Eating WELL in Bali

Part II
We enjoyed quite a few delicious meals in Bali.  Favorites were at Ubud's Cafe Batan Waru (the fried duck and chicken noodle soup) and Ibu Oka (famous for its suckling pig: the picture of which was a bit too intense to post, but the meal itself was certainly a highlight), and the immense seafood feast on the southern side of Jimbaran.

A sweet chili sauce seemed to appear at nearly every meal, and added great flavor without completely overwhelming the dish with spiciness.  I'd love to figure out how to make this, but suspect--as with most awesome sauces--that it's more difficult than it looks.

Eating WELL in Saigon

Part I
It turns out that pho lives both indoors and out, but the rain in Vietnam was light and infrequent enough not to interfere too much with the all important eating.  We in fact only had a couple of meals in sit down restaurants in Vietnam -- the good stuff could be found most anywhere, and cost around 2 US dollars.  Most impressive, I think, were the bahn mi sandwhiches, made with french bread that tasted just-baked, even after midnight.  We never did spot a bakery, however, so the source of this freshness is still a mystery.

Thankfully, pho lives indoors

The thick fog that descended on Alamo square tonight seemed like a good indicator that our trip far far away was coming at a pretty good time. I sort of liked the idea of a misty kiss farewell--one for the road as we escape, for a bit, to a sunnier part of the world.

Google weather wasted no time adding a dose of reality.

Dogpatch dogs

My coworkers and I have many times walked past these absurdly fluffy dogs passing their day on 3rd street. The first time I got a glimpse of the mechanism behind this fluffiness, however, was during Allegra's brief introduction to the dogpatch neighborhood.

Man blow-drying dog #1.



Allegra inspecting dog #2 post-blow-dry.



And for the record:

Dogpatch was named for the stray dogs that used to hunt for food among the meatpacking factories, which have since been converted into live-work lofts. (source)

Ah.

Thai sauce algebra

A waitress at the tenderloin Thai House Express was nice enough to reveal the ingredients of the absurdly delicious spicy green sauce that's served with the house beef. Proportions, however, were not supplied, so clearly some experimentation was in order.

For the sake of:

1. science
2. those outside the reach of a late meal at THX, and
   
3. the pride of discovery

I'm posting the results for popular enjoyment.
I'm still trying to figure out the morality of reverse recipe engineering, especially from such a beloved restaurant. But for now:

Ingredients:
Cilantro (all of the above, 1/2 a grocery store bunch?)
Chopped garlic (2 cloves)
Honey/Sugar (2 Tbsp)
Fish sauce (3/4 - 1 tsp)
Lime juice (3 small limes ~ 1/4 cup)
Rice vinegar (2 Tbsp)
1/2 - 3/4 of a medium-sized jalapeno

Instructions:
Mix sugar/honey with liquid ingredients, and combine all in food processor until it looks approximately like below.

We'll need to do some side-by-side testing to evaluate the match, but the final iteration was ultra-flavorful and definitely reminiscent of the in-house flavor.





Please note that there is no substitute for the tenderloin experience (let alone the rest of the menu, yum).

Inaugural waffling

First use of the new waffle iron -- these were delicious. Note the powdered sugar flakes captured mid-fall. Thanks Allegra! Can't wait for moffles.

Hunting and gathering