Being Open Minded

Growing up in an Italian household and around Italian families has exposed me to some very interesting foods throughout my life. Most of my friends wouldn’t even think of trying some of these dishes, as it is outside of their comfort zone. This type of exposure has given me an open mind when it comes to trying out new foods; I have a motto of “I will try anything at least once.” If I didn’t have an open mind or lived by those words, I would have missed out on a lot foods that I enjoy today.

My open mind to food led me to a great Vietnamese sandwich that I had today. Today was not my first day sampling Vietnamese food; I’ve been enjoying Pho for quite some time and have been working my way slowly into other traditional Vietnamese dishes.  If you ever go, you have to try any of their grilled pork dishes; they grill it to almost perfection.

One of the places that I frequent the most is called Pho Hang, which is located in Madison Heights, Michigan. Pho Hang is a typical Asian, mom/pop shop. The menu is long, but yet very descriptive, and the prices are very fair for the portions you get. When you walk in long tables surround you, each with filled with soy sauce, sriracha sauce, fish sauce, and hoisin sauce. It’s nothing fancy, but it is welcoming at the same time.

Today I tried Pho Hang’s Vietnamese sandwich, a Banh mi. A Banh mi sandwich is typically filled with cucumber slices, cilantro, fresh jalapeno, pickled carrots, and shredded daikon, with a protein and fish sauce, all on a French baguette. My Banh mi had Vietnamese sausage and shredded pork skin for its protein.

The Banh mi was a very delicious sandwich; I would actually place it in my top 10 sandwiches. You can taste the garlic and peppers from the pork sausage and the texture is very soft, which makes it very easy to bite into the sandwich. The shredded pork skin gives a great fat flavor that is not too overwhelming. The pickled vegetables provide a necessary crunch to the sandwich that can tend to be a little wet from the fish sauce. All of the flavors tied together gave me an overall sense of freshness; it really reminded me of summer and I thought how great of a summer sandwich this would make.

I washed every bite down with bubble tea, which is a Taiwanese based tea. The base is typically a black or green tea and you can choose to either have it with milk or without milking. The ingredient that gives this Taiwanese tea the name “bubble tea” is the chewy tapioca balls. It’s really a unique experience and is very refreshing.

So if you are feeling adventurous enough, go to Pho Hang and order a Banh mi. Don’t let the fact that this is a Vietnamese sandwich throw you off, because besides the fish sauce, there are not any unusual ingredients. If you are really feeling adventurous, try their traditional Pho.