Vietnamese food you blew not only my taste buds away but my way of thinking. It’s the interaction with the food. You don’t sit down for a formal meal in Vietnam you almost assemble it together yourself as you go about the streets taking your fancy.
AWESOME STREET FOOD -Egg pancakes - Rice pancakes - PHO with bowls of lettuce - Herbs and noodles - Spring rolls - Fresh spring rolls - Fresh fish - Steamed pork buns - Pork carved straight of the butchers block or as we called her ‘the pork lady’. I could go on and on.
STREET FOOD BLISS
When I was travelling through Vietnam and even when back home talking about street food a common reaction was ‘Urg street food, it’s not clean’. This isn’t the case.
Especially coming from a chef. You really do have to be open minded. See past the carts along the streets and see into the markets bursting with fresh produce daily. Each street vendor buys fresh food for lunch then fresh for diner. Remember they only provide 1 – 2 dishes not a vast amount like restaurants. Restaurants have to rotate and use all stock for a full menu whereas street food is fresh daily
STREET FOOD is delicious. SO cheap, it’s completely affordable to explore and go crazy. I don’t think I have ever eaten so much food in my life and never became bored. The street food in Vietnam is endless. I couldn't talk about all of it in the detail as I have done blew as it would be extremely long however you can click on the image below for a slideshow of some of the food and experiences in Vietnam.
Try and picture how the Vietnamese eat. Have you ever seen it in pictures? The have mini tables and mini stools. MINI meaning mini. You’re pretty much squatting throughout the day. No wonder they have such good legs.
It’s not just the squatting on mini chairs it’s the hustle of it all. All hustled in together, talking to the people right next to them about their travels.
Then there is the drinking. In Saigon your see these chairs by the hundreds, crammed in the street with tourists almost sitting on top of each other drinking alcohol watching the people, mopeds, general craziness whizz past on the road in front of them. The same seat from 6pm – 4am next morning. WAT!
CHOPSTICKS - HANDS
If you’re not aquatinted with them you soon will be. Chop sticks are the way in Vietnam. It’s easy peasy when you actually try. After only a week I bought my very own set. There everywhere, be sure to barter in the markets. Get used to using your hands as well people as Vietnamese food requires assembling yourself at times. All good fun.
LETS TALK FOOD… I’ll break this down by the food and regions
VIETNAMESE PANCAKES - BANH XEO
I found 3 variations of these – Hoi chi Minh - Hoi An - Hue
SAIGON - HO CHI MINH
This was the very first Vietnamese food to hit my taste buds experiencing a little interaction between myself and the food by assembling my dinner.
A crispy egg pancake filled with king prawns and beans shoots, side plate of lettuce, side bowl of fresh herbs and a dipping sauce of sweet chilli. (Homemade) not that garlic version we sell here that leaves after taste in your mouth all day.
HOW TO EAT IT
With your hands
Tear the pancake
Lay it on a nice size lettuce leaf
Add some fresh herbs
Then you roll
Dip
ENJOY!
An Emile Moment - The explanation of whats happening in your mouth
Try to imagine what’s happening in the mouth. The crisp lettuce, then the crunch of egg pancake, the juice from the prawns and bean shoots bursting inside your mouth, the tang of the sweet chilli sauce then the aroma of the fresh pungent basil. Hummmm and this is the first experience I had. Imagine what’s to come.
THE HOI AN VERSION
Quick note- Hoi An is the most beautiful part of Vietnam I visited. It has it all, beach, beautiful river by day and night, relaxed, a calming bustle. See pics in world food page for a peek.
OK, the egg pancakes of this region. Recommended by a local where the locals eat. What a Gem!
‘The Bale Well’ You MUST go here
Within minutes of sitting down the food starts arriving on the table. Rice paper sheets - Egg pancakes stuffed with bean shoots - Succulent marinated pork skewers – Skin on king prawn fried spring roll – Pickled vegetables – Bowl of herbs and lettuce – Meat Bolognese sauce
HOW TO EAT IT
With your hands
Rice paper sheet
Egg pancake inside
Add some pickled vegetables
Lay on a nice size lettuce leaf and herbs
Pull your pork skewer off as your squeeze the pancake
Add the skin on king prawn fried spring roll
Then you roll
Dip
YUM!
An Emile Moment
Imagine this one. Entirely different textures form that in Saigon. In your mouth there’s the initial crunch of the crispy egg pancake, biting through the tasty skin on prawn spring roll, the juice of the succulent pork skewer, the tang and sweetness from the pickled vegetables and then as ever the fragrant fresh herbs come to life as your chewing through all this delightfulness.
WOW… 4 of these and your bursting at the seams.
THE HUE VERSION
The plates above are small plates about 10cm. The way these pancakes come out is by the plate and it’s how many plates you stack up next to you that are the test. The mix gets made in front of you and the plates just keep on coming. You have to say STOP of you’ll get 20!
The Hue version is made differently. On an iron pancake griddle pan they add a mix of rice flour and egg to it, pressing inside cooking the mix. Then fresh hot of the grill next to this they add the delicious BBQ flavoured chicken. The chicken is added to the mix pressed inside the griddle pan.
Out it comes on the little plates. Your side of pickled vegetables - lettuce leaf – herbs -spicy dipping sauce on your table ready to assemble.
HOW TO EAT IT
With your chopsticks
Rice flour pancake with chicken on your plate
Add some pickled vegetables
Lay on a nice size lettuce leaf and herbs
Then you roll
Dip
SAVOUR!
An Emile Moment
Here we go again. This time its softer in the mouth. The crisp crunch of the pancake submerged with soft charred BBQ pieces of chicken, the gentle crunch from the julienned pickled vegetables, the herbs bursting through with the spice of the dipping sauce.
The difference in these pancakes being smaller and softer making it all the more easier to eat. The danger of course is that they keep on coming. How can you refuse such delicious mouthfuls? I think I got to 8 plates then begged no more.
I couldn’t even tell you where this was. We were on a moped ride to the temples, along the side of road we found this family street cart. Mum, daughter and baby. Lovely
There we go, I hope if only for a moment you could imagine how these completely delicious pancakes tasted from the regions I spoke about.
Thank you Vietnam for showing me a whole new culinary experience. Absolutely love it.