On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 04:59:29 -0600, GregoryD >
wrote:

>For the past two years, I've lived in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. In
>Arlington, there's a restaurant called Le's Fire Pot that has a bunch of
>Vietnamese food as well as a fire pot/hot pot. I used to make a weekly
>trip there on Saturday, load up on food, and then go home to watch the
>football games, stuffed for the day. I've moved to New Orleans recently
>and am fiending for this stuff (I'm a local, so the local food doesn't
>exactly overwhelm me, even if it is good).
>
>I miss a few things over there, and I'm wondering if anyone can help me
>out here. Specifically, the following:
>
>(a) curry chicken with potatoes
>(b) vietnamese meatballs (for pho or hot pot... pretty sure they bought
>these because they came in beef and either chicken or turkey)
>(c) spring rolls (seemed to be rice paper, not fried.. with a blade of
>grass that tasted like lemon... not sure what that was, though).
>(d) vietnamese sausage.. the spring rolls usually had either sausage or
>shrimp in them.
>
>Also, what cut of beef do these restaurants usually slice for shabu shabu
>or hot pot? And lastly, there was a sweet, dark sauce along with the fish
>sauce and the chili sauce.. wasn't teriyaki, though. Any ideas?
>
>GregoryD
>

The grass that tastes like lemon is lemongrass, I'd wager, though one
doesn't eat the blades because they're tough. There are a number of
good Vienamese recipes archived in Google groups, which is where I'd
start my Internet search. I just found two curry recipes there, for
example.

I found a suggestion that the sweet dipping sauce is made from hoisin,
red chiles, ground peanuts and lime juice, also on Google. That
sounds about right to me, but I'm no expert.

Also there are lots of Vietnamese folks in New Orleans these days, so
finding a decent restaurant shouldn't be too hard. Nor should it be
difficult to find an Asian grocery that carries lemongrass, sausage,
spring roll wrappers, bean threads (part of the stuffing for spring
rolls), fresh basil, and prepared curry pastes in assorted colors and
flavors.

And finally I've been to Arlington, TX and to New Orleans, too. And I
must say that it's pretty amusing that you miss the food in Arlington.
I know how it is to miss a favorite eatery, but Lordy, Lordy, my
man...


modom

"Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes."
-- Jimmie Dale Gilmore