It's actually another food post!



Since Kara was born, I've been so obsessed with the food selection downtown (which I no longer have convenient access to) that I've actually had dreams about it. The dreams are most often of the variety of places on The PATH, although the eateries there are probably my least-missed spots due to the fact that there are next-to-no independent food services.

On the independent-front, although Craft Burger is fantastic, at least Golden Star is within walking distance from our place and an excellent substitute. Corned Beef House has really good sandwiches, but their offerings tend towards overly-salty, so I don't miss them too greatly. I'm sad to say that my last excursion to Mother's Dumplings proved the food to be lacklustre at best.

Mostly, I find that I miss the chip truck in front of City Hall which I used to frequent, Burrito Boyz' halibut taco and the bánh mì place just North of Dundas on Spadina Avenue, Bánh Mì & Chè Cali (just South of the other bánh mì place).

My jonesing for a good bánh mì had gotten so strong that I finally decided to research "recipes" for the sandwich. I ended up settling on this recipe as a reference. I consulted a recipe for chả lụa as well, but ended up deciding it a bit overly-ambitious to attempt while I'm primarily responsible for a baby. In the coming months, however, I suspect that I'll find it much more manageable.

My bánh mì, then, is on an Ace Bakery demi-baguette, with vegan margarine, kewpie (Q.P.) mayonnaise and a canola oil/light soy sauce/fish sauce blend spread on the two halves. I also created a slaw of daikon radish and carrots by using my vegetable peeler to peel off strips, then soaking those in a seasoned rice vinegar and sugar mixture. I generously applied fresh cilantro. Finally, I heated a Chinese sausage (in lieu of chả lụa) and used that as the meat for the sandwich. Surprisingly, the sausage was the least-impressive component of the sandwich.

Eventually, I'd like to try making a variation which uses foie gras as a substitute for the liver spread, and perhaps that homemade chả lụa. In the meantime, this is a great, quick way to meet my need for a good Vietnamese sandwich.