Bo Bi Rice Paper Rolls

The Bo Bi rice paper roll is a unique Chiu Chow/Vietnamese fusion dish that is commonly eaten by the Cantonese population who migrated to Vietnam. The name 'Bo Bi' is Chinese, and translates to 'thin pancake'. The original Chiu Chow Bo Bi dish uses a thin pancake instead of rice paper, but because rice paper is more commonly found in Vietnam, the Chinese who tried to re-create this dish started using rice paper out of convenience. The ingredients in the roll may vary depending on the family and their preferences.

I had Bo Bi rice paper rolls with my family the other night, and I instantly thought to snap pictures to share with everyone.

This dish is not very complicated to make, but there are many ingredients that need to be prepared. Here is the low down on how to make it.

1. Steam some Chinese sausages and slice them thinly.

Sliced Chinese Sausages

2. Boil julienned carrots and turnips until tender and top it with fried onions. Be sure to make a large pot of this.

Boiled Carrots and Turnips

3. Roast some peanuts

Roasted Peanuts

4. Roast some preserved turnips and slice up a few fried eggs

Fried Eggs and Turnips

5. Wash some lettuce

Lettuce

6. Throw the above ingredients + dried rice paper on the dinner table. Get a big bowl of lukewarm water to dip your rice paper in. Give each person a big plate for wrapping, and away you go.

To make the wrap, dip the entire rice paper in lukewarm water for a few seconds, and set it on your plate. Place a bit of each ingredient in the middle of your rice paper.

Fold in the sides, and roll.

Voila! Once you have it, dip the roll into your favorite sauce. In my household, Sriracha hot sauce, hoisin sauce, and hot chilli oil are the most popular.

I mentioned above that some of the ingredients may vary from family to family. Other ingredients that could be used are jicama, dried prawns, and sauteed scallions. Of course, you can also try it the traditional way and use a thin pancake instead of rice paper.

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MBCO (Montreal Bread Company), Montreal

Another place I visited in Montreal was MBCO (Montreal Bread Company). I have to admit, I had gone to Olive and Gourmando first, but I learned that they close on Sundays and Mondays :-(
MBCO is a little European-style cafe serving morning and afternoon eats such as croissants, brioches, hand carved sandwiches, and thin crust pizza. They always have funky world music or jazz playing, and I love the warehouse feel of this establishment.

CK and I used to visit this place regularly, and I used to order their sandwiches everytime I went.

On this visit, I decided on the pepper crusted tuna nicoise salad instead of a sandwich. This was a green salad with tomatoes, creamy potatoes, fresh capers, red onions, olives, and seared tuna. It was served with a very nice sesame dressing.

The only thing I didn't like about this salad was that the tuna tasted like it was cooked hours before it was served. It was cold and slightly dry on the edges. I would have much preferred the tuna to be freshly prepared.

Pepper Crusted Tuna Nicoise Salad

It was a cold day and the patio chairs were still out, which meant the doors were slightly open. I was freezing and needed something warm. I ordered an awesome Mightly Leaf chamomile citrus tea.

Mighty Leaf Chamomile Citrus Tea

Mighty Leaf tea comes in beautiful hand crafted silken tea pouches that are biodegradable. The tea blends I've tried have all been great, and some blends have beautiful dried flowers in them.
The food wasn't as spectacular as I remembered it being, but it was still nice to be back.

MBCO (Montreal Bread Company)
1447 Rue Stanley
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Telephone: 514-284-0404

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Nocochi Cafe Patisserie, Montreal

I was recently in Montreal for a training course, and I was very excited because I hadn't visited Montreal in what felt like, forever! Montreal has a special place in my heart. This is where CK used to live, and was also where I spent all my weekends for a few years. My short trip to Montreal was a blast from the past! I loved walking through the busy streets of downtown Montreal, and it was a nice change from the Ottawa suburbia culture.

Being back in Montreal also reminded me of when my relationship used to be easy. We had no worries back then, and our focus was to have fun ALL THE TIME. No huge bills to pay, no long tiresome hours at work, and no extreme long distance marriage to balance!

The little free time I got in Montreal, I used wisely and visited my old favorite places. One of these is Nocochi Cafe Patisserie, a stylish café specializing in Persian pastries.

Window Display at Nocochi

Visiting this place was a joy for both the eyes and stomach. They have a large selection of beautiful mini pastries ranging from delicate Persian nut pastries to French macarons to fruit jellies. If you want something more substantial, they also offer coffees, teas, sandwiches, pizzas, and salads.
I took home a cute little box of pastries for CK (who is home for the holidays...yay!) and I, and below is a lil’ snapshot of what we had:

Persian Pastries from Nocochi

To get a feel of how mini these pastries really were, I compared them to a Canadian nickel.

My favorite were the little marzipan balls. I LOVE anything with almonds.

Marzipan Balls

I also picked up a personal pizza for myself, and ordered the Nocochi pizza: sun dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, ham, mozzarella, buffalo mozzarella, artichoke, olives, onions, roasted capsicum, and . The pizza didn't look like much but the ingredients were fresh. It also wasn't very greasy, which I liked.

Nocochi Pizza

Nocochi is owned by Vivel, its parent company. The majority of the Vivel shops are in the Middle East, but they are looking to expand in both Canada and the Middle East.

Nocochi Cafe Patisserie
2156 Mackay Street
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Telephone: 514-989-7514

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Persian Spinach and Noodle Soup (Ash-e Reshteh)

This spinach noodle soup is my secret weapon to staying healthy. When I'm not eating out, I make sure I eat damn well, and this soup is one of my default dishes. This soup is likely the first thing I make when I return from my travels. I make a huge honkin pot that will last me days, and this is how I 'detox' from my travels.

To some, this soup will look extremely unappetizing, but if you keep an open mind, you'll learn that it is delicious. What's best is that you get everything your body craves: protein, vegetables, fiber, carbohydrates...

I recently received an email from a reader asking for the recipe for this soup (after seeing this old post), so here it is. Good luck and I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.
This recipe yields 8-10 servings.

Persian Spinach and Noodle Soup (Ash-e Reshteh)
- 11 oz, 312g package of fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 6 scallions, roughly chopped
- 2 cups of coriander, roughly chopped and loosely packed
- 2 Tbsp dried mint
- 10 cups of water, or broth of choice
- 1/3 cup of dried chickpeas
- 1/3 cup of dried red kidney beans
- 1/3 cup of dried navy beans
- 3/4 cup of dried green lentils
- 3 small onions, finely chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 2 cups of dried Persian noodles (reshteh)
- 1 tsp of turmeric powder
- salt and pepper
- extra virgin olive oil

Method
1. Steam the chickpeas, kidney beans, and navy beans. To do this, boil 2 cups of salted water in a small pot. Turn off the heat, pour in the beans, and leave the lid on for at least 40 minutes. Drain excess water.

2. In a large pot, sautee the onions and garlic with extra virgin olive oil, turmeric, and a dash of salt. Add 10 cups of water (or broth), and bring to a boil. Add spinach, coriander, scallions, and mint. Simmer for 45 minutes

3. Add the steamed beans. Continue to simmer for 20 minutes. Add the dried lentils. Continue to simmer for 15 minutes. Add the noodles and simmer for an additional 15 minutes. Turn off the heat. Serve hot. If you feel your soup is not thick enough, sift some all purpose flour into the soup.

Once you get comfortable with making this soup, you can go ahead and use any combination of greens and beans you want. For the greens, keep in mind that the majority should be spinach.

If you don't want to spend the time to prepare the dried beans, you can always used canned beans which takes a lot less time. If that is the case, add the beans near the end of the recipe so that they don't overcook.

Persians like to add a hint of sourness to this soup. An option is to stir in a bit of plain yogurt or whey right before serving.

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Formaggi Ocello, Sydney

While in Sydney, CK and I stumbled upon a cool cheese & wine cafe called Formaggi Ocello. I was excited when I saw this place because I LOVE cheese.

They have a large selection of Italian, French and Australian farmhouse cheeses, and specialize in rare cheeses. The shop itself has a nice rustic feel, and houses a large humidity and temperature controlled cheese cellar where their fine cheeses sit and mature. CK and I made two visits to this place.

Cheese Cellar at Formaggi Ocello

On our first visit, we split a cheese plate for two. We enjoyed this over coffee and good laughs.

Flat White & Piccolo Latte

The cheese plate comes with 3 cheeses & accompaniments. You have the option to either choose the cheese yourself, or have them chosen for you. The staff recommends sampling one blue cheese, one soft cheese, and one hard one.

We decided to choose our own cheese and spent a good 10 minutes sampling what they had in store. After much discussion, we were finally able to make a decision.

Cheese Counter

The first cheese was an Italian Gorgonzola Picante. This was paired with a fragrant truffle honey that went perfectly with our blue cheese. Our second cheese was a Swiss Fromage Dalpage. This was a creamy, mild cheese. The last cheese was the Gouda Boerenkas from Holland.

The cheese servings were bigger than expected and we ended up taking leftovers home. We used the extra cheese to make a home made mac and cheese.

Accompaniments included hazelnut & fruit preserve, dried apricot, preserved melon, and raisins.

Cheese Platter For Two

Our cheeses were served with plenty of crackers and toast.

Toast and Crackers

On our second visit, CK and I came in for a quick snack. We had made late dinner reservations and needed a lil' somethin' to hold us over.

CK ordered the beef arincini. This was fresh deep fried rice ball mixed with tomatoes, beef, and veggies. I loved the fresh tomato taste in the arincini.

I ordered my favorite salad, the caprese salad. This was a large plate of mozzarella bufala, tomato, and basil topped with fresh olive oil, salt & pepper. For $18, I wanted to be wowed. I found the tomatoes and basil lacking in taste. I guess it just wasn't the right season.

Caprese Salad

Formaggi Ocello
Shop 16, 425 Bourke Street
Surry Hills, NSW, Australia
Telephone: (02) 9357 7878

Menu

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Sunday Brunch at Benitz Bistro, Ottawa

What I love about my friend P is that she is as big of a pig as I am. She took me out for Sunday brunch at Benitz Bistro, and we had a great time eating and chatting.

I had no clue Benitz served brunch until we stumbled upon it on their website. I'm sure glad I discovered it because we had a very nice meal here.

Benitz Bistro is a small, elegant French bistro that is owned by Chef Derek Benitz. He also happens to own b/Side Wine and Small Plates, situated right next door to Benitz Bistro. The interior of Benitz Bistro is decorated with a clean black & white theme. It has an upscale feel without being too stuffy.

Interior of Benitz Bistro

When P and I ordered our food, the waiter did a double take. "Are you sure?", he asked. We had ordered 3 full breakfasts + 1 soup to split between the two of us. I was himming and hawing at all the food we ordered, so the waiter suggested that he bring us one breakfast each as the first course, and then bring out the third breakfast as a second course if we were still hungry. P would not have it that way, and told him to bring out everything at once. I chuckled at her assertiveness, and thought privately that there was no way we would finish all that food.

Well, to my surprise (and the waiter's), we did finish all our food. Here's what we had:
We both started with a warm cup of cappuccino.

Cappuccino

The soup of the day was a tomato, mung bean, and chilli soup served with a dollop of lobster terrine. The soup was spicy, and the mung beans added some texture to the soup. It was definitely a great way to wake up on a lazy Sunday morning.

Tomato, Mung Bean, and Chilli Soup

The soup was served with two wonderful slices of grilled Art-Is-In Bakery bread.

Art-Is-In Bakery Bread

Next was the eggs Benitz: a pair of poached eggs on a grilled baguette with pea meal bacon, and hollondaise sauce. This was served with fresh fruit and hash.

Eggs Benitz

The eggs were cooked very nicely. Just look at those perfect sacs of yolk screaming for someone to pierce them open.

Poached Eggs

Benitz' spicy Cajun-style hash is awesome. The spices in the hash paired nicely with the sweet caramelized onions. The hash was baked in the oven, which created a nice crispy top layer.

Next was the Andalusian frittata, which loosely translates to a Spanish style frittata. This week, it was a caramelized onion & white cheddar frittata. The onions were nice but I wished for more of a cheddar taste. I found the cheese a little too subtle.

Caramelized onion and White Cheddar Frittata

Last was the french toast: Art-is-in bakery baguette with cinnamon, Chantilly cream, maple syrup, and candied nut & dried fruit compote. This was a nice simple way to end our meal, and we treated this plate as our dessert.

P and I had a wonderful brunch experience, and I'm definitely coming back. The prices are very reasonable and average $12 a plate.

At the end of our meal, the waiter told us that the only thing that could have done better than us was a dishwasher :-)

Benitz Bistro
327 Somerset Street West
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 613-567-8100

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Roasted Root Stew

This stew was influenced by my recent dinner at Zen Kitchen. Chef Caroline Ishii served me a hearty root vegetable pot pie that I've been thinking about ever since.

I finally stopped dreaming, and decided to make my own stew instead. I bought up all the root vegetables I could find, and got cooking. My mother-in-law started adding apple cider to her soups, so I decided to do the same with my stew. This gave the dish a nice slight tang. What I really like about this stew is its strong rustic and earthy taste.

This recipe yields 6-8 servings.

Roasted Root Stew
- 1 cup of carrots, diced
- 2 cups of sweet potatoes, diced
- 1 cup of parsnips, diced
- 1 cup of white turnips, diced
- 1 cup of small red potatoes, diced
- 1 1/2 cups of yellow beets, diced
- 1 cup of red beets, diced
- 1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
- 1 leek, white and light green parts roughly chopped
- 3 cups of vegetable stock or water
- 1 1/4 cup of apple cider
- 1 tsp of dried rosemary
- 2-3 Bay leaves
- 1 Tbsp of fresh sage, finely chopped
- 1 sprig of fresh thyme
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 Tbsp of all-purpose flour
- salt and pepper
- extra virgin olive oil

Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F/175C. Toss the root vegetables in some olive oil. Season with 1 tsp of rosemary, and some salt + pepper. Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Spread the vegetables on the baking sheet, and bake for 20 minutes. If your vegetables are crowded like mine were, stir the vegetables half way through baking to avoid steaming.

2. In a pot, sautee the leeks, celery, garlic, and sage for 10 minutes. Add the roasted root vegetables, apple cider, thyme, and bay leaves to the pot. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the broth to the pot, and simmer for 40 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Right before the stew is done cooking, sift in the flour to thicken up the stew. Discard the bay leaves and thyme. Serve hot.

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Zen Kitchen, Ottawa

All I can say about Zen Kitchen is 'WOW!' The food was so awesome, I can't wait to go back. Throughout the entire meal, our table kept saying 'can't believe vegan can be so good!'

The owners of Zen Kitchen are Chef Caroline Ishii and Dave Loan. To learn more about them, check out my Spotted Interview at this link.

Zen Kitchen's style is very similar to that of an Izakaya: friendly, genuine caring and appreciation for the customer, honest, and fun. Chef Caroline loves it when her customers inquire about her food, and says that it reminds her of when 'we were curious kids'.

When I asked Caroline and Dave when they decided to become vegetarians, they each had two different stories to tell.

Dave has been a vegetarian for 7 years, and slowly moved away from meat when he started working for the International fund for Animal Warfare. At that job, he learned about zoonotic diseases, and the health & environmental effects of eating meat and of certain farming practices. For him, "there are too many reasons not to eat meat".

For Caroline, she calls herself a 'flexi-vegetarian'. Her diet consists of mostly plant based foods, but she does eat meat once in a while so that she can see where her customers are coming from. Caroline believes in the Buddhist philosophy of no human and animal suffering.

It was fascinating for me to hear the two stories shared.

Instead of ordering off the a la carte menu, our table decided on the Chef's 4-course menu. This means that you are served whatever tickles the Chef's fancy that evening.

As soon as we sat down, we were served a small plate of Art-Is-In Bakery bread.

Art-Is-In Bakery Bread

Our amuse bouche was endive leaves with nut cheese.

Endive Leaves with Nut Cheese

Our first course was a delicious roasted marinated beet and Asian greens salad. The beets were wonderfully flavored, and the greens were served with a nice apple Dijon vinaigrette. On the side was cashew cheese and roasted pumpkin seeds. This salad didn't look like much at first, but the taste was quite the opposite.

Roasted Marinated Beet and Asian Greens Salad

The second course was glazen vegetable gyozas served with yuzu miso sauce, sesame seeds, and dino kale salad. This was a nice dish overall.

Glazen Vegetable Gyozas

Shortly after the second course, a palate cleanser was brought out. It was a refreshing lemongrass, lime, and ginger sorbet.

Lemongrass, Lime, and Ginger Sorbet

The main course was a root vegetable pot pie with raw kale chips, togarashi chips, and home made pickles. The togarashi chips were spicy, and the raw kale chips were blended with nutritional yeast and some lemon juice. The crust of the pie was well seasoned, and ingredients in the pie included parsnips, carrots, and black eyed peas.

Root Vegetable Pot Pie with Togarashi Potato Chips and Raw Kale Chips

Dessert was chocolate cake topped with orange confit, and poached pear with caramel sauce. Everything about this dessert was delicious.

Chocolate Cake with Orange Confit and Poached Pear with Caramel Sauce

It as my friend's bday that evening, so as a happy birthday gesture, she was given a hazelnut vanilla creme brulee. We couldn't believe that this dessert had no cream or butter.

Hazelnut Vanilla Creme Brulee

If you are interested in learning how to cook vegan, Caroline holds classes at the Urban Element, and at the LCBO on Rideau.

Zen Kitchen has also announced that their TV show, 'The Restaurant Adventures of Caroline and Dave', premiers Jan 6th on the W Network. It is a 13-episode documentary showing the process of opening their restaurant. They have been busy filming for the last year, and this is a show that hides nothing. From the early stages of business plan development, to seeking financing, to menu construction, and beyond. They were a couple that started out with no money, no experience, and as Caroline puts it "no sense". Caroline and Dave overcame their challenges and created a little gem in Chinatown Ottawa.

Zen Kitchen
634 Somerset Street West
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 613-233-6404

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