New Restaurant Review 360 + An Unexpected Surprise

Naomi over at Gastrognome has kindly volunteered to host the next Restaurant Review 360. (What's a Restaurant Review 360?). Her choice is excellent: Jasmine Provincial Vietnamese Cuisine. It has been on my list to try, and I'm looking forward to reviewing it along with her and my fellow bloggers. Deadline is May 20th, so if you write about food in Seattle, be sure and participate!

And, wow, Naomi told me in her email that there would be a surprise. The "360" concept has won me the inaugural SFBA (Seattle Food Blogger Award). I'd just like to thank my wife, my daughter, my 5th grade teacher (Mr. Peake), and of course the members of the Academy. No, seriously, thanks Naomi!

Recipe: Vietnamese Sandwiches with Tofu (Banh Mi Chay)

Vietnamese Sandwiches with Tofu (Banh Mi Chay)

I must be a sandwich, 'cuz I'm on a roll. Ba dum dum. Yeah. Anyhow, when I last wrote about Vietnamese sandwiches  (banh mi), it was to tell you where to find them in Seattle. Until last night I'd never made them at home.

Considering that they retail for under $2, there isn't much reason to make them yourself unless you don't have access to them or you want to vary the ingredients, which was my motivation. I thought I would use the outstanding tofu from Thanh Son Tofu on 12th Ave, and add avocado and mint leaves. I picked up the rolls from Seattle Deli. (Which is also a fine place to have a sandwich, but you have to ask them not use fish sauce if you want a vegetarian one.)

My Banh Mi turned out decent, but I think it could use more of a bump in flavor next time. Some ideas would be to flavor the mayo intensely with a chili sauce and/or citrus, marinate the tofu, or add some drops of chili-flavored sesame oil.

For the baguette rolls, you want ones that are about 10" long, seriously crusty on the outside, and fairly soft in the crumb. I believe the Vietnamese ones are made with part rice flour, which would add to the crispy crust, but if you can't find those, the best French baguette you can find will do well.

Vietnamese Sandwiches with Tofu (Banh Mi Chay)
Vegetarian, vegan if you omit the mayo
Serves 4

• 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into small batons
• 1/2 daikon radish, peeled and cut into small batons
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 c. white vinegar
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 English cucumber, cut into small batons
• 1/2 white onion, sliced thin
• 1 or more jalapeno or other hot pepper (to your taste), sliced thin
• 1 avocado, sliced
• mint leaves
• cilantro leaves
• 1 pound firm tofu, sliced into 1/2" thick slabs
• oil for pan--frying
• mayonnaise to taste, seasoned with sriracha or other flavoring as desired
• 4 crusty baguette-style rolls

1. Marinate the carrot and daikon in the water, vinegar and sugar.
2. Pan fry the tofu in a small amount of oil until nicely browned on both sides. Drain, pat dry with a paper towel, and season with salt and pepper.
3. Cut the baguette part way through. Dress it with mayo. For my taste, rather heavily.
4. Fill each sandwich with all of the ingredients, and offer additional sriracha sauce on the side.

Recipe: Sabich - Iraqi Jewish Eggplant Sandwich

Sabich - Iraqi Jewish Eggplant Sandwich

So I'm at that Men Cook event I've been telling you about, and my friend Aaron starts telling me about this amazing sandwich he'd had in Israel. He had me at fried eggplant and hardboiled egg, and I missed the rest because I was too busy drooling and scheming when I was going to make it. I'd been in Israel this past fall, and was heartbroken that while I'd eaten untold falafel, I'd had nary a sabich.

I did a little web research on sabich, but was waylaid by the fact that I'd need to buy or make a pickled mango condiment named amba. A few days later, Sarina and I were in a Middle Eastern grocery in Bellevue, and there was an enormous jar of it! So I snapped that up. It is the bright orange stuff you see in the back of the picture. And actually the jarred stuff wasn't that great, kind of harsh for my taste. Maybe a small amount, but this recipe sounds better.

And then, not more than a few days later again, I'm skimming Food and Wine as usual, and here it is again. Some chef in Philly has been traveling in Israel, training up on dishes for his new place and sabich is high on his list. Something is clearly alive in the global food consciousness, and I want in!

From what little I've been able to glean, sabich is a popular sabbath food for Iraqi Jews, and when they emigrated to Israel and set up a community in Ramat Gan, the sandwich came with them. It has since gained widespread popularity, and of course in typical Israeli fashion spawned N variations and N * 2 arguments about which one is better.

Above you can see my first try, which I'm not too modest to say tasted damn good. There is something about the creaminess of the egg and the fried goodness of the eggplant that work really well together, and then the garnishes of Israeli salad (tomatoes and cucumbers with a bit of lemon juice) hummus, onions, pickles, parsley and amba give your mouth the full workout of sweet, spicy, sour, herbacious, smooth and crispy.

A quick note on hardboiled eggs. Mine have gotten drastically better since I read How To Hard Boil an Egg. The basic summary is: eggs in enough cold water to cover, covered pot, bring to a boil, remove from heat, sprinkle in a little salt, leave covered for 20 minutes, drain, ice bath, peel, enjoy. Read the site for more tips, but that has been working great for me. They say 30 minutes but I find 20 is perfect. Nice and soft and absolutely no green around the yolk (see the picture above).

Here's the sabich recipe:

Sabich - Iraqi Jewish Eggplant Sandwich
Vegetarian; vegan if you omit the egg; gluten free if you omit the pita and serve as a salad
Makes 4 sandwiches

• 4 pieces good pita bread
• 4 hard boiled eggs (see note above), peeled and sliced
• 1-2 large eggplants, peeled and sliced 1/4" or so thick
• vegetable oil for frying
• 2 roma tomatoes, finely diced
• 1/2 English cucumber, finely diced
• juice of 1 lemon
• hummus (bought or make your own)
• prepared tahina (bought or make your own)
• 1/2 flat leaf parsley
• 1/2 small white onion minced
• 1/2 c. pickle, cut into small slices or cubes
• amba - mango pickle, or failing that, hot sauce of your choice - harissa maybe?

1. Make a simple salad of the tomatoes, cucumber, and lemon juice, with salt to taste.
2. Fry the eggplant in batches until thoroughly tender and browned; drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt.
3. While the eggplant is frying, put each of the other ingredients in bowls so everyone can build a sandwich to their own specifications.
4. Toast or grill the pita bread.
5. Serve it forth, preferably with cold beer, make yourself a gigantic sandwich, and chill.