Tuesday, August 16, 2011

how many wieners?

Oy.  Vey.

Best Summer Ever Band tonight at the Press Club.  It's the Leap In The Dark night there, hosted by Mike C.  I hear BSEB are going to play fairly early.

Verge Movie Night on Thursday with the Russ Meyer movie Mudhoney.  Sac Treats and Morant's wieners for sale.  That reminds me, I gotta call Morant's and make sure they are ready for my wiener demands.  Are a lot of you planning on getting them?  I think we're gonna charge three bucks. I don't know how many to buy. I guess spare ones could come in handy this weekend.

Verge Movie Night turns one!
Thursday, August 18th
625 S st.
7:30 pm FREE

The Bee has had some interesting stuff in it lately:

Musings about the closing of Good Eats by BAR.  He doesn't pull any punches - I love it!  A lot of mediocre spots have been closing lately: CPK, Brew It Up.  I guess the lingering economy troubles have been sorting the wheat from the chaff.

Also, BAR reviewed Huong Lan.

And, Victoria Dalkey reviewed Nate Cordero's show, only a few day before it closes (at the end of the week).

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am planning on getting your weiner, hell possibly two.

Natalie.

Anonymous said...

Good banh mi review. I can never resist chiming in on viet-related topics. So, just wanted to point out two things. One,I don't think I like the idea of a $10.50 banh mi with Niman Ranch beef. It's probably really good, but, I don't know, I just don't really like the idea of gussied up expensive street food, or saying the best banh mi is at a non-vietnamese restaurant. Besides, the best banh mi are the ones with more intersting things than beef, such as cha ca (fried fish cake), head cheese,ear, nem nuong, cha lua (viet bologna), pate, etc.

Two, while describing 'nem nuong' as 'grilled pork' isn't exactly incorrect, it isn't the most accurate description. I've grown to really like nem and it's an interesting ingredient. There are two main kinds I know of, nem chua, which is uncooked and cured (means sour nem), and nem nuong, which is similarly seasoned but is grilled rather than cured, 'nuong' meaning 'grilled'. In both cases, they are finely ground pork sausages, with lots of garlic.
You can often find the nem chuas in little squares or cylinders in places like Huong Lan, wrapped in plastic and with little slices of garlic and chile on them. They're good, but super garlicky.

Strangely, in northern vietnam 'nem' means egg roll, though. (?)

Here's a recipe to make nem chua:

http://www.theravenouscouple.com/2010/01/nem-chua-recipe-vietnamese-fermentedcured-pork.html

and nem nuong:

http://www.theravenouscouple.com/2009/05/bun-nem-nuong-vermicelli-with-grilled-pork-patties.html

JD

beckler said...

Hey JD-
I love Magpie, but the time I had their banh mi I did not like it at all. The high quality meat was tough and slid out while biting, the bread was too chewy and substantial, and the pickled stuff was too samey vinegary in each bite (and I love pickles!) Not only was it not the best banh mi - it was not a good banh mi. Maybe I had it on an off day, and generally the sandwiches at Magpie are fucking wonderful.

beckler said...

Just called Dirk at Morant's and am happy to report that he is fully stocked with snappy, housemade wieners for you to enjoy. That's right, they are not made in a big factory where no one cares what the hell falls in the vat, rather, Dirk makes them in the back with TLC.

Anonymous said...

Where are the Rooney Rants?!? The people did demand them.
jamattack!

beckler said...

oh yeah. I had something I was gonna Rooney rant about, then I forgot. I'll try to come up with something.