Vietnamese cuisine that’s both spicy and sassy
Sauce at Ginger restaurant is as fiery as the star from RuPaul’s All Stars Drag Race
This week’s return of RuPaul’s All Stars Drag Race means Thursdays are looking a whole lot spicier.
The reality TV show, hosted by the namesake singer/supermodel/ queen, features 10 fierce and often foul-mouthed drag performers lipsynching for their lives.
It’s the second such spin-off from the hit series RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Fan favourite Ginger Minj is the only “big girl” among the all-stars.
She impressed with her hilarious Adele impersonation on Season 7 of Drag Race, in which she also squawked for eggs in a John Waters parody. It was a rare food moment in a series devoted to sequins and spandex.
The crassly named Ginger, 31, grew up in Orlando as Joshua EadsBrown. She came through Toronto this summer on a drag tour and remembers “the most amazing chicken marsala” ordered through “the Toronto version of Grub Hub.”
She likes ginger, the spice, especially Gin Gins candies: “Good for the heart and the tummy.”
Call me obvious but what about Ginger, the Vietnamese quickservice spot in the Gay Village since 2005?
Not only is the vibe accepting but diners can sometimes spot local drag performers passing by on Church St.
In homage to the red-wigged comedy queen, order one of two dishes with ginger-lime sauce.
The sauce is spicy and sassy, just like our heroine. Built on the traditional South Vietnamese nuoc mam — sugar syrup, fish sauce and chili peppers — owner David Tran calls this version “mixed” because of the bristly purée of ginger, garlic and fried shallot that goes into it.
The final step, he says, is adding fresh lime juice; any earlier, the citrus would turn the clear sauce bitter. The flavours are as layered as a drag queen’s makeup.
It’s a natural with a pale pink salmon fillet ($13.50).
Or a deep-fried piece of basa coated in potato starch, which makes for crunchy edges but a spongy centre ($8.75).
Both come with steamed rice and a decent mango salad glammed up with fried shallots.
Like All Stars Drag Race, Ginger the restaurant is itself a spin-off. The original opened on Yonge St. in 1998, bringing pho to a wider audience.
As the drag competitors might say: No (bubble) tea, no shade. Ginger, 546 Church St. (at Wellesley St. E.), 416-413-1053, vietfooddelivery.com. Open seven days, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. apataki@thestar.ca