{"id":79928,"date":"2023-11-28T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?post_type=newspack_nl_cpt&p=79928"},"modified":"2023-11-27T16:19:54","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T00:19:54","slug":"cambodian-barbecue-and-curry-pizza","status":"publish","type":"newspack_nl_cpt","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/newsletter\/cambodian-barbecue-and-curry-pizza","title":{"rendered":"Cambodian barbecue and curry pizza"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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Long Beach Eats<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Weekly tips from the Long Beach Post’s food reporter on what to eat and where to score sweet deals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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FOOD<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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YOUTUBE<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Restaurants that proudly identify as \u201cfusion cuisine<\/strong>\u201d are a relatively new concept in the grand scheme of human history, and some old-school chefs still balk at the term, which they see as an excuse to do two cuisines poorly, but fusion food is not a new invention \u2014 or one that\u2019s going away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the term \u201cfusion cuisine\u201d was only added to the Oxford Dictionary in 2002, its history can be traced back centuries and is part of a lasting legacy of colonization. Some fusion food was so successfully ingrained in a culture\u2019s current-day cuisine, that it\u2019s easy to forget its origins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One example is the b\u00e1nh m\u00ec<\/strong>, a delicious Vietnamese sandwich traditionally filled with tangy, pickled vegetables and meat, including the medieval French creation p\u00e2t\u00e9. The sandwich is almost always served on a French baguette. Now don\u2019t get me wrong, this sandwich is absolutely a Vietnamese<\/strong> dish and b\u00e1nh m\u00ec shops wouldn’t categorize themselves as \u201cfusion\u201d on Yelp, but that\u2019s exactly my point. It\u2019s a product of two cultures and therefore by definition a fusion dish even though it\u2019s not thought of as one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another form of fusion, perhaps slightly closer to what we see today in fusion restaurants is how immigrants from a diaspora can shape local cuisine. That happened in Turkey, which took in many immigrant cooks from neighboring Syria, and even across oceans. When Lebanese immigrants moved to Mexico, their method of cooking tiered meat on a spit for shawarma led to tacos al pastor. It caught on like wildfire and now every traditional Mexican taco stand offers al pastor meat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though it’s not new, the idea of fusion cuisine has taken on a new form in recent years. It\u2019s become an overt celebration of one or more cuisines coming together as two wholes to create something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two Long Beach restaurants I visited recently do that exceptionally well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chef Chad Phuong has, for years, been blending Cambodian cuisine with Texas barbecue<\/a> at his Battambong BBQ <\/strong>pop-up. And when I was at Trademark Brewing on an early Sunday morning to watch an F1 race with a few friends over 10 a.m. beers, Chef Chad was vending, so I snagged some brisket with garlic noodles, corn and slaw ($25) while my brother, Joey, and his fianc\u00e9, Kat, grabbed the barbecue-loaded nachos ($15). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cambodian barbecue nachos with melted cheese, shredded meat with barbecue sauce then topped with jalape\u00f1os, crema, and micro greens. Photo by Caitlin Antonios.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The garlic noodles<\/strong> were delicious, coating your lips as you slurped them up, and as you may know from previous editions of this newsletter, I love garlic. Brisket isn\u2019t my favorite cut of meat so I put Chef Chad at a disadvantage by ordering something I knew I didn\u2019t love, but, the housemade barbecue and spicy<\/strong> sauces<\/strong> smothered over the fatty meat were addicting nonetheless. The barbecue sauces were not overly smokey or tangy, but rich with layers of flavor. The slaw and corn gave the perfect acidity to cut through the heavy meal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nachos<\/strong> were fantastic with a base of tortilla chips, melted cheese, shredded meat with barbecue sauce then topped with jalape\u00f1os, a white sauce that I\u2019m making an educated guess is probably crema, and micro greens. With a dish like this that has so much going on, it\u2019s harder to appreciate just how good the barbecue meat was, but altogether a very satisfying meal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brisket with garlic noodles, corn and slaw. Photo by Caitlin Antonios. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I also recently had Thai Curry Pizza<\/strong>, another celebration of fusion. The concept is simple \u2014 really good pizza and really good Thai curry that you dip the pizza into. I went for a small Thai Curry Pizza with only veggies<\/strong> and got curry sauce on the side ($18.99 + $2 for the curry sauce). The curry sauce is spicy so I unfortunately didn\u2019t have the guts to dunk every bite of pizza into the sauce, but for the bites I did, it was incredible. I would have never thought cheese and curry sauce would taste so good together, but there\u2019s something incredible about pizza dough <\/strong>soaking up that spicy, creamy broth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was happy with my choice to go veggie, especially because the meal was fairly heavy for me even getting the small size. The vegetables weren\u2019t cooked to oblivion so I still got a slight crunch from the onions and the peppers<\/strong> when I bit through. Was it absolutely the best pizza I\u2019ve ever had? No. Was it the best curry I\u2019d ever had? No, but it was really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A veggie Thai Curry Pizza. Photo by Caitlin Antonios.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know if pizza with curry will ever have the staying power of a classic like the b\u00e1nh m\u00ec, but its simplicity and reverence for each unique cuisine will keep me coming back again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Battambong BBQ is at the Bixby Knolls Farmers Market on Thursdays from 3 to 7 p.m., Trademark Brewing on Sundays from 12 to 7 p.m., and more. Find his pop-up schedule <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thai Curry Pizza is at 929 Redondo Ave. <\/em>Directions<\/em><\/a> | <\/em>Website<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you go to fusion restaurants around town? Send recommendations my way! <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dishes on my to-try list<\/h2>\n\n\n\n