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Thursday, July 18, 2024

Grilled Shrimp Banh Mi Sandwiches at Saigon Noodles in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Shrimp Banh Mi Sandwiches at Saigon Noodles in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

Saigon Noodles in Salinas, California has a selection of banh mi sandwiches all priced at $9 as of July 17, 2024 that you can get with grilled chicken, pork, or shrimp. 

I like the grilled shrimp banh mi sandwich at Saigon Noodles. They grill the shrimp with the tail shells on for flavor. I remove the tail shells and reinsert the still hot shrimp quickly for a scrumptious first bite of this Vietnamese sandwich. 

Most Vietnamese restaurants can make their own mini baguetttes for banh mi sandwiches (a vestige of Vietnam’s time as a French colony). The mini baguette at Saigon Noodles was crispy and warm, which made its fillings taste very savory – full of umami flavoring. 

There were about 10 grilled shrimp in my sandwich that came with long strands of carrot, daikon radish, cilantro, cucumber, and one whole shaved jalapeƱo pepper. Slices of sweet onion with umami savory Maggi mayonnaise lined the baguette sandwich. 

The bread counters the hot pepper taste and made the whole sandwich taste like a surf and turf meal with just the shrimp. 

I thought this tasty sandwich was a terrific deal at $9 and was full of vitamins and minerals. 

If you want seafood at a reasonable price, the grilled shrimp banh mi sandwich at Saigon Noodles on North Main Street in Salinas, California might just be what you are looking for. 

Note: For more information on Vietnamese sandwiches check out: The Banh Mi Handbook: Recipes for Crazy-Delicious Sandwiches by Andrea Nguyen. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and creator of the games Sommelier, Bento, and Thutmose III.


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Monday, July 15, 2024

French Zucchini Tian Casserole Baked in a Lodge Pan Reposted by Ruth Paget

 This recipe for zucchini (courgette) works for Italian squash, too.

Zucchini Tian Casserole Video

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Saturday, July 13, 2024

Anti-Oxidant foods that taste good reposted by Ruth Paget

 Anti-oxidant foods that taste good:

Antioxidant Foods that taste good

Reposted by Ruth Paget, authors Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Sunday, July 7, 2024

Cosplay Casino by Ruth Paget

You do need some real money and a real casino to play cosplay casino.

You can wear all your Cosplay costumes and make foil wrapped, homemade bling for the occasion.

Recycling clothes and costumes is the name of the game.

Note: You can do Cosplay Bingo, too.

Manga authors can write stories that show how to play gambling games like roulette, backgammon,  and poker.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Thursday, July 4, 2024

5-Spice Powder Shrimp Stir-Fry at Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

5-Spice Shrimp Stir-Fry at Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

I ordered shrimp vegetable stir-fry from Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California and knew from the wonderful aroma that the restaurant used 5-spice powder to make this dish. Golden Star combines 5-spice powder shrimp with thin, bite-size pieces of broccoli, cabbage, carrots, zucchini, and mushrooms to make this delicious “food as medicine” stir-fry. 

5-spice powder appeals to the following Chinese flavor profile: 

-sweet 

-bitter 

-sour 

-salty 

-savory 

The typical 5-spice powder blend is made with the following ingredients. Several of these ingredients contain strong antioxidants that help remove free radicals that can cause cancer from the body:

-star anise 

-cloves 

-Chinese cinnamon 

-Sichuan pepper

 -fennel seed 

These flavors blend with the usual Chinese seasonings of fresh garlic and fresh ginger that go in with the peanut oil to start a stir-fry. The shrimp is then added and cooked a few minutes and followed by the vegetables. The hot oil draws out moisture from the shrimp and vegetables. The moisture is hot and is perfect to cook seasonings without burning them. 

At this point, many Chinese restaurants will add in a mixture of cornstarch and water to give the food a glowing sheen. Golden Star does not appear to do this, which I do not mind. The vegetables in the shrimp vegetable stir-fry I ate were bright and tender as they were. 

The nutrient powerhouse in this dish at Golden Star was the broccoli with Vitamin C (an antioxidant), potassium, and vitamin B6 (nutrition information from the USDA – US Department of Agriculture website).

Cabbage has large amounts of vitamin C as well (nutrition information from the USDA – US Department of Agriculture website). Carrots contain large amounts of vitamin A (from the WebMD.com website). Mushrooms contain antioxidants (from the Medical News Today website). 

What is nice about this highly nutritious 5-spice powder shrimp vegetable stir-fry is that it is very flavorful without being spicy hot. The Sichuan peppercorns in the 5-spice powder made the dish refreshing without the numbing heat that they are famous for. 

People trying Chinese food for the first time might enjoy this shrimp vegetable stir-fry at Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California on South Main Street. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France


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Sunday, June 30, 2024

4th of July Salinas, Monterey County, and Monterey Peninsula 2024

Many ways to celebrate the 4th of July in Salinas, Monterey County, and the Monterey Peninsula in 2024!

July 4th Salinas, Monterey County, and Monterey Peninsula

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Raspberry Jam Gravy Recipe by Ruth Paget

Raspberry Jam Gravy Recipe by Ruth Paget 

This is an American heritage recipe from my father Clarence Pennington (World War II Veteran) and Frederick McKinley Pennington (World War I Veteran). This recipe has been reprinted by Mark F. Sohn in his cookbook Appalachian Home Cooking: History, Culture, and Recipes published by the University Press of Kentucky (2005).  

My father always made homemade biscuits to go with the jam, but I use ready-to-bake biscuits to speed up the cooking process. 

Serves 4 

Ingredients: 

 -1 can 12 ready-to-bake biscuits 

-1 stick butter (equals ½ cup butter) 

-1 (15-ounce) can raspberries with juice 

-6 tablespoons sugar

-4 tablespoons flour 

Steps: 

1-Put biscuits in to bake according to package instructions. While they are baking, make the jam. 

2-Melt the butter in a frying pan. 

3-Add the raspberries with their juice to the butter. 

4-Mix the sugar and flour together. They will not clump if they are mixed together before going in with the raspberries. Stir the flour-sugar mixture into the raspberries. 

5-Simmer the jam until thickened. 

6-Take the biscuits out of the oven when they are done, split the biscuits apart, and spoon the raspberry jam gravy over the biscuits. 

Eat the biscuits and jam gravy while they are warm with a strong black coffee. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France


Click for Ruth Paget's Books