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Review: Savor Saigon (Fairless Hills, PA)

In the heart of Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, is a mecca that Bobby and have trekked to twice. It’s Savor Saigon, and it is the best Vietnamese food that I have found on the east coast.

You all know that I have an obsession with Vietnamese food – papaya and/or lotus root salads in particular. Here are some of my past papaya and lotus enjoyments:

This time my sister and I decided to split two (vegetarian) dishes so that we could sample more things. We also got some appetizers for the entire table…

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First up: fresh vegetarian summer rolls (served cold). These are fried tofu, vermicelli noodles, mint, lettuce, and carrot wrapped in rice paper. They come with a peanutty dipping sauce. We each had half of a roll. They were good…

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But not as good as the fried spring rolls! These were not vegetarian – they had pork and other random things inside. I dipped them in the standard Vietnamese dipping sauce (fish sauce, sugar,water, vinegar I think). They were awesome. My vegan sister passed on them.

Julia and I split a lotus root salad with fried tofu (vegetarian/vegan). It had lotus root, carrots, and fried tofu. Very yummy.

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We also split the very yummy Vietnamese Pad Thai (vegetarian):

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This had noodles, tofu, egg, broccoli, mushrooms, and other veggies I am forgetting. It was a little bit different from regular pad thai – less peanutty, but still very good. It was topped with peanuts though!

My picks of the night – the lotus root salad and the fried spring rolls.

What’s your favorite cuisine? Mine is most definitely Vietnamese! I’m looking for a good (cheap) place in New York now… ideas/tips? I can’t find anything as good as the California Vietnamese places.

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Scrambled Tofu Recipe

We loved this scrambled tofu breakfast. Bobby has been raving about it all night. The tofu was crumbly, but still held its texture and chew. The veggies and spices added their own wonderful flavors. If you’re not in the mood for eggs (or if you are vegan, or allergic to them), this meal is just as healthy and possibly more substantial and filling.

Scrambled Tofu Recipe

Ingredients (serves 2)

  • 10 ounces of extra firm tofu (about 2/3rds of a 14-ounce package)
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 large sweet onion, chopped
  • 1/2 large zucchini, roughly chopped (this was from CSA)
  • 1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped (or 1 whole small one)
  • 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Spice blend:

  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon freshly crushed oregano (from CSA!)
  • 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

  1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a saucepan. Add the onion and garlic; saute for 4 minutes. Add the zucchini and red pepper; saute for 4 more minutes. Add the spices and mix for 20-30 seconds, then pour in 2-3 tablespoons of water to deglaze the pan.
  2. Crumble in the tofu and continue to cook, stirring and mixing gently, for about 10 more minutes. Keep adding small amounts of water if the tofu starts to stick.
  3. Add the lemon juice and nutritional yeast. Mix and cook for 2 more minutes. Add a little more water if the mixture seems dry.
  4. Serve hot with salsa! We also had whole wheat couscous with this meal.

If you don’t have nutritional yeast, just omit it – you probably won’t need to add as much water though.