Dining out - Phan Thiết's specialities in Sài gòn!

I wouldn't say what I'm sharing with you is our street food, but it's 100% surely not from fancy dining spot, it's just a very down-to-earth eating place, where you can spend good time with friends, having very good food and it doesn't damage your wallet very much at the end!

My first "dining out" post is "Specialities from Phan homeland!"(Đặc sản Đất Phan). Phan here means Phan Thiết, 200km away from Sài gòn, a center of many well-known resorts by South China Sea or locally we call East Sea, a very hot spot for many tourist in Vietnam and overseas, a week-end relaxing place for families. In next several years, hopefully, Phan Thiết could become one of the most competitive destinations for tourists in South East Asia along with Phuket or Bali!

We arrived to "Đất Phan" around 7:00PM, while waiting for another friends, we have "fish cake roll" as starters. It's a rice paper roll filled with fish cake (of course!), boiled duck egg, very crispy deep-fried rice paper, a lot of veggies and dipping peanut sauce! When I bite this roll, I love the sound from crispy deep fried rice paper inside! Amazing!  

Chả cuốn (Fish cake roll) and peanut fish sauce

Quick look what's inside after a bite! (clockwise: boiled duck egg, fish cake, deep fried very crispy rice paper, veggies) 

Street snacks - Cake with leaves wrap - Part Two

The image of Viet street foods is accompanied by some unique sound from the hawkers. Especially those traditional snacks wrapped in leaves, I suddenly remember the hawker's voice "bánh giò đây, bánh giò nóng đây!" (literally means "I'm selling  pork steamed cake, hot pork steamed cake")  in my neighbourhood every night, late at night.
Many thoughts about hawker's destiny, feelings behind that sound, each sound seems to carry untouchable life stories.

Unattended street food tradition ...

I'm talking about "bánh giò" as an unique street food! "Bánh giò' originally from the North, a pyramid shape cake wrapped in banana leaves and filled with fried minced pork, wood ear mushroom, shallot...and the dough itself made of rice and tapioca flour.
We steam it in big steamer! It's good to eat hot, that's why the hawkers always keep it warm in their special container on their bike! I love the taste of steamed dough: soft, chewy, tasty, a bit oily...and the hot flavor  from the filling and banana leaves - all mixed together! Indescribable!

"Bánh giò" steamed rice cake with minced pork, wood ear mushroom...

Bến Thành market - Coconut worm rice noodle

Being Vietnamese, living in Sài gòn, but I rarely visit Bến Thành market, this place is more for tourist not locals.  The price here is really expensive, if you know - just one square meter (1m2) in this market could cost a real fortune - hundred thousand USD! And you may not believe it costs more than the same area in Ginza - Tokyo! Easy to understand because of two facts: best location and the brand name "Bến Thành market" as a big tourist symbol in Sài gòn! 

But I'm here to talk about the traditional food court inside this nearly hundred-year-old market (1914)! Before I didn't pay much attention, but this morning when I go there, I found almost all typical traditional dishes are here! I can't make a list but everything comes from everywhere: North, Central, Mekong Delta! 

I really want to do a small food tour for myself within this market, so I decide once a week I will try some dish, then write a review and post it here! 

Coconut worm rice noodle (bún suông) - the orange "worm" on the left-hand side! 

Street snacks (quà vặt) Part One

If you ask me how many street snacks we have ...
I may not have a correct answer for that question!

Vietnam is developing, our food culture is also facing challenges and opportunities at the same time!
We are in process to gain something new but also to lose something old & traditional!
Some of street foods have been sweep by new trends, new items from overseas.
And at the same time, it could be a good time to promote the old, the traditional... in new form, as an extreme make-over to survive in Saigon - a big hub of food culture!

I'm really curious to collect, as much as I could, unique street snacks that we still see today but it could disappear someday!

Bánh tai yến (swift's nest cake!) 

Bánh tai yến (literally swift's nest cake!) originally from Mekong Delta, a mixture of rice powder, tapioca starch, coconut milk, sugar. Deep fried cake!
The name "tai yến" probably comes from the cake's form which reminds a nest of swifts! Special taste but a bit oily! There is one street vendor in Lý Tự Trọng street, in front of City's library, she's always there from morning till afternoon! 5000 VN đồng for one piece, and it's quite big! 

Sour noodles from Lạng Sơn (phở chua Lạng Sơn)

I never heard about this food until yesterday! The shop located in small and quiet alley in dist. 3. We went there around 4:00 PM, few customers behind the stall! But the waiter told us - school children, student love it - sour noodles!
Ok, let's try and we ordered three bowls.

Sour noodles with chicken from far land in the North Lạng Sơn! 

Sticky rice - savory taste! (xôi mặn) - Part Two

Our tour with sticky rice dishes continues, this time - savory taste! To be honest I have no idea when savory sticky rice dishes have been created, but I remember when I was kid I did try two dishes: sticky rice with dry shrimp at my school (I can't remember - Chinese sausage was added at that time or not!) and another one - with char xiu (Chinese flavor barbecue pork - xá xíu)  and its special sauce.

Sticky rice with char xiu (mostly in China town)

Jelly (rau câu) - a quick flashback to the old times

Any Saigonese, over 30 or 40, probably still remember jelly seller with simple cart, they push their  cart in small alleys of Saigon, sell very colourful jelly in small glasses, or coconut jelly in tiny bowl...To keep jelly cold, they put a big ice block and jelly on it.

I wonder how long they can keep the ice in there, under the summer heat!

We can see thru the glass display to select.
I love coconut jelly with white coconut milk sauce on the top (nowadays we have luxury jelly-coconut fruit (rau câu trái dừa)!

This sweet snack is the best to have after the afternoon nap, in order to get a cold freshness or sweet taste to save the energy for the rest of the day!

Today jelly is more delicate in colour, shape and flavor