I am going to break down my Vietnamese blog posts as I feel that the food here deserves a whole post of its own. I know my mum in particular has always thought I have a mad obsession with food and for as long as I can remember rather that asking how her evening was I would ask 'What did everyone have to eat!' I know some people are not interested in food but for me it is one of the top reasons for travel, I basically travel to eat my way around the world.
Vietnam is well known for its street food and we have definitely sampled our fair share over the past 10 days. Starting with Nathan's fried bananas from a stall when we had only been in the country about 10 minutes.
Another favourite street food eaten everywhere in Vietnam is the Banh Mi. This is typically a single serve baguette filled with some form of pork, pickles, vegetables and a spicy sauce.
We have tried several and all have been totally different and amazing. The first one was in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon, which is what the locals still call it so that is what I will refer to it as in this post) and the stall is called Banh Mi 37 Nguyen Trai. The lady is famous and has a long line of locals lining up to get their daily fix of hot baguette filled with five small pork patties, lettuce, cucumber, coriander and spicy sauce. Nathan and I stood in line for a while, handed over our 40k Dong (£1.20) and had our first Banh Mi. Wow!
In Hoi An we visited two different Banh Mi places both were in people's living rooms where a family member would prepare your Banh Mi while you sat on plastic chairs.
Both of them again were delicious. For anyone visiting Hoi An the first was called Phi Banh Mi and the second was Madam Khanh.
Arriving in Hanoi we hadn't had a Banh Mi for 5 days so headed straight for Banh Mi 25 and had something a little different here. It was filled with Pâté and BBQ pork and again was amazing, I think we might have to revisit this one.
Ok so enough about sandwiches and on to other foods Vietnam is famous for. We arrived in Saigon and met Chloe and Johnny, who had been travelling on our bus from Cambodia. We had some beers and headed for our first Vietnamese meal, Pho.
Phở or pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup consisting of broth, rice noodles called bánh phở, a few herbs, and meat. It is primarily served with beef. Pho is a popular street food in Vietnam
Pho originated in the early 20th Century, the Hanoi and Saigon styles of pho differ by noodle width, sweetness of broth, and choice of herbs. So naturally I have made it my mission to try as many bowls as pho as I possibly can while here in Vietnam.
So our first stop on the Pho adventure was a place called Pho Quynh. We ordered the special which meant it was Pho with rare beef, beef balls and tenderloin. They put a plate of herbs on the table for you to rip up and add to your own liking. The herbs are delicious and consisted of bean sprouts, Thai basil, long leaf and red Thai chillies but the main ingredients for the Pho is actually the broth. A good broth is the making of a good Pho. This first Pho in Saigon did not disappoint we all loved it.
Our next Pho tasting was a few days later and still in Saigon at a place called Pho Le. This was a real local place where no one spoke English so we just said 'Pho' with a smile and hoped for the best. A minute later a steaming hot bowl of delicious soup was put in front of us with the freshest noodles immersed in the beautiful broth.
We went on to have Pho at the airport that same evening for dinner, we have also ordered Pho when making a 20 minute stop on the long bus journey's from street vendors and all have been delicious.
In Hoi An the family we were staying with made us breakfast which was a wonderful Pho. In Hue we walked about 30 minutes to find a Pho place that was recommended to us called Pho Saigon. This restaurant was in someone's front room and you sat down on plastic chairs with a fan blowing on you and places your order. I decided to get tomatoes in with my Pho broth which was also a great addition for a change.
Another night in Hue I had a less traditional version with prawns in which I too would recommend.
Vietnamese food however is not just about Pho, although I have had one almost every day. We have also had some other amazing dishes. In Hoi An we went to a vegetarian restaurant and ate some beautiful fresh spring rolls and delicious wonton soup. We actually returned to this restaurant a few nights later and ordered the a Hoi An speciality the White Rose. The easiest way to describe it is to say its like thin white dumplings with fried crispy onion pieces on the top, it is a crazy dish as the textures are bizarre, the dumpling is slimy and the onions crispy but it definitely works.
With our obsession with food really hitting a high in Vietnam it only made sense to sign up to a cooking course. Our cooking school with Nyuget from the Baby Mustard Restaurant started early in the morning at the Hoi An market.
We went around buying the vegetables we needed for our dishes.
Then we had to find the prawns.
And the squid.
Next we headed to the nearby village to the herb garden.
Which was amazing because as we walked around we got to try all the different herbs.
Then it was time to start cooking. Our first dish was to make our vegetable and shrimp spring rolls. I loved making these and they will definitely be being made weekly at home for lunches they were amazing.
Arriving in Hanoi we hadn't had a Banh Mi for 5 days so headed straight for Banh Mi 25 and had something a little different here. It was filled with Pâté and BBQ pork and again was amazing, I think we might have to revisit this one.
Ok so enough about sandwiches and on to other foods Vietnam is famous for. We arrived in Saigon and met Chloe and Johnny, who had been travelling on our bus from Cambodia. We had some beers and headed for our first Vietnamese meal, Pho.
Phở or pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup consisting of broth, rice noodles called bánh phở, a few herbs, and meat. It is primarily served with beef. Pho is a popular street food in Vietnam
Pho originated in the early 20th Century, the Hanoi and Saigon styles of pho differ by noodle width, sweetness of broth, and choice of herbs. So naturally I have made it my mission to try as many bowls as pho as I possibly can while here in Vietnam.
So our first stop on the Pho adventure was a place called Pho Quynh. We ordered the special which meant it was Pho with rare beef, beef balls and tenderloin. They put a plate of herbs on the table for you to rip up and add to your own liking. The herbs are delicious and consisted of bean sprouts, Thai basil, long leaf and red Thai chillies but the main ingredients for the Pho is actually the broth. A good broth is the making of a good Pho. This first Pho in Saigon did not disappoint we all loved it.
We made a hoisin style squid dish, wrapped it in a banana leaf and cooked it over an open flame. Obviously at home this could be down on a BBQ by wrapping it in foil.
Our final dish was amazing and again so simple that it can easily be made back home. It was sweet and sour beef but making the sweet and sour sauce from scratch. The sauce was so beautifully blended that I had to email Nguyet after the class for the exact recipe as I don't want to get anything wrong when I make it in the UK.
When we were in Hoi An we also went to an Indian restaurant where the food tasted of home in Brick Lane, although the nann bread was absolutely massive.
Next we headed to the nearby village to the herb garden.
As well as all the amazing food we have been sampling the coffee on offer throughout Vietnam. I read an article about bland chains taking over Vietnams coffee scene and Nathan and I have tried to visit unique places for our coffee as Vietnam has some of the best coffee in the world, I think it is second only to Brazil. Ancient holes such as Giang coffee in Hanoi have become sacred treasures. Giang Café is humbly hidden on a small lane on Nguyen Huu Huan Street in the city’s old quarter. It is hugely popular among Hanoi’s coffee addicts with its special ca phe trung, or egg coffee so Nathan and I thought we should check it out.
Nathan ordered the egg coffee hot with rum and I ordered an egg coffee over ice. They were interesting, it tasted a little like Christmas as it reminded me of Eggnog.
The egg coffee recipe is almost the same as when it opened in 1946 with its chief ingredients being chicken egg yolk, Vietnamese coffee powder, sweetened condensed milk, butter and cheese. It sounds odd but it is good. Although Nathan prefers the short Hoi An coffee over ice and I have really enjoyed the long Saigon coffee over ice.
Vietnam has been a pretty amazing food adventure so far. I better stop writing for now as we are off out for dinner in Hanoi to a Pho place where you sit in a line on the street! I'm exciting to see what Hanoi Pho has to offer as apparently northern Pho is different to Soutern Pho!
Vietnam has been a pretty amazing food adventure so far. I better stop writing for now as we are off out for dinner in Hanoi to a Pho place where you sit in a line on the street! I'm exciting to see what Hanoi Pho has to offer as apparently northern Pho is different to Soutern Pho!