Monthly Archives: October 2010

Bánh mì in the ‘hood

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Cross-section of Vietnamese sandwich (banh mi) from Ba Le in El Cerrito, CA

Cross-section of Vietnamese sandwich (banh mi) from Ba Le in El Cerrito, CA

I crave bánh mì on a regular basis, so I’m happy that my Honda Civic and I need to travel only a few blocks from my house on the El Cerrito/Albany border for satisfaction.

Bánh mì are Vietnamese sandwiches, a hybrid of pickled veggies and French-inspired cold cuts or other meat on long, crispy, baguette-type rolls made of both wheat and rice flour.  There are bánh mì out there with meatballs, barbecued pork, pork roll, pork belly, tofu – you name it.

Atop the meat are sliced chili peppers, thinly sliced or shredded sweet and sour pickled carrots and daikon, cucumber, and a handful of cilantro.  The dressing varies, but is often a bit sweet-sour.

In truly authentic versions, the roll is smeared with a little pâté, particularly the classic “combo” sandwich, which includes chicken or pork roll and head cheese.  Yes, head cheese.  Don’t be afraid of it.  Anyone who eats Jell-O has no business snubbing head cheese.

Bánh mì are addictive because of the contrast in textures and the interplay of the crisp roll, salty and savory meat filling, and brightness of the pickled vegetables.  Like a good slice of pizza, a good Vietnamese sandwich must meld into something greater than the sum of its parts.

We’re not talking Subway here.  When you bite into a bánh mì, and you know your Vietnamese cuisine, the vegetables will ring familiar.  Think “lettuce wrap” without the lettuce.

Obviously, this is fusion food born of French colonialism.  I know this is a downer, which is why smart, snappy and light food publications often sidestep history altogether.  Mentioning oppression certainly puts a damper on selling a trendy lifestyle.

Combo (#2) Vietnamese sandwich (banh mi) from Ba Le in El Cerrito, CA

Combo (#2) Vietnamese sandwich (banh mi) from Ba Le in El Cerrito, CA

These unique sandwiches are inexpensive, great for a substantial snack or light meal, and feed that “I have no idea what I want to eat” yen.

When I want authentic bánh mì, I go to Ba Le, a tiny take-out place with one lonely table in a God-forsaken strip mall on San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito.

Ba Le is hardcore.  While it’s a polite place, you quickly order by number and step aside for the next person in line.  If you want to screw around, go to the next place I talk about.  If you never had bánh mì, then just order a #2 ($2.50), which is a combo.  They use pâté here.  Like I said, hardcore.

The rolls at Ba Le are superior.  Bánh mì refers to both the roll and the sandwich, by the way.  If the baguette roll isn’t right, the sandwich won’t work.

There are 10 sandwiches on the board, with an average price of about $2.50.  Beside the #2 combo, I like the #6 ($2.50), which is bacon (pork belly), and the #5 ($2.25), meatball.  I certainly wouldn’t kick the #1 ($2.25), ham and head cheese, out of bed.

My husband and son go for the #8 ($2.50), grilled pork.

The veggies are crisp and fresh, and the meat is always high-quality.  They have a vegetarian option, too, but I admit to never having tried it.

One rainy day I noticed a sign for bo kho ($6), so I 86ed my sandwich order and went with that, which any sane person would have done.

Bo kho is a savory beef soup with a nicely spiced, reddish broth that’s eaten with a baguette or noodles.  There are hearty pieces of potato and carrot, and it comes with the full complement of fresh herbs and chilis on the side.  Great for dipping sandwiches into, by the by.

If you visit and they don’t have the bo kho and you want something like it, get the spicy beef noodle soup ($6), also good.

Both soups will have some beef tendon.

Bo kho (beef stew soup) from Ba Le in El Cerrito, CA

Bo kho (beef stew soup) from Ba Le in El Cerrito, CA

I have to give them kudos for packing orders well – especially the soups.

Sundays, when Ba Le is closed, we go with our second option.

Hong Kong Snack House in the Pacific East Mall in El Cerrito/Richmond produces respectable bánh mì from $2.95 to $3.95 apiece.  They’re bigger than Ba Le’s, but there’s no pâté.  The rolls are crusty and light, and they offer six options.

Combo Vietnamese sandwich (banh mi) from Hong Kong Snack House

Combo Vietnamese sandwich (banh mi) from Hong Kong Snack House

Their barbecued meat is a little less sweet than at Ba Le, but there’s always some sweetness to this option.

Order the combo, if in doubt, which has ham, pork ear (which is in head cheese form) and pork roll ($3.95).  The proprietors are super nice, so you can chat with them about sandwich contents beforehand to get exactly what you want.

Hong Kong Snack House is take-out only, and in a small stall.  There’s a huge menu, though, and you’ll find street food, like curry fish balls on a skewer ($1.75).

I like visiting because they have many things not easily found.

Waffles at Hong Kong Snack House

Waffles at Hong Kong Snack House

Have a coconut sesame waffle ($1.95).  Hot, crispy and a little sticky-soft inside, it’s a dessert that’s not too sweet, and you should eat it on the fly because it won’t travel well.  I also like the Hong Kong-style egg puffs, starting at $3.50.  These are also waffle-like entities, and made to order.

Go ahead and wash your bánh mì down with fresh sugar cane juice ($4).

Some pre-packed snacks at Hong Kong Snack House for Chinese New Year

Some pre-packed snacks at Hong Kong Snack House for Chinese New Year

It looks like I might have a third option for these sammies, because I noticed a new strip mall pho joint the other day with a cardboard “bánh mì” sign in the window.  I’ll be checking Heng Heng Pho (10386 San Pablo – near Stockton, El Cerrito) out soon and will report back.

One final little generic tip about Vietnamese sandwiches:  try to get them early in the day for the freshest rolls.

Ba Le
10174 San Pablo Ave (near Central)
El Cerrito
(510) 528-8882
Open daily except Sunday, 8 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Hong Kong Snack House
Pacific East Mall
3288 Pierce St (near Central)
Richmond
(510) 508-7354
Open daily except Wednesday, 8 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Old Old Bay

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Two containers of old bay spice mix - one old and one new - side by side

About time to replace my old Old Bay, don’t you think?

I knew I needed to replace my Old Bay Seasoning, but I had no idea how old my existing box was!

We all recall certain things from our childhood kitchens that were like fixtures – always there in the same form.  Usually those things hung around from recipes tried once and bombed.  In my parents’ home, this was half a box of kasha and a jar of bouillon cubes that had solidified into a brown and red mass.  I must have moved these things a million times between 1967 and 1977, and it never dawned on me to throw them out.  I figured they were there for a reason.

My Mom’s kasha was there because she made it once and we hated it.  I know why without even asking.  She did not follow the instructions on the box (you know, the egg and all that) and simply boiled it like rice.

The bouillon cubes were there because, well, bouillon cubes suck.

The scary thing is that I was still using my historic artifact in shrimp boils.  Old Old Bay won’t harm you, but it loses potency and develops off flavors over time, so I really should have retired it.

I did not have my Old Bay for 20 years, though, which is the tale the two boxes seem to tell.

I bought the original box at Key Food in Astoria, Queens, in 2000.  I know that exactly, because I wanted to make my mother’s partner, Nick, crab cakes, and had a hell of a time finding it.  I needed dry mustard, too, and that was a bitch.  Hard to believe, because Astoria was already a major food neighborhood.  I made roasted salmon with rosemary as part of the same meal, and could only get fresh rosemary from one of the large greengrocers on 30th Avenue by raiding their restaurant inventory!

Old Bay Seasoning was developed in 1939, which means the “over 50 years” mark would have been used, loosely, between 1989 and 1999.  I would like to think that Key Food would not leave a product on its shelves for 11 years.  The corner liquor store that also sells cans of chili and tuna, yes.  But not a chain supermarket.  I hope.

When I came home to Cali after that visit, I left the Old Bay in Queens, figuring my Mom would produce some crab cakes for Nick.  The report back from Nick was that some lame-ass crab cakes showed up once, and that was it.  The same problem as with the kasha:  not following instructions and cutting corners.  So, when I was there in 2001, I brought the Old Bay back home to California.

I now have the old box in the garage as a memento of that joyful holiday in Astoria with Nick, who passed away in 2002, along with that ancient jar of bouillon cubes I found in my father’s kitchen after he passed away in 2006.

Stuffed Peppers with Ground Meat, Farro & Feta in Lemon Sauce

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Stuffed peppers with farro, ground meat and feta with lemon sauce

Stuffed peppers with farro, ground meat and feta with lemon sauce

The gist of this post is:  farro better than rice in stuffed peppers, in my opinion.

My Mom always used rice, lots of tomato product and green bell peppers in her version, which I still love, but I do something different that addresses three issues for me:

1).  Rice can be mushy.  It does not hold up and it does not offer any kind of contrast to the ground meat.  Farro, on the other hand, is firm and chewy, even when overcooked.
2).  Too many tomatoes.  I have allergies and do better with a lesser quantity.
3).  Green bell peppers are not sweet.  They don’t caramelize well because they are not mature enough to have developed a significant sugar content.  I believe older people keep using them exclusively because they (the peppers) were the only ones readily available way back when and they (the older folk) are used to them.  Don’t break my limbs for saying that.  I can tell you something else about older people:  as a general rule, Americans 70 and up are the ones who order coffee at the beginning of a meal and drink it the whole time.  Ask your server friends – they’ll tell you.  When you hang out now and again with a group of older East Bay bowling ladies, you learn quite a bit.  Ask me how many deviled eggs and Jell-O rings show up at their potlucks.  Anyhow, I use red bell peppers because they turn out nice and sweet.

Back to the farro.

Farro, a type of wheat that is the mother of all grains, is catching on again after having fallen out of favor for quite some time.  This ancient grain, apparently first cultivated in Egypt some 6,000 years ago and then catching on with the Italians, is not so easy to grow, and yields a small take.  It was left in the dust in favor of easier, higher-yielding crops.

Nowadays, though, people are rediscovering its quality.  Not only low in gluten and high in fiber, protein and vitamin B, farro has a chewy texture and is the perfect chameleon -readily absorbing surrounding liquid and flavor.  Frankly, I prefer farro to that other Really Big Thing Now, quinoa.  Quinoa can be dressed up enough to taste good, sure, but it’s finicky and spindly compared to the big-ass nature of farro, which easily works as comfort food.

When you shop, look for farro perlato, which means that the hull has been removed and it does not have to be pre-soaked.

Stuffed peppers ready for the oven

Stuffed peppers ready for the oven

I warn you now:  this is a really, really good stuffed pepper.  Yes, there is lots of meat in there, but half a pepper with a nice salad and maybe a roll provides a substantial din-din.  A really big eater, like my slender hubby, Steve, can eat two, but only if he eats nothing on the side.

I provided a recipe for a large quantity because these peppers improve with age.  They make great leftovers a day or two later.  Don’t fool around with two measly peppers – go all out.

This is a frugal dish.  You’ll even use the excess farro cooking water to make your sauce.  If you get the meat at a good price, you can feed a number of guests without spending a fortune.

Stuffed peppers right out of the oven

Stuffed peppers right out of the oven

I use ground beef, and sometimes a mix of ground beef and ground pork.  Ground lamb is luxurious and tastes wonderful in this dish, but not everyone likes the strong taste and it amps up the cost.  That said, if you like lamb, go for it.  Ground poultry lacks richness, aka fat.  If you insist on using it, add at least 1/4 cup of olive oil to the stuffing to help combat dryness.

Stuffed Peppers with Meat, Farro & Feta in Lemon Sauce
   Makes 10 servings

6 cups chicken stock
2 cups farro perlato
5 extra large red bell peppers
1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon ground thyme
1 teaspoon ground oregano
1 teaspoon ground marjoram
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (plus more for sauce)
Sea salt – to taste (I use 1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons)
3 pounds ground beef  (no leaner than 90%)  see text above for meat discussion
1/2 cup olive oil
2 large eggs
Juice of 1 large lemon
8 ounces cubed/crumbled Feta cheese

1).  Bring stock to a boil and add farro; cook 25 minutes, or until done.
2).  While farro cooks, put tomatoes, spices and sea salt in a large bowl (large enough for all the stuffing) and mix, so the dried spices can open up.
3).  Drain farro and reserve stock for sauce.
4).  Add drained, hot farro to bowl with tomatoes and spices; mix/fold in well with spatula, and let sit for 30 mins on counter.
5).  While farro mix is cooling, rinse peppers and cut in half, lengthwise.  Try to leave the half-stems intact as they look nice.  Removes seeds and trim veins, but do not puncture peppers.
6).  Dry peppers well and place on two sheet pans (you want some breathing room on the sheet pans).  Have olive oil and a pastry brush handy.
7).  Fold meat into farro with a spatula after the 30 minutes are up.  Do not overwork mixture, but be sure it’s well combined.
8).  By hand, stuff each pepper half generously.  Ball up the stuffing, pack it in and mound it up.  Pat stuffing smooth and round for each pepper.
9).  When you have your five big stuffed halves on each pan, put 1/4 cup of olive oil in each pan.
10).  With a pastry brush, brush the outside of each pepper with oil – but not the stuffing.  Brush the bottom of the pan where the peppers are sitting, too.  Make sure peppers have some room.  You don’t need oil or breadcrumbs on the stuffing; the tops will get crispy and brown as-is.
11).  Bake at 350 deg. F. for a hour to an hour and a quarter, or until the internal temp is 165 deg. F.
12).  Move peppers carefully (with tongs and a large spatula for support underneath) to a broad casserole dish.  Make sure there is a little room between peppers.
13).  Strew feta on top of, and between, peppers and place casserole in oven (which should be off but still pretty hot).
14).  Place your reserved stock, which will be cool and nice and starchy from the farro, into a small saucepan and whisk in the eggs and the lemon juice.  If you have less than 1-3/4 cups stock left, add some stock or water to reach that level.  You will only need to add a little sea salt if you used a low-sodium stock.
15).  Whisk over a very low flame (really low, please) until the sauce thickens and is hot.  Turn off flame right when it starts to simmer and mix in a little freshly ground pepper.
16).  Pour sauce over and around peppers.

Starting to cook lemon sauce for the stuffed peppers

Starting to cook lemon sauce for the stuffed peppers

Better Late than Never in Making Masala Chai at Home

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Containers of chai cooling down for the fridge

Containers of chai cooling down for the fridge

You can file this under lame, or lazy, or just plain wasteful.

Why I never started making masala chai (Indian spiced tea) at home I’ll never know.  I have been telling myself to look into this for years, but just never got around to it.

Enter a post I read related to Project Food Blog, a FoodBuzz competition, from The Doctor’s Kitchen.  There it was:  a simple recipe to make what you have to pay dearly for in any cafe.  I adapted the masala chai recipe slightly to serve my main purpose, which is “generic” cold chai, sans milk, to do whatever I please with.  Often I just pour it over ice and add a little sweetened condensed milk, or just skim milk, or I drink it as-is.

Easy, easy, easy, and you’ll be flush in chai.  Make plenty at a sitting, like I do.

If you want it hot, sweet and milky, as served in a cafe, just add some milk and sugar (or sweetened condensed milk) after the steeping and bring to just under a simmer.

By the by, chai just means “tea,” thought it has taken on the meaning of “masala chai” over the years among the English and the Americans.

Please don’t pour it over ice as soon as it’s made or it will be cloudy and weak.  Let it cool on the counter top and then move it to the fridge to get cold.  It’ll be worth the wait – nice and strong and clear.

Making chai

Making chai at home

Masala Chai
   Makes 2 quarts

2 quarts water
8 whole cloves
8 green cardamom pods
1 whole cinnamon stick (which you can reuse a couple of times – I do!)
6 tea bags (use bags that produce a good, strong cuppa BLACK tea)

1).  Bring water and all spices to a boil in a saucepot.
2).  Simmer for 15 minutes.
3).  Add tea bags and simmer for no more than 2 minutes.
4).  Remove from heat and squeeze and remove tea bags.
5).  Allow to cool a bit in the pan.
6).  Remove spices with a skimmer, reserving the cinnamon for the next pot.
7).  Transfer to glass pitchers.
8).  Allow to cool almost completely on the counter and then cover and pop in fridge.
9).  When completely cold, serve as you like.

Vik’s Chaat Corner and Market in Berkeley

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Sign outside of vik's chaat corner in berkeley

My husband, Steve, took a day off work recently, so we made an afternoon trip to Vik’s Chaat Corner in Berkeley.  I’ve written about this place in the past, but not since they moved to their new, deluxe accommodations further down 4th street.  2390 4th street, to be exact.

Interior of Vik's Chaat Corner in Berkeley

Interior of Vik’s Chaat Corner in Berkeley

It’s still industrial-like, but larger, more open, light and modern.  Long stainless steel tables and sturdy grade school chairs offer plenty of eating real estate for the crowds that show up to munch out on superior Indian snacks.

Cooking stations at Vik's Chaat Corner in Berkeley

Cooking stations at Vik’s Chaat Corner in Berkeley

Chaat (think of it as Indian tapas) has become quite popular in the US over the past decade, and a number of chaat houses have cropped up in the Bay Area, but Vik’s was an early one and is still the best, in my opinion.

Steve at Vik's Chaat Corner in Berkeley

Steve at Vik’s Chaat Corner in Berkeley

This is my go-to place when I want something spicy.  Or something without meat.  Or when I’m alone, because it’s a great place to eat and read.  It’s controlled mayhem at noon, so a meal comes complete with entertainment if you decide not to read.

Vik’s menu says that “chaat” means “to lick.”  I believe it.  I’ve been licking my chops here for years.

The weekend is the best time to visit, food-wise, because they offer their full menu – but I can’t deal with all the people.  I forgo the chaat with animal protein for more comfort.  The weekday chaat is completely vegetarian, unless they offer a weekend special.  Often they have the keema samosa listed as such – but don’t count on it.  I can tell, you, though, that the vegetarian chaat is wonderful, and if you must have fish, chicken or lamb, you can get one of three daily lunch plates that contain beast.

Chaat at Vik's in Berkeley

Chaat at Vik’s in Berkeley

If you’ve never been, go with a couple other people and order an assortment to share so you wind up with several breads to dip into various sauces and condiments.  For example, most of the masala dosa potato stuffing is in the middle of this long crepe affair, so you can tear off plain pieces of the dosa on the ends and apply them to whatever looks good to you on other plates.

The average cost of an item at Vik’s is in the neighborhood of $6, so it’s a great place for a cheap meal, but one thing to be aware of is that almost everything has some heat.  This would not be a good place to take people who cannot tolerate a slow, steady, pleasant burn.  If in doubt, ask.

On this visit, Steve and I ordered:

Keema samosa.  These pastry-wrapped “pies” are stuffed with minced lamb and peas and served with mint chutney.  The samosa at Vik’s are always stand-out.  No kidding.  This includes the vegetarian (potato) version.  You get two per order and they’re nice and fat – juicy and never greasy.  Vik’s achieves real complexity in their dishes, and the deeply-flavored samosa fillings are a perfect example.

Keema samosa at Vik's in Berkeley

Keema samosa at Vik’s in Berkeley

Masala dosa.  The dosa is a crepe made of ground rice and dal (lentils) and it’s stuffed with spiced potatoes.  On the side there’s coconut chutney and sambar, a subtly-spicy warm lentil sauce.  This dosa is large and hangs over the plate it’s served on.  The potato stuffing in the masala dosa is different than the one in the samosa, so don’t have any qualms about ordering both items.  I love the coconut chutney, which is cold and has a slightly sweet edge.  It’s also nice to add an item that does not include the ubiquitous cholle (chick pea curry) on the side.  The lentil sauce gives a little variety.

Masala dosa at Vik's in Berkeley

Masala dosa at Vik’s in Berkeley

Potatoes inside the masala dosa at Vik's in Berkeley

Potatoes inside the masala dosa at Vik’s in Berkeley

Bhatura cholle.  This is a huge puri (puffed, fried bread made of fermented wheat) served with chick pea curry and Indian pickles, which are pungent and hot.  The puri is the “bhatura” and the chick pea curry is the “cholle.”  This is a dramatic and savory chaat item that is a must when I’m involved in a trip to Vik’s.

Lunch special B, which was chicken korma.  Lunch specials come with a small serving of the main dish, roti (flat whole wheat bread), papadam (thin, brittle, chick pea flour bread), some kind of dal (lentil sauce), rice, raita (cold yogurt sauce) and pickle.  Lunch specials work well when you share because one provides three dipping options for crepes or bread.  Steve is a big fan of these plates, while I’m more interested in chaat, figuring I can get a chicken curry elsewhere.

Lunch plate at Vik’s in Berkeley

If you go on the weekend, I suggest trying:

Kathi kabob.  This is an egg-covered paratha wrap with boneless chicken chunks, onions and cilantro and comes with mint chutney.  Paratha is a relatively thick, flaky, buttery whole wheat flat bread.

Lamb baida roti – a wrap made using roti and spiced ground lamb filling.  The filling, which is also used in the keema samosa, is über-savory and addictive.

They have a couple of new items on the menu, but what I really liked seeing was salty lassi!  I’m not a mango lassi kind of girl.  Their version of salty lassi has herbs.  Interesting.  Never had lassi?  How come?  It’s a yogurt drink and serves as a foil for the hot food.

Salty lassi at Vik's in Berkeley

Salty lassi at Vik’s in Berkeley

It’s worth mentioning that Vik’s has a full sweets counter.  If you like milky sweets, try a couple of the squares that look like solidified milk.  They’ll be really sweet – like sweetened condensed milk – and may have pistachio or rosewater in there.

They carry my fave:  rasmalai.  These paneer (milk curd) dumplings in sweetened milk should be tried by all.  The thing you might find odd is the texture.  Unfamiliar textures seem to be a nonstarter for many people.  Come on!

Steve and the parental unit love gulab jamun.  The best way for me to describe these is to call them large donut holes saturated with, and swimming in, syrup.

They don’t have kheer (rice pudding), as far as I know, and if you order it in any restaurant I’ll come after you.  It’s so easy and inexpensive to make at home there’s no reason to buy it.  I’ll post my recipe soon.  Milk, sugar, rice and a couple drops of rosewater.  That’s all you need.

Now that I’ve covered the Chaat Corner, let me tell you about Vik’s Market, which you must walk through to get to the restaurant.

Items purchased at Vik's market laid out on a table

I spent about $25 on all the stuff in the photo.

What I bought:

-4 imported spice mixes that will season several meals each.  Tandoori chicken, butter chicken, chicken masala, and dhanshak masala.  100 grams – AKA 3.5 ounces – apiece for about $1.50 per.  None of those pretty, little, expensive, American-made packets for me.  Check out my posts about this here and here.
-400 grams of cashews.
-Small bottle of rose water.
-Fenugreek leaves and seeds (methi).
-One jar of avakai mango pickle (little, pickled, raw mangos with chili and spices)
-One jar of lime pickle.
-Half-kilo of dried chick peas.

For Indian home cooking, a well-stocked Indian market is a must.  Not only are the prices great, but they have everything you need and then some.

The next time you eat at Vik’s, check out all the aisles of the market just for fun.  The imported pickle products alone are worth the price of admission.  Even when you can find these at the supermarket, the prices are insane compared to Vik’s.