re: Exploring the food culture in Vietnam beyond pho

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Upon crossing the street just outside my hotel, a random elder man in his 60s, sitting on his motorbike looked at me and asked if I needed a ride.

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That’s awesome, I’d look like Matty Matheson and Master Rang on one of those small motorbikes.

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I'd love to visit places like Vietnam and Thailand, but being 6'3", I feel like I'd stand out like a sore thumb and be an easy target. In addition, being a foreigner in a strange land where I don't speak the language is just very intimidating to me.

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Bro don’t let that stop you. Crime in Southeast Asia isn’t really an issue. In Thailand you are never alone and a large percentage of people, especially in tourist areas speak English. Once you get there you will figure it out. IMO traveling solo is much better than traveling with others. Forces you to get out your comfort zone and you also can do what you want.

We need more spring rolls and egg rolls.

Ice cream in place of a biscuit is an interesting sub, but since it’s soft serve, yes, please! Looking forward to more of your posts.

How many times have you been to Vietnam?

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don't speak the language

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It's a relatively easy language to learn. Only four tenses and no verb conjugation. Like most languages the adjective goes after the noun. "Nhung" out front makes a word plural.

Only hard part is learning/retaining the vocabulary. (The pronouns are complicated but mistakes are just a tell that you aren't a native speaker so you'll still be understood.)

Banh mi #1,2,3 and 4

This morning I went strolling in the neighborhood and saw a banh mi place. They bake their own bread so I had an idea it was going. Initially I ordered one char sui pork belly and an egg. Then finished them and ordered a cha lua(Vietnamese spam). Then I got the grilled pork. I feel like I’m cheating since all these came from the same place, but I’m behind schedule so a little cheating is needed.

Front


Oven in the back




Egg


Pork belly char sui


Cha lua


Grilled pork


Other items in the banh mi were cucumber, shredded green papaya and carrots, chili paste, pâté, egg mayo, sauce, and mint.

Egg - B tier 12K(47 cents)
Pork belly - A tier 15K(60 cents)
Cha lua - B tier 15K
Grilled pork - B tier 15K

Random picture: while I was chowing down these banh mis, there were a group of elementary students taking their class pictures across the street. Future looks bright for VN.

Now that's the Banh mi porn I've been waiting for....

Which bahn mi did you like best of the three? The char sui one?

Yes, the pork belly char sui.

$20(500k) food challenge:

Here’s the 500k which is Vietnam’s largest denomination bill with Ho Chi Minh on it. Actually, he’s on every bill.



For this challenge I decided to visit the local market. There are supermarkets here, but for everyday grocery items of meat, seafood, vegetables, fruits, the locals go to these markets. Also, you can find great eats here as well.









For the challenge, I started with another bánh mì(#5). This one I’ve never had before. It’s the banh mi bot lot(shrimp tapioca dumpling).



The tapioca dumplings are like the texture of those tapioca pearls, except there’s a crispy shrimp in the middle. It sounds kind of weird at first but the chewy dumpling totally works with the crispiness of the banh mi. Then you get a hit of umami and the right spicy. My favorite bánh mì so far(A tier), and it was only 15k.

Next I got the 20k banh beo (steamed rice cakes) from another vendor. In Vietnam, “banh” (cakes) have a wide range. In the US, it’s a sweet flour confection. Here, it’s can be sweet or savory and can be made from wheat flour, rice or tapioca flour.



Topped with shred dried shrimps, fried shallots, fish cakes, peanuts, with homemade fish sauce. The peanuts is a new addition is new to me. Usually I have it with sautéed green onions instead. That’s the thing with Vietnamese food here is that each region or city will put their own twist of a dish.

I got a pint of freshly squeezed sugar can juice with calamansi. Very refreshing drink for 10k(under 50 cents).




And I finished it off with a soursop smoothie for 20k.




Cool side story. The sugar cane vendor was this old man that I frequent the last time I was here(5 yrs ago). As I approach to order the juice, I noticed a young woman now operating the stall. The stall next to it was a smoothie vendor who is middle age woman. She remembers me and immediately orders the sugarcane juice for me. Because of that, i felt obligated to buy a smoothie from her. btw, i found out the old sugarcane vendor sold his spot and retired. He was a good dude.


remaining balance : 435k