Some roller derby friends of mine thought it would be a good idea if we met all in downtown St. Paul every Wednesday to hit up the food truck extravaganza that happens there. In fact, I told my boss I would be working from home on Wednesdays for the summer simply so I could hang with this crew each week. There are a few locations that the food trucks congregate, but we opted for the Food Court area of Wabasha and Kellogg for today’s trip.
With a few vegetarians in the group, the more options (trucks) we have at a place, the better. Then, they have things to choose between and don't get stuck eating fries and an apple. I went with Gastrotruck. Everything on the menu sounded delicious.
I decided, after much deliberation, to go with the pork belly (well, not THAT much deliberation). And I love quinoa, so I got a side of that as well. I left my money and name at the counter and the woman called me a short while later.
It looked even better than it sounded. I was unsure how this belly was going to manifest itself (Sandwich? Skewer? Cone? Salad?), but I was pleasantly surprised. It was a pork belly patty on a bun with chef-made kimchee and ginger aioli. I stared with the quinoa first, though. It was a nice pink color, which came from the sautéed beet tops that were a main ingredient – there were also sprouted beans in it. I loved this small side. Really flavorful and not mushy, nor dry. The perfect side dish for this sandwich.
The pork belly was melt-in-your-mouth kind of stuff. There was a tiny layer of fat around the edges that just dissolved when you bit into it. Very juicy and the perfect texture. I was going to offer it to people, but A), they were all vegetarians that day, and B) I wasn’t going to part with even a single bite of this sandwich. The Gastrotruck prides itself on being upscale/artisinal quality and this proves it. I’d recommend this very highly and am, in fact, looking forward to trying this again.