Banh Mi

[col klink]

I tried the sardine banh mi at Buu Dien! I don't think I spelled it right, but it's across the street from the Pacific Rim Center. I'll admit I also love anchovies, but I liked it! I'm not sure what I liked more, eating the sandwich or the idea of eating a sardine sandwich.

As you might imagine, it was a little salty and there wasn't quite as much sardines as I would have liked. Not only that, their sandwiches are 25 cents more than anywhere else! The bread was crunchier and flakier than other banh mi delis. There was the average amount and variety of veggies.

Of course I can't go exploring new delis without having a direct comparison from banh mi 88 so I also picked up a bbq pork and it still is my favorite. This time there was plenty of fish sauce and there wasn't as much onions and there was more daikon. When you go to 88, don't forget to ask to make it spicy!

[Blue Heron]

I tried the sardine banh mi at Buu Dien! I don't think I spelled it right, but it's across the street from the Pacific Rim Center. I'll admit I also love anchovies, but I liked it! I'm not sure what I liked more, eating the sandwich or the idea of eating a sardine sandwich.

As you might imagine, it was a little salty and there wasn't quite as much sardines as I would have liked.

Of course I can't go exploring new delis without having a direct comparison from banh mi 88 so I also picked up a bbq pork and it still is my favorite. This time there was plenty of fish sauce and there wasn't as much onions and there was more daikon. When you go to 88, don't forget to ask to make it spicy!

Speaking of sardine sandwiches, did you know that PapaChef's restaurant Blue Onion Bistro has a Sardine Sandwich on their menu? (Is it still on the menu PapaChef?).   I clipped out the recipe when it appeared in the Seattle Times a couple of months ago.  I bought the sardines, but haven't tried it yet, but the recipe looks very intriguing (a unique combo of ingredients which includes Vietnamese chili sauce or sambel olek, and served on a french baquette.  The recipe is also online: The Great Sardini Sandwich

[col klink]

Without another Mariners home game (for me) until May 12th, how am I going to get my banh mi fix?

I'm going to have to mull this one over.

[PerfectCircle]

On Monday I returned to Saigon Deli for a repeat performance of the tofu bahn mi; it was even better than I remembered. I intended to get a combo from Bahn Mi 88, but they weren't offering any food that day (the main guy didn't come in for some reason) so I decided to give Thanh Vi a try and picked up one of their combos. It wasn't bad; more on the dry side than I like, but they used the good 5-spice chicken (at least I THINK that's what that one great flavor was) which improved the experience. Could have had a heavier hand with the pate, in my opinion. And it means something to me to have someone making it fresh for my order, so I don't think I'll bother with them again. I also picked up a chicken bahn mi at Seattle Deli to take back to the office; it is the hands-down favorite of my cube-mate.

I'm glad to hear that the sardine sandwich is still available at Buu Dien. I'm craving one now...

Monday I kept looking for folks who somehow "looked" as though they were fellow eGullet-ers (eGulletonians?); did any of our paths cross, perhaps? We need lapel pins or something. From your last entry, Col Klink, I guess you weren't in the vicinity. Mamster, did you end up going last Friday?

[mamster]

I went Thursday and then didn't have time on Friday.  We should organize an eGullet banh mi crawl and offer bites all around.  (Because, you know, I could go broke buying all those expensive banh mi myself.)

[col klink]

I'd be up for it. Maybe I can get my work to subsidize us! Oh who am I kidding, if they didn't splurge for my softball team, they won't splurge for high-end sandwiches.

edit disclosure: multiple grammatical and spelling errors.

[mamster]

Hey, klink, today I used your sig-quote in class.  I told the students that bacteria have their DNA all over the cytoplasm.  One of the students looked in the textbook, which said that bacteria keep their DNA in an area called the "nucleoid".  I was prepared to concede this point when my supervisor stepped in and said, "I think Matthew is more correct than the textbook."  I said, "A friend of mine likes to quote Muhammad Ali..."

ObFood:  We extracted DNA from an onion, so the whole lab smelled like the banh mi from 88.  Okay, not that good.

[col klink]

Hah!

Mmmmm, banh mi. It's been interesting, every since I found out about banh mi, I think about it almost every day. But tomorrow I don't think I'll have that problem.

[MsRamsey]

I'm new here, and I'd love to get together with others for banh mi one day (and Salumi, for that matter).  I work at Swedish, so it's easy to get over to the I.D.

Kathy

[mamster]

Okay, let's make it an event.  Is there any place we could gather and eat our banh mi after we accumulate them?

[MsRamsey]

The closest semi-comfortable place I can think of to sit down around there is Hing Hay Park; it's probably 6 or 7 blocks away.

For a sit-down alternative, or a lunch gathering for a different day, may I suggest Sichuanese Cuisine restaurant on 12th and Jackson.  I dream about that place on a daily basis.

Kathy

[Blue Heron]

For a sit-down alternative, or a lunch gathering for a different day, may I suggest Sichuanese Cuisine restaurant on 12th and Jackson.  I dream about that place on a daily basis.

Kathy

What are your favorite bites there?  Please tell us more... I'm intrigued  

[MsRamsey]

My Chinese friends and an American friend who lived in China for a long time think it's the best Sichuan in Seattle.  (They have another restaurant in Bellevue, but I haven't been there.)  I like the Spicy Beef with Noodles, Dry Cooked String Beans, and their soups.  My husband and I have to alternate between visits in ordering the Dry Cooked Chicken and the Mandarin Chicken (we love both dishes, but the former is his fave and the latter is mine).  They serve hot pot; that's something I haven't gotten into yet.

It's pretty much a dive; you don't go there for atmosphere.  You usually have to get up and get your own water.  If you order the dumplings (steamed or fried, 25 of 'em for something like $4), which one might normally think of as an appetizer, many times they'll come out after the entrees.  But the food is really great and SOOOO cheap.  The lady who is usually the waitress seems to like me because I can say "delicious" and "thank you" in Mandarin.  ;)

[tsquare]

Back to the sandwich thread, the P.I. weighed in without mention of this site!

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/68878_eat03.shtml

Any good options North of the Ship Canal? Central Downtown? Why no bahn mi at the Market?

(Oh, yeah, I'm new here - been lurking awhile, thought I'd chime in.)

[mamster]

tsquare, welcome!  I did email Rebekah Denn after I saw that, and she came and read the thread and plans to go back to 12th and Jackson with printouts in hand.  I encouraged her to post;  maybe she will.

[col klink]

Back to the sandwich thread, the P.I. weighed in without mention of this site!

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/68878_eat03.shtml

Woo hoo! We finally made it!

Welcome tsquare!

Think that's too many exclamation points for a Monday morning?

[mamster]

clink, have another look and cry--they didn't mention us!

[col klink]

D'oh!

Monday mornings are not kind to the klink.

[col klink]

Actually it makes a lot of sense that it was chowhound because we haven't been recommending Thanh Vi. Maybe if she had read our thread, she would've been more excited about banh mi.

[mamster]

Clearly Monday mornings aren't kind to me either, since I called you "clink".

So I'm starting to think about the banh mi crawl idea.  I'm thinking we meet at 12th and Jackson, hit all the places near that corner (88, Seattle Deli, Saigon Deli, Thanh Vi--any others?), walk down Jackson and stop at Buu Dien, and end up at the Uwajimaya food court where we supplement our haul with a couple of theirs.  Would that make sense?

I'm not ready to nail down a date yet--I'm swamped this week with writing and teaching, but my mind keeps wandering to those crusty, cheap sandwiches.

[PerfectCircle]

Ending up at the food court is a good idea. Especially with the volatile weather we've been having lately. Count me in.

Howdy tsquare! Here are some places that are up north a bit. I haven't been to any of them myself, though. A co-worker said the sandwiches were "decent" at My's Restaurant in the U-District (4220 University Way NE). Thanh Vi also has an outpost on the Ave... maybe they make their sandwiches to order at that location. This place is also supposed to have banh mi: University Noodle Shop (4235 University Wy NE).

[girl chow]

Mamster, what in the hell are you doing with onion DNA? Are you coming up with a mutant strain for your own banh mi shop? If so, count me in for $300 in starter cash. I was saving it to get my Sunn amp fixed, but a bahn mi shop seems a better investment. You could form a partnership with Papa Chef. Klink can do the meat, of course. I will gladly be counter help. I promise not to spit on anyone.

And have you people decided on a place/time to meet for bahn mi? If I can unchain myself from work, I want to tag along! At the same time I'll be chowing down bahn mi, I'd like to test out some summer/spring/fresh rolls. I'm considering some ideas for a future article ;)

I'm so sorry I missed the great egullet smoke out. Sounds like you all had a blast. Hubby had a great time on the surprise trip I planned for his birthday. We ate at 5 different Tacoma restaurants in 24 hours. It rocked.

[MsRamsey]

We ate at 5 different Tacoma restaurants in 24 hours. It rocked.

girl chow, will you be writing a summary on this?  I'd be veeerrrry interested!

Kathy

[mamster]

Mamster, what in the hell are you doing with onion DNA? Are you coming up with a mutant strain for your own banh mi shop?

I would never think to come between a woman and her amp.

Onion DNA is easy to extract in large quantities and hand to students in a test tube.  Because DNA is long and stringy, you can take a pipette, stir it around, and bring up a goopy hunk of it like vermicelli.  You can actually do this in your kitchen with products you already have in your house:  an onion, dish soap, salt, and rubbing alcohol.  If anyone is interested (right!) I can tell you how.  It will not help you grow enormous mutant onions, unfortunately.

Biology is a lot like cooking.  You can follow the recipe and it might work, or you can change something and see what happens.

The quiz is tomorrow;  start cramming.

[girl chow]

Hey Mamster, that sounds like a fun home experiment. But what do you do with the DNA once you've extracted it? Can you make onion DNA explode or turn into any funny colors? Can you inject it into cauliflower for a tasty variation of Jim Dixon's famous cauliflower?

You should write a book called "Mamster's Guide to Food DNA: Fun experiments for the home cook." I'd buy it.

I can't wait to try bahn mi. I saw the PI piece and was disappointed there was no mention of this discussion there. D'oh!

And Ms Ramsey, welcome to egullet! I will chew over my thoughts on Tacoma restaurants and try to come up with a coherent post. I know of many great Pierce County restaurants as I am a resident of the great land south of Seattle. Did you all know that they're opening an El Gaucho in Tacoma this year? Tacoma is way happening, I'm telling you all!