Fork, Fingers And Fine Vietnamese Food

Jul 31, 1992

John Hinterberger

XX 1/2 Quoc Huong Restaurant, 1200 S. Jackson St. Vietnamese. Lunch and dinner ($4 to $8.50) from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; until 10 p.m. Friday, Saturday. Beer. Major credit cards. Nonsmoking area. Reservations and take out: 323-8689 or 322-9918. --------------------------------------------------------------- One-third of the world eats with knife and fork and spoon. Another third eats with chopsticks. The rest eat with their fingers.

At the Quoc Huong Restaurant, in Jackson Square, all categories are represented, but mostly the latter two. This could be the most authentic Vietnamese restaurant in Seattle - except for the recorded music which seems to have been freed from a 1950s time warp.

The first time I wandered in was several months ago, on one of those dark-early, rainswept afternoons that create a relentless urge for a big, hearty bowl of beef noodle soup. Nobody makes beef soups like the Vietnamese.

They call it Pho, and there are about a half dozen Pho houses scattered around Seattle. (Try either the Pho Bac or Pho Hoa for some choice examples.)

The Quoc Huong isn't a Pho specialty house, but they do serve four versions of it: Rare & Boiled Beef Noodle Soup, Rare Sliced Beef, etc., Beef Ball Noodle Soup and Rare Beef and Beef Ball Noodle Soup. They cost $4 for a bowl larger than most people can possibly finish - but somehow do.

I remember finishing that wonderful bowl of broth, beef, basil, sprouts and the best hot sauce in the city, and going back out into a winter rain fully fortified. Someplace in a notebook I had scribbled: "Try this place AGAIN."

It took a while (after all, it hasn't rained much since) but this week I made it. The Quoc Huong, which bills its fare as "Traditional Vietnamese Cuisine," is one of those happy reservoirs of immense good will and genuine, endless smiles that make you think humanity may have a chance after all.

Wonton Soup isn't exactly a tradional start to a Vietnamese meal, but my associate continues her relentless quest for the best bowl of that specialty in the International District (or within ten blocks of it). She rated this one ($4) outstanding: Noodle-wrapped seasoned ground pork in an uncommonly fine pork/chicken broth, augmented with julienned vegetables, large squid, barbecued pork and squid.

It's a small place, but with a big menu: 94 items, plus daily specials. The category I found most engaging included eight varieties of "Rice Noodle Cake or Rice Paper" specialties. These are items that require more than mere eating utensils. You have to master wrapping meats, rice cakes, sprouts, lettuce leaves, sauces and assorted botany inside paper-thin discs of pliable rice paper - and proceed to dunking in assorted sauces.

To the ethnically unsophisticated, it is not accomplished in one or two sittings. Nevertheless it's fun, and when you finally achieve getting the whole affair to stick together in a tightly rolled cylinder (something like a fat white cigar) and dipped, the flavor combinations are delightful.

Try the Charbroiled Pork with Rice Noodle Cake ($5.25 for enough food to feed two, I would guess, although that isn't what's intended). Or the Charbroiled Meatballs with Rice Cake (also $5.25). I found the vermicelli rice cakes easier to compress if first moistened with the dipping sauce (like a terrific peanut-soy-hoisin or a lethal splash of Sambal Oelek).

How anybody gets even one of the eight meatballs in the serving to remain enclosed in rice paper or rolled lettuce is beyond me. My first two shot across the table like chip shots from an elevated bunker.

Each portion comes with a half dozen of the thin pancakes - I managed to ruin three - and appropriate sauces, like a mild but tantalizing fish sauce with the barbecued pork.

Beef Fondue in Vinegar Hot Pot ($8.50) is the most expensive item on the menu, and one of the more intriguing. About six thin slabs of raw beef (top round, I would guess, judging from texture and leanness) are presented atop a bed of lettuce leaves, with sprouts, mint, fresh basil, pickled shredded carrot, cucumber, and a small bowl of soft rice noodles.

A simmering pot of vinegar-laced broth is placed over a gas flame burner set in the center of the table. Using chopsticks you dip the meat in for a few seconds, and then proceed with the wrapping, sprinkling, rolling, dipping, dripping, dropping, slopping, mopping and a cry for extra napkins - which arrive promptly.

More accessible was the Shrimp, Squid Stir Fry with Vegetables ($8.50). Cauliflower, broccoli, carrot and onion were tossed with six large prawns and ringlets of squid in a pale brown sauce that wasn't unpleasant, but lacked interest. A dollop of the brilliant red chili sauce helped. Both the squid and the shrimp were a touch overdone.

Sauteed Chicken with Lemon Grass ($5) was an enjoyable, fragrant dish served with steamed rice. It's sauced red with ground pepper, but not overwhelming. Some friends thought it would benefit from more lemon grass - not much of which was evident.

"Cheap, delicious and fun," summed up my companion.

The Quoc Huong, by the way, is not quite undiscovered. Jeff Smith, the Frugal Gourmet, drops in often.