Vietnamese Bun Cha (Pork with Rice Noodles)

Grocery finds: pork chops (on sale at Rainbow for $1.50/lb), fresh cilantro (49 cents a bunch), and cucumbers (3/$1.50)

(additional ingredients: rice noodles, carrots, iceberg lettuce, peanuts, rice vinegar, sugar, limes, fish sauce, garlic, chili flakes)

When people ask me what I miss the most about living in Hawai'i (I lived there for five years), I always tell them--other than the amazing people that I met--it's the FOOD.  Not the weather (which was glorious), or the beaches (which were transcendent), but the amazing diversity and overall deliciousness of the local foods, fresh seafood, and fusion restaurants.  It was in Hawai'i where I fell in love with Vietnamese food, but it has only been in the last couple of months where I have attempted to cook it at home.

Recently, I have been on a bun cha kick.  Bun cha is a noodle dish that is so absolutely delicious: it is the perfect balance of umami, acid, and fat, and has a ton of fresh veggies in it, so it is relatively healthy.  It's also a great summer dish, given that the only thing you need to cook is the pork!

What I did: first, I pickled my carrots and cucumbers with a simple rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper combination.  I placed them in the fridge and let them pickle away while I prepared the other components of the dish.

Next, I pan-fried the porkchops.  I seasoned them simply with salt and pepper, but purists of this dish often marinate them (I was not motivated enough on this particular day!)

The next step was making the sauce that you pour over the finished product--it is called 'nuoc cham', and is used in a lot of Vietnamese dishes--and there is a good recipe for it here.  The only change I made was substituting chili flakes for fresh Thai chili, as I didn't have any around!

This is a horrible picture, but you get the idea.  Also, let me just say: for those of you Midwesterners out there who are of the 'meat and potatoes' variety (like 90% of my family are!) and are turned off by the idea of eating something with' fish sauce' mixed with lime juice (it sounds odd, I know)--have no fear!  It is seriously delicious (as long as you get the proportions correct), and a vital component to this dish.

Okay, so back to the bun cha.  It is now time to compile your ingredients in a big bowl.  Cilantro and shredded iceberg lettuce go on the bottom, followed by a healthy portion of cooked (and consequently chilled) rice noodles.  The bowl is topped off with the pickled carrots and cucumbers, crushed peanuts, and thinly sliced strips of crispy, fatty, delicious pork.  The nuoc cham sauce is then generously spooned on top (if you are serving this dish, the nuoc cham is typically served on the side).  Here is the finished product!

The Verdict

I can honestly say, this is one of my very favorite foods.  It is SO good, so delicious, and absolutely addicting.  And, let me just take a moment to clarify--by no means am I espousing my version of bun cha as absolute or 'authentic' here...this is definitely a white Midwestern girl's version of the Vietnamese classic!  :-)

Taste: 10

Appearance: 7

Creativity: 7

Improvements for next time: fresh Thai chilies in the nuoc cham would be wonderful!

Pickles? Pickles?! PICKLES!

Local Edibles

cucumbers, garlic, dill

(additional ingredients: vinegar, sea salt, pickling spice, alum)

What I did: for the first time in my LIFE I made pickles!  Oh, happy day!  Seriously though, I think I have been intimidated my entire life because my mother makes a damn fine pickle, and I was worried I would fail miserably or pale in comparison.  But I didn't.  In fact: I succeeded! (I know this because one of my cans didn't seal, so they became refrigerated pickles...which meant I got to TASTE one a few days ago.  And they were delicious!)  The process was easy: I bought a few pounds of cukes from the community garden on campus, dill and garlic from the local farmer's market, rounded up my canning supplies, read about 1,802 articles on pickling and canning (recommended: the tried and true Joy of Canning), and hunkered down one night to make them.  Here were the results:

I must say: I found some DELICIOUS garlic at the farmer's market...check out those cloves!  Incredible.

I had a crazy dill bouquet that I cut up for my cukes; I'm sad to report that I only had a few tiny little pieces left after stuffing my quart jars.  It appears I'm going to have to get more dill for my next pickling adventure... (I'm looking at you, dilly beans!)

I stuffed my jars as best I could, but I have to say...as a first timer...I could've done a better job at compacting my cukes.  Oh well, you live and you learn!  As a totally random side note: check out that AWESOME green color.  I wish pickles would stay that vibrant green for the duration of the process, but that pesky vinegar just has to have its way, doesn't it?

An ariel shot.  As you can see, I dutifully cut off the 'blossom end' of my cucumbers.  This was a step that was repeatedly stressed in ALL pickling recipes I researched...apparently, leaving that end on in the pickling process leaves a bitter taste (and also somehow contributes to a soggy pickle).  It is highly recommended that these be removed before canning, so I happily obliged.

Into the canner they go!  OH, oh hot.  How steamy!

And...viola!  The finished product.



The Verdict

All in all, I have to say my first pickling experience was a pleasant one.  And YES, I realize I didn't go into detail with this post pontificating on all the how-what-and-whys of pickling and canning, but there is SO MUCH information out there on the subject matter...I felt like I didn't need to throw my hat in the ring.  I used my mama's pickling recipe (+ an addition of pickling spice from the co-op), so, really--it wouldn't be that exciting for all you readers out there to hear about.  What IS exciting, however?  EATING PICKLES WHENEVER I WANT!


Taste: TBD

Appearance: 7

Creativity: 0

Improvements for next time: hard to tell.  I'll let you know once I taste a pickle from one of my canned jars...in about a month or so!

Deep Fried Pickles?

Okay, I'll confess: technically, 'officially', this isn't really an Abandoned Edibles post...I suppose it doesn't qualify. This project stems from a recent trip to visit family in California that I took with my significant other: while tucked away inside a gay dive bar in Arcata, waiting out a sudden thunderstorm, the two of us were treated to rum (with a dash of coke) and deep fried pickles (seriously amazing) by Aunt Lynn. They. Were. DELICIOUS! Ever since then, I have been craving these tasty, fried, vinegar-y vittles. I decided to embark on an experiment to make The Best Deep Fried Pickle Ever while at home the other night, and I documented my adventure. Here we go...


Having lived in Hawai'i for five years--Land of Tempura Batter--I will admit, I am somewhat partial to this particular mode of frying. So, naturally, I decided to dunk my cukes in tempura. First I dredged them in seasoned flour (S&P only), then the tempura, then into the vat of scalding hot canola oil. It should be noted that I tried two sizes/types of pickles: spears, and those tiny little adorable baby dills. I wanted to see if there would be a difference in taste/texture/fry-ability--and indeed there was. I also attempted to pat dry the pickles as best I could before I dredged them...'attempted' being the key word here.


The verdict? Although the wee cukes were surely cute, the spears tasted much better. And the tempura batter worked wonders! Of COURSE we had to have ranch dressing with our fried pickles (ranch dressing = "the best thing Americans have ever contributed to the world", according to my favorite Englishman), which perfectly complimented the fried deliciousness.


Although my tempura-fried pickles were good, they weren't nearly as good as the bar pickles I had eaten a month prior in Northern California. Maybe it was my selection of pickle brand; I just grabbed whatever was in my refrigerator. I'm sure my mother's home-canned pickles would have been WAY better. But you know what? I think I know the most important variable here, one that stands out above the rest. Two words: ranch. dressing. That little dive bar made homemade, buttermilk ranch dressing in their tiny little kitchen behind the bar, and I'm pretty sure it made all the difference. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I could've drank a glass of that instead of my rum. Note to self: LEARN HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE RANCH SALAD DRESSING!