Going Down to Chinatown

It's been a little while, but I'm back and ready to fulfill a promise:  writing about a restaurant.


Chinatown in NYC is a great place to score dim sum, dumpling, sweet bean or fruit buns, and various Chinese delicacies.  But, as my dear half-Vietnamese friend says, it's also the best place in the city for Vietnamese food.

Summer rolls!  Need to learn to make these some day.

Which brings me to Nha Trang One, on Baxter between Walker and White.  There's another location on Centre, but this one is rated 4 of 5 stars on Yelp after 172 reviews!  I think that means it MUST be the better one.


I love this place for several reasons:
1. the food is good,
2. the staff are efficient and (in one case), pretty funny, and
3. it's very REAL--authentic, but also kind of grassroots--but more about that later.


Oh, and did I mention the prices are very reasonable?  

Bun with sauteed mixed vegetables.
Can't seem to get it to upload correctly, so turn your head to the right and you'll see it as it looked on the table.  :-)

I tried a few of my usuals--bun with mixed vegetables, summer rolls, and spring rolls--and got slightly adventurous with my drink, a salted plum soda.  This last one consisted of sliced plum, sugar, salt, and a can of club soda.  It was interesting, and I'm glad I tried it--but I would have to try it again to determine how much I liked it.

Salted plum soda (which had much more sugar than salt)

My companions tried the beef ball soup, the steak and rice, and the shrimp curry, in addition to a Vietnamese beer called 33 (which led to my boyfriend saying, "Can I try 32 next time?  or maybe 31?").  With the exception of the shrimp curry being way too spicy (and in need of rice it didn't come with), everyone enjoyed their meals.

Our waiter kept saying, "Yum yum!" when we asked about every dish, or when he explained the sauce options for the spring and summer rolls.  We were amused.


I love how grassroots this place is, with utensils, napkins, and chopsticks all set up in a station on each table.  At many Asian restaurants, you have to ask for chopsticks, so I think it's great to be able to set yourself up. If you drop your fork, no big!  There's a canister with more just waiting for you.

The sauce-and-utensil station, which may be my favorite feature of this place

Overall, Nha Trang is a low-key, inexpensive place to eat a solid lunch or dinner.  As the waiter would say, "Yum yum!"

Adventures in Polenta

It's hard to believe that I've gone three posts and never mentioned a restaurant, because I eat in restaurants all the time.  But one of the best ways to keep things cheap, is to eat at home.

. . . which is why I want to share my first experience cooking polenta.

Now, this was prepackaged polenta bought at a health food store near my apartment.  I pan-fried it with some olive oil (Whole Foods' 360 brand, which was rated highly by Real Simple not too long ago).  For the sauce, I used my favorite pasta cookbook, Mr. Food Cooks Pasta, p. 127.

My mother swears by it, and my adopted Italian mother completely approves of it, so you know it's good.  Whenever she finds a copy at a used bookstore, my mom picks it up so we'll have it ready to pass one to someone who doesn't have it.  (Does anyone else remember seeing Mr. Food on their local news? I totally do.)

Short story:  simple marinara + pan-fried polenta = major deliciousness.  Polenta tastes, for lack of any other better terms, like butter. And for someone who's currently experimenting with not eating dairy, anything that tastes like butter is heaven.

Try this recipe.  You'll be glad you did.

You'll need:
olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
one (28 oz.) can diced or crushed tomatoes
water (only if you used crushed tomatoes--you decide the amount)
salt, pepper
other seasonings (the recipe calls for fresh parsley + oregano + garlic powder, but I used Italian seasoning and garlic salt, because this is what I had on hand)

Heat the olive oil; add the chopped garlic and saute until golden.
Add tomatoes.
Add water, if needed.
Let boil.
Add seasonings and stir.
Reduce heat and simmer for 10+ minutes at low.  Stir as needed.
* Add crushed red pepper to turn this into a fra diavolo, which is perfect for seafood.

You will be surprised at how delicious this marinara is, especially if you've chopped the garlic pretty coarsely--being able to really bite into it creates a truly delicious experience.  And, like gingerbread, it tastes exponentially better the next day, after the tastes have melded together even more.

This entire experience takes under 20 minutes, and is a great weekday meal.

(And if you've made your own polenta from scratch, I'd love to hear from you.)

Next time, I promise to write about a restaurant.

Until then,
Francie
P.S. This Labor Day weekend, eat well, and enjoy it!