Vietnam – The Food Post

Okay, the foodie post – a combo of what we ate in Vietnam and what you should eat.

Breakfast noodles

Beginning and ending with a noodle soup at Changi Airport in Singapore (below), I had noodle soups every morning for breakfast.

Pho or Bun Ca (Fried Fish Noodle soup) in Hanoi and Pho, cao lầu or mì Quảng in Hoi An. Despite my addition of chilli (I’m that person), I found them gentle on my tummy and a great way to start the day. (As an aside, I’m a fan of congee for the same reason).

Pho we’ll talk about below, but cao lầu and mì Quảng – which we enjoyed at Maison Vy – need a little more explanation.

The rice noodles used in cao lầu are made from rice soaked in lye water, which gives them a chewy, springy texture and a grayish-brown colour. The noodles are thicker than the ones that are used for pho, and the broth is different – flavoured with star anise, mint, and …something else. It tastes much sweeter.

The website hoianfoodtour.com explains what makes the dish so special:

The dish cannot be replicated outside of the town because the water used in the dish must be drawn from a well in the nearby Ba Le well which is dug by the Cham people, which is at the end of an alley opposite 35 Phan Chau Trinh Street. The lye solution used to prepare the noodles comes from trees grown on Cham Island. This water is then mixed with ashes from certain trees, to give it its particular yellow tinge and slightly firm texture. The noodles will therefore be soft, enduring and flavored with special sweet-smelling additives.

If you want to know more about that, here’s the link. Anyways, it’s topped with pork that’s been marinated, fried and then roasted; bean sprouts, puffy, porky little croutons of fried noodle, a mountain of fresh herbs and a little broth.

Mì Quảng, also from this region, is flat noodles on a small amount of intensely flavoured broth served with heaps of herby greens, quail eggs, slices of pork belly, whole shrimp, peanuts, and toasted sesame crackers.

Pho

This is possibly Vietnam’s national dish – it’s also one that’s guaranteed to make you feel better when you’re not feeling quite so flash. It’s traditionally a brekky dish, but seriously, who follows rules like that? Essentially pho (pronounced “fur”) is a light, yet flavour packed stock into which finely sliced beef (bo) or chicken (ga) is added, along with rice noodles and spring onions.

You’ll then get a plate of herbs for you to add according to your taste: Vietnamese mint or basil, lemon, chilli, bean sprouts, sauce. In Hoi An, they often serve this with slices of green papaya as well. The soup also has more cinnamon in it than you get in Hanoi. Also, more filling. Same same, but different.

Try Michelin-rated pho at Pho 10 – 10 Lý Quốc Sư, Old Quarter, Hanoi. Make sure you order Tai Nam – half done with flank beef – and be prepared for a queue. At 70k VND it will set you back less than $4.50 AUD

Bun Cha

This is a little like a deconstructed pork hamburger – with noodles (bun) instead of bun. Get it? Barbecued or grilled pork patties are served with cold vermicelli noodles, a plate of greens and a bowl of broth that’s based on vinegar, sugar and fish sauce. Everything is eaten together and everything is dipped into the broth.

In some places the pork is served in the broth itself. I love both versions.

Try it at New Day or, for Michelin-rated bun cha, Bun Cha Ta – both in the Old Quarter.

Bun Bo Nam Bo

Marinated beef is quickly stir-fried and served with fried onions on bun noodles (vermicelli), and lettuce. It’s served with peanuts, shallots, maybe some more herbs, and a sauce made simply from fish sauce, lemon and chilli. You stir it all together and add your own lemon and chilli to taste. Yum.

Fried Spring Rolls

Ok, no two are the same. I soon gave up trying to work out which ones I liked the most (maybe the fried vermicelli ones in Hoi An?) and just enjoyed the general crunchy yumminess. We had them … everywhere … pretty much every time we had a beer. We even had a go at making our own at a cooking class. More on that another time.

Goi Cuon

Fresh spring rolls. Seriously healthy, seriously moreish. Anyways, it’s simply cold noodles, heaps of greens, maybe some green banana (especially in Hoi An and further south) or mango, and prawns or minced pork, or perhaps some cooked chicken. It’s all rolled up into rice paper and you dunk it in a peanutty sauce. Easy peasy.

Bahn Bao Vac – White Rose Dumplings.

Another Hoi An classic, and Grant’s favourite.

You can get them everywhere but they’re supplied to all the local restaurants by the one family – who have kept the recipe secret for generations. The rice paper is translucent and wrapped to resemble a flower shape (the origin of the name “white rose”). Said to be made with water from a certain well in Hội An, this dumpling is not found anywhere else. The filling is prepared with a mix of shrimp, mushrooms, bean sprouts and spring onions. They’re arranged on a platter and sprinkled with shallots, and served with a dipping sauce made from shrimp broth, chillies, lemon and sugar. Aside from being delicate and lovely, the name is so so pretty.

Hoi An Fried Wontons

Deep-fried and covered in a salsa-like topping of vegetables and sweet and sour shrimp these crispy treats are known as Hoi An pizza and are perfect with beer.

What else?

Don’t let this list limit you. We had some fabulous clay pot dishes, some good lemongrass stir-fried dishes, Cha ca (a popular fish dish), Hoi An chicken rice and plenty more besides.

Linking up with Donna from Retirement Reflections and her co-host Deb The Widow Badass Blog in their #whatsonyourplateblogchallenge.