Vietnamese & Cambodian Food

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VIETNAMESE FOOD

     From TIME OUT NEW YORK EATING & DRINKING 2000, pg. 161, col. 3:

EAT YOUR WORDS
_Banh mi cary ga_ is a curry chicken dish.
_Bo_ is beef.
_Com_ is rice.
_Pho_ is a soup with a light, lemony, aromatic beef-based stock that is
usually served with slices of beef and side garnishes.
_Ga_ is chicken.
_Gung_ is ginger.
_Mi_ are egg noodles.
_Xa_ is lemongrass.

     SOAR is an amazing database of over 67,000 online recipes.  Vietnamese
Recipes are at
http://soar.Berkeley.EDU/recipes/ethnic/vietnamese/indexall.html.  I checked
SOAR's Vietnamese recipes against the Dow Jones citation database.  Here goes.

Asparagus and crab meat soup--Mang Tay Nau Cua (3 hits)
Beef noodle soup--Banh Pho Bo (0 hits)
Barbecued shrimp paste on sugar cane--Chao Tom (114 hits)
Barbecued squid with hot dipping sauce--squid sate (3 hits)
Barbecued Vietnamese five-spice Cornish game hens (4 hits)
Beef and French-fried potatoes--Thit Bo Xao Khoai Tay (5 hits)
Beef balls--Thit Bo Vien (0 hits)
Buddhist Nuoc Leo (7 hits)
Bun Bo Hue (58 hits)
Cha Gio (316 hits)
Stir-fry noodles--Char Kway Teow (103 hits)
Chicken in lemon grass and chili--Ga Xao Xa Ot (25 hits)
Coconut flan with caramel--Banh Dua Ca Ra Men (1 hit)
Curried frogs' legs--Ech Nau Ca-ri (0 hits)
Curried tofu sauce--Dau Khuon Xao Lan (1 hit)
Duck with sugar cane--Vit Tiem Mia (0 hits)
Fish Sauce--Nuoc Mam (See my previous posting--the OED has this from 1919)
Nuoc Cham (See my previous posting)
Pho Bac (54 hits)
Beef soup--Pho (20,616 hits)
Phoenix rolls (42 hits)--Banh Phong Hoang (0 hits)
Pickled pigs' ears--Tai Heo Ngam Chua (0 hits)
Scallion oil--Hanh La Phi (0 hits)
Shrimp on crab legs--Cang Cua Boc Tom (3 hits)
Shrimp on sugar cane--Chao Tom (114 hits)
Soup Pho (154 hits)
Sour fish head soup--Canh Chua Dau Ca (0 hits)
Spicy shrimp and pork salad--Yam Vietnam (0 hits)
Square spring roll--Ram Goi (1 hit)
Tangy Vietnamese-style marinade (8 hits)
Chicken with lemon grass--Thit Ga Xao Dam Gung Sa (2 hits)
Vegetable platter--Dia Rau Song (2 hits)
Vietnamese lemongrass chicken (143 hits)
Vietnamese lemon grass chicken (202 hits)
Vietnamese bbq duck breast (6 hits)
Fried spinach--Rau Muong Xao (1 hit)
Fried vegetarian spring rolls--Cha Gio Chay (4 hits)
Fruits in syrup--Try Cai (2 hits)
Prawn rolls--Goong Hom Pha (2 hits)
Grilled dried beef--Thit Bo Kho (4 hits)
Hanoi beef (39 hits) and rice noodle soup--Pho Bac (54 hits)
Iced lemon grass tea (1 hit)
Mama Lan's Vietnamese stir-fried crabs (1 hit)
Fried pork with garlic--Moo Grataem (0 hits)
Vietnamese coffee (623 hits)
Vietnamese crepes (32 hits)
Vietnamese curry (Cari) (28 hits)
Vietnamese dipping sauce (63 hits)
Vietnamese five spice chicken (0 hits)
Vietnamese imperial rolls (17 hits)  (NOTE: imperial rolls=spring rolls)
Vietnamese lemongrass marinade (0 hits)
Vietnamese noodle soup (148 hits)
Vietnamese pho (163 hits)
Vietnamese pork burgers (1 hit)
Vietnamese pork sticks with lettuce cups (1 hit)
Vietnamese spring noodle salad (0 hits)
Vietnamese spring rolls (434 hits)
Vietnamese stir fried chicken with lemon grass (11 hits)

     I went to a bunch of Vietnamese restaurants to check the menu.  LE
COLONIAL, 149 East 57th Street (near me), doesn't have a takeout menu.
     L'ANNAM, 393 3rd Avenue, serves Vietnamese fried rice-stir fried (27
hits), which is rice with pineapple chunk, shrimp, Chinese sausage, green
peas, egg, coriander, and scallion.  Com Tom Xao (1,716 hits) is shrimp with
lobster sauce.
     SAMMY'S ASIAN GOURMET, 301-303 6th Avenue, serves Bo Luc Lac (42 hits),
which is steak cube marinated in chef's sauce with prawn cracker, onion,
lettuce, and tomato.  Tom Yum Koong (782 hits) is sweet and sour soup.
    APPLE RESTAURANT & BOM BAR, 17 Waverly Place, is near NYU.  It serves
steamed or fried Vietnamese dumplings (10 hits) and Vietnamese egg rolls (196
hits).

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CAMBODIAN FOOD

    The ELEPHANT WALK restaurant is in Boston and Cambridge, and it has a new
cookbook and a web site (www.elephantwalk.com).  I went to the web site and
checked out the items.  The hits on each one were from the Boston Globe,
reviewing ELEPHANT WALK.  This could be a much bigger chain--Cambodian food
has a way to go.  SOAR doesn't have Cambodian food under its "ethnic" recipes.
    Cambodian spring rolls (16 hits) trail far behind Vietnamese spring rolls
(434 hits).
    "Elephant sandwiches" are what might be called a sub or hero or hoagie
over here.  There is one hit on the Dow Jones database that is not ELEPHANT
WALK.