Origin of the Entrails
The traditional eating of beef intestine was included in a Hong Kong dish typically referred to as beef entrails. This dish was mainly known to be influenced by the Cantonese Cuisine. Chinese Legend has it that the beef entrails started as an Emperor’s method to relieve hunger of the starving peasants in the ancient times. The cow was a very important agricultural animal to Chinese peasants which consisted mostly of farmers. The dish that manipulated all edible parts of the cows turned out to taste quite pleasant and was passed on to the present times. The popularity of the dish evolved in Hong Kong after migrants from the Guangzhou Province of mainland China fled to Hong Kong as refugees in the Chinese Civil War. During Hong Kong’s economic boost around the 1970s, beef entrails became popular among the foreign visitors in the fusion of Eastern and Western culture.
The preparation of the beef entrails must be a thorough one. Beef Entrails can include the tripe, three of a cow’s four stomachs and its liver. Normally the entrails are rinsed multiple times to rid of its dark green bits of undigested grass and any remaining grits. The cleaned tripe and liver is placed in a pot of boiling water and fished out to soak in a pot of cold water overnight.
There are many ways to enjoy the beef entrails. Generally, all approach of eating this ingredient required long hours of stewing in special casserole pot made of quartz or clay. Beef Entrails can be a separate dish, made into a broth, or added to variations of rice and noodle.
Beef Intestines in NYC
GIA LAM is a Vietnamese Restaurant that has a menu of many items that one may order, consisting but not limiting to Vietnamese Appetizers, Phos, Rice Sticks, French Bread, Rice, Soups, and many kinds of seafood.
GIA LAM Vietnamese Cuisine: 5414 8th Ave Brooklyn NY 11220
The Meal
As you enter the restaurant, you are met with a warm smell of all of the food combined, an indescribable aroma. The hostess leads you to an empty table and hands you the menu. On the menu, you’ll find Pho Tai Nam Gau Gan Sach listed as the twelveth item. This Pho bowl includes the rice noodle with the fresh eye of round, brisket, navel (fatty beef), tendon (beef muscle), and omosa (tripe). As you patiently wait for your food, the waiters will bring you the plate of raw bean sprouts along with some lime. This is the addition to the pho you have ordered. When you first receive your bowl, mix your bowl and pick up a chopstick-full of bean sprouts and hide it under the rice noodles. This is to properly cook the beef slices and the bean sprouts. For the final touch, squeeze the lime over the top of your bowl. You are ready to dig in!
The noodle smoothly enters your mouth as you slurp it out of your chopstick. The different parts of the beef create a great texture that is well complemented together. The juice of the lime will mix in with the rich soup, creating a sweet-sourness. When you find the bean sprout, it’s well heated by the steaming heat of the soup and adds a soft texture that brings you away from the noodle for a moment. The bean sprout contrasts with the strips of rice noodle.
What I particularly like is the way everything fits together, a harmony. Their pho is offered in many varieties and all very delicious. One very nice element is that all their dish has a unique taste to them that lets you distinguish it from other cuisines. The waiters and waitresses were friendly and available.
Some things the restaurant may improve on is the visuals. It would be nice if the restaurant can keep the statues of the idol they worship in a more concealing area and if they can stop preparing the vegetables on tables next to customers.
I really recommend people trying both beef intestines and pho. Another food item I would recommend from this restaurant is their Cha Gios, which are more generally known as spring rolls. It’s an item that is fun to eat. You make your rolls on your own. Picking up a sheet of Chinese cabbage, you wrap it around the spring roll. You can dip your roll into their sourish sauce that brings up the taste of the ingredients inside the spring roll. Enjoy!