Grand Century Mall / Dakao / Kee Wah
San Jose, CA
A week later and I was back at the Grand Century Mall (Story Rd. @ McLaughlin Rd.) with my mom and 2 elderly aunts in tow. Visiting Aunt from NY was very excited when I told her I tried to purchase some orchids for her as a going-away gift but I didn't know which ones would fare well there. Our first stop was to Phương Nam Plants right next to the main entrance of the mall. Oh my, were my aunties happy! The two of them happily investigated every plant for sale with NY Auntie grinning broadly from ear to ear. She couldn't decide on which of 2 orchids she had wanted so I decided to just purchase both for her for a mere $40. I had purchased a small orchid for $12 and the kind ladies threw in a small Phalaenopsis as well. :)
After stowing our floral beauties in the car, we headed to the food court for a light brunch/lunch. I got my aunts settled at a table with a cup of sugarcane juice with kumquat ($3) from Nuoc Mia (? the juice place next to the banh xeo stand with the sugarcane press). Both aunts remarked at how clean and refreshing the juice was and why oh why are they so lucky to be tasting so many things at an advanced age. :) Mom headed to the vegetarian place anchoring one end of the food court strip next to Pho Thien Long. I headed directly to Bánh Xèo Ðinh Công Tráng for their bánh xèo ($6).
My first encounter with bánh xèo was from this exact stand about 2 years ago. My mom and I were dazzled by the array of food choices and were unsure where to start. We cruised from one end of the food court to the other unsure of what to order until we saw the line of people waiting rather impatiently to order. The brusque cashier at the time efficiently rang the bell while simultaneously calling out order numbers in Vietnamese. Hey, if this many Vietnamese people are waiting for this dish and so many people are eating it at the many tables, it can't be bad! We queued up to order and about 10 minutes later, our crispy rice flour crepe arrived with a forest of greens. (My mom salivates at the thought of the ginormous plate of greens from this stand.) This yellow tumeric-tinged rice and coconut milk crepe and stuffed with bean sprouts, mung beans, shell-on shrimp, and thin slices of tender pork, we weren't sure how to tackle the dish until we sneakily observed other patrons wrapping pieces of the crepe with either lettuce or mustard greens plus mint, Thai basil, sawtooth herb, purple shiso, or whatnot dunked in nước chấm. Oh my...what a taste delight! The sweet, fresh, savory, rich flavors entwined with the tender lettuce, crispy crepe, crunchy shrimp, and tender pork. YUM!
Greens this time included mustard leaves, lettuce leaves, rau diep ca or "fish mint", mint, and purple shiso. I like how the greens are different each time I visit this stand - they serve whatever is the freshest! My two aunts were as confused as my mom and I were the first time we saw this dish. I had told them the crepe had no egg and that the yellow color was from a component of curry powder. They misunderstood me and avoided the dish until I came back from getting a sugarcane juice for myself since they expected the dish to be spicy like curry. :) Oops! The bánh xèo was not really their thing and neither was anything containing fish sauce. No biggie...not everyone likes fish sauce. I was hoping the bánh xèo would be ever so much more crispy though in reality, it was plenty crunchy. It was as good as always but I have one quibble: they've deshelled the shrimp!!! :( I was so sad to see this as this stand really knew how to fry the shell-on shrimp so that the shrimp was perfectly cooked inside the very crispy shell. *sigh*
Mom ordered two "safer" dishes from the vegetarian stand. One was a vegetarian bánh cuõn stuffed with wood ear fungus, rehydrated shittake mushrooms, and bits of vegetarian "bologna" then topped with a vegetarian egg roll, cilantro, fried tofu, and pink half-circles of the vegetarian "bologna." The other was a soup with lai fun noodles (akin to spaghetti but made with rice flour) and various types of tofu (not shown). Shown above on the upper right is a plate of cabbage, bean sprouts, cucumbers, jalapeno, and something brown and curly (something with lotus?) that I realized belatedly that probably went with the noodle soup. :P D'oh! All of us were highly impressed with the dishes from this stand. Aunt in SF remarked that bánh cuõn looked like thinner version of Chinese cherng fun (thick rice noodle stuffed or studded with meat or shrimp). After hearing my coworker pronounce bánh cuõn in Vietnamese, I thought it sounded similar to "fun goun" in Cantonese (noodle + roll). Aha! This freshly made bánh cuõn had a very thin, strong, elastic, translucent wrapper. Both aunts loved the texture of the bánh cuõn as well as the mushroom-y flavor. Personally, I thought the rehydrated shittake mushroom yielded an overpowering aroma in the filling. The noodle soup had a light tomato flavor as well as something very savory that added depth to the broth. If it weren't vegetarian, I would think it was shrimp paste. I didn't get more than a mouthful of this dish but I thought it was a winner. I'd bet the lemon and cabbage garnish would brighten up the soup. Next time...
_____________________________________________________________________
Milpitas, CA
Dakao Sandwiches
Both aunties checked out the Great Mall for random kitchen supplies and dishes. Mom and I were ready for a snack afterwards so I guided the group to Dakao Sandwiches II in Milpitas on S. Abel near Calaveras Blvd. Mom and I had been to the first Dakao location in San Jose and thought the sandwiches were decent. Not mindblowing, but good. I ordered a combination pork as well as a meatball (xiu mai) sandwich ($1.75 each) and an iced coffee for my mom ($1.75). According to my mom, the coffee was inferior to Lee's Sandwiches version as it was not strong enough for her liking and had large ice cubes instead of crushed ice (to facilitate faster condensed milk dilution).
I took a bite out of the meatball sandwich and thought, "Ah, this is what a Vietnamese xiu mai sandwich should taste like." The tender but solid-enough meatball looked like an Asian version (less grainy, more smooth looking) and came in a very light tomato-based sauce on a French roll. I have to give massive credit to Dakao for their sandwich fixins' - they are one of the rare places to have ALL of the veggie condiments that I look for! What I search high and low for is: thin slice of cucumber, tart and crunchy pickled carrot and daikon, thin slivers of onion, light fresh mayo, sprigs of cilantro (though I pick them out), and thin slices of spicy jalapeno. I'd have to give Dakao's xiu mai bánh mì the edge over Huong Lan's version because Huong Lan's meatball was more like a thick meat paste. Not a bad meat paste, but not a meatball.
Dakao also has "premium" sandwiches such as roasted chicken or grilled pork for a whopping $2. :) So many sandwiches, so little time.
I was also impressed with the inexpensive rice plates and menu selections. I pointed out #17 to my mom: a huge rice plate with egg loaf/cake, grilled pork, and shredded pork ($4.75) which is my brother's favorite Vietnamese rice plate. I must head back for some of Dakao's non-sandwich items!
I'll start breaking down bánh mì with Dakao. Will review combination pork if it doesn't get eaten before I get to it. :P
Bread: (7.75/10) - The ding on the sandwich. Not the freshest, crispiest roll ever but still good. Hey, they open at 6am, I'll give em credit for that.
Meat: (9/10) - Swathed with a splash of light tomato-based sauce, good consistency, actually a meatball (sliced in half).
Condiments: (9/10) - The minor anal preference quibble: I like a thicker chop for a crisper pickled daikon/carrot.
Total: (8.58/10) - Yeah, it's a bit low but I'll have another go when the rolls are fresher.
_____________________________________________________________________
Kee Wah
Mom mentioned to NY Aunt that California was home to the only five outlets of Kee Wah, the famed HK bakery chain. Both Northern California outlets are in Milpitas, one of which, was on our way home to SF. We stopped off at the Milpitas Square location for some goodies. (Psst: Cafe Ophelia still has $1 boba milk tea and honey green tea. Not as good as Sweetheart Cafe or Fantasia, but cheap and refreshing.)
Aunt from NY happily recounted her Kee Wah in HK memories and was delighted to pick some bridal cakes home to NY. She said at least she didn't need to fly to Asia to get another taste of their baked goods. ;) I picked up one of my favorite items from Kee Wah - the preserved egg pastry ($2.50). While it is at least twice as expensive as the Chinatown versions, this version is at least twice as good. A light, not-too-greasy, thin, flaky pastry with an egg wash enrobes a whole preserved egg. Most Chinatown versions have either half of one or less and has a greasier pastry crust. The preserved/thousand-year-old duck egg (in Cantonese, pei dan) has a pleasant springiness through the yolk. Red slivers of sweet ginger nestles the egg. According to the little sign on the tray of "pei dan sou," there's bean paste in the concoction, though I don't know exactly where.
Will show a cross-section of this acquired delicacy if I get to have a taste myself. :P
A week later and I was back at the Grand Century Mall (Story Rd. @ McLaughlin Rd.) with my mom and 2 elderly aunts in tow. Visiting Aunt from NY was very excited when I told her I tried to purchase some orchids for her as a going-away gift but I didn't know which ones would fare well there. Our first stop was to Phương Nam Plants right next to the main entrance of the mall. Oh my, were my aunties happy! The two of them happily investigated every plant for sale with NY Auntie grinning broadly from ear to ear. She couldn't decide on which of 2 orchids she had wanted so I decided to just purchase both for her for a mere $40. I had purchased a small orchid for $12 and the kind ladies threw in a small Phalaenopsis as well. :)
After stowing our floral beauties in the car, we headed to the food court for a light brunch/lunch. I got my aunts settled at a table with a cup of sugarcane juice with kumquat ($3) from Nuoc Mia (? the juice place next to the banh xeo stand with the sugarcane press). Both aunts remarked at how clean and refreshing the juice was and why oh why are they so lucky to be tasting so many things at an advanced age. :) Mom headed to the vegetarian place anchoring one end of the food court strip next to Pho Thien Long. I headed directly to Bánh Xèo Ðinh Công Tráng for their bánh xèo ($6).
My first encounter with bánh xèo was from this exact stand about 2 years ago. My mom and I were dazzled by the array of food choices and were unsure where to start. We cruised from one end of the food court to the other unsure of what to order until we saw the line of people waiting rather impatiently to order. The brusque cashier at the time efficiently rang the bell while simultaneously calling out order numbers in Vietnamese. Hey, if this many Vietnamese people are waiting for this dish and so many people are eating it at the many tables, it can't be bad! We queued up to order and about 10 minutes later, our crispy rice flour crepe arrived with a forest of greens. (My mom salivates at the thought of the ginormous plate of greens from this stand.) This yellow tumeric-tinged rice and coconut milk crepe and stuffed with bean sprouts, mung beans, shell-on shrimp, and thin slices of tender pork, we weren't sure how to tackle the dish until we sneakily observed other patrons wrapping pieces of the crepe with either lettuce or mustard greens plus mint, Thai basil, sawtooth herb, purple shiso, or whatnot dunked in nước chấm. Oh my...what a taste delight! The sweet, fresh, savory, rich flavors entwined with the tender lettuce, crispy crepe, crunchy shrimp, and tender pork. YUM!
Greens this time included mustard leaves, lettuce leaves, rau diep ca or "fish mint", mint, and purple shiso. I like how the greens are different each time I visit this stand - they serve whatever is the freshest! My two aunts were as confused as my mom and I were the first time we saw this dish. I had told them the crepe had no egg and that the yellow color was from a component of curry powder. They misunderstood me and avoided the dish until I came back from getting a sugarcane juice for myself since they expected the dish to be spicy like curry. :) Oops! The bánh xèo was not really their thing and neither was anything containing fish sauce. No biggie...not everyone likes fish sauce. I was hoping the bánh xèo would be ever so much more crispy though in reality, it was plenty crunchy. It was as good as always but I have one quibble: they've deshelled the shrimp!!! :( I was so sad to see this as this stand really knew how to fry the shell-on shrimp so that the shrimp was perfectly cooked inside the very crispy shell. *sigh*
Mom ordered two "safer" dishes from the vegetarian stand. One was a vegetarian bánh cuõn stuffed with wood ear fungus, rehydrated shittake mushrooms, and bits of vegetarian "bologna" then topped with a vegetarian egg roll, cilantro, fried tofu, and pink half-circles of the vegetarian "bologna." The other was a soup with lai fun noodles (akin to spaghetti but made with rice flour) and various types of tofu (not shown). Shown above on the upper right is a plate of cabbage, bean sprouts, cucumbers, jalapeno, and something brown and curly (something with lotus?) that I realized belatedly that probably went with the noodle soup. :P D'oh! All of us were highly impressed with the dishes from this stand. Aunt in SF remarked that bánh cuõn looked like thinner version of Chinese cherng fun (thick rice noodle stuffed or studded with meat or shrimp). After hearing my coworker pronounce bánh cuõn in Vietnamese, I thought it sounded similar to "fun goun" in Cantonese (noodle + roll). Aha! This freshly made bánh cuõn had a very thin, strong, elastic, translucent wrapper. Both aunts loved the texture of the bánh cuõn as well as the mushroom-y flavor. Personally, I thought the rehydrated shittake mushroom yielded an overpowering aroma in the filling. The noodle soup had a light tomato flavor as well as something very savory that added depth to the broth. If it weren't vegetarian, I would think it was shrimp paste. I didn't get more than a mouthful of this dish but I thought it was a winner. I'd bet the lemon and cabbage garnish would brighten up the soup. Next time...
_____________________________________________________________________
Milpitas, CA
Dakao Sandwiches
Both aunties checked out the Great Mall for random kitchen supplies and dishes. Mom and I were ready for a snack afterwards so I guided the group to Dakao Sandwiches II in Milpitas on S. Abel near Calaveras Blvd. Mom and I had been to the first Dakao location in San Jose and thought the sandwiches were decent. Not mindblowing, but good. I ordered a combination pork as well as a meatball (xiu mai) sandwich ($1.75 each) and an iced coffee for my mom ($1.75). According to my mom, the coffee was inferior to Lee's Sandwiches version as it was not strong enough for her liking and had large ice cubes instead of crushed ice (to facilitate faster condensed milk dilution).
I took a bite out of the meatball sandwich and thought, "Ah, this is what a Vietnamese xiu mai sandwich should taste like." The tender but solid-enough meatball looked like an Asian version (less grainy, more smooth looking) and came in a very light tomato-based sauce on a French roll. I have to give massive credit to Dakao for their sandwich fixins' - they are one of the rare places to have ALL of the veggie condiments that I look for! What I search high and low for is: thin slice of cucumber, tart and crunchy pickled carrot and daikon, thin slivers of onion, light fresh mayo, sprigs of cilantro (though I pick them out), and thin slices of spicy jalapeno. I'd have to give Dakao's xiu mai bánh mì the edge over Huong Lan's version because Huong Lan's meatball was more like a thick meat paste. Not a bad meat paste, but not a meatball.
Dakao also has "premium" sandwiches such as roasted chicken or grilled pork for a whopping $2. :) So many sandwiches, so little time.
I was also impressed with the inexpensive rice plates and menu selections. I pointed out #17 to my mom: a huge rice plate with egg loaf/cake, grilled pork, and shredded pork ($4.75) which is my brother's favorite Vietnamese rice plate. I must head back for some of Dakao's non-sandwich items!
I'll start breaking down bánh mì with Dakao. Will review combination pork if it doesn't get eaten before I get to it. :P
Bread: (7.75/10) - The ding on the sandwich. Not the freshest, crispiest roll ever but still good. Hey, they open at 6am, I'll give em credit for that.
Meat: (9/10) - Swathed with a splash of light tomato-based sauce, good consistency, actually a meatball (sliced in half).
Condiments: (9/10) - The minor anal preference quibble: I like a thicker chop for a crisper pickled daikon/carrot.
Total: (8.58/10) - Yeah, it's a bit low but I'll have another go when the rolls are fresher.
_____________________________________________________________________
Kee Wah
Mom mentioned to NY Aunt that California was home to the only five outlets of Kee Wah, the famed HK bakery chain. Both Northern California outlets are in Milpitas, one of which, was on our way home to SF. We stopped off at the Milpitas Square location for some goodies. (Psst: Cafe Ophelia still has $1 boba milk tea and honey green tea. Not as good as Sweetheart Cafe or Fantasia, but cheap and refreshing.)
Aunt from NY happily recounted her Kee Wah in HK memories and was delighted to pick some bridal cakes home to NY. She said at least she didn't need to fly to Asia to get another taste of their baked goods. ;) I picked up one of my favorite items from Kee Wah - the preserved egg pastry ($2.50). While it is at least twice as expensive as the Chinatown versions, this version is at least twice as good. A light, not-too-greasy, thin, flaky pastry with an egg wash enrobes a whole preserved egg. Most Chinatown versions have either half of one or less and has a greasier pastry crust. The preserved/thousand-year-old duck egg (in Cantonese, pei dan) has a pleasant springiness through the yolk. Red slivers of sweet ginger nestles the egg. According to the little sign on the tray of "pei dan sou," there's bean paste in the concoction, though I don't know exactly where.
Will show a cross-section of this acquired delicacy if I get to have a taste myself. :P
posted by Manda at
4/15/2006 05:41:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home