Homemade Vegetarian Egg Noodle Soup, With Tau Hu Ky (Fried Bean Curd Skin)

 

 

This is one of my most favorite vegetarian things to eat when I’m staying off meat for various reasons – vegetarian egg noodle soup with tofu, cabbage, and fried ba ro (shallot-like onions mainly used for veggie dishes.) Top it all off with fried bean curd skin. You can’t eat this without it. It adds some crunchiness to the meal. The soup base is made by boiling various vegetables so it’s light and healthy, versus pork based broth you’d normally use to make noodle soups.

Like I mentioned, fried bean curd skin is excellent for vegetarian noodle soups. These are also used to wrap pork and shrimp paste then deep fried. They are usually served with com tam, or Vietnamese broken rice. But I can munch of these by themselves all day long. 🙂

 

My Vi Mi Gia, Garden Grove, CA

 

 

This was a funny day for my cousins and myself, trying to decide what to eat. I found a local noodle place called Mi La Cay and upon driving there we found out it practically vanished off the face of the earth. We were in the right plaza according to the GPS but the restaurant just wasn’t anywhere to be found. So on to plan B – My Vi Mi Gia came to our minds, although my initial thought was “Umm, that place looks dirty.” LOL!

And I was not wrong. I remember passing by this place because it’s right next to 7 Leaves Cafe which I now frequent, and I remember always thinking to myself that I probably won’t eat there just because it’s a tiny hole-in-a-wall restaurant that looks a bit ghetto. But my cousins said “the dirtier the place the tastier the food.” Ohhkaay – don’t know where they get that logic, but, whatever, I was starving. 😛

If you’re germaphobic like me, you might have to try to get over the fact that the table you’re sitting down on was not completely cleaned and you could still see soup water spots on the surface. Then you’d have to forgive the waiter for coming by and tossing napkins on the table so you can clean it yourself. No joke. Feels like I was back in Vietnam or something. BUT, I was starving, so I wiped the table so at least I wouldn’t feel so grossed out.

We ordered the mi hoanh thanh dac biet nuoc – special house noodle soup – which consists of pork slices, shrimp, pig hearts and lungs (sounds gross but delicious), fried fatty pork, calamari, and green onions. It was super delicious so I guess I can say the food makes up for the uncleaniness. 😀

We also tried the same version of the noodle bowl above but instead of soup, it was drizzled with this sweet sauce that makes everything tender and soft. I recommend both.

While we waited for our food, we got these gio da quay, or fried rice sticks, to munch on. You can also eat these with your noodle by dipping it into the soup. I wish they were more crispy but these came out rather cold and soft.

Other than egg (yellow) noodles, My Vi Mi Gia also serves rice noodle soup or stir fry, rice and vegetarian dishes all at very affordable prices.

And here’s what the restaurant looks like. It’s probably as big as your living room. But like I said, once you get past the… “yucky” and ghetto look and feel of this place, you might just enjoy the deliciousness of their food. 😛

My Vi Mi Gia
9790 Westminster Ave.
Garden Grove, CA 92844
(714) 636-8588

 

Homemade Bun Thang, Vermicelli Noodle Soup From Northern Vietnam

 

 

I know I eat out a lot and it’s great and all, but homemade food is always still the best. You know exactly how it’s made, what it’s made with, and you don’t have to worry about sanitation issues. And most importantly, it’s made with a whole lotta love, to be enjoyed in your own cozy little home. 😉

Over the weekend, my aunt made us bun thang, a type of vermicelli noodle soup originated from Northern Vietnam. It looks really simple but takes a lot of time to make because everything is shredded into thin strings – chicken, pork paste and fried egg – topped with green onions, fried shallots, bean sprouts and various other minty veggies. I guess that’s how people eat stuff in the North. It’s not a bad idea shredding your food, is it? 🙂 This homemade bun thang was super delicious! I finished the whole thing. 😀 Thanks Auntie!

 

Shin-Sen-Gumi Hakata Ramen, Fountain Valley, CA

 

 

This is the second time I’ve eaten here at Shin-Sen-Gumi in years, and I don’t remember it being very good the first time. But since this is the closest ramen place to me while in the area, and my friends seem to recommend it, I decided to give it another chance. It’s slightly better the second time around I must admit. I got the standard Shin Sen Gumi ramen but 1/2 portion in a smaller bowl so I can have the add-ons.

The standard ramen bowl comes with just 2 pieces of chasu pork and some ginger strings. I had to add the spicy oil to make it look..pretty. 😛  If you want anything extra, you have to purchase more by circling the items on the paper menu. I don’t like how you have to pay extra for every little thing, like spicy miso paste, onions, bean sprouts, egg, seaweed, etc. I mean, I’d understand if you want an additional something on top of what’s already in your bowl, but things like onions and spices? C’mon now. It can really add up for well over $15 or more a bowl if you’re the kind of person who wants a big variety.

Here are the two extra things I had to pay for – fried onions and spicy miso paste:

At Ajisen, one of my favorite ramen restaurants, at least the bowl already comes with several items like chasu pork, spicy ground pork, seaweed, egg, bean sprouts, etc. all for about $8.75, which is certainly a lot less than here.

The gyoza, or dumplings, are so tiny you can probably fit all six pieces in your mouth at once. The soy sauce is plain so we added spicy oil and sesame (there are free containers on the table) to spice it up.

This place is always crowded. Always. Luckily we came early around 6pm, so we got a table right away. When we were left around 7-something, there were a ton of people waiting. It’s a small hole in the wall place so come early or expect at least an hour wait.

 

Tampopo Restaurant, Buena Park, CA

 

Tampopo Restaurant is a small mom and pops Japanese ramen eatery run by non-Japanese owners. It’s often said that ramen isn’t good if it’s not made by Japanese chefs. To me, it doesn’t really matter. But apparently, this restaurant kind of fits the stereotype. 😛

I love ramen, and I’m pretty sure I’m able to tell between good ramen and bad ramen. Well, this place is kind of in the middle. Tampopo’s menu doesn’t really have a large variety of ramen to choose from. There’s miso, chasu, vegetable, and spicy ramen. “Spicy ramen” is pretty much chasu ramen and you’ll have to add the chilli paste yourself from the container on your table. I wonder if these ramen restaurants have just one giant pot of soup base that they use for every single bowl? It sure feels that way here. All the bowls that come out look yellow – not exactly exciting to look at let alone eat. See those red oily things floating on top? That’s a result of me adding a ton of chilli paste they have on the table just to add a little more flavor and color to the bowl. The only thing I liked about my bowl was the soft chasu, or pork slices.

The tempura shrimp appetizer was actually pretty delicious. Big, thin, and crispy. I think I liked the appetizer a lot more than the main course. Would I come back? Only if I were starving, craving for ramen, and there were no other choices around.

 

Ngu Binh Restaurant, Westminster, CA

 

Ngu Binh is a few doors down from the other bun bo hue restaurant I frequent, Hau Giang, so I thought I’d give it a try because they are known for bun bo hue, Vietnamese spicy noodle soup, and I hear high praises. But I thought it was just okay. The noodles were a bit soft and slightly overcooked, so they tasted mushy in my mouth. The soup is not as flavorful as Hau Giang’s, and there were no pork slices like I expected. Usually, “bun bo dac biet” (“special”) means “everything”. Well, certainly everything was not in my bowl. But other than that, they’re pretty generous with the amount of meat they give you. I got 2 pieces of “cha ca” – fish/pork sausages. Most places only give you 1.

We also tried banh beo, Vietnamese rice cakes, topped with green onions, shrimp pieces, and shallots. I would’ve liked them more if the rice cake itself wasn’t so thick.

 

Homemade Bun Rieu

 

Sometimes homemade food is the best, and when there’s really nothing good around within reasonable driving time.

My aunt makes the best bun rieu (pictured) and bun bo hue, even better than the restaurants. Originated from Northern Vietnam, bun rieu is a vermicelli rice noodle soup, cooked with blue crab and pork, tomatoes, fried tofu, all of which are blended into the soup, and then topped with green onions, shallots, and veggies.

Bun rieu is perfect on a cold night, but eating it at my desk just makes me sweat! 😀 It is that good.

This not only saves me money eating out for lunch but also time driving around looking for food.

 

 

 

Pho Pasteur Hien Vuong, Westminster, CA

 

More pho! I must’ve eaten more pho this year than the last ten years combined. That’s what happens when you hang out with pho-lovin’ Asian friends. 😀

This is my first time here, and pho isn’t half bad. As usual, I ordered my typical pho tai nam gau – rice noodle soup with cooked and raw slices of beef and briskets. It was good with good amount of meat.

They actually serve pho with “kobe beef” here. The kobe beef is served on the side along with a pot of pho soup for you to dip and cook in. Interesting idea. The price is decent – only $4 more than a regular pho. (Though we all know Kobe beef doesn’t exist outside of Japan, right?)

The spring roll appetizer was OK, too. It’s hard to go wrong, since it’s basically the same ingredients everywhere – vermicelli, pork, shrimp, and various veggies – dipped with a sweet brown sauce.

 

Ajisen Ramen, Irvine, CA

 

People might disagree with me on this, but I think of all the ramen places I’ve eaten, this might be the best so far, even if it’s not considered “authentic ramen” by some. That’s probably because the flavor is just right to me, and they give you generous portions of meat – well, depends on which type of ramen bowl you get, of course. I usually get spicy pork ramen, which comes with spicy broth, spicy ground pork, three or four slices of pork belly, seaweed, cabbage, green onions, and egg. I’m always full afterwards, even with the requested half portion of noodle. I’m never left wanting more meat or anything like I have with other places.

The fried calamari appetizer was also delicious. Lightly battered and right level of crunchy. I love it that they only serve tentacles, and not the calamari rings which are not as crispy. The only complain I have is they didn’t serve any kind of dipping sauce other than mayo. Yuck. But there’s a light soy sauce container on the table you can use. Sprinkle some of the ramen spices in it and you’ll have your own spicy dipping which tastes much better than that fatty mayo.

Pho Lu, Westminster, CA

I’m usually not a pho person but for some reason I’ve been eating a lot of it lately! Haha!

I was craving it the other day and my friend took me here. I was pleasantly surprised that it was actually pretty good. I normally find pho soup very bland from various restaurants, nothing that would make me go “WOW I’ve gotta have another bowl!” But my small pho tai nam bowl here was not half bad. Generous portion of beef and briskets, and soup base was cooked just right. Eating this on a cold night completely satisfied my sudden craving.

I’ve also tried the “tau hu ky” (shrimp paste wrapped in crispy tofu paper) – but it was just alright. I’ve had better ones at other Vietnamese broken rice restaurants. As you can tell from the photo, the portion was small compared to the amount of lettuce and veggies they give you. 😀 You can wrap the shrimp paste with the lettuce and dip it in the sweet fish sauce or you can eat it by itself.

Totally affordable menu. $6-$9 dishes. Restaurant decor is modern, nice and clean. Service is average. I’ll come back here if I ever get another sudden attack of pho craving.