Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Hatch Green Chilies

While I love the basic Grilled Cheese Sandwich, especially with a bowl of Cream of Tomato Soup, sometimes it's nice to kick things up a notch. Like a Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Hatch Green Chilies. Perhaps served with Thai-Style Pumpkin Carrot Coconut Curry Soup?

Singaporean Roti John with Sardines

Considering how much I love the Banh Mi Ca Moi (Vietnamese Sardine Sandwich), when I came across mention of a sardine sandwich in Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan's "A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family," I knew I had to try making it. Her friend, who is a chef, suggested cutting the fishiness of the sardines with sesame oil. I don't know if it really made that much of a difference for me since I like sardines, but you could certainly try that if you wish.

Read my recipe for Singaporean Roti John with Beef which includes the background history of the British, Malay, Indian, Singaporean influences that went into the creation of this sandwich. Since the sardines are already cooked, this version is a little quicker since you don't have to cook the meat before adding the eggs. I removed the bones and mashed the sardines with the eggs, scallions, and chili paste. Drizzled sesame oil to cook the mixture before placing the toasted bread on top. If you really want to cut the fishiness of the sardine sandwich though, I'd suggest stuffing it with slices of cucumbers and tomatoes.

Singaporean Roti John with Beef

"Food -- or makan, as we call it -- is a national obsession," said Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan in "A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family." "In the fifteen years that I've lived in the United States, I've often said to American friends that, when it comes to Singapore, I miss the food first and then my family. They think I'm joking."

(Tan is a former classmate, although Facebook and food have brought us closer that four years of undergrad ever did.) In the first chapter of her food memoir, Tan waxed nostalgic about bak kut teh (Chinese pork bone tea soup), Hainanese chicken rice, ice kacang (Malaysian shaved ice), Singaporean Chilli Crabs, and Singaporean roti John.

Most of the dishes I'm familiar with, but the last was new to me.

"The influence of the British -- whom the locals called Johns when Singapore was a colony -- inspired the Malay dish of roti John, which features a baguette topped with beaten eggs, minced mutton, and onions that's then quickly panfried and served with a spicy tomato dip," Tan described.

That sounded delicious, as did her descriptions of making kaya jam and pineapple tarts. But, as I wasn't about to make 100 pineapple tarts or 60 mooncakes or 80 otak (Singaporean spiced grilled fish paste), the recipes in her book weren't quite feasible for me.

A bit of Googling and I came upon this YouTube video by the Singapore International Foundation about roti John at the Shukor Stall Makanan Istemewa featuring Sufiah Nordiyana, granddaughter of the hawker who invented and/or popularized the dish in 1976.

I've changed the methodology a little bit, to scale down for cooking for one as opposed to hundreds. I used Vietnamese-French bread and substituted the mutton with beef, but kept the egg and onion. I also added a chopped scallion for some color and a dash of curry powder and garam masala as a nod to the Indian origins of the dish. Since I wasn't quite sure what the tomato chili sauce tasted like, I drizzled Thai Shark Sriracha, which is sweeter than the Huy Fong Foods, Inc. version.

British, Malay, Indian, Singaporean, the various influences that went into creating this dish, resulted in a delicious sandwich that was perfect for lunch. And again for dinner.

Lobster Roll with Sriracha Butter

A while back, Albertson's had a sale on lobster tails for $3.99 apiece. Granted, they were pretty small, but I couldn't pass up that price and purchased three of them. I froze the lobster until I could come up with a good recipe. Not that lobster needs a good recipe. I like lobster plain, grilled or boiled, and dipped in butter sauce or even, mayonnaise.

Which then got me thinking. If I'm perfectly happy with plain lobster and butter, then I might as well keep it simple and make a lobster roll. I'm always tempted to order one when I see it on the menu, but at upwards of $12, I haven't been able to justify spending that much for a sandwich. Even though my version cost the same, I got two lobster rolls for that price. And because lil' sis doesn't like lobster (I know!), she only had one bite and the rest was all for me.

The recipe is really simple. Baked lobster tails lightly sprinkled with salt, tossed in Sriracha butter, served on toasted hot dog buns. So if you love lobster and Sriracha, this recipe showcases both ingredients wonderfully.

Banh Pa Te So Nhan Banh Mi (Vietnamese Pate Chaud (French Hot Pastry Pie) with Sandwich Fillings)

Shortly after trying the special at Au Coeur De Paris Patisserie & Boulangerie - Westminster ( Little Saigon), basically a Banh Pa Te So (Vietnamese Pate Chaud (French Hot Pastry Pie)) with Vietnamese sandwich fillings, I knew I would recreate this at home. Such a brilliant idea!

I made my usual Vietnamese puff pastry pies, then stuffed them like Au Coeur De Paris does with homemade Xa Xiu (Vietnamese Chinese Barbecued Pork), Cha Lua (Vietnamese Steamed Pork Loaf), and Do Chua (Vietnamese Pickled Stuff). Tucked in a few sprigs of cilantro and little hand-sized snacks were perfect.

I was trying to come up with a name to call these, but couldn't come up with anything shorter than what they are Banh Pa Te So Nhan Banh Mi (Vietnamese Pate Chaud (French Hot Pastry Pie) with Sandwich Fillings). Ha! If you're in the Little Saigon area, I highly recommend checking out Au Coeur De Paris' specials, but otherwise, they're easy enough to make at home, they just have a lot of components.

Hot flaky puff pastry stuffed with three kinds of meat and pickles? Perfection.

Seattle (Cream Cheese) Hot Dog vs. Denver (Omelet) Sandwich

I don't watch football, and don't generally go to Super Bowl parties, so when asked for ideas, I default to my Sriracha Buffalo Wings recipe and call it a day.

But with the Seahawks playing the Broncos, I actually had an idea for the Seattle snack -- hot dogs with cream cheese. Oldest nephew and his best friend, who both went to college in Seattle, introduced the dish to me several years ago during a Memorial Day barbecue.

I admit, the thought of adding cream cheese to my hot dog was weird to me so I didn't try it then. I did now though and thought the creaminess of the cheese paired well with the grilled meat. Huh! Who would have thought?

So that left me brainstorming for what to do for a Denver-based snack. What food is Denver known for? Rocky Mountain oysters? Heh heh. Obviously, I went with a Denver Omelet Sandwich.

Which would you rather eat? Yeah, I meant to blog this before the game, but the outcome of my culinary NFL was the same as the real game -- Seattle all the way.

Umami Burger - Anaheim

After finishing the Disneyland Half Marathon, I was staaarving. While racing, I teased Valerie Chinn and her husband about taking them to Quan Hy Vietnamese Restaurant - Westminster for the best banh beo (Vietnamese steamed rice discs with dried shrimp) in town. But Little Saigon was too far away when they still needed to get back to their hotel to get ready before check-out.

Then I remembered that Umami Burger opened in Anaheim last year and a bit of Googling turned up that it was only 1.1 miles away. The clincher was when I told them that the burgers were made with Nuoc Mam (Vietnamese Fish Sauce) and that people waited for three hours for tables when Umami Burger opened this summer in New York City.

Banh Mi Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup-Spiced Sandwich)

Since my brother said I was overthinking the Pho Burger with Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup Spices by making noodle "buns," I also sliced some beef and seasoned it with Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup) spices and made a Vietnamese sandwich. Added the usual pho garnishes of cilantro, basil, bean sprouts, and scallions, drizzled some Sriracha and hoisin sauce, and it was pho bo in a banh mi.

Since there was plenty left after dinner with my brother's family, I figured lil' sis and oldest nephew would like to try too. So I packed everything up and drove down to San Diego to share. The verdict? Everyone liked it and I had no leftovers.

Pho Burger with Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup Spices

After Keizo of Go Ramen moved to Japan to pursue his ramen dream, he apprenticed at several ramen shops before moving back to the United States and inventing the ramenburger. The ramenburger! Seasoned meat sandwiched between ramen noodle "buns." Needless to say, the ramenburger instantly caught the country by storm. I haven't been to New York City to taste the ramenburger from Keizo himself, but it got me thinking...

What if, instead of a ramenburger, I made a Pho Burger with Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup Spices? I could grind star anise, cinnamon, and cloves, add some minced garlic and ginger, to ground beef. The pho noodle "buns" would be a bit of a challenge, but as rice noodles tend to clump anyway, I could use that to my advantage. Topped with basil, cilantro, scallions, and bean sprouts and a couple of squirts of sriracha and hoisin sauce. It was literally Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup) in a burger.

The only problem was that while I got the rice noodles to clump into "buns," they fell apart when holding them to eat like a burger. Pan-frying the noodle "buns" held them together, but was greasy. My brother and his wife and kids came over to test my experiment. They liked it! They liked it! My brother said I was overthinking. I already had good flavors, why didn't I just do the obvious and put the pho-spiced meat in a hamburger bun? Of course! I had also spiced some sliced beef, to see if ground beef or sliced beef was better, and he suggested making a Banh Mi Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup-Spiced Sandwich), but that's saved for another post.

I've included directions for making the pho noodle "buns," but ordinary hamburger buns work just fine for this recipe.

The Original Tops - Pasadena

While chatting with the owners of Gus's Barbecue - South Pasadena, I found out that their father opened The Original Tops in Pasadena in 1952 shortly after immigrating here from Greece. He was only 19 years old at the time! How cool is that?!

The Gus's Barbecue owners said their father used to make them work at Tops as punishment. And yet, they decided to go into the restaurant business... Up until a few years ago, their father was still working at the restaurant every day. I love a hard-working immigrant story.



Other Tops locations that have spun off from this one were all sold off and are no longer affiliated. So if you want the original owner, go to The Original Tops.

The only nod to their heritage is in the Greek Salad, otherwise, the menu is all American comfort food. The 100% Angus chuck ground beef is fresh, never frozen. The French, sweet potato, and zucchini fries are cut by hand and fried in small batches throughout the day. The pastrami is made in-house. And the kobe beef burger is just as delicious as it sounds.

Subway's Creamy Sriracha Sauce

I haven't done a "fun food" post in a while. Tipped off by Cousin Q's post about Subway testing a creamy Sriracha sauce in some markets, I hit up my local Subway to check it out. I got a six-inch Cold Cut Combo on honey oat wheat with everything and two drizzles of the creamy Sriracha sauce.

Here, I'll open the sandwich so you can see. It's a bright orange color, which led me to wonder if the "creamy" part was achieved by watering down Sriracha sauce with mayonnaise?

Potbelly Sandwich Shop (SW 6th Ave.) - Portland - Oregon

My dad's been down in SoCal for the past few weeks working on the house so I thought I'd go home and and surprise my mom. A few days before, one of my childhood friends checked into Potbelly Sandwich Shop on Facebook. What?! There's a Potbelly now in Oregon?! I was all over that.

A few years ago when I was in Washington, D.C. and stumbled upon a Potbelly, I literally jumped for joy. Mmm. A Wreck with extra peppers. One of the things I missed about living in Chicago and in which I indulged in regularly the summer I lived in Madison, Wisconsin. It's pretty funny to see the Yelp page littered with Midwest transplants all waxing nostalgic too.

But first, there was pie. Mmm. Pie.

Saigon's Bakery and Sandwiches - San Gabriel

Ah well, you knew I couldn't keep up the real-time updates on the blog. So let's go back to the day before I left for vacation. I had a 5-hour flight to Washington, D.C., then several hours layover, and a 5 1/2-hour flight to my destination. Could you believe neither of those flights had free meal service?

So in between trying to get my house in order, I managed to run to Saigon's Bakery and Sandwiches in San Gabriel to grab some Vietnamese sandwiches for the road. This location is by the San Gabriel Superstore, so it's a convenient stop-in after grocery shopping. I've been going to Saigon's Bakery and Sandwiches for years now, and have to say it's my favorite Vietnamese French bread, light, airy and crispy. It also has the best Banh Mi Xiu Mai (Vietnamese Meatball Sandwich), seasoned and flavorful, not just steamed like at other places. The sandwiches also wear well for travel. The bread doesn't get hard and dry and the filling isn't all fatty, absolute musts when I buy them a day in advance before a flight.

Freshly toasted, I'm still partial to Banh Mi & Che Cali Restaurant - Alhambra's crunchy soft bread and the pate they use just does it for me. But for price point, Saigon's Bakery and Sandwiches is actually cheaper now. Banh Mi Che Cali charges tax, Saigon's Bakery already has the tax in the price. So it's a few cents cheaper, but hey, those pennies add up. The Vietnamese French bread sandwiches here are $2.25 each (The baguette sandwiches are $2.75 each.), and they're buy 2, get 1 free. They used to be buy 3, get 1 free baguette, and buy 6, get a free sandwich. But this summer, they lowered their price point to many a happy customer, namely me!

Nem Nuong (Vietnamese Grilled Pork Patty) Sliders

Since my hometown's style of making Nem Nuong (Vietnamese Grilled Pork Patties) already resembled little hamburger patties, it wasn't that much of a leap to put them in between Hawaiian bread rolls and turn them into sliders, but I wanted to carry it further. I wanted to put what I loved about the rice paper roll into a bun.

Do I add cornstarch to the dipping sauce and make it even thicker? Still too gloppy. And do Vietnamese herbs really go with bread? Not really. Do I fold the empty wrapper into a big square instead of a roll like I do for nem nuong? But a bun doesn't contain the crispy bits as well as a rice paper roll.

I was overthinking it, a basic nem nuong cuon just has the meat, lettuce, and a crispy bit in the middle.

So I cut an egg roll wrapper into fourths and fried them crispy and stuck them into the bun. It reminded me of upscale hamburger places that had a crispy Parmesan chip inside the burger.

Biting into my nem nuong slider, I got juicy meat, I got lettuce, I got a lightly crispy bit to contrast with it all.

 Perfect.

I wolfed down several sliders right away and made another batch a few days later when my parents came to town. The only caveat is that the fried egg roll wrapper gets soggy quickly so eat these right away.

Cook's Tortas - Monterey Park

On my way to meet my cousin's new baby, I decided to grab some sandwiches from Cook's Tortas - Monterey Park to bring to the new parents. I had first visited the restaurant last summer with oldest nephew and lil' sis before we went to see Casablanca at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. I don't know what possessed us to order the sandwich we did because it was so spicy that the three of us couldn't finish it, nor did we enjoy it very much. So Cook's Tortas stayed on the periphery as a place I should revisit at least one more time before I could blog it, but not as a restaurant that I had to eat at again right away.

So a year went by and I decided to try their food booth at AltaMed's 6th Annual East LA Meets Napa event. I liked my sandwich bite and agua fresca (Mexican fresh beverages) so much that I figured it was worth revisiting.

Thit Heo Bam Xao Ca Chua Banh Mi Op La (Vietnamese Ground Pork Tomato Stir-Fry with Sunny Side Up Eggs and Vietnamese French Bread)

I had purchased some ground pork at the grocery store that I intended to make into a Banh Mi Xiu Mai (Vietnamese Meatball Sandwich), but with some fresh tomato sauce added. Then after a busy weekend with my Vietnamese regional cuisine tour of Little Saigon and walking around outside my brother's neighborhood, I got sick. Woozy-headed, coughing, sniffles, the usual cold/flu-ish/spring allergies. Oh, I really was not in the mood to do much for the past week. But that ground pork need to be cooked. Well, I guess I could have just put it in the freezer, but I was hungry too. And still craving tomato-y meatballs with lightly crispy Vietnamese French bread.

So I decided to make a sort of deconstructed Vietnamese meatball sandwich. While I was cooking the pork, it was very reminiscent of Bo "Ne" Bit Tet (Vietnamese "Stand Back" Beef Steak) that I frequently had for breakfast with my cousin the last time I was in my hometown in Vietnam. So after the quick stir-fry, I spooned over a bit into another pan, fried one sunny side up egg (so it can soak in all the lovely meaty juices while cooking), tossed a chopped scallion for color, and it was an oh-so-very-satisfying meal.

Whether I really was that hungry, or what, but I really liked the pop of color in these photos. Simple Vietnamese homecooking that made me very happy. Of course, you can serve the stir-fry with plain rice if you wish, but I quite liked it with Vietnamese French bread.

Reuben Sandwich

The week after I got back from Oregon, I couldn't stop thinking about the Reuben sandwich I had at Thirsty Lion Pub & Grill - Tigard - Oregon. I wasn't up for paying $13 or for driving out to Langer's Delicatessen-Restaurant - Los Angeles.

So I bought Jewish rye bread, thick-cut pastrami, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut from the grocery store. Then made a quick version by popping it into the toaster oven. It just wasn't the same. I needed the thousand island dressing! And my cheat of mixing ketchup with mayonnaise just wasn't going to cut it.

The next day, I went back again. Because when I get a craaaving, I get craaavings! This time, I got corned beef, and asked for it to be cut as thin as possible. That was the first big difference. The second was buying both thousand island and Russian dressings, neither of which do I actually eat on salads, but were both essential for a really good Reuben sandwich.

All the proper components in place, I then toasted the sandwich before pan-grilling it with a pat of butter.

So good! Cravings finally satisfied.

Bunk Sandwiches - Portland - Oregon

Since Gourmet Pigs had never been to Oregon before, she had a list of three things she wanted to do. Eating at Bunk Sandwiches was one of them.

Why do they call themselves bunk? According to the Bunk Sandwiches website, with so many places proclaiming they're "the best," Bunk would rather you decide for yourself. That unpretentiousness was rather endearing in a very PDX kind of way that made me miss home. Then I clicked on the link to see their press. Getting written up by local press is a given, but once you hit the New York Times, or appear on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives," or get proclaimed by Mario Batali to be one of the world's top 100 contemporary chefs (that would be Tommy Habetz, former sous chef at Batali's Lupa in New York City, who currently co-owns Bunk with Nick Woods), hype is unavoidable.

Banh Mi Ca Moi (Vietnamese Sardine Sandwich)

I admit, I don't come across too many recipes for sardines. I love them; the savory, soft fish in tangy chili tomato sauce. I usually eat them the way my mom served them when I was growing up -- reheating the sardines in a small pan on the stove top and adding a few dashes of fish sauce for flavor. Then, I'd either stuff them into toasted Vietnamese-French bread or use the bread to mop up the fishy tomato sauce.

So really, that's not much of a recipe. Nor is it very photogenic. But there's no reason why you can't make a full Vietnamese sandwich with sardines, complete with pickled carrots and daikon, cucumber slices, and sprigs of cilantro. In fact, the fresh vegetables are the perfect pairing to balance the fishiness of sardines.

Thanh Tam Bakery - Garden Grove (Little Saigon)

After we left Ngu Binh Restaurant - Westminster, I asked my dad's friend's daughter if she wanted some che (Vietnamese pudding) since were passing by Thach Che Hien Khanh - Garden Grove. She wavered, but in the end, decided she might as well maximize her eating experience while she was in town. So after getting some dessert to-go, I headed further east because my friend DP told me her current favorite Vietnamese sandwich shop was Thanh Tam Bakery.


On the Westminster Avenue side though, all I saw was Thanh Tam Billiards. My friend sent me to a pool hall for banh mi? This couldn't be right? Or could it?