Doesn't TaZte Like Chicken

Location: Thai Son Vietnamese   
2215-4653 Garden City Rd, Richmond
Tel: (604) 278-6436

Similar to Lao Shang Dong Homemade Noodle House, Thai Son restaurant is another eatery that is always packed with eaters. Following our habits, we dropped by the busy restaurant after we saw it being busy every time we passed by. As we were guided to our table, we noticed almost everyone was enjoying either a bowl of pho noodles or a rice dish. Again, experience tells us that the noodles and the rice are probably the specialties of the house and indeed, they are. There are many selections of pho noodles on the menu. Each selection has the same beef broth and noodles, but a different combination of beef items. There beef balls, cooked and uncooked beef slices, beef tendons, tripe and beef flank to choose from. My husband always choose the combination that has all beef items:

We always get one large bowl of noodles to share. My husband prefers eating the noodles mixed with a generous scope of chili, which is conveniently available in a container on every table. I prefer to drink the soup as is and taste every drop of pure goodness.

Being a lover of fried food, I always ordered the spring rolls:

Besides pho, the rice dishes at Tai Son are also very tasty. The rice dishes are served with two pieces of either grilled chicken or beef, which are deliciously flavoured with lemon grass. But to me, the most interesting item served in the rice dish is the small pile of shredded pork. This little pile of meat is packed with amazing flavour. Of course, a big scoop of msg probably helped creating all that wonderful flavour too. But hey, what’s the fun in life if you can’t be bad to yourself once in awhile?

On the last page of the menu there is a list of hot and cold drinks. Many drinks are made of fruit juices and sodas, but my only choice is the iced cold coffee served with a thick spoonful of sweet condense milk.

Having been to other Vietnamese restaurants in Asia, we know that there are Vietnamese restaurants out there which make a better bowl of pho than Thai Son. However, Thai Son remains one of our favourite Vietnamese restaurants. Perhaps it is the familiarity or the convenience of the location, but when we get off work late and are too hungry to cook dinner, we always find ourselves there slurping down a hot and tasty bowl of pho.

Location: Lao Shang Dong Homemade Noodle House   
105-4887 Kingsway, Burnaby
Tel: (604) 439-9588

Calling their noodles “homemade” is the best way to describe the noodles at Lao Shang Dong. Served in a savoury beef broth, Lao Shang Dong’s noodles comes in two kinds: a thick and somewhat chewy fat noodles and a vermicelli-skinny noodles which the Chinese called “Dong Fen”. My preference is alway the “Dong Fen” over the fat noodles since the “Dong Fen” soaps up more flavour from the delicious broth. Accompanying the noodles are beef slices and a small pile of pickled vegetable. The pickled vegetable might not look interesting at the first glance, but they have a distinctive flavour which binds the noodles, the beef and the broth wonderfully together.

The broth comes in mild, medium spicy and very spicy. I ordered mild once when I wasn’t in the mood for spicy food. After taking the first sip of the broth, I knew I made the wrong choice. Without the spice, the broth was still delicious but it definitely wasn’t as flavourful as the spicy version.

Besides their noodles, Lao Shang Dong also offers many tasty appetizers. There are spicy pickled cucumber, marinated beef cold cuts, spicy bamboo shoots and my favourite is tofu served with preserved egg and dark soy sauce. I regret I didn’t take a photo of the tofu, but I certainly have ordered this dish in almost every visit.

Going with their homemade theme, Lao Shang Dong also makes very excellent dumplings. I have never been crazy over dumplings (especially if they are boiled in plain water), but I could easily eat half a dozen of dumplings at Lao Shang Dong.

We first tried this little family-run restaurant based on a recommendation by my husband’s friend. When we drove by, we saw Lao Shang Dong packed with eaters. Experience tells us that this is a strong indication of good eats. One day we decided to try it and we have become their frequent eaters since. Because of the restaurant’s popularity at lunch, we usually avoid going there at noon. Sometimes though, I don’t mind waiting a little bit for a bowl of hot and delicious noodles

Location: my tiny kitchen

I have always been a fillet mignon type of girl. When my friends and I have dinner at the Keg, I would toss the menu aside without giving it even a glance while my friends consider the pros and cons of getting the Keg’s classic prime rib. I know I would order the fillet mignon wrapped with bacon from the menu, which is what I have ordered in my last ten visits. “The tenderloin is always the safest choice”, I would reassure myself. The meat is tender even if it is slightly overdone. Finding no flaw in this tenderest part of the cow, I was absolutely loyal to it.

My simple life changed when one day my friend asked me to try his New York striploin. Based on my past experience, I was expecting to bite into a tough and chewy piece of meat. I was very wrong. The steak was tender and juicy. To be fair, it wasn’t as tender as a fillet mignon, but it tasted better than a fillet. I was puzzled for a moment. “What is happening?”, I asked myself. The striploin had a much stronger flavour. It had more flavour than two, perhaps three pieces of fillet eaten together. After this encounter, I was never the same beef lover. I know I can’t go back to being a simple fillet girl.

This recipe is my attempt to recreate my friend’s striploin. The taste might not be exact, but the striploin turned out tender, juicy and flavourful. Lime is the special ingredient in this recipe. It tenderized the meat and in addition, its tangy taste perfectly complimented the fatty flavour of the beef.

Share on Facebook

I always get my steaks from the butcher counter at Safeway. They sell triple A beef and the quality has always been consistent. I always choose the piece with the most amount of marble. Onto two striploins put:

- 2 tbsp of kosher salt
- 2 tbsp of onion powder
- 2 tbsp of red chili pepper flakes
- juice from 1/2 lime
- generous amount of freshly ground pepper

Message the seasonings into both sides of each steak. Let the steaks marinate for at least 6 hours but no more than 8 hours.

Heat a stainless steel skillet until it becomes very hot. Put 2 tbsp of vegetable oil into the pan. Put the steaks into the pan. Let one side of the steaks to sear until it turns golden brown, which takes about 2 minutes. Turn the steaks over and sear the other side for another 2 minutes. If the steak starts to burn, turn the heat to medium.

When both sides of the steaks are golden brown, turn the heat to medium and cover the pan. Cook the steaks for 1.5 minute. For steaks that are one inch thick, the cook time stated here will cook the steaks to medium-rare. If you like your steaks to be more cooked, let them cooked longer in the covered pan. My cooking was done with a gas stove.

The jicama salad turned out to be disastrous. It was served as a side dish at Bin941 and my husband loved it. I tried to recreate it but I didn’t succeed. The salad tasted like a pile of shredded cucumber with a bitter and slimy after-taste. Yuck.

Luckily, the potato tower was a success. Like the jicama salad, the potato tower was also served as a side dish at Bin941. The potatoes were diced, roasted until crispy and then coated with truffle oil. The diced potatoes were stacked to form a tower. The magic comes from cleverly inserting small drops of blue cheese, chunks of deep fried crispy pancetta and pieces of string beans into the potato tower. Before Bin941, I never knew potato could taste so amazing. I will post this recipe later.