Noodles with pig's tail (hủ tiếu đuôi heo)

I have a gym mate. He's a big eater.
After morning exercise from time to time we go out together.
He skip breakfast so prefer having an early lunch!
He know many places. Good ones.
One day.
Follow his advise I go to one noodles stall not far from our gym on Vo Van Tan street.
The stall is quiet. Only one or two tables occupied.
I order dried noodle with pig's tail!  

Actually it's a mixture between yellow and white noodle.
I confused a bit in the beginning. I thought it's a ox's tail, because I know Korean love ox's tail very much. But in fact it's a pig's tail! It's served in the soup. Dipping sauce is a lightly sweet fish sauce.

Vietnamese udon with flower crab (bánh canh ghẹ)

Udon?
I call jokingly our "bánh canh" udon, because it's thick, it's fat compared to the other our very thin noodles!

Last month on the way to the restaurant where we tried specialities from Phan Thiet, I saw a small
stall, at the corner, next to bridge "Bông" (Cầu Bông - Đinh Tiên Hoàng street), on the right hand side when we just across the bridge.

Open only from 4:00 PM.
Even some customers come early and wait...to be the first ones!
I'm one of them!

We usually love udon with crab (bánh canh cua). It's very popular, but we don't have much udon with flower crab.
Flower crab is thiner than usual crab and its smell, to me, lighter!
Some people prefer flower crab than crab, they say"sweeter taste"!
But to me, flower crab's shell is easier to break or bite while eating! That's better!

Fruity Saigon - Part Two

Sunday morning.
Beautiful morning, with sunshine, but not very hot.
Traffic is not that heavy!
I decided to do a ride on my bicycle around the city.

Following my old itinerary when I still rode my super light racing bike Giant, I start
my journey from Nguyễn Văn Cừ street, then across the bridge to district 7.

But before the bridge, in front of me a row of fruit street hawkers!


Japanese pear (Lê Nhật) 100% from China, for sure!.
These days people seems to dislike more and more products, especially foods, from our big neighbor! "Chinese pear" on board could be difficult for sale?


Thai mandarin (Quýt Thái) mixed probably with Thai species?


Mango "Keo" (Xoài Keo) originated from Cambodia, mostly cultivated in province of Ta Keo, that's why "keo") When ripe, different from our yellow skin mango, "keo" mango's  skin in dark green, mild sweet taste, bright yellow flesh, crisp, good for making salad.

Pear melon (dưa lê - variety of muskmelon!)
I don't know why in our language when we say to someone "buôn dưa lê" (literally means trade in pear melon), it doesn't mean any business here, it means "talkative","chit-chatted"!
Better don't trade in this fruit!
The taste is good if sweet, but if not, I feel like eating cucumber!  

The unborn - the bizarre food!

I keep in my mind to write about this delicacy few months ago, but only now I feel "Right time!"

I wonder why?
Whenever talking about this "unborn", embryo duck egg or balut, most people outside of Vietnam associated it with Philippines!
Probably it's super popular traditional street food in our neighboring country!

But in Vietnam, especially in Sài gòn, it's not a street food. More than that!
It's a food of pavements. It's a food of love & passion and... too much ?
Ok, stop!  

Another bike ride to discover

It's not easy to ride the bike during the hot season in Sài gòn!
And it's more difficult to ride it in the rain!
This year, too hot! Last week, already twice, the storm clouds gathered and the rain poured down to the city! Early!  The raining season usually starts in Jun or July!

Now only mid of March!

As always I depart from my place in Nguyễn Trải street. Turn right. Right again.
I follow Lê Hồng Phong street to district 10!

Remember? I want to catch grilled sweet potato vendors!
Yes, this time I got them in Sư Vạn Hạnh street. Few of them.

I remember when I was kid, with my brother , curiously, we love to grill small potatoes by putting them
in the charcoal oven! I never knew at that time. My childhood game could become a popular street food. Today!

Grill potato right on the street! Not only potatoes but also corn!
Famous grilled corn with greased green onion!

A day trip to "Western Capital" - Tây Đô

I love market! Traditional market! Or we say "Chợ" in Vietnamese.
Wherever I go, I always try to visit the market. Either in Bali, Phuket or Melbourne.

I feel that's the best place to learn people's living style, eating habit!
In the market I love to check what they sell, how they display the merchandise, how people bargain, shout, communicate with each others. Very joyful picture!

Last week I really want to go back to Cần Thơ, to visit the market there.
Not floating market.
Just ordinary market in town. And to get what I saw last year here but failed to try it.
Bánh tét from Cần Thơ!

One of the most traditional glutinous rice cakes for our Lunar New Year celebration!

Different from other areas, bánh tét in Cần Thơ is unique with their color combination! 

The two best things: color and taste! 
Rice in magenta plant leaf color. Yellow green mung bean. 
Orange from salted duck egg and light pink from pork meat!  

But today not about this cake! Not about what's in the market!
It will be another interesting post!
Today I just want to share what we tried in our journey to Western capital - Tây Đô.
Another name of Cần Thơ!

Chinese sweet dessert soup in China town

In Saigon, Chinatown is quite big (that's why we call Chợ Lớn, i.e Big market), its image has been faded away after 1975 due to certain political reasons, but these years, it seems to come back!
I live in Nguyen Trai street, district 5, where considered as the gate to Chợ Lớn or Chinatown!
I have a Singaporean friend, he used to live here before 1975. One day he took me to a small shop right in the center of Chợ Lớn for Chinese sweet dessert soup (chè Tàu).

He said "I used to come to this place long before 1975, when the parents of the current young owner still alive", so I understand I'm now in the shop with more than half century history!

Very simple, typical Chinese style shop in the old times, no decoration, but the sweet here is nice, fine taste with very affordable price!

Stew papaya with rock sugar (đu đủ tiềm), nice taste, not too sweet! 

Chinese sweet soup is very different from ours, you never smell even a drop of our popular coconut sauce. Here in this shop the menu offers quite wide choice, many of them are my favorite!

Stew papaya (đu đủ tiềm) served cold! The taste is simple, light, not very sweet, papaya flavor is not too strong! I like it since I tried it for first time! It's good dessert in the summer heat!

Green mung bean with crystal tapioca pearls, seaweed (đậu xanh bột báng, khổ tai)

Green mung bean with small "crystal tapioca pearls" (đậu xanh bột báng) served hot, I add "crystal" to make it more "luxury"!. It's similar to Vietnamese one but without coconut milk. Purely green mung bean taste and well mixed with seaweed flavor.

"A taste of Vietnam"

Got a suggestion from one online travel agency. Found a video by Daniel Klein.
Almost at the same time! Combined two ideas in one. I came up with this post!

A taste of Vietnam!  

Young American Daniel Klein came to Vietnam for two weeks to discover the country, people's lifestyle in the food culture.
Together with Mirra Fine, camera-girl, Daniel have visited different places.

Halong Bay in the north.
Hanoi. The capital.
Huế.The feudal central.
Mekong Delta in the south.
Saigon. Day and  Night.

They tried a variety of dishes!
They discovered new tastes! Captured surprising moments!
Back home, Daniel launched a video called "A taste of Vietnam"!

Many foods appear in this video. It's short! But enough for us to catch what's Daniel had tried and to

create our own food discovery based on our film-maker's experience.

If you stay here only for few days? How to taste all things that you saw in the video, without traveling
thousand kilometers in Vietnam?

Don't worry and remember! Sài gòn is the largest food hub here, in Vietnam.

Hundred year old market, Bến Thành is one of the food hubs in Sài gòn.  

You can also design your own discovery plan by selecting your most favorite and follow the instructions in "where to go?"

Ok, what we got from Daniel's film?
Quite many!

Some I know exactly what's that! Some I only guess, judging by the look!
Many of them, among Daniel's capture in his film, are really real street food.

Famous Vietnamese beef noodle at Phở Tàu bay  

Wrap & Roll

You remember my post "from the Hell to the Heaven"?
It seems no lines between street food and food served in fancy restaurant.

Wrap & Roll is the same. Easy to buy from street stall as a quick meal.
And we order it in the restaurant with curiosity, how good they are in fancy place ?

Wrap & Roll. It's about many dishes when we eat or prepare, we put some filling on rice paper (bánh tráng). Then we wrap! We roll! We dip it in sauce! And we enjoy!

Most famous. Most desirable. Our fried spring roll. We call "chả giò" in the south, "ram" in central and "nem"  in the north! I don't know why "spring" ? It would originally come from our big neighbor!

Deep fried spring rolls (chả giò) 

Variation of fried spring roll in Quảng Ngãi - ram! 

 The fillings for deep fried chả giò is usually a  mixture creatively imagined by the chef!
 What to put ? How much to put ? What kind of rice paper ? It makes different!

Street snack - new and old - Part Five

I don't know since when we have this strange snack ! Scorched rice!

Vietnam is a rice culture country. In the old days, when we cooked rice not with hi-tech rice cooker, but on charcoal stove. We always got a crispy, dark yellow burned rice layer at the bottom. That was the best from our family kitchen!

Scorched rice with pork floss (cơm cháy chà bông)

My first scorched rice as snack could come from my old Malaysian colleague. He got that after his holidays in his home country.But. I don't like the taste: sweet, not sweet, savory, not savory!

Even nothing in between! And sweet but spicy! Strange to me!

Crystal noodle with chicken (miến gà)

If rice noodle (bún) is Queen in our cuisine culture, crystal noodle (miến) could be considered as Princess! Crystal noodle or cellophane or glass noodle. These three names mean a special noodle made of either green mung bean or potato starch or cassava. After we cook in boiling water, the noodle becomes transparent ...as crystal!

Crystal noodle with chicken at Miến gà Kỳ Đồng    

Miến is a popular dish, especially in the north, but now very easy to find it in many places in Sài gòn, every corner.Crystal noodle, as far as I know never goes with beef or pork (!?), mostly chicken, duck with bamboo shoot, crab or eel.   

Sweet dessert soup (chè)

I actually don't like the words "sweet soup".
To me,  soup is always associated with something savoury!?
Sweet soup. Dessert soup. Or sweet dessert soup!
Anyway, chè is our traditional sweets!

Chè display at Bến Thành market! 

Very popular. One of the most "visible" street foods. Especially hawkers with sweet tofu.

Nowadays instead of traditional only two baskets hung at two ends of the long bamboo stick (i.e only two or three kinds of chè to carry, as maximum), street vendors have more "comfortable"vehicle.
The push cart with at least 4 or 5 shining stock pots with different chè!

We have chè for dessert! 
We prepare chè for special occasions! 
Lunar New Year. Death Anniversary. First Birthday for kids. Family gathering. Party!
Or whenever we wish our life sweeter! We need chè!

            Favorite for children's first birthday celebration - chè trôi nước 

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