Pho 19
Ellen Okimura moved Pho 19 from Pahoa to a new Hilo location at 750 Kinoole Street. The menu is Vietnamese and local food. Menu items include spring and summer rolls, mandoo, sandwiches, salads, cold noodles salads, noodle soups or phos and noodles and soup. Ellen claims her most popular item is her oxtail pho.
Popular local favorites include hamburger steak, chicken katsu, pork or chicken adobo, boneless Korean chicken, loco moco, honey stung fried chicken, coconut crushed mahimahi, Vietnamese grilled pork chops and grilled saba. All entrees come with rice or French fries and a salad.
Sandwiches include jumbo deluxe burger, pastrami, Reuben, beef teriyaki, patty melt and mahimahi.
Pho 19 is open daily from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. and is across the street from the old bowling alley. Call 808-769-4424 for reservations.
Vegan Shop
Christopher Vo of Vegan Shop has an interesting past. Born in Vietnam and raised in California, he used to spend a lot of time at a temple and learned how to cook vegan from the monks who resided there. That was 30 years and one bypass heart surgery ago. He inherited the heart problems but thank goodness he started to eat vegan as the doctors said the damage to his heart could have been worse.
Talking to Christopher, you can tell he has a passion for his cooking and he wants other people to also enjoy his food.
The $10 Vegan Shop plate starts with a choice of rice, quinoa, or glass noodles with vegetables and char siu. With the addition of $3, you can have a choice of char siu — made of tofu, onion, five spices, herbs, mushroom powder, and annatto seeds; or vegetable curry with onion, carrots, potatoes, garlic, cashew milk, spices and herbs; meatless meatballs made of tofu, coy skin, cornstarch, herbs, spices, and mushroom powder; eggless egg patty made of tofu, onion, cashew milk, peas, carrots, garlic, and mushroom powder; porkless pork made of tofu, rice flour, soy skin, coconut milk, spices and herbs; and fishless fish patty made of tofu, soy skin, seaweed, potatoes, garlic, mushroom powder, cornstarch, herbs and spices.
Grains and noodles include: quinoa fried rice, spicy fried brown rice, Extras include vegetable egg rolls, steamed vegetables or fruit smoothies
Vegan Shop is located at 516 Kinoole Street, in the former Hilo Printers building and is open Tuesday to Saturday, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Call 808-464-4260 to place your orders.
King’s
Vietnamese
Cuisine
The Nguyen family opened King’s Vietnamese Cuisine on 839 Manono Street. You will see their food truck parked in front of their home. Their hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Their limited menu includes banh tai vac or dumplings, banh mi sandwiches with either pork or chicken, banh xeo or Vietnamese pancakes, cha gio or egg rolls, goi cuon or summer rolls, Vietnamese noodles or pho, cold noodles, or stick plate. On Mondays only they have bird’s nest cake. Call 808 990-0789 to pre-order. There are a couple of picnic benches at the premises if you wish to dine-in.
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Christopher Kimball of Milk Street magazine, traveled to Ho Chi Minh City to learn how to cook bo kho or Vietnamese beef stew with star anise and lemongrass and shared it.
Bo Kho or
Vietnamese
Beef Stew with Star Anise and Lemongrass
Serves 4-6
2 tablespoons grapeseed or other neutral oil
1 large yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
3 ounces fresh ginger, unpeeled and sliced
8 medium garlic cloves, finely grated
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons chili-garlic sauce, plus more if needed
4 stalks fresh lemongrass, trimmed to the bottom 6 inches, dry outer leaves discarded, bruised
6 star anise pods
1 cinnamon stick
3 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-1/2 inch chunks
4 cups or one 33-ounce container unsweetened coconut water
2 cups low-sodium beef broth
4 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise and cut on the diagonal into 1 inch pieces
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice, plus lime wedges to serve
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
Thinly sliced white onion, to serve
Fresh cilantro and/or basil, to serve
In a large Dutch oven over medium high, heat the oil until barely smoking. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic, then cook, stirring until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, until well browned and beginning to stick to the pot, about one minute. Stir in chili-garlic sauce, then add the lemongrass, star anise, cinnamon stick, and beef; stir to coat. Add the coconut water and broth. Bring to a boil over medium-high, then reduce to medium-low and cook, uncovered and without stirring for 4 minutes, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain a simmer.
Using a wide spoon, skim off and discard the scum from the surface of the liquid. Reduce to medium-low, cover and cook, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain a simmer, until a skewer inserted into the beef meets no resistance, 2 to 2-1/2 hours.
Remove the pot from the heat. Remove and discard the lemongrass, star anise, cinnamon stick, and ginger. Tilt the pot to pool the cooking liquid to one side, then use the wide spoon to skim off and discard as much fat as possible from the surface.
Stir in the carrots into the stew and return to a simmer over medium. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat as needed to maintain as simmer, until the carrots are tender, about 15 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat, stir in the fish sauce and lime juice. Taste and season with additional chili-garlic sauce if desired, salt and pepper.
Ladle the stew into bowls and top with sliced white onions and cilantro, and/or basil. Serve with lime wedges.
