Vietnamese BBQ Pork Vermicelli (The Cheating Way)

I am calling this recipe "the cheating way" is because of two reasons... one, I already had Chinese barbequed pork courtesy of my parents as part of their take-home items from our Sunday dinners, and two, not all of the items for a typical Vietnamese vermicelli dish were used because I did not have them in my fridge.  This hodgepodge of food ended up to be equally delicious!

Vietnamese Barbecued Pork Vermicelli
Adapted from Barbecued Lemongrass Beef, Steamy Kitchen

Ingredients
- 10 oz narrow flat rice sticks (same as the ones I used for pho)
- 2 large Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 1 large carrot, thinly sliced
- 4 iceberg lettuce leaves, thinly sliced
- ready-to-go Chinese barbequed pork, sliced

Fish Sauce:
- 2 chilies, sliced and deseeded for desired spiciness (I was excited to use my own-grown Fresno chilies!)

- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 Tbsp lime juice
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 3 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- sliced carrots (optional)
- chili-garlic sauce (optional)

Tools
- mortar or food processor

Steps
1. Soak the rick sticks in water for about an hour prior to cooking.

2. In the meantime, make the fish sauce by mashing chilies and garlic together with a mortar or food processor. Then add all of the other ingredients (except carrots and chili-garlic sauce) until sugar is dissolved.  Add sliced carrots for decoration, and if the sauce is not spicy enough, add chili-garlic sauce until desired spiciness is reached.

3. Slice all the vegetables (cucumbers, carrots, and lettuce) and the barbequed pork.

4. Cook the soaked rice sticks in hot boiling water for about 1-2 minutes (and not any longer!).  Drain the noodles in a colander and rinse with cold water.

5. Place all the ingredients together - noodles at the bottom, then vegetables and pork, then pour about 1 to 1.5 Tbsp fish sauce over the noodles.  Mix and enjoy!

Serves 4.

A few tips...
...if you don't have parents that can supply you with BBQ pork, run out to the nearest Chinese supermarket and look for the hot foods counter to purchase pork!
...after the rick sticks are rinsed with cold water and is resting, it can quickly clump into big balls of noodles.  Don't worry (as I did...) because as soon as you pour the magical fish sauce on it, the noodles will once again loosen up.

Just Pictures: Say Cheese!

When my friends and I asked our cheese factory tour guide to take a picture of all of us in our tour-required sanitary outfits (it looked pretty ridiculous), she said, "Say cheese!" and took the picture.  For once, it was an appropriate place for all of us to shout out "cheese!!".

Thanks to LivingSocial, my cheese-lovin' (alright heck, FOOD-lovin') friends took a VIP cheese tour at the Marin French Cheese Factory in Petaluma. 

The cheese factory is known for their World Champion (this was mentioned a couple of times) Triple Creme Brie.  After a bite of that brie on fresh French baguette, I can taste why it was the champion.  Divine.

We were all dressed to the nines in cheese factory standards, which meant a whole-body mesh gown, footies, hairnet, and nose/mouth guards to keep us from contaminating the cheese as we walk through the factory.  We went downstairs to the area where they made the cheese, looked around at empty rooms (cheese-making only ocurred Mondays thru Wednesdays), saw different cheese molds for 1 pounder, 8 ouncers, or petit cheeses, and finally, the most exciting part, looking at all of the cheese are that currently aging.
 

(The cheese is deliciously creating mold... the picture is not fuzzy!)

It smelled like sour milk all over the place, but looking at the cheeses in different stages of their moldy life was an overall fun and great experience.  Of course, after the walking tour, we were greeted outside by the picnic area to taste 7 different kinds of cheese with unlimited red and white wine.

The cheese factory also gave us a nice parting gift of cheese board, knife, a cheese map around the area, and three cheeses to take home: Morning Cheese, Bleu Cheese, and their champion Triple Creme Brie.  I am looking forward to cheese-ing myself out for the next couple of months!

Marin French Cheese Company // Petaluma, CA 

Just Pictures: Off The Grid

Food trucks are the new food movement of the 21st century.  It's not just greasy and (sometimes) unsanitary Mexican food in ugly and broken down trucks anymore.  It is creative, amazingly delicious, and comes in every different type of cuisine you can ever imagine!

My first knowledge and experience of the revived food truck-ing business was in Los Angeles on a business trip.  I heard about this Korean food truck called Kogi BBQ with delicious Korean-style tacos, burritos, and even quesadillas!  Immediately, I was sold.  I stalked their Twitter page and drove in crazy LA rush hour to get a bite of this food.  My first try was a total bust.  The truck never showed up and 20 minutes later, a sad Twitter update said that their truck broke down.  A few weeks later I was back in town, and this time I was determined.  I went during a lunch run and waited for 30 minutes with tons of other people.  I ended up with a short rib taco and kimchee quesadilla.  YUM.

A year and many months later, there are events such as Off The Grid that showcases many food trucks and small local eateries in the Bay Area. It is held every Friday at Fort Mason in San Francisco. My food-loving friends, husband, and I explored this event a few weeks ago.  So much food, so many varieties, so fantastic!  I can definitely say that I am wanting to go back again... and hopefully soon.

From the top of Fort Mason hill

Cabbage/pork and chives/pork potstickers from The Happy Dumpling;

Snoop Dog (bacon-wrapped hot dog) from Brass Knuckle;

Teriyaki chicken and Hijiki (Japanese seaweed) from Onigilly - The Samurai Snack

Ham and cheese maize'wich; Pabellon (shredded beef, sweet plaintains,

black beans, queso fresco) from Pica Pica Maize Kitchen 

Pork Sisig taco from Senor Sisig;

Vanilla bean and The Yes Please! (balsamic strawberry & nutella)

creme brulee from The Creme Brulee Cart

Just Pictures: Cruise Food

I guess I was more than 7 days MIA... more like 28 days!  OOPS.  Regardless, please enjoy a few pictures highlighting the cruise ship food we enjoyed.  Seriously gained a few pounds... boo.

Mango, vanilla bean, and strawberry souffle (unanimously voted as all time favorite dessert on the ship) 

Spaghetti carbonara w/ pancetta 

Daily poolside BBQ food that was wonderfully delicious. 

Chili, chicken, stir-fried noodles, potato salad, and coleslaw

Surf and... more surf.  Boiled lobster and red snapper with basmati rice,

asparagus, mixed vegetables, beurre blanc sauce, drawn butter

Unlimited sushi and sashimi from the Japanese speciality restaurant ($15 cover charge)

Flight of Oriental Creme Brulee (green tea, red bean, and ginger)

And leaving you with cute towel animals...