I once lived in the Outer Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco, an underrated gem along the Pacific Ocean. There were only a few dining options nearby, but we were lucky to have a famous Vietnamese restaurant, Thanh Long , just around the corner. They created a fusion dish that perfectly captures the multicultural nature of San Francisco. Legend has it that the cook, after trying pasta in North Beach (San Francisco's Italian neighborhood), found it bland but inspiring. She decided to add her own Vietnamese flavors and tons of garlic. (Recipes call for 20 cloves!) This unique dish quickly became a Bay Area favorite, spreading to other restaurants and homes. Recently, this recipe gained popularity online, especially after Kenji Lopez-Alt, one of my favorite food writers, developed a recipe for the New York Times . You can watch Kenji’s tutorial here .  I made a few tweaks to my taste. I found that I needed more of the Asian sauces to really represent the Vietnamese flavor. In effort ...