Cay Dua Restaurant
3522 W 1st St
Santa Ana, CA 92703
(714) 839-7799
Our original plan was going to Shabu Shabu Bar for lunch yesterday. When we got there, we found out that they are closed on Sunday. Where to eat now? It was cold, and we were totally in the mood for hot pot. We thought about going to California Shabu Shabu. But then I remember seeing this Vietnamese restaurant called Cay Dua last time we went to Siam Taste of Asia. We saw a lot people eating some sort of Vietnamese hot pot through the window. Since we are already in Santa Ana, why not try something different?
Cay Dua is right next door to Siam Taste of Asia, which is located in the Hispanic parts of Santa Ana.
The inside looks like your typical Vietnamese restaurant with TV playing some Vietnamese singing show. The waitress lady was really nice and friendly. She helped us ordering, and also taught us how to properly eat the food.
Vietnamese Coffee with Condense Milk
Dr. P ordered a cup of hot Vietnamese dripped coffee with condense milk. It was one cup of strong coffee!
Banh Xeo (thit heo hay thit ga) ($7.50)
Vietnamese pancake with shrimp, pork or chicken
At first we wanted to order spring rolls or egg rolls to go with the hot pot. We asked our waitress which one does she think is better, she said Banh Xeo. Huh? What is that Banh Xeo? She pointed to another table to showed us how it looks like. Then we looked around, and saw that every table had an order of Banh Xeo. Must be one of their specialties. According to Wikipedia:
Bánh xèo (literally “sizzling cake”) are Vietnamese savoury pancakes made out of rice flour, water and turmeric powder or coconut milk (in the Southern regions), stuffed with slivers of fatty pork, shrimp, and bean sprouts and then pan fried. Traditionally, they are served wrapped in mustard leaf, lettuce leaves, and stuffed with mint leaves, basil, fish leaf and/or other herbs, and dipped in a prepared nuoc cham (Vietnamese fish sauce thinned with water and lemon). In the Central region, the pancake is dipped in a special ‘tuong’ sauce which consists of liver, hoisin sauce and garlic.
The pancake had a crispy outer layer, which is made of rice flour and turmeric. The inside is filled with bean sprout, shrimp, and pork. It didn’t have much flavor by itself, but it was meant to be eaten with the sweet and sour fish sauce.
We wrapped the Banh Xeo with lettuce, basil, and mint, and dipped in fish sauce. It was so tasty. I love the crispy layer of the Banh Xeo.
Lau Mam Va Rau (small) ($15.95)
Hot Pot with shrimp, pork, fish, and vegetable.
This was what we came for, Lau Mam Va Rau, Vietnamese hot pot. We ordered a small, which was more than enough for 2 people. The hot pot had a strong fishy smell (in a very good way). I think the soup base was made with anchovy or some kind of salted fish. There were shrimp, pork, catfish, mushroom, eggplants, and pineapple in the hot pot.
Our waitress taught us how to eat the hot pot. First you add any vegetables you want in a bowl. There were bean sprout, cucumber, shredded lettuce, mint leaf, basil, lemon, and chili pepper on the plate.
Then add the rice noodle to the bowl.
Finally pour the hot pot broth over the vegetables and noodle, and add anything you want from the hot pot. Enjoy! We love everything in the hot pot. Dr. P like the pork the most. I love the pineapple, mushroom, and the pork. The broth was really flavorful. Also I like all that mint and basil in the soup. I had 3 bowls of it!
I like Vietnamese hot pot. But to be honest, we still like Taiwanese spicy hot pot and Japanese shabu shabu more. But Vietnamese hot pot is great also. It was really fun to try something we’ve never tried before. It made us felt ike we were Anthony Bourdain. haha…. Now I know what Vietnamese hot pot is all about!
