Vietnamese Raw Beef

Yes folks, we're at it again. Matt and I are back to eating raw meat.

Call it barbaric, call it disgusting and unsanitary, call it what you will, but I call it...

simply delicious.

I remember my senior year of high school my friends and I would go out to pho after class or on the weekends, and two of them would always order their steak on the side, meaning served raw and not in your piping hot bowl of pho.

Uhhh...You can do that?

YES! And that's the way I've ordered pho since then. A little squeeze of lime and raw onions, a quick dip in hoisin and siracha and it's like heaven. For me, it's not so much about the flavor of the raw, thinly sliced steak (it's not like they give you a quality cut of meat), it's about the texture combined with the sauce and the slight tang of citrus.

Stomach aches? Nope. (Knock on wood)

My theory is: This restaurant has to be here tomorrow, this is how they make money. They're not going to risk their business and reputation serving your bad meat raw.

I hate to say it, but have you noticed how powerful Yelp is?

Most menus give you the option of having the steak served on the side for an extra fee (but even if it doesn't give you that option, it doesn't hurt to ask.) And thus, if they're going to offer it to you raw, their confident enough to stand by their quality.

So here we go.

Matt and I went to Yummy Yummy on Irving for dinner and ordered their raved about raw beef dish. It was delicious--I'm certain that we could have each finished a plate.

Thinly sliced beef served with basil, mint, fried shallots, raw onions and peanuts, with wedges of lemon and fish sauce on the side.

My attempt at taking a picture of the flame coming out of the hot pot chimney.

The unveil: hot and sour catfish soup. One of my favorite Vietnamese soups. I especially like the taro stem (from what I've been told they're called...please correct me if I'm mistaken), they're like sponges that just soak up all the flavors of the soup. And, uh, hello, there's pineapple in the soup.

Seconds please.

We'll be back to try their five spice chicken DIY spring rolls--YES!