As well as amazing natural sites (like Ha Long Bay), some emotional museums (like the Hoa Lo Prison and the Cu Chi Tunnels) and all the hundreds of small culture differences that make a trip interesting (like the musical bingo in Hoi An ) the food was incredible.
The route we took is here for reference. We flew in and out of Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon, then flew up to Hanoi and worked our way back down on trains and buses.
I didn't realise the variety of dishes there would be and the huge variations between regions and even nearby towns. Although I ate pho a few times this was certainly not the best thing I had. The food was far more varied than other countries in Asia I've visited and I didn't even get to try it all!
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| About to tuck into some Bun Cha |
Here's some of the food highlights as a whistle stop guide (and as a note to myself to try and recreate some!)
(Photos here aren't mine, I was always too impatient to eat to remember to take a photo, so these are a selection found through Google)
(Photos here aren't mine, I was always too impatient to eat to remember to take a photo, so these are a selection found through Google)
1. Vietnamese Coffee
Rice noodles, fresh salad and herbs served on the side to add into the broth at the table.
4. Mien Luon
Crispy whole fried eels (don't squirm, they were delicious!) in a chunky rice noodle soup with beansprouts and piles of fresh herbs. Add chilli paste to taste at the table.
The eels slowly impart a smoky slightly fishy flavour to the broth as you dig around for each bite, so the broth changes and ends up tasting quite different at the end compared to at the beginning.
5. Banh Xeo
Crispy rice pancakes with a texture like deep fried batter. Stuffed with beansprouts, pork, prawn and sometimes egg.
This is one we had to be shown how to eat properly; cut off a piece, wrap it in lettuce leaf, dip into fish sauce, and eat. For me this was a somewhat complex manoeuvre with chopsticks, but well worth the effort!
6. Banh Bao
Soft pillowy steamed buns stuffed usually with minced pork, sometimes a small boiled egg too, plus finely diced mushroom and onion. Tear apart and dip the dough into chilli or soy sauce.
7. Mi Quang
Juicy yellow noodles in broth with hunks of meat (usually pork) served with chopped peanuts sprinkled on top and beansprouts, salad and herbs on the side. You mix these in at the table to taste, lifting up and folding over the noodles to mix it properly (again one a waitress came to show us how to eat properly after watching me doing it wrong!).
Sometimes served with a crispy poppadom like cracker on the side
8. Banh Mi
A small French baguette stuffed full with a smear of fish pate and/or a sprinkle of soy sauce, hunks of grilled pork (usually, though there are tonnes of different options), a handful of thin sliced crunchy vegetables (mostly carrot and cabbage I think) and a generous handful of fresh corriander.
From all the food I ate a few running themes stood out that I'd like to "borrow" for my own recipes;
Brewed in a metal drip pot the coffee comes out so strong that the liquid looks thicker than normal. Served on a generous dollop of condensed milk that you stir vigorously to mix in. Very addictive.
2. Bun Cha
Flame grilled pork mince patties and bacon chunks, added into a savoury broth with carrot, and onion pieces just before serving. The broth includes rice vinegar so there's a slight tang but it makes the whole dish very fresh.
The ubiquitous chilli paste and fish sauce on the table to add to taste.
3. Bahn Cuon
Super thin, melt in the mouth rice pancakes stuffed with delicately flavoured fillings like pork mince and vegetables. Crispy onion sprinkled on the top gives a slight crunch. Fresh herbs and mild spiced fish sauce on the side for dipping
4. Mien Luon
Crispy whole fried eels (don't squirm, they were delicious!) in a chunky rice noodle soup with beansprouts and piles of fresh herbs. Add chilli paste to taste at the table.
The eels slowly impart a smoky slightly fishy flavour to the broth as you dig around for each bite, so the broth changes and ends up tasting quite different at the end compared to at the beginning.
5. Banh Xeo
Crispy rice pancakes with a texture like deep fried batter. Stuffed with beansprouts, pork, prawn and sometimes egg.
This is one we had to be shown how to eat properly; cut off a piece, wrap it in lettuce leaf, dip into fish sauce, and eat. For me this was a somewhat complex manoeuvre with chopsticks, but well worth the effort!
6. Banh Bao
Soft pillowy steamed buns stuffed usually with minced pork, sometimes a small boiled egg too, plus finely diced mushroom and onion. Tear apart and dip the dough into chilli or soy sauce.
7. Mi Quang
Juicy yellow noodles in broth with hunks of meat (usually pork) served with chopped peanuts sprinkled on top and beansprouts, salad and herbs on the side. You mix these in at the table to taste, lifting up and folding over the noodles to mix it properly (again one a waitress came to show us how to eat properly after watching me doing it wrong!).
Sometimes served with a crispy poppadom like cracker on the side
8. Banh Mi
A small French baguette stuffed full with a smear of fish pate and/or a sprinkle of soy sauce, hunks of grilled pork (usually, though there are tonnes of different options), a handful of thin sliced crunchy vegetables (mostly carrot and cabbage I think) and a generous handful of fresh corriander.
From all the food I ate a few running themes stood out that I'd like to "borrow" for my own recipes;
- adding fresh salad to broth based soups at the table for crunch and freshness
- Thai basil - in everything, with good reason!
- mixing cooking methods more - grill this, boil that, toast those, then combine together into the one dish later
- Fish sauce! There were so many subtly different types, not just the thick overpowering type usually in UK supermarkets. Delicate, tangy sauces with chilli or garlic slices left to infuse are used for dipping most foods.
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