3425 SOUTH STATE STREET
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84115
(801) 467-6882
LONG TRAN, OWNER
Slightly outside of Salt Lake City proper, Oh Mai displays a menu worth the drive. Its banh mi sandwich and delicious pho are nothing short of an accomplishment in flavor, culture, and quality.
With the presence of the Mormon Church (and thus return missionaries), Utah’s demand for extra-cultural cuisine is surprisingly unexpected, to say the least. One look at the landscape of Utah and one might stereotype the cuisine in Utah as typical, bland, and more of an endeavor of convenience than passion. But places like Oh Mai tell a different story to those not convinced of Utah’s diversity in cuisine.
Oh Mai specializes in the traditional banh mi sandwich, which is something of a combination of French bread (culturally adapted and adjusted to a vietnamese style) and vietnamese ingredients. One bite into a banh mi at Oh Mai and your mouth comes alive with flavors of raw or pickled vegetables, some sort of oven-roasted or pan-seared meat, and fresh cilantro. The freshness of banh mi knows few equals in the sandwich world.
To wash it all down, Oh Mai serves up a tasty Thai iced tea. It’s orange. It’s tannic. It’s creamy. It’s worth every sip and slurp.
Though Oh Mai is small when it comes to square feet, its reputation around the city is huge. All discussions of ethnic food in Utah quickly turn toward this small restaurant on State Street in South Salt Lake City. The environment is nice, the service is good and efficient, but again, these are not the things that draw Oh Mai fans to wait in a line going out the front door and into State Street. It’s the food.
(SERVES 8, 2 SPRING ROLLS PER PERSON)
4 ounces rice vermicelli
2 cups shredded lettuce
2 cups thinly sliced cucumber
1 cup thinly sliced carrot, fresh or pickled
1 cup thinly sliced diakon radishes, fresh or pickled
2 bunches green onions
16 (8½-inch diameter) round rice paper sheets
1 pound shrimp, cooked, peeled, and sliced in half
Optional herbs: cilantro, mint, and basil
Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Boil rice vermicelli for 3–5 minutes or until al dente, then drain.
Prepare the vegetables by roughly chopping the lettuce and slicing the cucumber, carrot, and radishes. Cut the white ends off the green onions and slice in half lengthwise.
Fill a large bowl with hot water. Dip one rice paper wrapper into the hot water for a few seconds to soften. Lay wrapper on a flat surface. In a row across the center, place 2–3 shrimp halves, a small handful of vermicelli, lettuce, cucumber, carrot, and radishes. Add in a couple of long green onion slices. Leave about 2 inches uncovered on the top end. Fold over the top end, fold one side over the shrimp and vegetables, then tightly roll the wrapper. Repeat with remaining wrappers.
