Buttermilk English Muffins

Last month, I went to a couple of tea rooms in San Francisco, Lovejoy’s in Noe Valley and Crown & Crumpet in Ghirardelli square near Fisherman’s Wharf. Both places offer English tea services and great selection of tea. Lovejoy’s used to be an antique shop, so everything they have is true antique. Just by being there, looking at the tables, chairs, décor, cups and plates, and even the silverwares are mesmerizing. They also give you so much tea that you will never end up with an empty pot or cup. I was not too impressed with their food, but still, just to enjoy the tea and atmosphere, it’s worth going back.

Crown & Crumpet is so adorable. Everything there is unbelievably cute (cannot think of any other adjective to describe this place) and made me feel like I was in a doll house. I wouldn’t recommend taking your boyfriend here for a date though it’s a great place for girls to get together or to have baby showers or birthday parties. I didn’t have English tea service this time, instead, I had a pot of tea and some crumpets. If you are not familiar, crumpets are kind of between English muffins and pancakes. They are flat, soft, holey and not exactly pretty to look at but quite tasty. They served the crumpets with butter, house-made strawberry jam, whipped butter, and house-made lemon curd – really good stuff. I will go back there again to try their tea service next time.

These two places have inspired me to make some crumpets at home since I’ve never made one before. But after looking up some recipes, I found out that they weren’t exactly light like I thought. The butter is used twice – once in the batter and second for the spread just before you put it in your mouth. Plus, they are not very photogenic. So, I tried making some English muffins instead. This was my first time making English muffins, too, but somehow I had the feeling that it wasn’t going to be that difficult.

I still had some buttermilk that I wanted to finish, so made it buttermilk English muffin. I’m sure this is why it turned out so soft and fluffy inside. The baked flat sides came out firm and crusty while inside remained soft and chewy – just how I like my English muffins to be. It really was better than I expected and now I’m all set for this week’s breakfast.

These muffins are cooked on the skillet; you can make them even if your oven is broken or don’t have an oven. It was so easy to make and there are only few ingredients involved. If it’s ever too cold outside and you run out of breakfast breads, you can still stay home and try making these. If you don’t have buttermilk at home and don’t want to buy it just for this, you could substitute it with water and use baking powder instead of baking soda.

Recipe of the Day

Buttermilk English Muffin

Ingredients (makes about 8-10 muffins):
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c AP flour
2 tsp dry active yeast
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 c reduced fat buttermilk
1-2 Tbsp water
Extra flour & cornmeal for dusting
Cooking oil (I used Canola oil since the flavor is very mild)

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients (whole wheat flour, AP flour, active dry yeast, salt and baking soda) and mix well. Add buttermilk and water and mix it with a wooden spoon until liquids are incorporated and start forming dough. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until smooth, soft and pliable. (If the dough is too wet, add a little bit of flour. But be careful not to add too much, or dough will be too tough.) Transfer the dough in a bowl, cover and let it rise at the room temperature for 1-1 1/2 hrs or until the dough doubles in size.

Prepare a couple of flat plates and sprinkle some cornmeal. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/4” to 1/3”, cut out the dough by using 3” round cookie cutter. Place the cut out pieces on the plates. (Avoid working too much with the dough, or it will get tough.) You can gather the leftover scrap pieces and combine together, but shouldn’t do this more than once. Sprinkle some cornmeal on the top and let them rest for about 50 minutes.

Brush a large flat skillet with cooking oil. Heat the skillet over medium. When the pan gets hot, place 4-5 muffins (or however many that fits without touching each other) and cook for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown. (Try checking the bottoms every couple of minutes and adjust the heat accordingly.) Flip to the other side and repeat the procedure. Cook both sides for another 2 minutes each. Remove from heat and let them cool. Repeat the same procedure to finish cooking them all.

A Serving of Turkey Truth and Ham & Leek Pie

This year, I skipped turkey for Thanksgiving. I recently learned about commercial turkeys being heavily supersized that they grow so big to require artificial insemination. In the article from Wired Science, it says:
“In commercial and academic turkey-breeding programs, adult male turkeys, called toms, can reach 50 pounds at the tender age of five months, said John Anderson, a longtime turkey breeder at Ohio State University. Anderson, who has bred the birds for 26 years, said the key technical advance was artificial insemination, which came into widespread use in the 1960s, right around the time that turkey size starts to skyrocket. The reason is that turkeys over 30 pounds are "inefficient" breeders: It’s difficult for them to actually perform the natural mating act. With artificial insemination, the largest birds can still be used as sires, even if they have a hard time walking, let alone engaging in sexual reproduction."

The whole article is actually very interesting and they talk about other foods like corn and potato and how our foods we eat today have changed drastically to please humans’ palate.

(Image courtesy of Wired.com)

Turkeys that can’t walk, can’t fly, can’t reproduce... made solely for the purpose of human consumption... They might as well be lined next to Twinkies. I won’t say that I will never eat these turkeys ever again, but as long as I have a choice, I will choose an organic kind from now on and probably eat much less than before. It’s really sad to limit myself from eating certain things in such a way. But what’s even sadder is that this information is not easily found especially in the government sites. What does it all mean?

Give Thanks? Science Supersized Your Turkey Dinner by Wired Science

I was actually invited for a dinner on Thanksgiving this year to a friend’s house, not aware that they weren’t serving turkey. Although they had a different reason for the no-turkey dinner (they said that it’s too bland and boring), it made me very happy. (I wouldn’t ask people to make changes just because I choose not to eat certain things – it’s a Zen way of thinking.) There were a lot of foods that night – all homemade and really good. We all had second or third plates, but still it was just impossible to finish the big chunk of ham among eight of us. So we all got to take some home - thank you C & L!

I had a pretty good slice of the ham with my lunch the next day and even some more for the following day. I looked around in my fridge and found a leek (hidden in the back corner) from my CSA delivery about a couple of weeks ago. Every fruit and veggie in that box is precious to me, so I did not want it going to waste. I quickly threw together puff pastry dough and… Voila! made a ham & leek pie, Kitchen M style.

A typical leek pie would involve lots of fat like butter and cream, but that’s not quite what I wanted after the Thanksgiving feast. I kept it as low fat as possible without compromising the taste. I used buttermilk instead of cream (believe it or not, 1 Tbsp of heavy cream has more fat than a cup of 2% buttermilk), and used only 1Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil to cook the filling. Of course the puff pastry part couldn’t be modified; however just using it on the top and even making the top lattice (picture shown below) can make it a better choice if you are concerned about excess fat and calories, like me.

This was one of the best uses of leftover ham I've ever created! Save this recipe for your post-Christmas leftover dinners.

Recipe of the Day

Ham and Leek Pie

Ingredients (serves 4):
Puff Pastry Dough (If you are using puff pastry on the bottom and the sides, you will have to double this recipe)
1 c AP flour
1 stick butter
Pinch of salt
1/4 c + 2 Tbsp ice cold water

Filling
1 Tbsp EV olive oil
5-6 oz ham, cubed
1 leek, chopped to 1/3” thick
4 mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 c 2% cultured buttermilk
1 large or 2 medium potato
1 oz hard cheese (I used Andante’s cow’s milk variation #1: picture below), shredded
Salt & pepper to taste

1 egg for eggwash
Optional: sprig of thyme for garnishing

Making the puff pastry dough:
In a large bowl, mix flours and salt together. Add 3 Tbsp of butter and stir well with a wooden spoon. Pour ice water and continue mixing the dough until it just begins to hold together. Using you hands, firmly shape the dough into a rough ball (don’t work too much as the butter start to melt) and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Flatten the dough and roll it out to about 1/4” thick, oval shaped. You are going to fold the dough in thirds, like a business letter. So, place some thinly sliced cold butter in the middle fold. Pick up one end and bring it towards the middle to cover the butter. Pick up the other end and bring it to the middle to complete the fold. Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll out the dough to again 1/4” thick. Repeat this procedure two more times. If your dough starts to get wet and gooey, simply stop working with it, wrap it with plastic wrap and place it in the freezer for 15 minutes or so. Then repeat the folding procedure for at least two more times once the dough is cooled down. (Don’t worry if you run out of butter, you can just keep folding without it.) After the fifth or sixth folding is done, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
You can now start preheating the oven to 400F.

Making the filling:
Wash potatoes well and microwave for 5-6 minutes. When you insert a skewer, it should be soft in the middle. If not continue microwave for another couple of minutes.

In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil over medium high and sauté cut leek until they turn golden brown. Add mushrooms and ham, season with salt and pepper.

Reduce the heat to medium low, add a cup of buttermilk and stir well. Continue cooking until the liquid is reduced more than half. Turn off the heat, add shredded cheese and stir well.

Putting together:
Cut cooked potatoes into 1/2” thick crosswise. Line the bottom of ramekins with potatoes in one layer. Add cooked filling on top of potatoes. Take out the dough from the fridge. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4” thick, cut into the shape you want and place it on top of the filling. Brush the puff pastry dough with egg wash and bake them in the 400F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the crust become golden brown. Serve hot. Garnish with sprig of thyme (Optional).

Andante Dairy

It’s somewhere between Gouda and Parmesan – young, smooth, nutty, mildly salty and creamy, no grittiness or crunchiness or super salty like Parmesan. Her cheeses are just amazing and they are sold/served in certain selected stores and fine restaurants such as The French Laundry, Coi, Chez Panisse and Cyrus. If you love cheese and are visiting the Bay Area, I recommend stopping by their booth at farmers market at SF Ferry Terminal.

Namu's Brussels Sprouts

I was one of many people who absolutely fell in love with this brussel sprouts dish that was served at Foodbuzz festival dinner by Namu chefs. I took some pictures of the dish specifically to remember how it looked like and to capture what was in it so that I could try duplicating it at home. And guess what? Foodbuzz people liked it so much that they asked Namu chef to share the recipe with us! How wonderful!

As simple as the recipe sounds, some ingredients can be hard to find. For instance, Guanciale. What the heck is guanciale? I had never heard such a word before. Apparently it’s pork jaw meat. I looked it up on google image. #X@&%!?!! It was so disgustingly white as in 80% fat and 20% meat… Okay, maybe I exaggerated a bit. But knowing what goes in your body sometime is a good thing. Ignorance is not always bliss.

Well, I actually felt better after reading the recipe, which said to boil the cut guanciale before tossing and cooking with brussel sprouts. And as much as I thought about cooking it without guanciale, I knew that it was quite essential part of flavoring the dish, I decided to perhaps reduce the amount.

I stopped by Fatted Calf, an artisanal charcuterie in Napa after work on Friday. I browsed around their beautiful meats over the shiny glass showcase. After I looked through every meat that was displayed, I asked a shop staff for guanciale. He said that they usually carry it, but apparently they run out that item that day as if all the Foodbuzz bloggers in the neighborhood bought it out or something. So I asked him what would be the closest cut available, and he told me that nothing comes close since the flavor is so different from any other parts of a pig. I was a bit disappointed. Now what do I do?

I tried Whole Foods too, but of course their answer was no. Actually their meat department said that they never even heard of guanciale. So, I gave up and bought some bacon slices instead. It looks similar… kind of.

Namu chef suggested to use about four pieces of brussel sprouts per person since not many people can eat more than four. Wrong, Namu chef! I can easily eat ten of these by myself especially with such a fantastic recipe. So I bought a little more than what was suggested (but I thought I shouldn’t alter the proportion too much, so not by much.)

Since I’m Japanese, the rest of the ingredients (bonito flakes, shichimi togarashi, dashi, etc) are a staple in my pantry. I didn’t have a bottle of ponzu, but it’s so easy that I usually whip it up myself in five minutes. (If you have not tasted ponzu before, I would recommend getting a bottle first and get to know the taste before making it at home.) Namu chef suggested using Meyer lemon or yuzu when making from scratch, but I like it with lime also.

I like how bonito flakes dance when sprinkled on top of steamy hot dishes like this one. I think this is probably one of the best vegetable side dishes that I’ve tasted. I’m sure that I’ll make this again and again and again. Thank you for Foodbuzz and Namu chef for sharing the recipe and the dish!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Continue for recipe...



Courtesy of Namu
Ingredients

Brussels Sprouts (Most people don’t eat more than 4 whole heads to themselves, so portion accordingly, i.e. 24 pieces for 6 people)
Guanciale 1/4 pound, or however much you like depending on your penchant for pork
Fried garlic Preparation: You can mince and fry this yourself on the stove in a pan with enough oil (neutral oil, i.e. rice, canola, grapeseed) to coat the garlic. Fry over low heat until the garlic starts to brown, remove with metal screen strainer(it will continue to brown) and place on paper towel and spread to cool with a spoon or chopsticks. Otherwise they sell wonderful fried garlic in Asian markets in a jar.
Ponzu 4oz. This can also be bought in an asian grocer. If you want to make your own, its 2 parts dashi stock, 1 part soy, 1 part rice vinegar and citrus juice to taste (Meyer Lemon juice or Yuzu juice works great).
Soy dashi 4oz (bonito, konbu, soy water) or instant dashi or tsuyu(liquid dashi concentrate sold in asian grocers)
Butter
Extra virgin olive oil
Shichimi or Togarashi spice
Bonito flakes

For the Brussels Sprouts:
1.Quarter the heads or globes so the roots stay intact keeping the leaves together.
2.Blanch. Always blanch in a large pot (large enough that it won’t stop boiling when you drop the sprouts into it) of water with a healthy dose of salt (2-3 tblsp). While waiting for the water to boil, prepare an ice bath (50% ice and 50% water by volume; you can eyeball this). Boil the sprouts until they turn bright green, then immediately shock them in the ice bath. This can be done up to a day in advance and the sprouts can be stored, in the refrigerator covered.

For the Guanciale
1.Cube the guanciale to desired size (remember it will slightly shrink). Chef Dennis likes them just bigger than the size of an m&m.
2. Boil the guanciale in a pot large enough to hold it with about an inch and half of water higher than the meat. bring to a boil and simmer until soft. Much of the fat will render, but the flavor will remain rich and the texture is heavenly. Drain and discard the liquid. This can also be done in advance and stored in a refrigerator.

Brussels Sprouts can either be roasted or pan fried.

Method 1: Roasting
Roast the sprouts and guanciale in the oven at 375 until golden brown with enough olive oil to coat, making sure to stir it every 5 minutes or so to get an even color.

Method 2: Pan Frying (Recommended)
1. Put 1 tbsp butter in a pan coated with EVOO. When butter melts, add guanciale and brussels sprouts. Put the pan on high and stir fry the ingredients. You want to get a nice brown color on the leaves of the sprouts, with some crispiness. The guanciale will also crisp up a little on the surface like bacon.
2. Once everything is nicely browned, add ponzu and soy dashi. Be careful as the pan will be very hot and sizzle when you add the wet ingredients.
3. Let this reduce to desired flavor, making sure to regularly toss the sprouts.
4. Top with shichimi, fried garlic and bonito flakes. The flakes will dance with joy.

(Even though the bottle says “Nanami”, it’s exactly the same thing as “Shichimi”. It’s about the size of vanilla extract bottle (on the left). Bonito flakes on the right.)

Japanese Inspired Whole Wheat Udon Noodles

I hope people aren’t intimidated by these mystery foods. Without meaning to, I’m actually discovering and enjoying new foods through your guesses. So thank you for participating.

After sampling on fancy bites and wines in the three days of the Foodbuzz festival, my stomach is rather exhausted. I love eating out and trying new foods, but this event tested my limits. Restaurant foods momentarily lost their appeal; all I want is simple, light, home-cooked meals. Luckily, my new CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box just arrived on Thursday, the night before the festival. In this delivery were several Bartlett pears, Fuji apples, a few colorful peppers, a butter lettuce, leek, savory cabbage, spinach and a couple of broccoli crowns which summed up to about 10 lbs.

The good thing about signing up for a CSA box is that it encourages me to eat a variety of vegetables. Not that I don't eat vegetables, but instead of myself thinking of what to make, they pick vegetables for me, forcing me to get the creative juices flowing. On my own, I may not necessarily choose vegetables irregular to my palate. For example, I like leek, but I can count the number of times I actually bought the vegetable. Not all CSA vegetables and fruits are organic, but many tend to be, which then encourages people to eat them more frequently (due to its perishability).

This week, I challenged myself by making home-made Udon for the first time. But it turned out so easy that I couldn't believe why I had never even tried it until now. The reason why the noodle looks rather brownish is because I used whole wheat flour instead of white, which was simply the only option in my pantry. It didn't have the same flavor and texture of regular white udon, but without a doubt, it was delicious. It makes me want to stop buying dry noodles from now on. The problem with home-made fresh udon is that it needs to be consumed relatively quickly. (I followed the recipe here.)

I had also picked up a few Yuzu at the farmers market last week. Yuzu is a Japanese citrus that is thought to be a hybrid of mandarin orange and Ichang papeda. It's slightly bigger than lime, sour, and taste kind of between lemon, lime, grapefruit and tangerine. It has a distinctive smell (but a very nice one) that's different from any other citrus fruits; the Japanese even put them in hot bath to enjoy the wonderful aroma. It goes so well with soy sauce and dashi. In fact, Ponzu (citrus soysauce) made with yuzu is pretty popular in Japan. But Japanese people like it so much that it’s used in almost anything - making desserts, salad dressings, soups, drinks, cocktails or simply drizzling over grilled fish.

I used both Yuzu juice and slices in this Udon which created not only interesting flavor, but also a colorful look. Adding some grated carrots heightened the texture as well as layering another vibrant color. If you can't find Yuzu in your area, don't worry. You can try substituting with different citrus fruits (but I would recommend choosing ones that aren’t too sweet like lemon, lime, kumquat, etc), and when you do have a chance to try Yuzu, don’t be hesitant. Remember, you can use it in almost anything!

Kitchen M's Mysteries: Fourth Edition

In case you were wondering what happened to Kitchen M last week, I was at the first annual Foodbuzz blogger festival in San Francisco. It was a three-day event of lavish gourmet foods and wines. I'm overwhelmed by the number of photos I took during the festival; I decided not to do another recap of the event, but I will eventually upload them on Flickr and you can meanwhile read the event coverage from fellow Foodbuzz bloggers: Lick My Spoon, Taking Over the World One Bite at a Time, Six By 10 Tiny Kitchen, Ravenous Couple, The Duo Dishes, The Food Addicts, One Healthy Apple, The Dallas Celiac's, Spots For Dates.

While I was strolling around the farmer's market at SF ferry terminal on Saturday last week, I picked up a few of these, which is today's Mystery. Can anyone name this item? Since there are so many different kinds of fruits that look like this, I wanted to give you an idea of how big it is. So, the green fruit in the first picture is lime (not key lime).

bushi-tei, Foodbuzz Community Table Dinner

I was one of the lucky bloggers invited to the Foodbuzz Community Table Dinner at bushi-tei. It’s a Japanese-French restaurant located in Japantown. I’ve walked by there many, many times before but never had I yet to try until last Tuesday. The look of the towering, broad, spotless glass window with a minimalist design and creaseless, perfectly white table cloth conveyed luxury. I kept waiting for a special occasion to try it out. But then, just today I found out that it wasn’t outrageously expensive as I assumed.

There were about 15 to 20 bloggers and Foodbuzz staff members that night and we sat around the huge long table which was beautifully decorated with stones and candles – again very simple yet elegant. The wood pieces of the wall inside the restaurant actually come from a real Japanese building that was built in 1863 in Nagano, Japan. They were carefully removed during the demolition of Shimizu estate in Matsumoto City. The pillar on this wall was apparently the main supporting pillar of the house which indicates the year it was built, as well as the master builder’s name. Being surrounded by such a classic masterpiece is truly an amazing feeling.

Takumi Matsuba, the owner of bushi-tei, along with chef, Seiji Wakabayashi, designed the restaurant. Wakabayashi trained at Kiachi (Aoyama, Tokyo), then worked at Spago in L.A. and Ondine in Sausalito before becoming an executive chef at bushi-tei.

The dinner began with popping corks out of Graham Beck sparkling wine from South Africa followed by an hors d’oeuvre. Cheers!

Then the breads came. I seriously thought that this was dessert! Doesn’t it look like cookies and a scoop of ice cream? How creative! The breads are also made at the restaurant and baked with crunchy brown rice.

The first course was Ankimo Torchon (monk fish liver) with Snow Crab Salad, Spicy Fish Roe-Potato Mousseline, Julienne Vegetables and Parsley Coulis, accompanied by Domaine Wm Fevre Champs Royal Chablis.

I usually don’t like liver of any kind but this monk fish liver was absolutely DIVINE! I couldn’t believe how liver can taste so good – definitely an eye opening experience for me. The wine was great too. This Chablis was 100% Chardonnay, dry, medium body and had a hint of citrus. It was so good that I’m going to look for a bottle once I finish my other wines at home.

The main course was Slow Roasted Natural Beef Tenderloin with Matsutake Mushroom Risotto, English Peas, Pinot Noir Reduction & Espresso Oil, paired with Expression 39 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir.

The beef tenderloin was more than half an inch thick! I think you can see the tenderness from looking at this picture, too. Needless to say, it was amazing.

Finally the dessert! It was Peach Melba with Daiginjo Sake-Kabosu Cube, paired with Gonzalez Byass Solera 1847 Oloroso Sherry. Daiginjo is a high quality sake made with rice that are at least 50% polished which create smooth, clean taste. The jellied cube is the Sake cube and the citrus fruit underneath is Kabosu with (I think) raspberry sauce. The Peach Melba part consisted of sliced peaches, vanilla ice cream and almond cake. I’m not a big fan of dessert wine plus I had to drive home after the dinner; I could only take a few sips of the sherry. It was full bodied, sweet and bit spicy and frankly it wasn’t bad at all, besides it smelled wonderful! I bet it can make amazing desserts.

The whole dinner experience was incredible. I enjoyed the first bite to the very last and all four wines that accompanied the dishes. Also, I was not aware of the Bay Bridge closure until the dinner was over, so I was able to fully enjoy the dinner without having to worry about anything. And even though I had to sit in traffic that wasn’t moving at all for almost 45 minutes (in fact everyone turned off the engine and head lights), the wines made me feel so good that it didn’t get angry or frustrated at all. (Don’t worry, I was not drunk!) Now that I know how great their food is, I will most certainly go back again and try their other dishes.

Huge thanks Foodbuzz and bushi-tei for hosting the dinner!
More photos are available at Flickr

Vietnamese Chicken & Cabbage Salad

Really good guesses everyone! Merlin, I never even heard of kangkung/water spinach. I've got to try that one of these days. Sean, I’m disappointed! Tasty Trix, yes, it does have resemblance of curry leaves, doesn’t it? Fresh Local and Best, you were in the right track – it’s a type of herb. Jacqueline, it’s not quite lemon verbena, but good try. E. Lee, pecospearl & Bobbie, tarragon is a really good guess! Anonymous (x2) & Ravenous Couple, you are absolutely correct!! The answer is Rau Ram also known as Vietnamese coriander or Vietnamese cilantro. In Vietnamese cuisine, it’s used in soups, salad, fresh spring rolls and also fetal duck eggs (though I’ve never tried it and I’m perfectly happy without ever having to).

After spending four full days in the wilderness, eating canned chili and cliff bars, I was so hungry for fresh fruits and vegetables. If you’ve ever gone backpacking, you know how packing as light as possible is crucial even to the point of counting ounces. Carrying heavy weight (mostly water), low calorie snacks, like a piece of fruit, while burning calories all day is the least you want to do (even though it’s absolutely the best and healthiest snack in the civil environment).

We stopped at Berkeley Bowl (my favorite grocery store in Berkeley) on the way home and stuffed a basket with fresh vegetables and fruits. Although I didn’t have a specific menu planned, walking through the produce aisle helped me gather some ideas. Rau Ram is actually fairly new to my palate. I’ve had it in some Vietnamese restaurants, but never bought one and used it at home before.

It smells and tastes very similar to regular cilantro. But the flavor is much stronger and is slightly bitterer. It also has a hint of lemon which makes the dish more interesting than with just using regular cilantro. There is not really a recipe for this salad and I suggest adjusting the each ingredient as you prefer. So here are the basic ingredients:

- Chicken breast, shredded
- Cabbage, thinly shredded (you can use red cabbage too)
- Carrot, thinly julienned
- Onion, thinly sliced (any color is fine)

For dressing:
- Garlic, finely minced
- Rau ram or cilantro, finely chopped
- Fish sauce
- Rice wine vinegar
- Sugar
- Lime juice
- Little bit of water

Other suggestions:
- Bean sprouts
- Rice noodles
- Crushed peanuts
- Sliced tomatoes

Does anyone have other topping suggestions?