Shiki in Mooresville - Best local Asian food yet!

Happy New Year!

I sincerely apologize for the delay in blogging - I can't believe it's been over a month since I've posted! Everything has been super hectic lately, between getting settled with the move, work, my dad's health issues (which are ongoing, although he is doing better now), and the holidays - before I knew it, 2015 came to a close and now it is a new year! I wanted to start 2016 off strong by posting about this amazing restaurant that I just discovered recently, right here in Mooresville, called Shiki, which specializes in Japanese food, although they incorporate other Asian styles as well. Chris and I picked up some food on Thursday (New Year's Eve), and, even though we took it home, the whole experience was extremely enjoyable.

The Shiki in Mooresville is located in a little strip mall right off of West Plaza Drive, which is a great location because it's right near to my work, as well as being fairly close to my house. It doesn't look very spacious from the outside, but as soon as you reach the sidewalk you can smell the wonderful aromas from the kitchen. The interior is cozy and inviting, and the young man who was up front was extremely friendly and helpful. We had already briefly looked over their menu (some people from my work had raved about this wonderful place called Shiki to me a few weeks ago, and of course I was excited to try a new local Asian restaurant), so we knew we wanted to try their Banh Mi sandwiches and their pho. Additionally, we ordered some of their crab rangoons. I'll start with those...

My mom loves Crab Rangoons, and I am a fan as well, and the best ones I've ever had were at Firebowl in Wilmington, so I wasn't sure how the ones at Shiki would measure up. After having these, I am very glad we decided to try them! The outsides were crispy and light, and not too greasy, unlike some others that I've had. The filling was incredibly creamy and sweet, with the perfect cream-cheese-to-crab ratio. The highlight (as with most Asian foods) was definitely the sauce. It was similar to duck sauce (if you don't know what duck sauce is, this is the Wikipedia definition: "It may be made of plums, apricots, pineapples or peaches added to sugar, vinegar, ginger and chili peppers"), but sweeter and thicker, and the perfect complement to the rangoons. We polished those off in no time and moved on to the Banh Mi sandwiches.

Being a self-proclaimed connoisseur of Asian food, I had heard of Banh Mi sandwiches before but had never tried them... looking back, I'm not sure if I've ever been anywhere that's had them! If you've never heard of them, I'll try my best to describe them to you. They are traditional Vietnamese sandwiches that came about from the French colonization in Vietnam. Typically, they have some sort of cold cuts along with Vietnamese condiments served on a baguette (or something similar). For our first time, I'm glad we tried the ones at Shiki! We opted for the traditional version, which was served with their homemade mayo, pickled carrots, daikon (radish), cucumbers, cilantro, paté, ham and pork. Honestly, I was slightly skeptical, because the combination of flavors seemed odd to me, but I had nothing to be worried about. The pickled veggies had the perfect amount of acidity and crispness and were a nice foil to the richness of the paté. The French bread was toasted, which also provided a nice overall mouth-feel of the sandwich. The end result was a bright, flavorful sandwich that made me feel like I was literally in Saigon. According to Shiki's menu they have different versions, with grilled chicken, pork, meatballs, and other meats, but I think I'll be sticking with the original!

As I've said before, one of my favorite things ever to eat is pho (see my post about Pho Ginseng for a more in-depth description). After our fantastic experience in Huntersville, we were super excited to see it on the menu here at Shiki. The guy up front had mentioned that his mom makes it from scratch (as well as the Banh Mis), so we knew that was a good sign. I ordered the one with the meatballs and Chris opted for the chicken. One thing I do want to mention is that, since we got ours to-go, I appreciated the way they packaged everything  - they packed the broth separately from the other ingredients, so the noodles didn't get soggy, and it was also easier to add exact portions of everything (bean sprouts, cilantro, scallions, etc.). After eating this pho, I have to say that I might be a bigger fan of it than the one in Huntersville (sorry, guys). It's hard to put into words, since pho is basically just stock, protein, rice noodles and condiments, but this version just seemed heartier and more flavorful. I normally add multiple sauces to jazz it up a bit (Sriracha, hoisin, soy, lime juice, etc.), but this didn't need any of that. I added a dash of hoisin simply because I love the umami quality it adds, but it really didn't even need that. Something else I want to acknowledge (since I noted it in regards to the pho from Pho Ginseng) is that, when we re-heated our bowls again later that night (because the portions were huge), these noodles did not get soggy or break down at all - their texture remained chewy just like it was a fresh batch. The day we ordered our food was cold and rainy, and, as I've mentioned, pho is the ideal food to eat on a day like that. After gorging ourselves on the crab rangoons, Banh Mis and pho, we were happy and sated - great way to kick off New Year's!

Today's food quote is by Anna Thomas - "We all eat, it would be sad waste of opportunity to eat badly."

Hope your New Year is filled with everything delicious - and too much of it!