The Specialists : A grazer’s guide to Vietnamese food

It’s said that during China’s Ch’ing dynasty, the emperor, who had hundreds of kitchen servants to cook whatever he desired, would occasionally send a night runner out of the Forbidden City for a bowl of old man Wang’s spicy beef noodles. Wang, like many specialty cooks, perfected and served only one item.

Even today, in the world of everyday Asian eating, it is the specialists--the dumpling maker in his tiny shop, the humble sate griller or the old lady dishing out sweet black sticky rice--who inspire midnight cravings.

Now that the Los Angeles area’s Vietnamese population is firmly entrenched, traditional specialists are beginning to flourish here. With the help of a Vietnamese friend, I managed to ferret out some of the best of these places. And while the dishes these restaurants prepare may be found in other all-purpose restaurants, they never seem quite as good as the versions made by the specialists.

Ba Le, for example, particularly the branch in Reseda, excels in banh mi-- Vietnamese submarine sandwiches. The French colonists in Saigon, looking for a bit of their own cuisine, trained a legion of charcutiers who went on to develop their own cross-cultural pates, hams and sausages. They piled these into crispy French baguettes slathered with mayonnaise and garnished with Vietnamese-style marinated vegetables.

You can find banh mi signs all over Orange County’s Little Saigon and downtown Los Angeles’ Chinatown, in delis such as Garden Grove’s Saigon Sandwiches. But Ba Le’s “Combo Sandwich” is the best introduction to this delicacy. Along with a wide variety of meats, the sheer quantity of filling makes it the most opulent banh mi anywhere.

Ba Le, 18625 Sherman Way, Reseda ; (818) 342-9380. Open 8 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. Saigon Sandwiches, 14186 Brookhurst, Garden Grove; (714) 530-3011. Open 8:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. daily.

Each of Vietnam’s distinct regions has its own cooking style and its own particular noodle soup specialty. In Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam’s central region, the soup, like the cuisine in general, is spicy and elaborate. Ngu Binh Fast Food is a tiny deli that specializes in bun bo Hue, the specialty soup of Hue. The tomato and chile-laced broth simmered with pork hocks and beef has been exquisitely perfected. And the shop orders its bun (round rice noodles) from a local factory that makes the noodles fresh every day. Each huge, steaming bowl comes topped with the customary “salad” of fresh herbs and bean sprouts. Connoisseurs of the dish come to Ngu Binh because they can get the soup with little cubes of exceptionally fresh blood pudding and chewy beef tendon. If you think you’d like to try these traditional additions, ask for bun bo gan huyt.

You’re more likely to want a sample of one of the restaurant’s fruit blender drinks called sinh to --they go perfectly with bun bo Hue. Drink flavors change every day: One day it might be jack fruit; another, soursop; or maybe sambutier-- all are tropical fruits. And don’t be intimidated by the all-Vietnamese menu--just consult with the servers for advice.

Ngu Binh Fast Food, 9361 Bolsa Ave. 101 (Le Loi Center), Westminster; (714) 839-2700. Open 8 a.m.-7 p.m. daily.

The mild beef-flavored Hanoi regional soup, known as pho, with its robust beef broth and chewy rice noodles, was created in the north but became popular in Saigon when thousands of refugees fled there. Competition is stiff in the world of pho-- especially in the Little Saigon area. Branches of Pho Hoa and Pho 79 are numerous and exist in Chinatown, Alhambra and Reseda. Then there’s Pho 86, Pho 1, Pho 999 and Pho 54, to name just a few. The most interesting of the new pho crop is Pho Cali, a spiffy modern restaurant with a large airy interior and a well-translated English menu. In addition to 18 varieties of beef pho, there’s chicken pho ( pho ga ) and pho ap chao--pho noodles that are not served in soup but pan-fried and topped with a savory stir fry of seafood or beef.

Pho Cali, 120 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana; (714) 531-4556. Open Sunday-Thursday 7 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 7 a.m.-midnight.

“As apple pie is American, so beef balls are Vietnamese.” That’s what Bach Ngo and Gloria Zimmerman say in “The Classic Cuisine of Vietnam.” While there are plenty of meatball specialty shops in Vietnam, the bo vien (beef balls) served in most of the area’s restaurants are factory-made and frozen. At Bo Vo Vien--possibly the only meatball specialty house in California--the beef balls are freshly made and shaped by hand every day. These are unlike any you’ve had in spaghetti or a submarine sandwich. Their extremely lean meat is as finely ground as a pate and their texture is chewy. Have them in mi bo vien a huge bowl of fresh, flat Chinese egg noodles and rich beef broth topped with herbs. Garnish the soup with the black Chinese vinegar and dip the balls into either the hoisin or blazing hot Vietnamese chile sauce on the table.

Bo Vo Vien also has a small, well-translated menu of popular Vietnamese favorites such as minced shrimp grilled on sugar cane and nem nong, succulent grilled brochettes of marinated, chopped lean pork.

Bo Vo Vien, 9609 Bolsa Avenue (in the Bolsa Mini Mall) , Westminster ; (714) 531-0285. Open 10 a.m.-8 p.m. daily.

If you’ve ever had fresh rice noodle sheets at a dim sum meal--the ones rolled around a filling and doused with black vinegar--you’ll recognize the origins of Vietnamese banh cuon. These sheer, steamed rice sheets, are thinner, more delicate and less oily than their Chinese relatives. Tay Ho, a little cafe with two branches, specializes in banh cuon. Here the rice sheets are steamed without oil on a muslin drum rather than being cooked in a skillet as non-specialty places are apt to do. The result is the sheerest most elegant banh cuon of all, and Tay Ho serves them several ways. When stuffed, they could be considered an Asian burrito. For Americans, one of the most appealing versions is banh cuon nhan thit (6) rolled around a filling of sauteed ground meat and the crunchy fungi called tree ears. Other versions are stuffed with dried shrimp or cut into strips and topped with chua lua (a Vietnamese cold sausage) or barbecued pork. The house combination plate (1) is, I think, the best banh cuon introduction. It includes both a meat- and a shrimp-filled rice sheet; a sample of banh cong , a light, deep-fried rice cake; and banh tom chien , a patty of shredded sweet potatoes. The whole thing’s garnished with various vegetables and meat tidbits. For dipping, you ladle out your own sweet-hot dipping sauce into little soup bowls from gallon jugs on the table. This small banquet costs $3.45.

Banh Cuon Tay Ho, 9242 Bolsa Ave. C, Westminster; (714) 895-4796. Also at 3520 W. 1st St., Santa Ana ; (714) 839-7533. Open Tue.-Sun. 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

Tiny Vietnam has 1,400 miles of shoreline, numerous rivers and large deltas. Naturally, fish and seafood of all sorts are staple foods. Most of the Vietnamese-owned seafood restaurants I’ve explored in our area, however, serve primarily Chinese-style dishes. An exception is Grand Garden, which offers more Vietnamese-style fish dishes than I’ve seen elsewhere. Most of these are listed on the menu under “house specialties and soups.” Try fresh catfish hot pot in which chunks of the mild fish float with tomatoes and pineapple in a fruity-tart tamarind broth (191); eel braised in coconut milk; crispy fried frog legs; or tom kho to , large spicy shrimp cooked in a clay pot.

Grand Garden, 8894 Bolsa Ave., Westminster; (714) 893-1200. Open Wednesday-Monday 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

A familiar sight on many Vietnamese deli and snack shop counters is beef jerky. It tops shredded green papaya salads, seasons rice or is just munched plain as a snack. I thought, until I discovered Bo Ko “Jerky Palace,” that there was only one variety of Vietnamese jerky. But the deli case in this tiny shop holds seven varieties of dried, yet moist and supple meats. Their rich earthy colors range from deep, dusty ocher to the blackest red. A row of plates filled with small samples lined up smartly on the counter top invites you to taste. These jerkys include hot spicy beef, sweet pork, sweet beef, fruit-flavored beef and spicy beef cubes. Chinese-style hams and sauces are also manufactured here in a small factory at the rear of the shop.

Bo Ko “Jerky Palace , “ 9651 Bolsa Ave., Westminster; (714) 531-7788. Open 10 a.m.-8 p.m. daily.

Hien Khanh resembles an old-fashioned ice cream parlor: Customers at wrought iron tables swirl their creamy iced drinks with long-handled spoons. Two serving counters with deep pots of pastel-colored dessert ingredients dominate the front part of the cafe. Although the pots look like drums of ice cream, you’ll soon discover that the contents do not resemble ice cream in any way. One of my favorite desserts is che choi. Like many offerings here, it is served warm and arranged in layers: first colorful green tapioca strands, then slices of cooked plantain banana mixed with tiny tapioca pearls, and finally sweet creamy coconut milk poured over everything. Though this same dessert is widely available elsewhere, many Vietnamese go out of their way to come here. The desserts are fashioned on the spot, served fresh at the perfect temperature and never oversweetened. Of the cold desserts, my favorite is tache che dau xanh . Described on the menu as Jello, mashed mung bean and coconut, it may sound entirely too weird for many Western palates. And it is, I admit, unique , but when you stir the sweet yellow bean paste into the thick creamy coconut milk and clear arrowroot strands, it is just as good as any exotic sundae. Plenty of other choices, such as tapioca balls stuffed with mung bean floating in sweet coconut milk, will keep you from dessert ennui.

Hien Khanh, 9784 Westminster Ave., Garden Grove, (714) 537-5105. Hours: Thur.-Tue. 11 a.m.- 9 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

In Vietnamese restaurants it’s not unusual to find one or two goat dishes offered. But the restaurants Hue Lien and Hong Lien specialize in goat. You can get barbecued goat or goat braised in a hot pot or goat sour salad served with an array of fragrant leaves, a sweet-tart dressing and, of course, tender goat meat.

The owners of each place are almost always on hand to enlighten you about the kitchen’s creations. They explained, for example, the difference between curry goat (meat with skin and bones attached) and the more expensive steamed goat in curry sauce (made strictly from lean meat)--offered at both places. The curry is terrific; it’s steeped in spicy coconut milk and sprinkled with fresh herbs, slices of fresh hot pepper and a garnish of roasted peanuts. Both restaurants also specialize in roasted pigeon served with salad or French fries or huge disks of sesame-flecked rice crackers.

Hue Lien, 301 N. Garfield Ave. Unit D, Monterey Park; (818) 288-0939. Open 9 a.m.-11 p.m. daily. Hong Lien, 8461 Westminster Ave., Westminster; (714) 892-6368. Open Wednesday -Monday 10 a.m. - 10 p.m .. Friday-Saturday 10 a.m.-11 p.m.

The huge new Asian Garden shopping center is a good place to see an array of snacks and fast foods under a single roof. It is also the best place to try sinh to-- a frothy blend of rice, fruit and milk. Nuoc Huong offers the largest variety of the drink that I’ve found anywhere. Flavors include cam (orange) and dau (strawberry) for those inclined to be conservative. The adventurous will want to try mit (jack fruit), sau rieng (durian) or mang cau (soursop).

Nuoc Huong, Asian Garden Mall, 9200 Bolsa Ave., Westminster, (714) 892-9237. Hours: 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m. daily.

If you want a little dessert to eat with your sinh to, go across the street to Van’s Bakeries where you’ll find all sorts of sweets. Baroque Western-style birthday cakes and French-style desserts share display space with classic Chinese pastries and Vietnamese baked and steamed sweets. The banana leaf covering of banh gai holds a steamed cake of rice flour stuffed with mashed mung bean and shredded coconut. The banana leaves in banh tet chuoi hold sticky rice stuffed with a sweet banana. Bananas also figure in my favorite here, banh chuoi, a rich bread pudding with layers of the cooked fruit. Banh dau zanh and banh khoai mi are both tortes (mung bean and cassava respectively); cut into wedges they look exactly like the rich heavy butter cakes of the west. Their chewy texture, however, is strictly Southeast Asian.

Van’s Bakery, 121 E. Valley Blvd., San Gabriel, (818) 571-5845 or 9211 Bolsa Ave., 125, Westminster. (714) 898-7065. Hours: 8 a.m.-9 p.m. daily.