Fried Tofu Cakes

Fried Tofu
Originally uploaded by michaeldelgado.

On Thursday, I was wondering around Little Saigon and stumbled upon Dong Phuong Tofu. It's a small tofu store that's tucked between several Vietnamese restaurants on Moran Street.

I walked inside and noticed a mother handing her toddler a fried tofu cake. She started eating it and smiling. I smiled at her and she quickly hid behind her mother's legs. I asked the mom what kind of fried tofu she recommends. She immediately pointed to the tofu with chives.

I stared at the various fried tofu cakes on the counter. A lady behind me in line seemed pretty eager to get her tofu, so I told her to go ahead of me. She also ordered the tofu with chives, so I knew I had to get them too.

I walked up to the register and pointed to the tofu with chives. The lady at the register started shoveling the tasty little cakes into a plastic shopping bag. These little yellow cakes are box-shaped and about the size of a cigarette box.

It only cost me a dollar for a bag full of fried tofu with chives. You just can't beat the price. I bit into the warm tofu cake and was pleasantly surprised how good it tasted. The fried exterior added a nice contrast to the soft tofu inside. The chives were stringy, and provided not only great flavor, but also a skeleton to keep everything together as I was eating the tofu.

I brought the remainder of the tofu to work and shared with my coworkers. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the tofu. I'm definitely going back.

Dong Phuong Tofu
15022 Moran Street
Westminster, CA 92683

Asian Garden Fast Food & To Go

Asian Garden Fast Food & To Go
Originally uploaded by michaeldelgado.

In the middle of the Asian Garden mall in Little Saigon, you'll find a Vietnamese food court. Make eye contact with a vendor, and the next thing you know, you'll have a plate of food in your hand.

I ended up eating at Asian Garden Fast Food & To Go. It reminds me of a Panda Express--except with Vietnamese food. The people are extremely friendly and they serve up some great food.

They have on display an assortment of noodle dishes, fried rice, meats, and fried vegetables. Each item costs a buck, and you can get a full stomach with just three items.

I ordered their charbroiled chicken, a meatball skewer (nem miong), and the shrimp & coconut pie (bahn khot). The chicken was delicious. They gave me two chicken legs for only a buck. The meatballs had a pinkish hue, and could be dipped in a sweet fish sauce. And they gave me four small shrimp & coconut pies. These tasty little pies have a coconut filling, a delicate piecrust, and a small shrimp on top.

Honda-Ya

Honda-Ya Restaurant
Originally uploaded by mikedelgado.

Hechung and I went to Honda-Ya last Friday night. It's a nifty Japanese restaurant in old town Tusin. We ordered an assortment of yakitori dishes, including: skewered chicken hearts, chicken gizzards, meat balls, spicy chicken wings, and some amazing asparagus wrapped in bacon. It was absolutely delicious!

We also enjoyed some sushi and a nice cold Asahi. It was a beautiful evening.

Time to eat some pho!

Time to eat some pho!
Originally uploaded by mikedelgado.

Next time you're in the mood for soup, plan on visiting a pho restaurant.

Today, I went to Pho 54 in Westminster (Bolsa/Magnolia). Pho (pronounced "fuh," not "foe") is a soup comprised of rice noodles, ox tail broth, and an assortment of various thin cuts of meat. You can order your pho with rare meat, beef flank, meatballs, tendon, tripe, and/or fatty brisket.

If it's your first experience eating pho, order one of the combination bowls of pho (to get a taste of everything). If you're not that adventurous, order your pho with only rare beef--don't worry, it cooks in the broth.

Once you order your pho, a server will come over and bring you a plate overflowing with fresh thai basil, mint and/or poke, a handful of bean sprouts, a lime slice, and jalapeno slices. This is not a salad. This is your artistic palette to create the soup you like. You decide how spicy or how tangy soup will taste based on the what you add.

Your table will generally have an assortment of chopsticks, plastic (bowl-shaped) spoons, chili paste, hoisin sauce, fish sauce, and rooster sauce. The sauces and paste are there to season your broth. If you dive into your soup with adding some of these sauces, it might taste a little bland. I recommend two scoops of red, chili paste and three healthy squirts of the dark, brown hoisin sauce. Trust me on this.

So when the bowl of pho arrives, how do you begin? Okay, take a deep breath, because its time to create a masterpiece. First, add your sauces. Add your hoisin sauce and chili paste. If it's your first time, add a little bit and taste the broth. Keep adding it until you get the taste you like. After the sauces are added, it's time to add the sprouts to the hot broth. The sprouts will instantly begin cooking in the broth. Next, start adding the basil and mint leaves. Tear the leaves while you add it. Tearing the leaves will help the broth extract the pungent flavor from the leaves.

Next, add jalapenos and squeeze the lime-juice into your bowl for some extra zing. Once you're done with building your soup, it's time to dip in your spoon to taste the broth.

This might be the greatest soup you've ever tasted in your life, so hold on to your chair. The fresh herbs, the broth, and the combination of your meats will grab your senses. I promise you'll love this soup.

Soup

DSC00194_1
Originally uploaded by mikedelgado.

I love soup.