6 hours ago, KennethT said:The next day, for lunch, we went to this place, Banh Xeo 46A:
Tony Bourdain made this place a must stop on the Saigon foodie-trail - but, to be fair, at that point, they were already famous among locals as they'd been in business for about 50 years. As their name implies, they are known for their banh xeo, a fried crepe filled with pork, shrimp and some bean sprouts. But they actually have a pretty big menu (in Vietnamese, English and Japanese).
We started off with some goi cuon:
These were really good as they had not only shrimp, but were also stuff with slices of boiled pork.
But the reason to go is because of this:
The crepe is served with large mustard greens and lettuce leaves (for wrapping), plus a variety of herbs such as saw tooth, thai basil, some type of mint, purple perilla (kind of like shiso) and rau ram. You take a large leaf, add a piece of the crepe with filling, a bunch of herbs, then dip in the nuoc cham sauce... Really really tasty - partially because it's an herb bomb, but you also get the great texture of the crepe which is crispy on the outside, and soft and tender inside, with nicely cooked shrimp and pork.
Here's an action shot with me attempting to stuff this whole thing in my mouth:
And, finally, a shot of the banh xeo making process:
I just noticed the box of Ajino-Moto at the bottom of the photo... I guess MSG is an ingredient in there somewhere too!
Ahhhhhh! I've been waiting and waiting for bahn xeo. Yay! I don't much give a care what Tony B says in general, but that bahn xeo looks absolutely delicious. ETA: The free app, Duolingo, is amazing (I'm currently studying Spanish along with 56 million other users) and the Vietnamese language is scheduled to be added in March, 2016. I highly recommend the app/website as well as the offline available map app, "maps.me" - saves a bunch on data charges depending on where you are visiting. Hopefully I'll be able to learn a tiny bit of Vietnamese before my trip to Vietnam later this year.
