Szechuan Chef and Bolsa -cumin (and turmeric) Fish

Today's posting of mmm-yoso!!! is written by Cathy.  The guys are busy doing other things.

It's that time of year again; birthday week for The Mister and myself - a week apart; eight days of eating out.  Our standard modus operandi is that He gets to choose meals for the first three days, we jointly choose meals the middle two days then I get to choose restaurants the last three days.  Putting the posts together, I noticed patterns in our choices this year.  

I've posted about Szechuan Chef once before, as has Kirk (he didn't like it). There is one item in particular The Mister craves from this small restaurant, located next to Shan Xi Magic Kitchen.

 The cumin/flour/hot pepper coated fish, stir fried until the coating is crisp and topped with stir fried onion, Chinese celery and bell pepper.  The numbing shows up at the end while the flavors of the fish and vegetables all come through at first.    To accompany the plate of turmeric yumminess, I chose the oyster mushroom with shrimp noodles, which is tasty on its own but neutral enough to have as the 'side' (instead of rice).  The bottom of the pot holds a buttery garlic surprise of chopped shrimp and some dried shrimp.  It's rare to find any XLB in San Diego, so we chose these soup filled dumplings which were made to order and came out midway through the meal.  None were broken and the skins were not chewy at all; quite tender yet not thin.  The pork filling was very delicate, had a light crunch (water chestnut) and, of course, pork flavor.

Szechuan Chef 4344 Convoy St San Diego, CA 92111   (858) 279-8881

When it was one of 'my' days to choose a celebratory meal, it was back to Bolsa.  Immediately I knew what I wanted.  The turmeric fish-Vietnamese style! (cha ca thang long)The fish is coated in flour, turmeric and egg then pan fried with dill and green onion.  It's served sizzling on a cast iron platter. Wrapping the fish with some mint in the lettuce and dipping it in the fish sauce is just a perfect grouping of flavors.  Not numbing, just tasty.
 We also ordered a Banh Xeo (which has turmeric in the pancake batter) and is filled with bean sprouts, shrimp and pork as well as some mung beans.

The Mister wanted the pork and shrimp Spring rolls, made to order.  Fresh!

Bolsa 9225 Mira Mesa Blvd  Ste 118  San Diego, CA 92126 (858)693-3663 Open daily 8:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m. Website

There were a couple more 'overlapping' meal choices this year.  The Mister and I have similar-yet different- food cravings. Stay tuned!

Comments

[Ed (from Yuma)]

So how do these turmeric fish compare to Que Huong's?

[Caninecologne]

I like the version at Vien Dong on Little Saigon. Que Huong's is good too. I really like eating this dish because of the fresh herbs and the texture of the fried fish

[Cathy]

Que Huong, the first time I realized why dill was sold in Asian markets! Only because it's a bit more of a drive, we tend to go to Bolsa instead, Ed. The Vietnamese versions are similar and both are really good; I'll do a QH post soon.

Agree with you, cc. The egg battered sautéed fish combined with fresh herbs is a taste and texture treat.