14, not including Vietnam. They never declared it.

Once again...points if you can place that quote!

Something new for me; Vietnamese food. Matt's a big fan of Southeast Asian cuisine, but I'm still a novice (and a bit reluctant).

So, I decided to put together a whole meal, and see how it went.



I started with a spring roll recipe from the latest Vegetarian Times; mint leaves, sugar snap peas, scallions, carrots strips and a bean thread mix (lime juice, toasted sesame seeds and salt and white pepper), wrapped in rice paper. Served with a dipping sauce of rice wine vinegar and soy sauce.



I need to work on my technique (I kept over-stuffing the rolls), but they sure are pretty, aren't they?

And there was a soup from the Food and Wine site, Market Noodle Soup.



Chicken, cooked in broth, served with bean thread, and topped with a variety of things: scallions, shredded cabbage, mung bean sprouts, peanuts, and a few other things.

We fried some wontons for a garnish, as well.




Let's see...the spring rolls were nice. What an interesting flavor combo! The burst of mint, the bite of the scallions. I didn't even mind the noodles (they were only partially cooked). I'm not going to say I've become a fan, but I would eat something like this again.

The soup? Eh; it's the noodle curse again. I just can not eat soggy noodles. Matt told me he figured I'd either love the bean thread, or absolutely hate them because of the rubberiness (is that world??). Well, I hated them because of the rubber. They reminded me of that stuff holding lotion and perfume samples to magazine pages!

I fished out my Veat pieces, and gave the noodles to the dogs. Donegal was the only one interested, though.