beXnlog

Every Lunch Wish

Last week i took a detour to Viet Nam Banh Mi So #1 after work. It's a tiny hole-in-the-wall serving up numerous kinds of banh mi, delicious Vietnamese-style sandwiches on toasted baguettes, plus freshly squeezed juices, snacks and other goodies like fresh spring rolls. Alongside boxes of Pocky, you can also buy jars of pickled fruits and vegetables and sriracha sauce from Thailand!* Anthony (the owner) once gave me a grand discount when he realized i worked with Q. Every moment i'm alive, i thank Q for introducing us all to the wonders of fresh spring rolls and banh mi!

On this most recent trip, i picked up 2 packages of vegetarian fresh spring rolls, which are filled with noodles, mushrooms, tree ears, carrot and radish shreds, tofu, cilantro and fresh mint leaves, with a side of sweet plum sauce and fried, crushed peanuts. These things are utterly addictive due to their amazing flavor combination. be served some for his birthday party last May, and i hear through the grapevine that people are still talking about these rolls!

I was also hankering to try some of the vegetarian banh mi. They offer 3 meatless versions, each for under $4.00:

11. Veggies:  pickled carrots, cilantro and cucumber
12. House Special Vegetarian:  tofu, mushroom, clear noodles, carrot and sweet radish
13. Vegan Chicken with Lemongrass:  (NOT Meat)

I asked for #12 and #13, both of which also included generous sprigs of cilantro and a spread of homemade mayo and rich butter. The smelled so good on the subway ride home, i bet the whole car was salivating like i was! However, upon opening my bag i found that i actually accidentally received #11 and #12. Like expected, #12 was absolutely delicious; the filling is similar to what's inside the vegetarian fresh spring rolls (minus the tree ears and mint) but heartier since it's on a toasted baguette with mayo and butter. I was skeptical of #11 since it sounded like a carrot sandwich, but in actuality, it was very delicious as well! The filling was so fresh, crisp and refreshing - combine that with creamy mayo and butter, cilantro and hot peppers and you have an amazing taste & texture sensation!

Of note were the hot peppers. I asked for them on the side since be doesn't like his food crazy hot. The man behind the counter gave me a little paper packet of a dozen tiny green peppers, the kind that look quite harmless compared to giant bright red ones. I'm aware that the smaller peppers are usually the hotter ones, but i didn't think they were that hot! I put a few whole peppers in my #12 and began eating, when all of a sudden my entire mouth was on fire. I opened the sandwich to inspect when i realized that i had only bitten into THE TIP of one tiny pepper! At this point, i knew i'd die if i ate 4 or 5 whole ones, so i removed them, chopped them up and sprinkled the bits over both the #11 and #12 sandwiches. Halfway through the #12, i was sweating and proclaiming to be that VNBMS#1 does not kid around!

The NY Daily News ran an article last year on banh mi in New York. I haven't been to any other shops so i can't compare, but if anything, the vegetarian fresh spring rolls are to die for at VNBMS#1!

*Huy Fong makes the best known brand of sriracha sauce in the US - you know those green-capped squirt bottles whose labels are in English, Vietnamese, Spanish, Chinese and French. Sometimes it's renamed "rooster sauce" or "cock sauce" by fans (but it's probably because they didn't know how to pronounce "sriracha!") Did you know it's made in California? Check out this interesting article on David Tran, the Emperor of Hot Sauce.

posted by beXn @ 1:44 AM