparation of traditional meals, designed to match ingredients to seasons, climate, and the health of the diner. In addition to pho and noodle soups, Vietnamese cuisine also includes congees, rice dishes, dumplings, pancakes, wraps, rolls, sandwiches, pastries, seafood, curries, and pickled vegetable dishes. We’re particularly curious about Vietnamese sandwich stands, and hear there are several in the Eden Center area of Falls Church.

TOTAL: Large bowl is $7.20, regular bowl is $6.20, drinks are between $1.50-2

UPDATE

We decided to venture further into Vietnamese cuisine and try bánh mì, the infamous Vietnamese sandwiches, at Song Que in Eden Center (Falls Church adjacent to Seven Corners). Song Que is clean, well-lit, and packed with Vietnamese dessert and snack foods on long tables, as well as heated pastries, bubble tea, produce, banh mi, and more.

Bánh mì is a sandwich served on a baguette (made form both wheat and rice flour) which contains vegetables (like pickled carrots, daikon radish, lettuce, cucumbers, cilantro, chili peppers, etc.), a meat or vegetarian filling, and condiments (ncluding mayonnaise, fish sauce, etc.). The sandwich is a direct result of the colonial impact of the French on Indochina, which brought its sandwich tradition. Battle of the Bánh Mì notes that most sandwiches seem skimpy on the meat, but these sandwiches are made to Vietnamese tastes, which lean towards light meat fillings.Battle of the Bánh Mì of the lists the following fillings as traditional:

1. 1. Chả or Chả Lụa (Pork Roll)- Ground up pork is packed tightly into a roll, and wrapped with banana leaves (and or aluminum foil) then steamed or boiled, hence producing the dense “pork roll”. Sliced thin like bologna, these make up one of the most common cold cuts found in bánh mì.
2. 2. Thịt Nguội (Cured pork cold cuts)- Thịt Nguội (translated as “Cooled Meats”), is the second most common cold cut filling. Usually made of cured pork & layered with strips of fat. Some makers will call itBa Chị, which is more like pork belly.
3. 3. Giò Thú (Headcheese)-These cuts are usually a Vietnamese combination of pork ears, tendons, skin, fats and other extra pork head meats. It’s all processed together into a roll, then sliced.
4. 4. Dặc Biệt (Special or Combination)- Every menu has a Combination or House Special, which is a combination of at least one of the following: the pork roll, headcheese and/or cold cuts. Some shops offer ham as an offering to the cold cuts, as well as adding their special house touch of other meats.
5. 5. Thịt Nướng (Grilled Pork)- Vietnamese marinated grilled pork. Cuts of pork meat can be anything from pork belly, pork shoulder, pork chops or pork butt.
6. 6. Xa Xíu (Bar-B-Que Pork)- Sweet, pinkish colored pork cooked to the style of chinese bar-b-que. Cuts of pork can also vary like those of grilled pork.
7. 7. Xíu Mại (Pork MeatBalls)- Moist Pork Meatballs cooked in a usually, sweet, often lightly tomato based sauce. Ground pork is marinated Việt style.
8. 8. Bì (Shredded Pork Skin)- Most traditional Bì is a creation of dry, thinly sliced pork skin. To accommodate the more American palettes, some bánh mì creations come with traditional Bì along with more moist, shredded pork pieces.
9. 9. Nem Nướng (Grilled Pork patties)- These versatile, garlic, ground pork patties are popular in many fresh springroll and herb noodle salad dishes. They make a very tasty in bánh mì.
10. 10. Nem Chua (Sour Pork) – Usually eaten as a snack with raw garlic, these little squares of sour pork meat are showing up on banh mi menu’s more often. Starting with mostly raw pork skin and some meat, a seasoning mixture of yeast, vinegar, garlic, fish sauce, salt, sugar & pepper are added. The raw meat mixture is then wrapped (usually in banana leaves or plastic) into small squares are left to pickle and ferment for about 3-7 days. The product is a small, dense square of sour, pickled pork meat with a garlic punch!
11. 11. Gà Nướng (Grilled Chicken)- Vietnamese marinated and grilled brown meat chicken.
12. 12. Thịt Bò Nướng (Grilled/Bar-B-Que Beef)- Vietnamese marinated style beef. Grilled meat options are usually pork, but more places are offering beef as an filling.
13. 13. Cá Mòi (Sardines)- Usually, the sardine selections (bones included, but cooked) are pulled straight from the can. Nothing really homemade. Once favored more by Vietnamese, sardine banh mi are now becoming more popular by non-Vietnamese because of the moist and flavorful fish texture.
14. 14. Paté – Ranging from chicken to duck liver ingredients, pates can normally be a part of every sandwich as a spread, but some menu’s offer pate in larger quantities, making it the main savory filling ingredient.
15. 15. Trưng Chien (Fried Egg)- Eggs are usually prepared as a scramble, well done sunny side up (but cooked on both sides), omelet style or a little bit of all three.
16. 16. Chay (Vegetarian)-Meatless choices can be offered in a combination of the ways:
    1. Tofu Chunks – Chunks of tofu are deep fried, then sauteed with a vegetarian, Vietnamese marinade (Soy Sauce, Veggie Oyster or Veggie Mushroom Sauces).
    2. Shredded Tofu (Bì Chay) – Like the Bì (Pork skin), this vegetarian version is made with thin slices of dry tofu, then mixed with stir fried sliced jicama, carrots and/or glass vermicelli noodles. This type of filling usually is VERY dry, so ask for some extra soy for added moisture and flavor.
    3. Veggie “Ham”- These thinly sliced salmon colored (or cream) pieces of processed bean curd mimic the meat version quite well, but the flavors will dictate the differences. Just try it, you just might like it.
    4. Wheat gluten- Gluten pieces are prepared in the same way that tofu usually is

We ordered the barbecued pork (the red and sweet style of barbecue). The sandwich was prepared fast and came rolled up. The meat was sweet tasting and sparse and the inside of the sandwich roll was covered in what looked like a yellow oil. The meat was quite sweet, flavorful, and extremely moist. It was also very hot and soft, with a thick layer of fat attached to all the pieces. The vegetables were fresh and helped offset the richness of the meat.

We also ordered bubble tea and a few of the meat filled pastries. Bubble tea is a sweet drink made from either a millk or fruit juice base available in many flavors. The bubbles or “boba” in the tea are marble-sized dark brown tapioca balls designed to be consumed through a large straw with the tea. These balls are chewy and slightly sweet. We looked up the history of bubble tea and found that it is actually a fairly recent invention and was not invented in Vietnam. According to Wikipedia, bubble tea was invented during the 1980s in Taiwan and spread throughout Asia. We tried taro and watermelon. Both were frozen and similar to bubble tea frappuccinos. The watermelon tasted exactly like the inside of  a watermelon and the taro tasted richer and much milkier.

We also tried some of the other meat pastries sold at Song Que. These included a very round and smooth bun filled with the same sweet and red barbecued meat as the sandwich. Another was a steamed bun, banh bao, similar to Chinese steamed buns, which was filled with sausage and quail eggs. Wikipedia describes banh bao:

Bánh bao (literally “covering cake”) is a ball-shaped dumpling with pork or chicken meat, onions, eggs,mushrooms and vegetables inside, in Vietnamese cuisine. The steamed bun often has ground pork or chicken, Chinese sausage, and a portion of a hard-boiled egg inside. This delicacy originated with the baozifrom China but was adapted by the Vietnamese and is also available in most other countries with Vietnamese populations. Bánh bao are generally smaller than baozi, and are filled with savory fillings, the most popular of which is seasoned ground pork. As in China, pork is the most popular kind of meat inVietnam.

Bánh bao is an old fashion Cantonese dim sum call Tai Pao 大包(meaning big bun) brought to Vietnam by Cantonese Immigrants, it was invented during the hardship days of old China to feed the ordinary people.

Cafe Society notes that some bakeries will use halved chicken eggs instead of quail eggs. We found the bun bland after the flavorful banh mi.

Song Que also had a huge amount of Vietnamese desserts. Foodofvietnam.com writes:

Fresh fruits are the most popular desserts in Viet Nam, but “Chè” is the most traditional Vietnamese dessert. It’s a sweet pudding usually made from beans, bananas, coconut milk, pearl tapioca, sweet yam or yucca root vermicelli and sugar. There are shops which sell nothing but “Chè”. “Chè” is also a popular snack for the Vietnamese. In high-priced restaurants you can also find European cakes and ice cream.

Song Que serves both chè, cakes, and ice cream. Bright green desserts and other foodstuffs line the tables and they also have a dessert bar with both hot and cold desserts. These feature colorful porridges, jellies, etc. The ice creams were exotic flavors like Thai iced tea and ginger. We weren’t able to try any, but were curious about these colorful desserts. Monster Munching has descriptions of their experience eating Vietnamese desserts.

TOTAL: $8.25 (for one banh mi, one steamed bun, and one bubble tea)

Afghanistan, versus other countries in the region, has a wide terrain that makes it suitable for growing a variety of grains, including wheat, corn, barley, and rice. Similar to other Middle Eastern countries, yogurt is important to the cuisine. Afghanistan is also said to be known for its grapes, although we didn’t see many grape-related items on the menu. According to Wikipedia:

Afghanistan produces exceptionally high quality fruits, notably grapes, pomegranates, apricots, berries, and plums. These fruits have traditionally been Afghanistan’s main food exports. Dried nuts and seeds, such as walnuts, pistachios, almonds, and pine nuts are both very popular and plentiful in Afghanistan. Exceptional varieties of oranges, known locally as “Malta” are grown in the warm climate of Nangarhar province. Olive oil is also produced in Nangarhar province but for local and national consumption only. Herbs and spices used in Afghan cuisine include mint, saffron, coriander, cilantro, cardamom, and black pepper. Lamb and chicken are the preferred meats. When available, meat is widely consumed. Afghan cuisine emphasizes well-balanced tastes. Food should be seasoned but neither too spicy nor too bland. Contrasts are emphasized.

An major influence on Afghan cuisine occurred in Kabul, the royal seat. The royal families focused time and effort in cultivating Afghan cuisine by appointing chefs to create speciality dishes. These dishes include kormas, palaos, rice dishes, desserts, and more, which were featured on Kabul Kabob House’s menu.  Rice dishes, especially, are considered expensive and sumptuous. Traditional rice dishes featured on the menu were Chalou and Palou. We ordered the Potato Chalou (although the menu has many different types of Chalou), which was a stew composed of potato and beef served with white rice, brown rice, and bread. The stew was savory and garlicky, and not spicy. The menu also featured Palou, which is considered the national dish of Afghanistan (related to pilafs). Although we didn’t try it, the menu listed Qabli Palou, and describes it as “tendered, seasoned chunks of lamb, covered with brown rice, topped with shredded carrot, raisins, almonds, and served with Afghani bread, salad, and lemon cilantro sauce. From the description, it seems that the difference between Chalou and Palou is whether the rice is combined or served separately.

Other traditional dishes we were surprised to see on the menu (although we didn’t try them!) were Aushak and Mano, dumpling dishes. Wikipedia states that these dumpling dishes are “wildly popular,” but almost always served in the home because forming the dumplings is a laborious process. Manto is an Uzbek dish where the dumplings are filled with onions and ground beef. At Kabul Kabob House they are topped with yogurt, although they can also be served with a tomato-based sauce. Aushak is from Kabul, and are dumplings filled with leeks and topped with a garlic yogurt sauce. These dumplings can have many regional variations.

Similar to other Middle Easter cuisine, kabob was featured on the menu. In Afghanistan, kabobs are stricly street food and are rarely served in the homes. Lamb is the most common meat used and most kabobs are served with bread rather than rice. Often, the kabobs are topped with sumac, a purple/maroon spice that gives a lemony taste to foods. We tried the Chapli kabob, which is one of the types of kabob that is served only in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Unlike other types of kabob, the chapli kabob is shaped like a hamburger and is a mixture of flour and meat, making it less expensive. Ours was served on a bed of rice and we found it to be tender, savory, and juicy. We were also served a salad and had the option of a variety of sides. We chose cabbage with beef, which was savory and tasty.

Along with our meal, we were served two enormous pieces of bread. Although the menu called it “Afghani bread,” bread in Afghanistan is called Naan (translates to “bread”). The Atlantic has an interesting article on the importance of this bread to Afghan culture, where it is served at every meal and served all throughout the day. However, ours did not resemble the photo in the article or look like Indian naan, although it was cooked in a deep stove. Ours was oval shaped, golden colored, and cooked so that it is slightly crisp on the outside but tender on the inside. It looked more like Obi Non, which Wikipedia states is an Uzbek variety and often served round. Regardless, the bread was fresh, warm, and delicious.

We also liked the variety of desserts available. The menu featured Goshifeel, Ferny, Afghani Ice Cream, and rice pudding. Goshifeel, or “Gosh Feel,” resembled triangles of flat fried dough covered in sugar and crushed pistachio. We ordered some, but ended up forgetting them there so we didn’t get to try it. The rice pudding was highly flavored with cardamom. The Afghani Ice Cream was described on the menu as “prepared with a special kind of noodle,” and we learned that this traditional dessert is called Faloodeh. Wikipedia describes its interesting background:

is a Persian sorbet made of thin vermicelli noodles frozen with corn starch, rose water, lime juice, and often ground pistachios. It is a traditional dessert in Iran and Afghanistan. It was brought to the Indian subcontinent during the Mughal period. The faloodeh of Shiraz is famous. Faloodeh is one of the earliest forms of frozen desserts, existing as early as 400 BCE. Ice was brought down from high mountains and stored in tall refrigerated buildings called yakhchals, which were kept cool by windcatchers.

We found it flavorful, rich, and creamy. They also have baklava, which is also common in Afghanistan. Afghan baklava is cut in triangle shapes and toped with crushed pistachio.

One of the amusing items on the menu was Horchat and Lassis. The lady who works at Kabul Kabob  House informed us that lassis do exist in Afghanistan, but are called a different name. Horchata is a traditional Spanish or Latin American beverage. She said, however, that she put it on her menu because so many of her clientele asked for it during lunch time. We tried her horchat and found it to be light, milky, sweet, and flavored with sesame and cumin – a spin on traditional horchata.

TOTAL: $29.99, including tax (two entrees, one drink, one dessert)