midweek gems #14

menopause resources + Viet food film + bay area restaurant tips + Indonesian cookbooks

Hello!

As the year comes to a close, so many things tug at us for our attention. I’m sprinting toward the finish line, working with chef Pim on our Cooking Thai book project. We’re aiming to develop most (if not all) recipes by year’s end, which means that we cook together a couple days a week at her home. The results are sensational as I’ve got my nose to the grindstone (actually, the Thai granite mortar and pestle!).

I got home this evening from San Francisco, just in time to put together quick shouts from the past week or so.

💎 Menopause resources

From last Sunday’s spirited outpouring of stories and tips on menopause management and hormone replacement therapy:

• The Menopause Society’s website — Menopause.org, is rich in resources. Thank you Crystal for pointing to it and reminding me of the society’s $10 Menopause Guidebook, which is full of frank talk. I read it when I realized I was in perimenopuse and it diminished some of my trepidation.

• When shopping around for where to have prescriptions filled, search Costplusdrugs.com to see what Mark Cuban’s company charges. It pays to price compare. Thanks Cindi for that tip!

• Nancy pointed to

  Valerie Monroe
  ’s Substack for more menopausal content.

Catch more tips and journeys in the Menopause Revisited: The HRT Edition comment section. Also add your comments to that free post for all!

💎 Viet Food Film

Sara Shrader

pointed a group of us in the PTFS chat thread to this incredibly charming stop-motion short film produced by Mai Vu in the U.K. Three generations deal with culture and traditions through the lens of Viet rice paper rolls (gỏi cuốn) and a chicken.

💎 Bay Area restaurant tips

If you live in the Bay Area, grab a reservation at Rintaro for an uncommon Japanese izakaya experience. Chef Sylvan Mishima Brackett’s ingredient-driven menu, which includes housemade silken tofu, exquisite fish, and noodles, is exceptional. All the woodwork was done by his father, a master carpenter. Whenever I go, it’s like you’re swept away to some other place in the world. Wear a sweater, though the good outdoor heating means you won’t freeze in the San Francisco evening chill.

Rintaro daikon plus shiitake in dashi, tendon in dashi, miso-cured grilled black cod. Kin Khao's khao soi, nam tok beans, and laab tod. My photos don't do justice to the food!

Chef Pim Techamuanvivit and her husband took me to Rintaro for dinner after a day of cooking. It’s one of their (and my) favorite restaurants in San Francisco. We also lunched at Kin Khao, one of Pim’s restaurant near Union Square, because I was interested in gauging what savvy, curious eaters are interested in these days in terms of Thai food. We enjoyed noodle soup and salady treats (above). If you’re on the other side of town, consider dinner at Nari in Japantown. Both are Michelin star recipients.

Santa Cruzans — there’s no finer spot downtown for lunch or an afternoon snack than Ibiza. Chef/owner Brett Emerson’s flavors are always on point and you’re getting his San Francisco Cal-Med cooking in the ‘Cruz. The pineapple cooler is made daily from fresh pineapple; the spreads, falafels, and salads are satisfying to vegans and omnivores. He and his wife Elan said they plan to extend hours for a happy hour of sorts (stay tuned via their newsletter or Instagram).

Noodle Time is coming sometime, on the corner of Ocean and Glenwood (near Hamburger Habit). Expect freshly made Northern Chinese noodles, Viet pho and not-too-sweet fruit-forward boba tea from the family that used to own Shun Feng.

Last night, I got a tip about a new Hanoi pho spot in San Jose’s Little Saigon. Do you know it? It’s called Pho Dang and looks respectfully swank. Prices are ramen level which means the owners aim for quality. The old school image (above) of a pho vendor is a nod to tradition. I’m looking forward to trying it out. The menu is short and focused on only beef pho, like a pho shop in Vietnam.

💎 Indonesian cookbooks

Following up on last week’s list of 2024 noteworthy books,

Judy H

asked about good Indonesian cookbooks. I don’t have many of them because there aren’t that many available. That said, Lara Lee’s Coconut and Sambal is solid. So is James Oseland’s Cradle of Flavor, which covers the region’s culinary overlaps between Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Pat Tanumihardja and her mother, Julia Suparman, wrote Mortar and Pestle that was just released by Weldon Owen. It’s a generational book of her mom’s recipes and techniques presented for modern cooks. I’ve eaten Julia’s food and know it’s good so I like having her recipes in bound form.

💎 Season: Brussels sprouts

A lot of BS (Brussels sprouts) grow in the Monterey Bay. They’re shipped all over the country so each fall and winter, we eat a lot of them. Rory was about to simply steam them but I had some lingering coconut water so I suggested he follow my recipe for charred BS in coconut water.

He didn’t want to follow recipe instructions at the end of a long day, but I told him it was easy peasy. He slightly over browned the BS, but that didn’t matter. They were delicious and we ate the entire batch. My recipe in Vietnamese Food Any Day is practically bullet-proof and failsafe.

Coming up on Sunday behind the paywall is a recipe inspired by something I ate on the streets of Saigon this year. Join us, if you’re into an easy take on a southern Viet treat.