Passion Fruit Italian Sorbet - Saturday, April 26

I taught a full, long day from 7:45am to 9:30pm with some small breaks in between classes (my 2 language schools and a couple of private lessons!) Despite being busy with work, that didn’t stop me from trying something new at one of the coffee shops where I have private lessons!

This drink/dessert, called a Passion Fruit Italian Sorbet, comes from Urban Station Coffee, a popular little coffee chain with a modern feel and British vibes (including a front swinging door that imitates London’s red telephone booths.  Their drinks are a low price compared to other chains in Ho Chi Minh City.  This Italian Sorbet cost me only 24,000VND, about $1.25.  It’s essentially Italian-style soda on the bottom with a smooth, iced sorbet on top.  It comes in several flavours, such as red berry, blueberry, lemon and passion fruit!

Bud's San Francisco Sundae - Friday, April 25

No busy day of teaching can go without a delicious dish of the day - it's a part of my day that I always look forward to.  Think about how many hours we spend in our lifetime either making, eating or thinking about food.  It's definitely no small fry issue... Along with sleep and work, it forms one of the biggest slices of our lives (pardon the really horrible puns, I've had a long day!)

So, today I present to you a delicious sundae from Bud’s San Francisco, an ice-cream parlour that can be found in several locations around HCMC, Vietnam.  Order a sundae from the menu or customize your own with one or two flavours of ice-cream and a topping of your choice. Mine was customized with a scoop of nutty Fudge Brownie ice-cream and a second scoop of Rum Raisin, topped with hot fudge sauce, a maraschino cherry and sliced almonds.

I ordered it with a student of mine during a lesson (instead of studying in a cafe), in celebration of completing our first “unit” and her reaching her goal of completely getting through one full episode of “Friends” and understanding it.  Quite the feat! Definitely deserves ice-cream, don’t you think?

Chili Cheese Fries - Thursday, April 24

My dish of the day is Chili – specifically, Chili cheese fries! Other than buying frozen store-bought French fries, the meal was completely homemade. Patrick and I even taught ourselves how to stew tomatoes using wonderful Google, blanching the tomatoes, skinning them, chopping them and stewing them with butter, sugar, a touch of salt and a few of our own additions (bay leaves, basil and oregano as well as some Worcestershire sauce and a whole can of beer!) We sautéed the onions and garlic and browned the beef, then added it all to the tomatoes, along with kidney beans, white beans and green pepper.  Some chili powder, tabasco and ground pepper and… presto! Finally, to serve, we topped it with some grated old cheddar from Anam Gourmet Market and piled it on top of crispy fries. Delicious indeed. In fact, writing this is making me crave some more…

Vietnamese BBQ Beef - Wednesday, April 23

Before I went to go teach kindergarten, Patrick and I treated ourselves to a lunch at Barbeque Garden – an outdoor restaurant on a terrace full of greenery where you get a bbq put in front of you on the table and get to cook it fresh and hot! Barbeque Garden is in District 1, near Notre Dame and Reunification Palace and is definitely too big to miss when you go by!

So, today’s dish is a couple (2 person) BBQ Beef Combo, complete with veggies (such as onion, eggplant and okra), a bowl of rice, 2 side sauces (hot chili sauce and a salt-pepper-lime oil dip) and a few different cuts of beef, sliced and marinated in a delicious, light bbq sauce.  A coconut on the side as a drink and it definitely made for a tasty meal, making me wish we had more! If it was dinner, however, I would recommend an appetizer, as the portion might not be enough for you!

Ca Chao (Tuna Rice Porridge) - Tuesday, April 22

When in Vietnam, do as the Vietnamese do, right? My stomach was feeling off, probably from some contaminated food or water that I consumed, and a Vietnamese employer recommended that I eat some Ca Chao (tuna rice porridge/congee) – a mild food that warms and comforts you.  She said not to have meat or acidic foods.  I’ve tried chicken (ga) chao before at a small local eatery, but this time I went to a nicer, big restaurant that was recommended to me (less chance of contaminated food, which my stomach just wouldn’t be able to handle!) and ordered some to go.  Although it was 65,000vnd instead of 25,000vnd, there was a huge portion and it came with lots of mushrooms/ green onion/ sprouts/ various herbs to put inside, unlike the small vendor’s chao had.  And wow, did it help.  It is definitely the Vietnamese version of the “Chicken soup remedy”.  Even if you’re not sick, EAT IT!

Chicken Pad Thai and Pina Colada - Monday, April 21

Chicken Pad Thai has finally made the list and is my dish of the day.  I’ve been craving Thai food and this comes from Sisters Cafe in the Backpacker’s area of D1.  Served with a pina colada (strong on the rum and full of sweet, delicious coconut!)

I recommend Sisters Cafe for those in a group that can’t quite decide what food to eat – they have a variety of items on their menu, such as Thai, Mexican, Chinese, American and of course, Vietnamese. Their drinks are also good and they have decent Happy Hour specials as well!

Mi Quang Tom Thit - Sunday, April 20

And now, for one of my absolute favourite dishes in the recent weeks (I know, I know, so much of it is good, how can you trust me when I say it’s REALLY good, right? Well, this is good because it’s so unique in its flavour! It absolutely surprised Patrick and me.

It’s called Mi Quang Tom Thit, which means: “Quang noodles with shrimp and pork”. We paid 50,000VND ($2.50) and got a delicious portion of noodles in a flavourful meat broth, filled with pork, shrimp, green onions, chilis and chopped peanuts.  Then, to add inside, as usual in most Vietnamese cuisine (it softens and cooks once you mix it in), are the herbs and greens.  It is also served with big crispy crackers/pita chips that reminded me of a type of crouton, since you crumble it up and put it in the broth. 

Lemongrass-Ginger Chicken and Fried Noodles - Saturday, April 19

This was a custom-made dish from one of my fav local eateries.  In fact, the woman speaks English so well, so I love going there and asking about all the dishes and trying to concoct something with her that isn’t on the menu!  The place is at ___(coming soon!) Le Thi Rieng, D1.  My dish today is lemongrass ginger chicken and fried noodles (the soft noodles are fried in a tasty, yet light lemongrass sauce and oil), which are on the side.  There are also some veggies, like onions, carrot, etc.  At the end of the meal, they also bring you some fruit “on the house”, generally watermelon or banana.  My custom meals usually tend to be 25-35,000VND ($1.25-1.75)!

Singapore Chicken Fried Rice - Friday, April 18

My dish of the day comes from the little alleyway on 96 Le Thi Rieng Street.  It is called Singapore Chicken Fried Rice and is served with chili sauce and soy sauce. It had a spicy kick to it with its hot chiles, but it was balanced out by some fresh veggies and cold tra da (Vietnamese ice tea) on the side. In fact, it was so hot that when it was cooking in the back kitchen, the air/scent of it drifting into the eating area made our throat dry and eyes tear from the spiciness!   

Sausage wrapped in banana leaf - Thursday, April 17

Today’s dish of the day is an appetizer, served like a gift to us on a small plate as soon as we sat down at our table.  And inside our mystery gift? A piece of Vietnamese sausage! Sausage wrapped in a large banana leaf. What’s most fascinating to me is its presentation. Such a simple appetizer is presented in an appealing and intriguing way.  It’s also incredibly environmentally-friendly! Similar to lots of other sticky rice, meats and other traditional foods in Vietnam, it is bought/served in a natural material that can decompose, as opposed to plastic.  Too bad Canada doesn’t grow banana leaves!

Sausage wrapped in banana leaves!

Today we ventured to the Jade Emperor Pagoda, which is the most famous Taoist temple in Ho Chi Minh City. It’s also known as the Tortoise pagoda and it lives up to this name, as in fact, there are hundreds of tortoises living in a pond (some with painted messages written on their shell), right at the foot of the pagoda! It’s located at 73 Mai Thi Luu Street, District 1 and was constructed by the Chinese n 1909. It was free entrance, but we had to pay to park our motorbike, as usual in motorbike parking lots here.  It’s worth a visit, especially if you’re interested in Buddhism!

The outside of Jade Emperor Pagoda

Hundreds of tortoises at the temple! Some even had messages written on their shell...

Phở Gà Khô - Wednesday, April 16

My dish of the day comes from a local eatery next to Zen Plaza, D1: Phở Gà Khô. Generally I get my pho and other Vietnamese soups in wet, soup form (with fresh, wet noodles - tươi), but this time I tried the “soup” in its dried form, in other words, they take the same ingredients and stir-fry them (dried noodles – khô; fried - chien). The thin, fried glass noodles and veggies are on the right.  Since a small side soup is typical in Asia, the meat and broth is still provided (see left) and the usual side veggies to add in are pictured at the top. 

Bún thịt nướng - Tuesday, April 15

Today’s delicious dish is called Bún thịt nướng, which is translated as: “rice vermicelli noodles (bun) with grilled (nuong) pork (thit) on top”.  It is topped with mixed vegetables, lettuce, green onions and herbs and the meat is caramelized, achieving a grilled bbq flavour that can’t be beat.  Mine also had peanuts (which really complimented the flavours well), but this is not always the case. It is also served with nước chấm fish sauce oil on the side, giving it a bit of extra salty spice.  Sometimes it is also served with chả giò, which are mini fried minced pork rolls.

Bún thịt nướng is definitely one of my favourite new Vietnamese dishes! This one went for 30,000VND ($1.50) at a small local eatery in D1.

Corn Beef Hash - Monday, April 14

Today’s dish of the day is thanks to Patrick’s excellent suggestion – to make corn beef hash and also thanks to the foreign food marts near Bitexco tower on Le Loi Street and the Anam Gourmet Market! 

Simple enough, we mixed cubed potatoes with corn beef and sautéed onions with a dash of ground pepper and some worcesterchire sauce.  Topped with a runny sunny-side-up egg on top and paired with some veggies to make you feel less terrible, it’s definitely a comfort meal.  Our version of it might not look the most appealing to the eye, but it sure tasted good. You want to eat it so fast that there’s no time to look at it anyway (I barely remembered to take a photo!)

We also broke out our first wine in Vietnam, too (first nice wine – not Dalat wine! – sorry if you like it!)  I highly recommend Anam Gourmet Market.  We bought our wine and lots of foreign (international) foods there!

For our day off, we spent a few hours in the afternoon at the pool by Reunification Palace, trying to catch some rays and relax.  It actually began to rain – which means... Vietnam’s rainy season is definitely on its way! 

Jelly Coconut - Sunday, April 13

Today’s dish of the day is more like a dessert-snack-drink again, but in my opinion, it deserves “dish” status! It is a Jelly Coconut or Rau Cau Dua, meaning that there is not any coconut milk or coconut water inside – it is jelly (nata de coco) with a light coconut flavour and the chewy texture is very similar to “jell-o”.  In mine there was mostly white jelly on top and transparent jelly on the bottom.  The transparent jelly is slightly more liquid-y than the thicker white jelly.  Found in certain young coconuts, it is produced when the coconut water ferments, thickening into a gel.  Also, through a natural process that imitates this fermentation, the jelly can also be manufactured by people.  The jelly can also be sweetened and sometimes it is homemade with coconut milk, sugar, agar agar (like gelatin, except vegan) and some water.

Interestingly, this jelly is a healthier substitute for tapioca because it is high in fiber, low in fat and has no cholesterol.  They’ve convinced me!

After eating the coconut jelly, you can also scrape out the coconut flesh.  I got a few snacks worth out of this coconut because it is so filling! I even used some of it in a homemade mango-banana-coconut smoothie by cutting it into chunks and putting it at the bottom of the smoothie after the other ingredients were mixed. Highly recommended!