Reaction to Food Battle and our Viet Philly Recipe

So, for one of our first assignments/ group projects, we were supposed to come up with an "Asian American" dish based on our Ethnic group that we were assigned previously. Then we were to battle Iron Chef style with the other groups. Our group decided on doing a fusion of a Vietnamese Sandwich (Bahn Mi) and the All-American Philly Cheese steak. We kept the bread and toppings from the Viet Sandwich and used the meat and cheese from the Philly Cheese steak to make out "Viet Philly". We were originally going to do a fusion Vietnamese Spring Roll, by using steak instead of shrimp and changing up the dipping sauce, but in the end we chose to make the sandwich instead.

I thought this assignment was really awesome and creative. I absolutely love the Food Network, especially Iron Chef, and was over the moon when this was assigned. Also, I love to cook and bake so this was totally up my alley of choice projects. I wish more of my classes assigned things like this because it makes the class more fun and you get hands on learning about culture via food. Even when i told my friends about what my homework was, they all said "Wow that is hecka tight. I want to do that!" Teachers and professors need to take into account that book work and lecture is not the only way to teach, and try to make things more interesting for their students.

It was fun to actually get in the spirit of the show and have to plate our dish, serve it to judges, and await the battle winners. We went up against the Chinese Philipino Group's (CPGs) "Continental Breakfast". Too bad we lost, but I do agree that their dish was really good and they went above and beyond and made a complete meal on a plate. I also liked watching the other groups battle and see what Asian-American dishes they came up with. And it was especially delicious to get to try the other teams dishes, like AZN +1's Korean bulgogi burger and United's Filipino banana split. Just thinking about all the dishes again is making my mouth water and want to make some yummy food all over again.

All in all, i just want to say thanks for the super fun and yummy assignment and props to whoever came up with the idea of an Asian American Battle of the Chefs.

Ingredients:
- French baguette (sliced in half & toasted)
- Pâté (chopped liver spread)
- Mayonnaise
- Cucumber (cut into small wedges)
- Cilantro
- Pickled carrots (very thinly sliced)
- Pickled Daikon radish (sliced into thin sticks)
- Top round cut of steak
- Cheese (preferably either White American, Provolone, or Cheez Whiz)
- White Wine Vinegar
- Seasonings

Cooking Instructions:
- Thinly slice the steak into small strips/ pieces, then marinate with salt and pepper for at least 20 minutes.
- Cook the steak on a hot pan with oil until brown
- Spread the mayonnaise and pâté on opposite halves of the baguette.
- Put the hot steak and in the baguette and top with cheese so it melts.
- add all the veggies and sprinkle some pepper and a squirt of the vinegar.
- Enjoy!