Binh Minh Restaurant (Garden Grove)
Bun Thit Nuong Cha Gio: Grilled Pork & Egg Roll Vermicelli
Our first stop on this mini-culinary tour is Binh Minh in Garden Grove, which is a small shop in a strip mall between an 85 degrees and a 99 cent store where I had the grilled pork and egg roll vermicelli. This is one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes. The pork, egg roll and vermicelli were served on a bed of shredded lettuce and it is a fresh dish that I feel good after eating (yes, even with the fried egg roll goodness). This was an okay version of the dish with the stand out being the crispy egg rolls which were really outstanding. The meat was grilled well, but pretty fatty and not as flavorful as I've had it at other places and the sauce for the dish didn't add a lot of flavor either. I also had a lemonade with soda water which is my favorite Vietnamese drink and that was good. A nice blend of sweet and balance with the soda water. I'd come back for egg rolls and lemonade if I was in the area but I definitely wouldn't make a special trip.
Han Yang Restaurant (Buena Park)
Bibimbap (Bulgogi) w/ soup & banchan (house kimchi)
I had a real hankering for Korean food today and after scouring yelp reviews, I decided to go with Han Yang which is relatively close by. I have to preface this review by saying that Han Yang is actually famous for it's Galbi Tang (Beef Short Rib Soup) and it's Octopus Rice (Spicy Octopus Bibimbap) so going with the bulgogi bibimbap, I wasn't expecting it to be necessarily stand out. Actually, though it was good, particularly with the mustard green kimchi which was really flavorful. The spicy sauce gave it a bit of a kick, but wasn't overwhelming, although I have had more flavorful in the past. The miso soup though was a little bland and I wasn't as in to the cabbage & turnip kimchi, but you can't win them all. Overall, there was a ton of food (enough for lunch tomorrow as well) and it was tasty, but not the best bibimbap I've had (that's what I get for not trying the specialty of the house). I'll definitely have to go back for the Galbi Tang at some point, but I may have to continue the quest for a great bibimbap.
Soy-Lime Pork Cutlet & Soy Citrus Salad
Soy-Lime Pork Cutlet w Rice & Soy-Citrus Salad
Finally, from my own kitchen, some soy-citrus love. Tonight I was having a friend over and decided to make some dinner. Easy peasy & delicious soy marinade for my pork consisted of:
- Soy sauce
- Ginger
- Lime Zest & juice of 2 limes
- White wine (I used Pino Grigio)
- Yellow Miso (optional)
- Thai Basil
Tasted to my liking, threw that in a gallon size freezer bag and marinated pork cutlets for a few hours; 2 minutes each side on a medium-high grill (we also used the leftover marinade on tofu--YUM) and voila--a delicious entree.
Continuing with the soy-citrus theme, I made a simple salad of baby lettuce, cucumber & heirloom tomatoes with a soy-citrus vinaigrette:
- Soy sauce
- Trader Joe's Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar
- Freshly Ground Pepper
- Good olive oil
The salad dressing--so simple and SO GOOD.
Soy-citrus heaven on a plate--quick & easy. Probably less than 20 minutes active time (although my husband grilled while I did the salad).
So, there you have it. A few days in food. Hope you had good eats this weekend too!
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