Food, glorious food of Vietnam

Yup, I'm back.... quite reluctantly. If not for the traffic (especially life-threatening at Ho Chi Minh City), I would have migrated to Vietnam...

Instead of going gaga over the much-touted pho, I was more enchanted by the numerous others which deserved to be feted here.

But first, the pho (pronounced as 'fur' and beef noodles, or pho bo, sounds a less appetising 'fur ball'), which is not the national dish for no reason, and so deserves a mention. Available everywhere, it has some variations along the length of the long strip that is Vietnam, and Hue has a special variety of its own.... bun bo hue which I saw almost everywhere but miraculously didn't try it until I came back to Singapore, wondering about the authenticity in VavaVoom's version (and rueing over the Singapore price tag of $5.80 when I could have paid only $1 in Vietnam).

Being a foodie, Vietnam has titillated my tastebuds with its own rendition of familiar favourites no doubt enriched by the influences of its conquerors like the French & Chinese...

Pancake (Banh Xeo):

Pleasantly delightful in the freezing cold climate of mountainous Sapa. Super crispy-thin. The one at HCMC by contrast is like a super thick omelette, served with chocolate (yummy!). Try the fruit variety! Fresh mango, which stands out on its own, or better still with Pineapple & honey (Thom Mat) .....


Banh (Baguettes)Baguettes

The one that makes me feel like migrating to Vietnam. If this is introduced to Singapore, I think the pork floss buns at Breadtalk will remain on the shelves.... I ate this from North (Hanoi) to South (HCMC). Didn't eat this only in Sapa. Everyone I ate was different. The fillings are infinitely interesting, ranging from ham to roast pork to beef paste to 'pork leg jelly' (translated literally) to pig's ear (which sadly, I missed....), enhanced with fish sauce and others (up to 3 types) and cucumber/tomato/parsley. Do NOT ask for eggs as it's overwhelming and distracts your tastebuds from the main

Price range: 3000 to 10000 dongs (30cents to $1)

Every meal is worth looking forward to ... because every corner of the street throws up a new combination for the interested intrepid to sample and savour :)

Cua Tam Bot

At XQ village, Mdm Soh gamely tried the Vietnamese version of the soft shell crab...not much difference from the Japanese one, save for the chilli sauce that goes with it.

Other types of seafood are in abundance since Vietnam is all of that Indochinese stretch from the China border to the ocean... the strip long enough to support a great fishing industry....

Fruits and Veggie

Chayote is the most exotic of them all - the place where the mountain veggie is only available in Vietnam is Sapa. (Later discovered that Giant supermart in S'pore is selling it at 17cents per 100g .... Singapore is truly a shopping cum eating paradise...). Boiled to a succulent texture, we lapped it up quickly with the rather salty but interesting dip of ground peanut.

Fruits are also prominent in their daily lives, with the ubiquitous mobile stalls that Vietnamese women will carry about soliciting from street to street, sometimes following you when you gave as much as a cursory glance which is interpreted as interest. Mandarin oranges are guaranteed sweet, and is inversely proportional to size. Soursop, dragonfruit, longan, pineapples and custard apples are everywhere too. Of course, there was no escaping the touristy fruit selling business on the floating docks/boats of Halong bay:

Desserts:

A dessert with coconut milk and dollops of yam, sweet potato, etc - bo bo cha cha to Singaporeans - didn't get the Vietnamese name since we just point at it from the attractive rows of colourful desserts sitting prettily at the roadside shop in Hue, where the owners were so stunned at us being there that they hid for a while.

Banh dau xanh - green bean cube that melts in your mouth the moment it touches your tongue. Recommended by Mdm Soh who discovered this Vietnamese product in China. Better than the Shanghainese version I tried.