Roast turkey, apple pie, mashed potatoes–today is a day for American
classics, food so full of nostalgia and butter that a good long nap is required
after eating. And for the next week or so, the flavors of today's feast will
certainly linger, finding their way into a pot of turkey soup or a sandwich
stuffed with a variety of leftovers, a sweet smear of cranberry sauce across
one slice of bread. So with the saturation point of Thanksgiving-related
recipes and articles already reached, with every imaginable media outlet
offering up that perfect recipe for every Turkey Day classic, today's dueling
dishes is going in a completely unrelated direction, having nothing to do with
November's third Thursday's brand of feasting. The duel will be between two bánh
mì
institutions, Bánh Mì Chè Cali and Top Baguette.
Vietnamese flavors take certain cues from France–mayonnaise,
baguettes, patN–in this post-colonial treat, found throughout Orange County,
especially in Westminster's Little Saigon and the surrounding Vietnamese ex-pat
communities. Bánh mì stuffed with a variety of meats can be had, from cold cuts to
grilled chicken to head cheese or sardines, but for an easy and mouth-pleasing
standard, we ordered barbecued pork sandwiches for this episode of dueling
dishes.
]
Top Baguette's sandwich had a few additional ingredients
stuffed in its split baguette–spears of cucumber and minced green onion joined
the ubiquitous jalapeno, cilantro, pickled carrots and daikon along with the
darkly sweet pork. The additional fillings were a welcome addition, the cukes
offering a different kind of cooling touch alongside the vinegary crunch of the
pickles, offsetting the heat and bite of the jalapeno and green onion. The
bread left much to be desired though, with none of the requisite crunchiness
and, judging by the lack of the hot smell of yeast and toasted grain in the
air, the bread was neither baked or par-baked on premise.
B
Bánh Mì Chè Cali; 15551 Brookhurst St, Westminster; (714) 839-8185
Top Baguette; 9016 Bolsa Ave, Westminster;
(714) 379-7726
