Xôi xéo or sticky rice in northern style

In my blog, I do mention not once about the popularity of sticky rice dish, we have southern style, northern style, we have sweet and also savory sticky rice dish. We have many! 

I also mention in one of my posts about the rumor - how big is the business by selling only a good sticky rice on the street...the sales over 80.000 USD per month (don't ask me is it after tax or not, no clue!). 

And that famous sticky rice stall with a fabulous sales located in the old quarter of Hanoi - it's called Xôi Yến (sticky rice and Yến - should be the female owner's name). I do visit this place twice during my short stay in Hanoi. 

              Two or three girls sitting in a stall, selling three kinds of xôi. 

They are selling their signature xôi xéo (originally sticky rice with only green mung bean paste, fried shallot, but now ham, egg, chinese sausage...have been added), xôi bắp (sticky rice mixed with corn, green mung bean paste, fried shallot), xôi gà (sticky rice with chicken, green mung mean paste, fried shallot). I like the word "xéo"? But what does it mean? 

Actually I tried xôi xéo in Hanoi long ago, and never stop asking my friends, what does it mean "xéo". No clear answer. Some said that's the way they cut very thin slices of green mung bean paste over sticky rice.  

                The girl is cutting thin slices of green mung bean paste over sticky rice...

Hanoi with 36 streets (Hà Nội 36 phố phường)

I love the expression "Hanoi with 36 streets" in Vietnamese , it sounds pleasantly - "Hà Nội 36 phố phường". It brings me back to the past when I was just a little curious boy, it creates in my mind an image of the old but joyful city.
I was born in Saigon. In my early age, like a bookworm, I curiously read all kinds of books that I could reach from my father's library - from thick, heavy Larousse dictionaries with images, to old, missing-pages Jin Yong's kung-fu novels.
And I would probably have learned "Hà Nội 36 phố phường" from one of those books I read at that time, then later in the school I was taught about famous novelists of 1930s such as Thạch Lam, the author of "Hanoi with 36 streets" and his brothers Nhất Linh, Hoàng Đạo. I started to imagine about a vibrant town with 36 streets, about people living in there in the old days, as being a Southern Vietnamese, everything about Hanoi before 1975 was like a taboo, a mystery.

               In Hanoi's old quarter, those tiny entrances to the house surprised me, very narrow. 

I like Hà Nội. I like the cold weather that Sài Gòn never has. I like the old quarter with those antique small houses (but I can't imagine how to live in there!), those charming old people sitting in front of the house, or right in the pavement on tiny tiny chair, selling some tea, traditional sweets such as peanut candy, sugar candy (kẹo dồi) and smoking mapacho (thuốc lào) with a long bamboo pipe.

           An old Hanoi man seems to enjoy very much smoking mapacho with with bamboo pipe.

I also found Hanoi people very artistic, esp. with the fine arts. I was struggling with my damaged family photos, I couldn't find any artist in Saigon who can revive them with a great skill, until by chance I learnt about an old artist in Hanoi through the internet, we just talked over the phone, I sent photos, even paid in advance by bank transfer.  After two months, coming to Hanoi, seeing his works, I was simply amazed.

                The Hanoi artist brings back my family photo to life, it's me on the far right and far left. 

The dish to try before you die - Chả cá Lã Vọng

This would be the only one Vietnamese dish that Patricia Schultz included in her best selling travel book "1000 places to see before you die". Not our glorious beef noodles, not spring rolls - our pride or any others, but a very unique Hanoi-style dish "Chả cá Lã Vọng" - grilled, deep fried fish with rice noodles named after a Chinese historical figure "Lã Vọng" (Jiang Ziya) due to his statue displayed in this family restaurant for over hundred years! 
Patricia Schultz shares with us what's fun, what's unforgettable everywhere on the earth, so trying Chả Cá Lã Vọng would be one of our unforgettable memories in lifetime.   

               Dish is good, but it seems people working here - never smile! 

It's quite interesting to read different comments on various sites such as TripAdvisor, from those people who tried this need-to-taste-before-die dish, and I would love to share it here with you. People may like it, may not. To me this is a good dish if we put everything together - especially strong and probably stinky shrimp paste, crispy roasted peanut, flavorful, hot fish with "cold" rice noodles and don't forget the dill! Very tasty. I first tried this dish long ago, over 10 years, and last night, for the first time I've been back there, it's still good, but I have to say "the first time could be always the best!".  

           Over 10 years ago, I first tried this dish and feel the first time is always the best! 

Coastal Cần Giờ - the unique district of HCMC

Saturday 16th, Feb. The last day of Tết.

6:00 am
Meeting our team members at Equatorial hotel for a day ride on bike to Cần Giờ, which is nearly 60 km away from Saigon and the only coastal district of HCMC, we, a team of four, depart at 6:15.

             Surrounded by rivers and sea, 50 km away from Saigon, Cần Giờ seems isolated...  

             famous for its unique mangrove forest, picturesque nature, spectacular views of river scenery

            but the beach is far from the best, people may enjoy only the fresh air, the sea breeze.

8:00 am
We arrive to Binh Khanh ferry, and it takes us 15 minutes to reach the other side - the coastal Cần Giờ - isolated and surrounded by rivers and sea, famous for its special mangrove forest, monkey island and the old war zone "Rừng Sác".

          the only transportation to connect Cần Giờ with the mainland - ferry Bình Khánh.

9:00 am
We arrive to Cần Giờ. The weather is nice in the morning. A bit cool with the light sun, we are so happy and feel excited to ride at the average speed to our destination for lunch but then we have a first incident with one of team members - tire deflated!

11:00 am 
We fixed the bike and continue our journey, now the sun is getting stronger, the road to downtown of Cần Giờ seems endless. We wonder are we on the right way?

At noon 

Finally we reached the downtown. The empty, quiet town with many mango stalls right on the sidewalk. Mango season, I guess. Cần Giờ is not the right home for this tropical sweet fruit? Anyway on the way back, we decided to get some mango back home as the "spring's luck". Few days later when I tried a mango that I bought in Cần Giờ and to my surprise, it was good, really good - sweet with a bit sour taste! 

               The town is very quiet, during Tết it seems even more... 

               I couldn't smell the fragrance of fresh sweet mango, but it's good, sweet and a bit sour.  

13:30 pm 
Our lunch at small guest house "Gió Lộng" (i.e. windy, exactly as it's named, our place is nicely windy, the electric fans on the wall don't need the electricity to work!) right on the beach, with the view to Vũng Tàu on the other side across the sea, but I hardly see something.

                 The view from our lunch & nap place, Vũng Tàu - a famous seaside town, on the other side. 

           
Lunch time 
Fried noodles with shrimp, cuttlefish and veggies. Tasty. I quite like it. During this Tết the new thing I try to do is to use the instant noodle instead of the egg noodle to prepare some food. I knew it for long but by somehow never tried it at home.

The raw oyster - the favorite for the other team members, but not me! Actually Cần Giờ has many oyster farms that we pass by today. 

                  Popular clam cooked with lemongrass, chili and herbs. 

              Oyster porridge with mushroom, sprouting mung beans and a lot of green onion. 

                 The oyster farm that I mentioned - right in the stream.  

15:00 pm

After taking a little nap and a quick cold shower at the guest house, it's time for us to depart as we don't want to have any problem on the road in the evening, when at some deserted road, no street light at all. On the way back we take a quick stop-over at one of many water coconut stalls along the road. 

       One of Cần Giờ specialities: water coconut. Water not because of the coconut juice...

                  it's not juicy at all, the coconut trees are growing in the water. 

                  Water coconut is a good refreshment, if we add some ice and sugar.  

                 and here we go : water coconut trees, a familiar image along the road to Cần Giờ. 

17:00 pm

As I told you there is one member in our team, we call him "the troublemaker". His bike got tire deflated again. Twice in a day. The same wheel. And only him - the youngest! And we wonder why? only him? Yeah luckily only him! No problem as it takes our mechanist - the nickname that I give to one of team members, only 15' to fix and we all get back to the road. 

Along the journey I'd love to take as many photos as I could, but on the way back, I was warned about the deserted streets without any light, so I have no choice to let some interesting sceneries pass me by with a great regret.  

             Fishing lovers, they stay on the bridge hours and hours with a dozen of fishing rods. 

                 Peaceful scenery with the famous mangrove forest in the background. 

                Mangrove has numerous tangled roots above water surface, form dense thickets. 

               We didn't have a chance to get a boat to discover more the mangrove forest. Next time? 

                 It's not fair if we don't mention another species of the mangrove forests: rừng đước 

               I love this shot, while the sunset, the atmosphere, the time seemed stopped...    

18:30 pm
We reached our ferry. The night falls. Back to the mainland, but it's not the end of our journey as we still continue to ride another 15km to really get back home, to flashy Saigon but noisy, polluted.

     
And here is our team with the nicknames: me as the photographer, the uncle and his nephew in the middle, blue guys, as the playboy for uncle and the troublemaker for nephew (his bike got tire deflated twice during the trip!), and the mechanist who is all the time helping us to fix the bikes, to bring them back to the road!

We all are happy as we completed our journey safely, we managed to ride out the distance of 150km, the killing heat in the midday, the bike's incidents and to finish our trip. Everyone feel "wow, we did it" as last time we also went to Cần Giờ but we had to go back in the middle due to some unexpected things.
So, thank you to everyone and to our companions - fabulous bikes - the iron horses!

See you next time!

Saigon in blossom (Part Two)

The botanical & floral exhibition in Tao Dan park is one of the most expected events during Tết, I can't remember when it was first organized but it should be old enough that we as Saigonese can't live without when Tết is coming. Ideally located, Tao Dan is the largest park in Saigon, I love the street next to the park...so green and so quiet! 

Before the exhibition included even the birds and aquarium fish, I still remember those amazing flowerhorn (cá La Hán) and discus (cá Dĩa) but nowadays the organizers focus only on floral and botanical, esp. bonsai. 

               Giant snake or python made of immortal flowers - a symbol of this year! 

               Red Frangipani (hoa Sứ) in the park...look at the flower plant, wonder how they do it?  

                and another kind of Frangipani - pink ones, simply amazing! 

               and another one...love the color! 

               and another one...wonder how many kinds they have ? Many! 

                  Bonsai complex...or to me as a miniature paradise on earth!  

                   Look at the tree and the stones setting...unbelievable!   

               Just wonder how long does it take the master to do this ?  

                  and this tamarind tree with tamarinds on it...and the tree itself as hundred year old! 

               just imagine if we have this bonsai right in the spacious living room...how wonderful is it? 

                  Mai is our symbol for Spring, for New Year, the yellow symbolized the prosperity...

                   more flowers, more prosperous, if blossom right in the first day of New Year, even better!  

                   Tao Dan is a really beautiful park, if they could keep doing this for year round! 

                    the only thing I feel we lack good sculptures, even in the city...the new ones! 

                  "Tray of Five fruits" for traditional celebrations and best wishes, but here much more...

                 in terms of wishes and the number of fruits to set up this amazing unicorn and phoenix 

       these young friends in traditional cloths for photo shot in Tao Dan for good "E-wish" to their fans? 

So I end this post with a lion dance that becomes a part of our tradition whenever we have celebration, and Tết is the biggest celebration for everyone! Happy Snake's Year!