faulker056

For as long as I can remember, the Vietnamese sandwich known as banh mi , has been a part of my life. Even as a Chinese American, this stuff would always be around my family and friends. It was cheap, easy to sell/make and tasted better than most American sandwiches. For $5, you can get at least four – one for each person in the typical 4-person Asian family. It was the go-to fill-up snack because it was cheaper than anything at McDonald's. Even if we didn't have a store-bought sandwich, we'd have some variation of the banh mi . As a kid in elementary school, I'd have my mom's mutated version which consisted of thick slices of the Vietnamese meatloaf known as cha , liverwurst (American pâté ) and mayonnaise – smacked between two pieces of Wonder bread. On fishing trips with family friends, there'd be an endless supply of Capri Sun and banh mi in the cooler. Hungry? Have a banh mi ! We'd pick that sandwich up with our fish and worm-flavored hands and...

Since the first day I was with Jeni, I told her that I wanted to see Vietnam. I had a lot of Vietnamese friends in college and they had introduced me to the Vietnamese culture in Orange County, California. It was one food I enjoyed eating and wanted to know more about it. Both the cities of Westminster and Garden Grove are better known to outsiders as Little Saigon, the largest Vietnamese enclave in California. To Vietnamese immigrants, it was a satellite home with many of the attributes of their country, completely intact. To the group I had met in college, Little Saigon meant occasional visitations to tailor shops to make my own slacks, late nights dining at the old Spire's diner, weekend loiterings at the Asian Garden Mall ( Phuoc Loc Tho ), karaoke lounges, Vietnamese electronic clubs and of course, a TON of good eating. In 2007, we had an amazing trip to Yangshuo, China . She was meeting me in Hong Kong via Vietnam , and from there we would take off to Southern C...

At least once a month, J & I will take her mom down to Little Saigon to go play. Our routine is usually to either eat: Pork Lemongrass Soup Noodles at Bun Bo Hue So 1 ( bun bo hue ) Rice flour crepes stuffed with ground pork at Tay Ho ( banh cuon ) Grilled cured-pork spring rolls at Brodard ( nem nuong ) Grilled dill & turmeric fish at Hanoi Restaurant ( cha ca ) Rice vermicelli soup with tomato & crab at Vien Dong ( bun rieu ) Decisions, decisions, decisions. Even when we're full to the brim from the food of Little Saigon, there's always one last stop: vietnamese sandwiches at Banh Mi Che Cali (Garden Grove location by the 22 freeway). The sandwich is decent, as I prefer it much over the ubiquitous Lee Sandwiches, but they do offer the 3 for $5 deal which even makes old frugal, asian people do a double-take and say, "Damn, that's cheap. how do you live?!" For those new to the Vietnamese sandwich "banh mi", it's a mix of French and V...