Go Pho It! A Taste of Vietnam
Calendar Live takes you on a culinary tour of Little Saigon

By Phuong-Cac Nguyen
Special to Los Angeles Times' Calendar Live

Tony Lam, owner of Vien Dong restaurant, sets steaming teacups on the table in front of three older men in withered gray slacks and dress shirts who sit joking with each other. Within the cups is the answer to a hectic morning of errand running: a soothing blend of jasmine tea and lotus leaves. It's not quite late enough for lunch, not early enough for breakfast, and definitely too soon to have brunch, but patrons at tables nearby are digging into their rice vermicelli dishes eagerly, and the blunt sounds of the Vietnamese language can be heard in between the clinking of chopsticks hitting the bottom and sides of rice bowls.

Such is the scene at many Vietnamese restaurants in the small, distinct Orange County area called Little Saigon, located in the heart of Orange County, in the neighboring cities of Westminster, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach and Garden Grove, where the restaurants serve dishes that are considered as authentic as possible. Here, pho (noodle) shops and Vietnamese markets that carry imported rice, tea and vegetables dot both sides of streets such as the famous Bolsa Avenue strip. Most signs are printed only in Vietnamese, and almost all of the 200,000 Vietnamese in Orange County flock here to be with their community, as well as enjoy the sights. Tuck you napkins into the collar of your shirt, be careful where you point those chopsticks, and let Calendar Live take you on a culinary tour and give you the rundown on the food you'll find there.

Cuisine of Choice
Vietnamese cuisine is healthy, satisfying, and most of all, flavorful. No wonder that Vietnamese restaurants from family pho shops to first-class affairs like Crustacean are popping up all over the Southland. it's becoming the next big thing — the '90s answer to Thai. And like Chinese and Thai, Vietnamese has more than one type and cooking style. The cuisine has several subcategories: North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese, Central Vietnamese, French Vietnamese and pho, which is the dish that has spurred all those locations that begin with "pho" and end in numbers anywhere from 1 to what seems like an infinity. The differences range from variations on a dish such as egg rolls to specific dishes made in the Hue region that you'll seldom find in South Vietnam.

On Bolsa Avenue, each restaurant caters to a different palate according to where in Vietnam the owner is from. Each dish has its own distinctive group of accompanying herbs not only because they enhance the dish, but also because the Vietnamese believe herbs have medicinal benefits that aid digestion or balance heavily spiced dishes.

North Vietnamese Cuisine
North Vietnamese food is a prime example of "light" food. "[It's] less spicy, less hot and has more vegetables," says Vien Dong owner Tony Lam. It also has fewer helpings than South Vietnamese-style dishes.

But that doesn't mean North Vietnamese food is bland or boring. For a good starter, try banh tom, shrimp fried in crunchy-on-the-outside and soft-in-the-inside yam batter that almost looks like orange frites stuck together. It's perfect for finicky kids, since it can be eaten with just the hands. It can also be wrapped in a lettuce leaf and then dunked in fish sauce, nuoc mam — Vietnam's answer to soy sauce.

As for soups, canh bun could be a meal in itself and is sometimes eaten for breakfast. The mixture of ground crab, shrimp, Chinese watercress with linguini rice noodles and thick tomato quarters goes down surprisingly smooth.

Bun cha dong xuan is a dream for anyone who likes pork. Its name comes directly from a beautiful and famous market in the ancient capital, Hanoi. Thin and incredibly tender, the charbroiled pork is marinated in spices and eaten with rice noodles, lettuce, mint and of course, the omnipresent nuoc mam.

Central Vietnamese Cuisine
Central Vietnamese is characterized by one of the famous cities in Vietnam, Hue. The last dynasty of Vietnam lived there, and Hue food came into its own then by catering to the area's tastes and using local ingredients. Hue-style dishes are unique, especially for their quantity. "Our dishes are smaller, usually because it takes more time to make them," says Hoa Tran, who, along with her nine sisters, owns and operates Hue Rendez Vous.

One area favorite, banh beo, rice flour baby pancakes, comes with minced fresh shrimp on top of 12 little dishes and nuoc mam to accompany them. "The kids like it, and even Americans like it," Tran says.

The most famous food of the region is bun bo Hue, or Hue vermicelli noodles with beef and pork feet. Bun bo Hue is served in a smaller bowl than pho and accompanied with bean sprouts and cabbage. The defining ingredient is the pork foot, an important characteristic of Hue dishes.

South Vietnamese
Almost as famous as pho, a favorite among most Vietnamese food lovers is the famous "seven courses" of beef. This dish is believed to come from the Mekong Delta and Anh Hong restaurant is one place where you can get it. Beef is literally served in seven different ways: goi bo, a beef salad with pickled carrots and dikon soaked in nuoc mam; bo nhung dam, a do-it-yourself deal with a simmering broth of vinegar and onions, which you then roll in rice paper along with vermicelli noodles, lettuce, mints, cucumbers, cilantro and bean sprouts and dip in nuoc mam; cha dum, a steamed pate beef that consists of ground beef, nuts and spices; mo chai, charbroiled ground beef sausage made with spices; la lot, grilled ground beef sausage wrapped in a delicious imported Hawaiian leaf called "lot"; bo nuong xa, sliced beef tenderloin charbroiled with lemongrass and dipped in nuoc mam; and finally, chao bo, a light soup of ground beef, onion and star macaroni.

French Vietnamese
Because Vietnam was once a French colony, French food is a typical alternative for many Vietnamese. Unlike the recent fusion, French Vietnamese food is actually two separate cuisines served together. Go to any French Vietnamese restaurant and you'll discover not one menu but two. In these restaurants, filet mignon tastes the same as if ordered at a Parisian cafe, and you can have it with dishes from the Vietnamese side of the menu, such as pho ga, rice noodles with chicken, or bun cha gio, rice vermicelli with egg rolls. Favori Restaurant, a cozy French Vietnamese restaurant, boasts its chef from Cordon Bleu culinary school in France. And that makes all the difference.

Pho
Pho is one of the more well-known foods that make up Vietnamese food. It's simply soup served with flat rice noodles, scallions and your choice of meat, with different types of vegetables to accompany (such as mint and bean sprouts). Because it is so simple, it can be made in a variety of ways. Pho Nguyen Hue Restaurant, for example, serves 25 different types of pho. Most order beef pho, which usually comes with medium-rare meat that cooks in the broth while you're eating away (if the steam doesn't deter you). Kids like the pho bo vien, or beef ball soup, because it's almost a compromise between the adult pho (which is quite hearty and hard to conquer for a young kid) and spaghetti. "Pho is a piece of Vietnamese culture and history," says Nathan Nguyen, assistant manager of Pho Nguyen Hue Restaurant. Nguyen credits the popularity of the dish among all ages with its long history. The best way to find a really good pho restaurant is to see how clear the pho broth is. If you can see through the broth to the bottom of the bowl, you've got a winner.