Whipped Cream Difficulties

State Fair time has rolled around again. And I have been negligent in covering this year’s offerings.

Various people have sent me links to stories, so it isn’t anyone’s fault but mine. I think I’ve just been too busy naval gazing.

Anyway, by way of the paper of record, I have learned that there’s a scandal at the State Fair.

Ms. Le, a vendor at the fair, is being accused of stealing their deep-fried pho recipe.

Yes, you read that correctly. You are not having a stroke. “Deep-fried pho”.

The version at the state fair, which costs $24, is deep-fried and the size of a salami. The hulking phorrito at Cris and John, a Vietnamese Mexican restaurant, is pan-fried, as stocky as a cocktail shaker and starts at $10. Each is served with broth as a dipping sauce, though Ms. Le’s is a light, aromatic infusion, while the phorrito’s accouterment is somewhere between traditional pho broth and birria consomé.

It’s a little more complicated, though: Cris and John were offered a slot at the fair, but they would have had to close on Saturday (that seems like a non-starter), and Ms. Le apparently offered to work with them before the fair. However, Ms. Le also says she’s been working on deep-fried pho since 2011.

Mr. Pham and Ms. Mendez, who recalled painful criticism of their third-culture fusion cuisine when they opened their restaurant in 2017, are the first to relinquish credit for the phorrito. They based their version on one sold by the Los Angeles restaurant Komodo.

Also: gratuitous photo of “cheesecake swaddled in chocolate and Biscoff cookie crumbs”. On a stick. Of course.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 14th, 2023 at 10:26 am and is filed under Food, On a stick. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.