Cafe Hoang for Goi Ga - Spicy Chicken Salad

Hi,

In the period before enlightenment, when I lived in a non-internet world, I looked forward to Monica Eng's columns on interesting eats. Like many here, I faithfully clipped every column as my reference to foods I'd love to try. I still read her efforts whenever I see her by line, though I now have substantially more resources to find interesting food.

One column stood out more than most, it was about eating Asian chicken salad preparations on hot weather days. Rather than the Chinese-style gargantuan salads, which are as Chinese as Chop Suey, these were genuine Asian preparations. Knowing Gary clipped Monica's columns as faithfully as myself, I sent him a note a few weeks ago asking if he remembered which restaurants served these Asian chicken salads. He efficiently sent me a link to a post on LTHforum he wrote last summer:

G Wiv wrote:Cafe Hoang is one of my favorites, with my favorite dish being Goi Ga, which could be best described as Asian chicken salad.


I also like the crisp greaseless Ban Xeo, Pho and Bun Bo Hue.

I first heard about Cafe Hoang's Goi Ga 4-5 years ago in Monica Eng World Eats column.


Enjoy,
Gary

Cafe Hoang
1010 W. Argyle
Chicago, IL 60640
773-878-9943

[Edited to correct typo 6.7.05]

Five or more years after reading Monica's column, I finally tried item 009 Goi Ga or Spicy chicken salad with peanut, red pepper and mixed vegetables. For $8.95 this very generously served two people who thought their appetite was cut by the heat outside. This was so spectacularly delicious with just a tad bit of heat, we recovered our appetite to eat the whole thing voraciously.

There were other salads offered in the appetizer section, which are very likely entree quantity if gauged by our experience with the Goi Ga. There is 010 Goi Vit, which is the duck version of this salad as well as 008 Goi Tom Thit or spicy shrimp and pork salad variant and 011 Goi Ngo Sen Tom Thit or spicy shrimps and pork, lotus root stock with peanut and red pepper.

We read a Cheap Eats review by Bill Daley which recommended 007 Spicy lemon beef salad. From reading the appetizer menu there is also 006 Spicy sliced veal beef with lemon, which sounds refreshing on a hot evening.

I must admit Cafe Hoang was not in my considerations when I left the house this evening. All I really intended to do was get some ice cream from Village Creamery, which I did eventually do. Amongst their current offerings is Durian ice cream. When I asked the server for a sample, he informed few people liked that ice cream as a way to gently discourage my interest. I advised I was aware of the unpleasant odor though I appreciated the flavor. He was so sure I wouldn't like it, I changed my mind from lychee to Durian. I made sure to take a strong sniff of the Durian, which reminds me of eau de gasoline and licked it with a sincere delight.

Village Creamery (two locations 4558 Oakton, Skokie and 8000 Waukegan, Niles)

Cathy2 wrote:There were other salads offered in the appetizer section, which are very likely entree quantity if gauged by our experience with the Goi Ga. There is 010 Goi Vit, which is the duck version of this salad as well as 008 Goi Tom Thit or spicy shrimp and pork salad variant and 011 Goi Ngo Sen Tom Thit or spicy shrimps and pork, lotus root stock with peanut and red pepper.

We read a Cheap Eats review by Bill Daley which recommended 007 Spicy lemon beef salad. From reading the appetizer menu there is also 006 Spicy sliced veal beef with lemon, which sounds refreshing on a hot evening.

Cathy,

Glad you finally got a chance to try Cafe Hoang's Goi Ga, it really is quite delicious. In reference to the duck version it's equally as large as the chicken salad, in other words, a very generous portion.

I've had the Spicy lemon beef salad Bill Daley recommends and thought it quite good. A very nice light summer dinner for two can be made from either the duck, chicken or beef salad, Ban Xeo and Goi Cuon.

Enjoy,
Gary

Ban Xeo and Goi Cuon

What are these? Never mind, I just found the menu. Vietnamese pancake is Banh Xeo and spring rolls are Goi Cuon.

I'm seriously considering going for lunch today because that was just so darn good last night. Yeah, another detour to Chicago!

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Ban Xeo and Goi Cuon
What are these?,

Cathy,

Goi Cuon/Fresh Spring Rolls. Typically shrimp, cucumber, bean sprouts and thin rice noodle (vermicelli), mint and often cilantro wrapped in rice paper wrappers, the round kind that are dry, then dipped lightly in water to moisten. Served with a dipping sauce and often lettuce leaves.

Ban Xeo/Vietnamese Crispy Pancake. A plate sized round, folded in half, of crispy crepe yellow from turmeric, not egg, with shrimp, pork, bean sprouts, served with lettuce and mint.

Enjoy,
Gary

FYI, they are closed from the 24th to the 28th and will re-open on the 29th.

I have tried Ban Xeo at at least 6 or 7 places on Argyle and Cafe Hoang's is the best. Ban Xeo is made from grinding whole mung beans into a "flour" of sorts and then mixing it with coconut milk. The trick, as with omelttes, is to get it crsipy on the outside but not jiggly or runny on the inside.

I also reccoment their spicy basil sauce dish with tofu--excellent the rare time I've enjoyed tofu and the boring sounding pork chops with shrimp and rice. The ork chops have a hint of lemon grass.

enjoy!

bjt

Hi bjt,

Have you tried the Ban Xeo at Spoon Thai? The day after eating at Hoang, I found myself taking a friend to Spoon for lunch. I was really hoping to go to Hoang to try to duck salad after being so impressed by the chicken the night before. I also liked Gary's idea how to complete the meal. So when I read Erik M's translated menu to find Ban Xeo on their menu, there was no question I was going to order it:



I would be interested in your opinion of this dish at Spoon since you have done such a comparative on Argyle.

Spoon Thai Restaurant
4608 N Western Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 769-1173

Regards,

In case you are interested, there is Banh Xeo flour packets widely sold in every grocery store on Argyle St. All you have to do is adding coconut milk to the flour mixture and it's ready to go. If you know how to make an omelet then this cooking exercise won't be difficult at all.

A packet can yield around 15 large Banh Xeo pancakes.
For filling, use any kind of meat or shrimp you like, some straw mushrooms, julienned vidalia onion etc. Put the bean sprouts in last so it won't be overcooked and get too mushy. You can even get creative by exploring with new filling ideas.

Hey Cathy2: I am embarrassed to admit that in spite of all the amazing, inspirational and reverant reviews of Spoon Thai, I have never been. When considering the choice between Vietnamese or Thai I always choose Vietnamese. However, that picture of the Ban Xeo at Spoon makes me want to go there tonight! It looks crispy but not greasy (I have had some pretty dreadfully greasy Ban Xeos) and I like the addition of carrots. So I'll check it out. Thanks so much for the rec.

bjt

bjt,

FYI, the crepe for bahn xeo is made with rice flour and coconut milk, not mung bean flour.

So where might I go for goi du du, the spicy beef version of this salad? I'm not sure how authentic Vietnamese it is, but my favorite restaurant in NYC, Saigon Grill (a Vietnamese restaurant with Chinese cooks), serves it to perfection.

hey there evil ronnie:

sounds like we've got a frie,ndly "lth" ban xeo duel on our hands. I have stood beside my friend Bao who is Vietnamese, and watched him toss mung beans into a blender to create the base for the ban xeo. I consulted my "The Foods of Vietnam" cookbook by Nicole Pouthier that Bao gave me and it calls for mung beans to be the base/thickener. But just to give it up to you, I found an old recipe I'd pulled off the internet a few years back (when we were living in another state and could not consult Bao for cooking tips so readily) tucked into the abovementioned cookbook and that recipe calls for rice flour.

So my hunch, which might not be so sharp as it is late for moi and it's too hot but anyway, it is that the mung bean approach is the real hardcore (more work) and the shortcut way is the rice flour. If they both taste good, who cares? But the beauty of the mung bean recipe to me, is the way one culture takes a recipe from the French and without eggs, flour or dairy, someone, somehow figured out how to make a tres french thing. Fluffy, crispy, egg-like, crepe-like.

and isn't that grand?

bjt[/b][/i]

Hi bjt,

Just when you think, you know it all...

My two points of reference for using rice flour are:

The Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table by Mai Pham and a continuing ed. course I attended at CIA Greystone, where our instructor, a tiny Vietnamese lady, demonstrated blending rice into flour before mixing with coconut milk and seasonings. Not much of a shortcut over blending mung beans. Could this be a regional type variance? Look at the many regional varieties of tortillas.

Somehow, I think that this dish is purely Vietnamese, and not at all influenced by the French like the Bahn Mi.

I really like the version at Dong Kee, although they could be just a bit more generous with the table salad.

Evil Ronnie: I love the comparison to tortillas and I think (but have no clue) that you're on to something with the regional differences. I am envious of you being at a class at CIA Greystone-tiny Vietnamese lady or no, my sister oncew described it as a "cathedral to cooking." Now that's one church I'm wanting to visit!

bjt

If mung beans are used, does the batter rest until fermentation starts, as for dosai? (And for that matter, crepe batter is also supposed to rest:-)

annieb:

No, the mung beans do not "sit" or ferment, you just soak the dried beans to soften them and add the coconut milk and hey evil ronnie, it says here to add a cup of rice flour so my bad above. (although the other recipe I have calls for only rice flour and coconut milk, no mung beans . . .) another humbling moment on LTH.

btw ban xeo means "sound" pancake, referring to the sizzling sound the batter makes when it hits the pan.

bjt

Hi,

Returned last night to Cafe Hoang with several friends to introduce them to Goi Ga (Chicken Salad). As a first course, we had Ban Xeo/Vietnamese Crispy Pancake, which was light, savory and delicious.

My friends were keenly interested in the composition of the pancake. From our earlier discussion I was able to advise it is a mixture of rice flour and coconut milk. Just shortly after our discussion here, I did go to a grocery store on Argyle where I found the Vietnamese pancake mix for a mere 79 cents. The contents were rice and wheat flours. The instructions included adding a saffron packet, though it was clear if you bought this separately or it was included, and coconut milk purchased separately. It made something like 6 pancakes, which is a big commitment for 79 cents.

After the pancake, we had the 007 Spicy lemon beef salad, which is very similar to the Goi Ga. We found it to be a bit higher on the heat level than the Goi Ga, so I inquired with the owner how to order it next time. He claimed the chili-heat for both the Spicy lemon beef and the Goi Ga was the same, though the Spicy lemon beef has more ginger. He suggested asking them to reduce the ginger. He may be right, though it didn't seem to ring right. If anyone has any comments on this, I would appreciate it.

Comparatively, the Goi Ga was as fresh tasting as the first time, though comparatively less heat than the Lemon Beef. The owner thought we cut our teeth on the Spicy Lemon Beef, which is why Goi Ga seemed milder though again in his opinion it was the same.

One friend enjoyed the Goi Ga so much, she ordered take-out for her husband's lunch and brought home the Lemon Beef for his objective opinion on the heat level.

We got a good laugh in the end when we realized our choice for dinner was intended to cool the affects of the heat and humidity outside. Instead we had to overcome the heat inside our mouths.

Regards,

On Saturday, Mrs. JiLS had an audition in Rogers Park that ended around 1:15, and I just had to try the Goi Ga and Ban Xeo at Cafe Huang (O.K, it was mainly my idea). Thus a plan. We cruised to Argyle and ordered by numbers (I need remedial Vietnamese pronunciation lessons); somehow, despite the assumed infallability of numeric ordering, we actually ended up with the duck version of the salad instead of chicken. This was fine, because the duck was not bad, although I have a couple of fussy complaints to make. First, there was just too darned much duck in there. Although all the vegetables were scarfed down in minutes, we just couldn't finish all that duck. Second, the duck itself was only fair, not great or even just good; too much unrendered fat, and too much bone. I think a confit of just the meat would be a lot better match. Call me the Ugly American, but I just don't like bones in my salad. Anyway, maybe better (or easier to eat) duck would've seemed like less quantity of duck. In any event, I'd even like to try the salad with NO meat; it would likely be delicious. With the crunchy vegetables and the strong flavor of mint, maybe with some of the items from the "extras plate" added in (cucumber, basil, carrot, etc.). But the salad substrate I think would stand up quite well on its own, maybe with a bit of the spicy dressing tossed in there, too. Also, Cathy, a question -- did you adorn your salad with basil, carrots, etc. before taking your picture? Our salad came relatively "plain," without those ingredients (or at least not so visually obvious; there may have been some down there in the mix of the salad).

The Ban Xeo was the first of its kind I had tried. I liked it well enough, but not enough to go back for more. Maybe the variaton from Spoon Thai would be better. Anyway, I found the "crepe" relatively flavorless -- actually, it tasted mostly of the oil it was cooked in. That wouldn't be a problem, except for the following -- interestingly enough, and by contrast to their treatment of the duck salad, there wasn't nearly enough meat in there for my taste (what was there was very tasty, including several really delicious shrimp and some pork). Maybe I should've shredded some of the leftover duck from the salad and stuck it in the crepe.

Mrs. JiLS also ordered a lemongrass chicken dish, small pieces of fried chicken breast that were a bit dry and also not notably flavorful (although there were plenty of condiments available at the table to spice it up). But the plain white rice underneath was marvelous; I'm not much for plain rice, but I could've downed half a plate of that, with maybe just some salt. Very nice rice, indeed.

The place, by the way, was just buzzing with activity at 2:00 on Saturday afternoon, with a couple of large family groups (8 or 10 each) showing up while we ate. Most were eating soup and noodles; maybe we'll target those next time we visit Cafe Huang.

PDanne and I had dinner there a week or so ago. We ordered the duck version of the salad, which came a JiLS described, but I wasn't bothered as much as he was by the duck, although I would have liked it even better if the skin was a bit crisper. We also ordered the pancake, which I also enjoyed, but agree with Jim as to the taste (or lack thereof). In addition, we ordered the beef salad (#9, if my memory serves me) and I found it to be outstanding. As much as I liked the duck salad, I was continually drawn to the sweet, herby yet spicy beef salad. I will definately be back for more of all of the above.

stevez wrote:we ordered the beef salad (#9, if my memory serves me)

Steve -- at least in your case, it's long-term memory; I couldn't remember the number in the 10 seconds between closing the menu and ordering. For the record, and assuming Cathy and Bill Daley got it right: 007 = spicy beef; 009=chicken; 010 = duck. You note you had a better time with the duck than I, although I'll note there can be considerable variation among ducks, so maybe you just got a better one. By the way, I presume the beef avoids the bone issue I complained about with the duck?

Hi,

The chicken version has no bones at all. These are a meat salads heavy on the meat in both the chicken and Spicy Lemon Beef. My picture was taken as-is to the table. Stylizing food isn't my forte.

As for the pancake, I prefer the Spoon Thai version the best followed by Tank's. I asked the Cafe Hoang's owner how to eat the pancake, he said you take a lettuce leaf, put a portion of pancake inside, then drizzle on the sauce.

What I really like about these salads is how suitable they feel on really hot nights.

Regards,

JimInLoganSquare wrote:

stevez wrote:we ordered the beef salad (#9, if my memory serves me)

Steve -- at least in your case, it's long-term memory; I couldn't remember the number in the 10 seconds between closing the menu and ordering.

I can't bgelieve I actuallyu remembered the correct number. I was taking a guess based on where I remembered the position of the beef salad was on the menu. Normally I can't even remember.....wait....what was I saying?

JimInLoganSquare wrote:Most were eating soup and noodles; maybe we'll target those next time we visit Cafe Huang.

Jim,

Here's a pic of Cafe Hoang's Goi Ga (Asian Chicken Salad)


Duck salad is usually quite good as well and the Ban Xeo is typically not oily in the least. Sounds as if you may have caught them on an off day. This is not to say the soups are not very good, I like the Pho and the Bun Bo Hue is one of my two or three favorites on Argyle.

Enjoy,
Gary

Cafe Hoang
1010 W. Argyle
Chicago, IL 60640
773-878-9943

Hi,

I hadn't scrolled up, but I just recalled my picture above was taken by Gwiv ... so Gary, did you dress up the salad before taking pictures? I know in my case, I just picture it as presented.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:so Gary, did you dress up the salad before taking pictures?

C2,

Nope, Asian chicken salad picture is exactly as it came from Cafe Hoang's kitchen.

Enjoy,
Gary

Hi,

I've been hankering for that Goi Ga since Cathy2 first posted about it, and this afternoon the planets were aligned in such a way that I could persuade Victor to join me on a jaunt to Argyle.

We found the Goi Ga precisely as advertised: refreshing, sweet, spicy, minty, meaty, and delicious. We would have liked maybe less meat and more veggies and pondered asking for this next time. Still, we were delighted. There could hardly be a more perfect hot weather food.

We also had the egg rolls (item 01 on the menu), which were very nice with the fish/carrot sauce.

For an entree, we followed with a basil stir fry dish (76 on the menu) that I think is the same as what bjt recommended above, but we had it with beef instead of tofu. This was really excellent, with complex sweet spicy flavors, and a bonus was that it came with rice. JiLS is right: their (apparently plain steamed white) rice is really special. You don't want to stop eating it.

So we didn't. We cleaned our plates utterly and rolled out the door.

Deb

My trip to Cafe Hoang has been unexcusably delayed as I live about 3 blocks away. I attempted to go there last weekend. I say attempted because my gestalt make-up took over and I walked into hoa cafe, which is of course next door at 1020 Argyle. I had spring rolls, the lemon beef salad, and a spicy basil tofu. All I thought were quite good, until I went to the actual Cafe Hoang last night. In all fairness, their springrolls did not seem quite as fresh as Hoa Cafe's, but the chicken salad was much better, with more spice and less sweetness. Too, the basil chicken was a more balanced dish and not as weighed down with the syrupy stir-fry glaze. I would highly recommend this place for dine-in or carry-out (as I saw many people doing). Question: Has anyone every ordered pho carryout? I was just curious if you can even do this and if it still comes with all the garnish (it's on Hoang's carryout menu, but I'm unsure if they have the containers for it).

Cathy2 wrote:Knowing Gary clipped Monica's columns as faithfully as myself, I sent him a note a few weeks ago asking if he remembered which restaurants served these Asian chicken salads. He efficiently sent me a link to a post on LTHforum he wrote last summer:

G Wiv wrote:Cafe Hoang is one of my favorites, with my favorite dish being Goi Ga, which could be best described as Asian chicken salad.

I also like the crisp greaseless Ban Xeo, Pho and Bun Bo Hue.

I first heard about Cafe Hoang's Goi Ga 4-5 years ago in Monica Eng World Eats column.

Five or more years after reading Monica's column, I finally tried item 009 Goi Ga or Spicy chicken salad with peanut, red pepper and mixed vegetables. For $8.95 this very generously served two people who thought their appetite was cut by the heat outside. This was so spectacularly delicious with just a tad bit of heat, we recovered our appetite to eat the whole thing voraciously.

Thanks Gary and Cathy, after reading this thread last night it didn't take us five or more years but five minutes to make the decision to go to Cafe Hoang for this salad. EXCELLENT, for sure one of the best Asian Salads we've had. I found no heat at all, Judi thought there was kick.

The Banh Xeo was greaseless but did not pop in flavor like others we've had.

The no. 17 soup was so-so, not a great broth.

I really look forward to going back and trying the duck version of this salad.

This salad sure does look good. I'm curious, is there a dressing/sauce on it? I just stopped in last week but was in a rush and only had time to order spring rolls. Always a winner, and the peanut sauce is great.

fela wrote:I'm curious, is there a dressing/sauce on it?

Yes, and it is certain to contain the following: fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and vinegar (rice/white).

E.M.