Asian delicacies stir L.A. political pot.

Two Asian delicacies are the subject of a simmering debate pitting merchants who like to store them at room temperature for hours against food safety regulators who worry the practice could allow bacteria to build up.

One is a rice cake filled with fatty pork and beans, wrapped in banana leaves and served during the Lunar New Year. Another is a baked pastry consisting of lotus paste and a duck egg yolk.

If this had been Chicago, they would have simply outlawed it altogether without debate and just out of spite declared Tet a threat to public safety. But give credit to Orange and Los Angeles County, which are taking a more methodical approach before deciding a potential public health nuisance.

This week, state lawmakers came to the aid of the delicacies by ordering state health officials to determine whether the treats can be safely kept at room temperature for much longer than four hours. When the tests are completed, officials would set new standards.

“The contention … is, ‘We’ve been eating these foods for thousands of years, and nobody is getting sick. Why the stringent requirements, then?’” said Assemblyman Van Tran, who proposed the legislation which won overwhelming approval in the state Senate and Assembly.

“You have to find a balance between public health and history and culture. It’s a classic American story,” said Tran, a Republican who represents Little Saigon, a large Vietnamese enclave in Orange County.

I think that’s a telling statement. Whereas Chicago (or any American city for that matter) doesn’t necessarily enumerate foie gras worshippers in amounts to effect a groundswell of opposition, the Vietnamese population in Southern California is huge.

When my sister was in town in May, she picked up a Bánh Chưng (the aforementioned rice cake with fatty pork) from Phat Hung and it sat on our counter for hours after it had sat at room temperature at the market. And she ate only half of it, wrapped it back in the banana leaf and saran wrap, and I think finished the rest the next day. Maybe she stuck it in the fridge, I dunno, but my point is the same as Van Tran – people have been doing this shit for years and the legislation of personal behavior has gotten out of control. Though, Mr. Tran is a Republican, and I assume is for strong drug laws and penalties?