Here To Eat: Ace Eats America 10 Plates at a Time

Buddhist Temple Bun Rieu
Price: Free
Rating: **** / *****

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

This is the year of the pig, which is fitting for a man of great gluttony such as myself. Not only is everyone freakishly cheery on this occasion, but it's also the time of the year to receive money in red envelopes from older adults. It's generally a good time all around.

Like Randy Moss says: Straight cash, homey.

For my family, Chinese New Year starts with a trip to the Buddhist temple in the morning. I am an atheist at heart, but the Buddhist temple is welcoming to anyone who will show up. A cool thing about this one is that volunteers serve free vegetarian food and sell some fancier foods with the proceeds going to the temple. Knowing this, you might think that the food is throwaway stuff meant as an unappetizing gesture of kindness for the public. Well, you'd be a fool.

The food is actually shockingly good. I almost never have vegetarian food, but I would eat this stuff every day if someone made it for me. There I had stir fried mushroom and tofu, noodles with tofu and vegetables, vegetable rice porridge, and this bun rieu, which is Vietnamese for noodle soup. Regular bun rieu has things like crab brains, pork blood, and sausage, but this vegetarian variety has tofu, tomatoes, and fresh cabbage in a savory soup. After mixing everything together, the thin rice noodles are slurped up and thoroughly enjoyed by one hungry reviewer. The tomato brings flavor and texture, the cabbage brings a crunch, and the tofu gives it substance. This was a simple bowl of noodles that really hit the spot.

Buddhist Temple Egg Rolls
Price: $.50 per egg roll
Rating: ***** / *****

I can't get over how awesome these things are. These are by far my favorite egg rolls ever and there's no meat to be found anywhere. I know, I was shocked too. Deep fried(aren't all good things in life deep fried?) and piping hot, these crispy beauties are unlike anything I've tasted. It is comprised of extremely thinly sliced carrots, glass noodles, tofu, corn, green onions, and mushrooms. Not only are they extremely tasty, they're also light on the inside so you'll want to keep eating more whereas regular egg rolls leave you uncomfortably stuffed. Try using the ingredients I listed and make it at home, I guarantee they'll be a hit for omnivores and vegans alike.

Posted by Anthony Nguyen on Sunday, February 18, 2007 at 9:55 PM | Permalink