since our arrival into vietnam nearly two weeks ago, alina and i have been able to sample a dizzying array of vietnamese food. from pho soup to spicy snails, cau lau and che, every city and town has provided us with another mind boggling culinary revelation. the food has been as colorful and refreshing as the people that have been preparing and serving it. every bowl of noodle soup, plate of spring rolls and baguette sandwich has been served with a huge smile that exudes the pride that went into making the food. as a fellow practitioner of the culinary arts, i can appreciate the feeling of seeing happy and excited diners anxiously watching you prepare food for them. i think that the sense of satisfaction is mutual between the vendor and customer here in vietnam.
here is a brief run down on a few of the dishes that have given us such great satisfaction in the last few weeks:
• pho bo (10000 vnd, about 60 cents) is probably the best-known vietnamese food outside the country, and for good reason as it is very much the staple food of the people here. in vietnamese, pho is the word used to describe noodle soup and bo is beef. so essentially what you have is a very simple beef broth with flat rice noodles and sliced lean beef. it is usually garnished with some green onion and cilantro with limes and fresh chiles on the side. of course, around every corner is a different variation of pho, utilizing braised beef, gelatinous beef tendon, beef meatballs and grilled flank. there is also pho ga - ga is chicken in vietnamese. in ninh binh, there is pho de - de being goat meat. from vendor to vendor, you can find the addition of fish sauce, chile paste, bean sprouts or shaved onions. i am sure that it sounds like we have tried it all, but after only two weeks, we have barely scratched the surface. street vendors seem to have their own territory, setting up shop in the same place everyday. there are also different vendors in the same spot throughout the day, one selling pho for breakfast in the morning then packing up in the afternoon to make way for a vendor selling something completely different for lunch or dinner. after a few days in one place, we start to get a feel for who sells what, where and when… but back to pho, it is much simpler than i had ever imagined before coming to vietnam. i think that it is perhaps too simple to be served in its true form in america, as most vietnamese restaurants in the states seem to over complicate it or try to 'spruce it up' for the american palate. i have really been enamored with the straightforward simplicity of the 'real thing' here in vietnam.
• bun bo hue (10000 vnd, about 60 cents) is another type of rice noodle soup. while its components do not differ much from it's cousin pho, to me it is infinitely more complicated. bun bo hue is a heavy beef broth loaded with fish sauce and stained red from chile paste. it is best when served with a few fried fish cakes, braised beef tendon and lean beef and drizzled with tons of fresh lime juice. at a stop over/day trip in hue, the ancient capital of vietnam, we had, by far, our favorite version of this soup for breakfast one morning. as usual, when least expected, we are treated to the best tastes and flavors… it must have something to do with the lack of expectations or anticipation. it was our first day officially out of the north and we were treated to some sunlight and our first taste of humidity since leaving hawaii so many weeks ago. on our way to the ancient citadel of hue we stumbled upon a small street front shop selling café sua, vietnamese drip coffee with sweetened condensed milk, and bun bo hue and stopped to have a bowl. as is often the case, alina let me order first. after seeing the steaming bowl of soup, she quickly asked the cook, sitting at her station next to our table for another bowl. she cracked a huge, warm smile and nodded as if to say, "yeah, i knew you would want one too…"
• che (pronounced gaa) is a cheap (5000 vnd, about 30 cents) sweet treat served on just about every street corner in vietnam. it is a chilled sweet tea made of simple syrup and varying types of beans, including white, black, soy and limas. it is served in a tall glass and topped with fresh, young 'spoon meat' coconut and fresh coconut milk. of course, going against what the guidebooks tell you not to do, we have ours the way the locals do, served over shaved ice. it makes for a very sweet, refreshing little mid-day snack. it is also a good way to take a load off after touring around for a while and is a good chance to sit down with the locals and make conversation. there is a unique culture that comes along with squatting on a small plastic stool on the sidewalk right next to a road full of scooters, carts, bikes and pedestrians. for some reason, once you take the step to sit down people seem to let down their guard a bit and let you into their world. after answering the standard, what is you name, where are you from, how long have you been in vietnam… you are rewarded with a chance to be right in the mix of things, watching them work, interacting with other locals and always a collection of friendly smiles…
• the baguette sandwich - east meets west or the french legacy… however you want to describe it, street vendors and cafes are toasting up warm epi baguettes and stuffing them full of pate, roasted pork belly, pork loin, chicken, smoked fish, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, lettuces, chile sauce, emmental cheese, donner kebab chicken and lamb or spicy chipped beef. for anywhere from about 30 to 75 cents you can grab one of these little snacks for a quick lunch or late night snack (or as i did after going to the fish market this morning, for breakfast…).
• grilled fish. here in hoi an, we stopped for lunch in a small café two days ago and were treated to a tasty little grilled fish dish that is popular throughout central and southern vietnam. small fillets or fingers of fish are covered with rough minced fresh turmeric root, wrapped tightly in fresh banana leaves and grilled over charcoal. the results are perfect, moist fish, infused with the tartness of the turmeric and aroma of the charred banana leaves. served with a little steamed rice on the side and a dipping sauce of lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and cracked black pepper - awesome… this would have made for a perfect entrée back at hotel hana maui, with all of the fresh snappers and groupers from the lind family…
• cau lau, a staple dish in hoi an, is yet another vietnamese style noodle dish. thick, chewy, fresh egg noodles are served with a few small slices of lean, roasted pork loin, fresh bibb lettuce, bean sprouts, cilantro and crispy fried rice noodle pieces and then dressed with a little bit of a rich pork broth and drizzled with lime juice. in hoi an, cau lau replaces pho as the most popular/served anywhere dish of the city… up market restaurants, road side stalls and everything in-between serves this dish. my favorite has been from a small street vendor right on the waterfront across from the boat dock, catering to both locals and adventurous tourists. like most, a family affair, with the wife cooking, husband taking orders and son clearing tables… here you can have a small bowl, enough to make a lunch, for 10000 vnd or 60 cents. i have forgotten to mention one interesting thing about paying and pricing. all prices are quoted simultaneously in dong (vnd) and dollars. it is funny to see. this phenomenon is not just reserved for americans or even tourists for that matter. i saw japanese people paying for a tour to my son, champa ruins outside of hoi an, yesterday with american dollars. even at the post office last night, when making a shipment back to the states, we where given a price list where everything was listed in dollars, while all of the text was in vietnamese and french… go figure. without a calculator and some quick division skills you could find yourself lost trying to figure out how much things cost.
well, i guess that is a good start in describing a few of the tastes of vietnam. i am sure there will be more to come. we have also added quite a few food pics to our account on flickr if you want to see more… david
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