And since the cooking is decidedly subtle, the tofu isn’t hidden.Īnd so…tofu is what we go here for. Often in one of those palate-destroying Szechuan dishes, flavored with fiery peppers and sautéed pork, where the tofu is hidden under a mountain of extreme flavors. But it’s been transformed from soy beans (our much-loved edamame) to soy milk to soy curds to prepared tofu in dishes.
It’s time for banh mi, a style of sandwich Jenkins ate almost daily in San Jose as a snack after school or whenever she was in need of a quick meal.Is tofu a vegetable? Well, of course it is. Our next stop is Northridge’s Bun Me, about 18 minutes north in another shopping center with slim parking spaces. “There is never a dish that tastes the same with each bite.” 12:37 p.m. “The great, amazing thing about Vietnamese dishes is that every bite is different,” she says. Jenkins gets to work cutting away from different components on the plate, crafting specific combinations on her spoon. There’s a mound of rice in the middle, some pickled cabbage, sliced tomato and cucumber and two fried eggs with crisp edges. In one corner sits a large pork chop atop a pile of shredded pork skins as long as noodles. We finish the meal with Jenkins’ bespoke rice plate. The San Gabriel Valley is known for its Chinese restaurants, but here are some new and notable Vietnamese spots for pho, banh mi and beyond. Her perfectly manicured fingers snap a few photos.įood 9 must-try Vietnamese restaurants in the SGV - for stone-pot pho and more She straightens her Gucci headband and flashes a megawatt smile. She holds her phone with an outstretched arm at a downward angle and uses her other hand to slide her high ponytail to one side. She takes a small ramekin on the table and pours me some hoisin sauce, then draws a happy face with some sriracha.Īfter a few minutes, a parade of plates lands on the table.
She reaches for a caddy of condiments stocked with the holy trinity of pho seasoning: hoisin sauce, sambal and sriracha. If Jenkins is particular about the way the pho is ordered, she’s equally particular about how it should be eaten. I want to see uncle capturing these with his little old Canon.” “And keep your Instagram-perfect photos to yourself. “I don’t want to see ‘noodle bone broth soup.’ I want to see numbers and Vietnamese writing,” she says. Then look for Vietnamese writing and lots of pictures. Over the years, she’s made it her mission to become a sort of culinary ambassador, introducing her food and culture to everyone she encounters.įood 5½ hours and 10 bowls of pasta with Alison BrieĪ mini L.A. But for her, “Vietnamese food is life,” she says. Jenkins is the first to admit she’s not a food expert. Our server furiously writes in his notepad, then hurries to the kitchen. Oh, and some extra nước chấm with that too. Not finding exactly what she wants, she builds her own plate, requesting a charbroiled pork chop with a slice of meatloaf, shredded pork skins and a fried egg. She turns the menu over and peruses the rice dishes. She then points to a photo of crisp spring rolls and asks for an extra cup of nước chấm. This is just the instructions for the pho. And she wants a bowl of nước béo, the fat and oil they skim off the top of the soup while cooking, which they use to marinate diced green onions. She would like the accompanying bean sprouts warmed so that they do not cool down the soup. And she wants extra tripe in a bowl with hot broth.
She wants the slices of raw beef on a plate on the side rather than served in the soup so she can control the cooking time. In Vietnamese, Jenkins asks the server for a bowl of Dac Biet Xe Lua, a combination pho with rare slices of steak, flank, tendon, tripe and rice noodles. “When I moved to L.A.,” she says, “the two homes I could afford at the time, one was 25 miles away from this restaurant and one was five miles. The Van Nuys branch of Pho So 1 restaurant, Jenkins’ first destination on a three-stop Vietnamese food crawl, is home to her favorite bowl of pho besides her mother’s.
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