Street hawkers (những gánh hàng rong)

Let's take a break from eating "street food" and think about what's behind the words "street hawker" or "gánh hàng rong"in Vietnamese.

English is not my mother tongue!
I don't feel what could be behind the word "hawker", or between the lines, except its meaning "a person who travels around selling goods, typically advertising them by shouting"

If we use Google translate "gánh hàng rong"means funnily "burden vendors"!
but ,meaningfully, burden, a heavy load!

Gánh hàng rong No 1: selling sweet tofu 

In Vietnamese "gánh hàng rong" is a group of three words, and each word has its meaning.

Gánh hàng rong No 2: selling different snacks from banana paper, rice cracker, small sponge cake...

From the Hell to the Heaven - Cơm Âm phủ

Rice from the Hell (cơm Âm phủ) starting as a street food for the poor in Huế (Central Việt Nam) in  very old days, now becomes a nicely presented dish at many fancy restaurants in Sài gòn. 

That's why "right from the Hell to the Heaven" but not one step! Century! 

I've been to Huế - our former capital only once or twice! I don't have any special feelings to this city, probably because the charm from the old times has gone with new urban planning. I heard from my cousin who used to live in Huế for long, many Flame trees (Flamboyant - cây Phượng vĩ) have been cut, many charming streets were extended...the city has changed. 

Rice from the Hell 

And I found different stories about "Rice from the Hell".

Nice mix of different ingredients, different colors and served with spicy fish sauce (7 ingredients: rice, egg, 3 kinds of pork meat, shrimp and cucumber)  

Street snacks - bicycle ride to discover - Part Four

Sàigòn is changing, a lot!
My old Sài gòn was quiet, more peaceful, more calm and charming!
Sài gòn today is vibrant, joyful, full of good and evil!

One afternoon, I got time and decided to ride on my very good bicycle around the city. To see, to feel and to smell new things that I probably pass by in my routine day!

Heading to district 10, where I often see many stalls of grilled sweet potato, I catch no one. Still early for business? Grilled sweet potato reminds me a winter day in Beijing, when I was on the way to Great Wall. It was really freezing morning, sitting in the bus, through the window, I bought a grilled potato from street vendor!

I follow the stream of cars, motorbikes to Cách Mạng Tháng Tám street, then turn to Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai street to check my favorite Vietnamese kebab but it's closed when I reached there!

No kebab, I stop by a stall of fresh fruit juice - opposite, to quench my thirst with pomelo juice. It was small place before, selling mostly orange, pomelo, centella (rau má) juice. Now bigger stall, richer choice!

Stall of freshly squeezed fruit juice 

I'm impressed by the number of fruit juice they have here. Freshly squeezed juice from apple, pomelo, mango, pear, water melon, centella (rau má) to carrot, winter melon (bí đao), star fruit (khế), aloe vera (nha đam)...I just wonder do they mix with water? or purely squeezed fresh juice? Business secret? 

Whatever you name, they have here! 

Bizarre food - Salad with duck's raw blood (tiết canh vịt)

I don't like bizarre food, I remember my experience with fried scorpion in Singapore, real coconut worm here ...It was bad! But I love to watch people eating that! That's why I love Andrew Zimmern on TV program "Bizarre foods". I love the way he shares what he eats, how he reacts to some really bizarre delicacies! Wonder Andrew already tried our bizarre salad, or exactly duck's raw blood salad!

Tiết canh vịt (duck's raw blood salad)

I'm talking about "tiết canh vịt", favorite dish for drinkers! Last Saturday, four of us, we went to Binh Duong, a city very close to Saigon, about 30-40' by car! We have been recommended to try famous duck dishes at "Quán Vịt Cu Chì".
They don't have menu because they serve only ducks!  Cooked duck (vịt luộc), grilled duck (vit nướng), roasted duck (vịt quay), duck porridge (cháo vịt), grilled duck's hearts, tongues (tim và lưỡi vịt nướng) and glorious, for drinkers, speciality - salad with duck's raw blood (tiết canh vịt)!

Tim, luỡi vịt nướng (grilled duck's heart & tongues)  

Bến Thành market - Water fern cake (bánh bèo)

Last week I tried "noodle with coconut worm" at Bến Thành market, so this Sunday I probably go for something less exotic ? After my first discovery about beef noodle "Pho Minh" in small alley at right-in-the-heart-of-Saigon Pasteur street, with my friend we were heading to Bến Thành market for my second discovery in the day, and also second time at this historical market!

Water fern cake ! Sounds nice! In Vietnamese we call a tiny, tiny and thin steamed rice cake "bánh bèo", and "bèo" in our language symbolizes something cheap, that's why we have an expression "rẻ (như) bèo"(cheap as water fern)! In fact "bánh bèo" is really cheap, a dozen costs you less than 1 USD, at street place, but in the restaurant, another thing!

Plate of bánh bèo at Bến Thành market, not only bánh bèo , two others are bánh bột lọc (steamed tapioca cake filled with shrimp and pork) and bánh ít trần (steamed glutinous rice cake filled with mung bean) served with sweet fish sauce at 14,000 VND! Is it cheap as water fern?  

For to go!

Street snacks - my childhood's favorite - Part Three

I think every of us has some favorite snack in our childhood, how much we wish to have, love to eat, and sometime ready to fight for it! 

I remember one evening, when I was about 10 year old, before dinner, I was so upset because my mom didn't allow me to do some kid's things, in tears I said to mom :" I go away, I don't come back!". And I did. But my "go away", my "don't come back" can last only for 15 minutes, where did I go in this 15 minutes ? 

I went to a street hawker near to my parent's house to watch how he prepared "bánh tiêu" (deep fried Chinese donut) on small table and next to him - big pan with boiling oil! At that time I was always surprised how this small dough became a big donut in the oil! To me it's like a magic!

Bánh bò or honeycomb cake 

But we don't eat usually "bánh tiêu" alone, we eat with another also "magical" cake (at least to me!), "bánh bò"! I don't know how to call it in English, but at certain places they call "steamed rice cake" or "honeycomb cake"! Bánh bò literally means "cow cake" (!?) some people said this name comes from its inner texture which resembles beef liver ! Really no idea!

Honeycomb cake with deep fried Chinese donut (bánh tiêu)

Bánh bò made from rice flour, yeast, sugar, sometime with coconut milk or pandan leaf extract. This cake can be steamed or baked! I prefer steamed, less oil! I said magical because so difficult for me to make this cake perfect. It should be soft, fluffy but chewy, nice and smooth texture, nice flavor. Mine is just a disaster!

Fruity Sài gòn - Part One

I'm a fruit person! And that probably comes from my mother, she loves fruits very very much.

She can have fruits instead of meal!
I remember when my mother worked as teacher in Bồ Đề high school (a kind of Buddhist school before 1975) there was an old wholesale fruit market "Cầu Muối" nearby (nowadays school till there, but its surrounds changed, new structures, new highway and of course the market has gone!), after class hours, before heading home, she bought not a dozen, but a whole big basket (cần xé) of sugar-apple (mảng cầu ta).

Hundred of it! My mother not only loves, she craves and sweet mango, and durian...! 

Fruit display at Bến Thành market 

The very good thing about living in Vietnam is that the fruit is great all year around! And they are so colourful, every time I pass by Bến Thành market, in Lê Thánh Tôn street, I always keep looking at the fruit display! They are so eye catching!

We usually have fruit as dessert after lunch, dinner! Nowadays some new concept shops opened, for teenager, they serve fresh fruit cocktail, fruit smoothie..., but fruit hawkers are still everywhere, in many streets, eps. in Nguyễn Văn Cừ street! Many universities, high schools nearby, and fruit is always favorite snack for girls!  

Popular fruit stall cart in Saigon