Banh Mi Tom Chien (Deep-Fried Shrimp Baguette) - Saturday, May 31

Dish of the day: Banh Mi Tom (Chien) -  Deep-fried shrimp baguette

Where it’s found: On a small alley off of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai (between NTMK and Vo Van Tan, on 287 Nguyen Thi Minh Chieu)

Breaking it down: Baguette, shrimp, a mixture of batter and turmeric, lots of oil for deep-frying

Between teaching at different locations, I decided to wander into an unknown alley in search of some lunch.  I found some bbq com tam (rice dish), which is a staple/go-to here in Vietnam, but then I came across a sweet little lady perched on a stool, surrounded by her cooking pots and a pile of bright orange baguettes with shrimp on top.  I was intrigued, as this food was completely new to me.  Naturally, being obsessed with trying every variety of Vietnamese food, I bought a piece. It was served with hoisin and chili sauce for dipping, which she gave me in a shallow open container, so I had to awkwardly carry it around with all my bags until I found a bench. Sure, it wasn’t a healthy accompaniment to my lunch, but its taste makes all that oil well worth it.  The shrimp baguette was great balance of crunchy fried texture, soft interior and savoury turmeric shrimp flavour with a hint of sweet spiciness from the dip.  After much research on Vietnamese blogs and forums, I have determined that this rare, hard-to-find treat is called “Banh Mi Tom (Chien)”, or in English, Deep-fried Shrimp Baguette/Bread.  

Durian and Coconut Jelly Cake (Agar) - Rau Cau - Friday, May 30, 2014

Dish of the day: Durian and Coconut Jelly (Agar) Cake (Rau Cau)

Where it’s found: Supermarkets and dessert street vendors; I got mine at The University of Science during the Children’s Day (and end-of-the-year) celebrations there. The durian-flavoured one is less easy to find than other flavours though.

Breaking it down: 3 layers (brown, green and white) of agar (a non-animal-based gelatin), durian and coconut, tapioca starch, cold water, sugar

To celebrate Children’s Day on June 1^st, the nearby University of Science in Ho Chi Minh City had a festival, held by the university students.  Different students sold their food, snacks, art, jewelry, music and services like tarot-card and palm reading.  I didn’t have long to explore the stalls of the festival, but I got to sample a bunch of snack foods and talk to a lot of excited students (who all wanted me to visit their stalls!), which was a fun experience. 

Right before leaving, I was pulled into trying a durian and coconut jelly cake (Rau Cau) that in fact, really did have quite a strong durian aroma and taste! It had 3 layers, each a different colour – green, white/transparent and brown.  I’m not the biggest fan of jelly-like food, yet, it was better than I expected and since it’s a Vietnamese specialty, I’m glad I gave it a shot.  The heart-shaped mould and the sweet and excited students at the stand were just so cute, too.

Winter Melon and Minced Pork Side Soup - Thursday, May 29, 2014

Dish of the day: Canh Bi Dao Thit Bam (Vietnamese Green Squash/Winter Melon Soup with minced pork)

Where it’s found: My home stay in the Mekong Delta – served with our dinner.

Also as a side at many com tam (rice dish) food vendors and restaurants; Rice dishes always come with a small soup on the side, and this one is commonly served.

Breaking it down: Winter Melon (some call it Vietnamese green squash), minced/ground pork, scallions, cilantro, fish sauce, salt and pepper

*It can also be made with zucchini

**Often also made with shrimp

Today’s dish of the day, Canh Bi Dao Thit Bam comes from the Mekong Delta, where Patrick, me and two other couples had an overnight home stay.  We played cards, listened to music and enjoyed the fresh air on the deck overlooking the water. Dinner was excellent and full of traditional Vietnamese foods, including:

-          Canh Bi Dao Thit Bam - Winter melon and minced pork soup

-          Bun - Rice noodles

-          Lettuce (for making wraps with the stir-fry and the shrimp pancakes)

-          Stir-fry noodles with vegetables

-          Banh Tom - Fried and crispy mini shrimp pancakes

-          Fresh fruit for dessert

Winter melon is not eaten in its raw form, but rather in soups and stir-fries.  It tastes and looks much like zucchini and when I first saw it and ate it, that’s what I thought it was.  Being a side soup, it is nice and light and fresh-tasting.

Rice Paper (Banh Trang) & Crispy-Fried Rice Noodle Pancakes - Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Dish of the day: Banh Trang (Rice Paper) & (Crispy-Fried Rice noodle pancakes)

Where it’s found: Vietnam (The Mekong Delta; many grocery stores carry packaged ones)

Breaking it down: Rice is husked, then ground into rice flour and mixed with water and often tapioca flour.  The mix is spread thin into large circular pancakes and steamed. They are dried in the sun.  The dried rice paper sheets are shredded into noodles, which are then fried in oil, and topped with scallions and other seasonings.

The shells/husks of the rice

The rice husks are used for fuel for the fire to steam the rice pancake/paper mixture

The rice paper only requires a short time to steam and take its form

Carefully laying/rolling out the cooked rice paper to let it dry

Banh trang (rice paper) drying in the sun

Shredding the dried rice paper to make rice noodles

What is particularly fascinating is how they try to use every part of foods and materials, instead of wasting anything.  For example, the shells of the rice, or husks, are removed and then used as kindling to keep the fire going, which is used for heat to steam the liquid rice “batter” to make rice paper.  Waste not!  Once the rice paper is formed, the hot, slippery and wet circle is lifted onto flat wooden or bamboo drying racks. They are moved into the sun to speed the drying process.  Once dry, the banh trang (rice paper) can be collected for consumption to make wraps, or it can be put through a noodle-making machine to shred them into thin rice noodles. 

After having observed the whole process, we also saw how they make a common fried snack food: Dry rice noodles that are fried in a pan in oil until crispy and seasoned with spring onion and often other spices and herbs. It’s a crunchy fried snack, no more healthy than fried potato chips!

Barbecued Rat, Frog and Snake - Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Dish of the day: Barbecued Snake, Frog and Rat

Where it’s found: In the Mekong Delta, Vietnam; at specialized snake restaurants throughout Vietnam

Breaking it down: It is what it looks like – live snake is barbecued on the grill, then cut into pieces with large scissors and served alongside thai basil, a salty-lime sauce and chili peppers. 

Rat on the left; Frog on the right

BBQ snake

Live snake being placed on the grill

Today I had three “firsts”.  Today is a special post – a marriage of three different barbecued dishes – three unusual types of meat that I had never previously tried in my life.  Arriving on the island, we hadn’t anticipated trying any weird foods.  We figured we would just be observers as others took on the challenge.  However, smelling the BBQ made a group of us decide to split the dishes, sharing a smorgasbord of meats: barbecued rat, frog and snake.  Vietnam is well-known for its exotic meats and ingredients. “While in Vietnam”, eh?

So now, I know you’re anxiously awaiting my reaction to these three new foods...   

First our group tried the rat.  This was the meat we were all dreading the most.  With “happy water” on the ready to help us wash it down, we took our first bite.  Surprisingly, it was tender and reminded me of chicken.  And although there were much smaller bones, it did not have a rodent-like taste, whatever that might be.  In fact, I’ll be honest, I think overall I preferred its taste out of all three meats.  The thought of it though, is definitely the worst!

Next (after downing a couple of happy water shots, as the local Vietnamese man there liked to refer to them as!), we dug into the frog, which was Patrick’s favourite.  It was moist meat and crispy on the outside from being grilled.  I thought it was a bit fatty and didn’t have much meat on it, but that could just be the piece I chose. I would definitely give it another go.  If the French love them, it must deserve culinary recognition, right?

As for the snake, it was a completely different gastronomical experience.  Imagine chomping into something and feeling all the little organs, chewy unidentifiable bits and even tiny bones (that must come from something the snake ate, seeing as how they just have an exoskeleton)... Even though I can’t say that I enjoyed the texture, the flavours were in perfect balance.  The lime, salt, smoky barbequed flavour, spicy chili and fresh herb flavours complemented each other well. Can I get the same dish with some grilled fish, beef or veggies, please?

All in all, I’m proud of myself and happy that I gave these three exotic meats a try.  Bucket list X, X, X.

Day Two on the Mekong Delta was even more adventure-filled than the first day.  After waking up from our night at our Vietnamese home-stay (see the next blog post!) we got motorbikes to a nearby local market and walked around for half an hour, taking in the hustle and bustle of the morning.  Then the rest of our tour group who had opted for the hotel instead of a home stay met up with us at the docks, where we boarded and took off down the river towards a floating market.  There is nothing quite like seeing a Vietnamese floating market.  Boats milled around - small, large and every size in between.  Some only carried their produce, while others doubled as a small houseboat for families who use it to live and work.  The people of the Mekong Delta live on the water, be it on a boat or along the shores.  They drifted by, trying to sell us everything from coconut (which I bought and happily sipped throughout the morning) to watermelon, iced Vietnamese coffee and even pho noodle soup in bowls that you can keep.  Each boat has a large pole that they use to “advertise” the produce that they carry, thus you can see it from far away.  It’s still a mystery to me how they managed to hoist a watermelon up on a pole!

We stopped at floating docks as well and bought more fruit, then continued on to a rice paper-making centre, where we observed and learned the complex and time-consuming art of making rice paper (banh trang), which we then made into rice noodles and into fried and dried rice noodle pancakes.  Our boat then carried us along to our next destination... which brings us to my tripartite dish of the day: Barbecued rat, frog and snake!  Following this, we floated back to Can Tho, where we had some independent time to walk around the neighbourhood and I bought some fresh lotus seeds. A group of use decided to chill at a local eatery, enjoying beers and some stir-fry.  Finally, we buckled up and bussed home to Ho Chi Minh City. 

Elephant Ear Fish - Monday, May 26

Dish of the day: Deep-fried Elephant Ear Fish

Where it’s found: All over the Mekong River Delta Region

Breaking it down: A whole, gutted elephant ear fish (fried); Vietnamese coriander, mint, thai basil, chilis, cucumber, rice noodles, rice wrapper paper, nuoc cham fish sauce, lime

Our trip to the Mekong Delta on Monday and Tuesday was a delicious adventure.  It’s hard to choose what dish to choose for today, but don’t worry, the other dishes deserve a post soon and will also go down in “dish a day” history ;)

The trip to the Delta (where we stopped to visit a large Buddhist pagoda/temple ) took 2 hours.  Here we got to see the largest statue of Buddha in all of Asia and we also got to witness a gathering of monks who sat for their lunch and said chants.  Before moving on, Patrick and I bought ourselves traditional conical bamboo hats! Next we continued on to Can Tho, Vietnam’s fourth largest city, where we boarded a small boat to float along the river, hopping amongst the different islands.  The islands were named after animals and mythological creations, such as Unicorn Island and Turtle Island.  

We stopped at several islands, each with a different activity for us to try! One stop was at a bee and honey farm, where we taste-tested healthy honey, honey snacks, royal jelly and bee pollen with jasmine tea (see this post!) Another stop involved learning how coconut candy is made, tasting it, eating coconut and red bean ice-cream and even going on a short (also unexpected and slightly odd) horse-and-buggy ride around a village.  Another delicious island trip involved us sitting in the jungle-like village at tables and being served tea alongside huge platters of fruit while we relaxed, watching traditional Vietnamese music performances by local women and children. At another stop, we also got to hold a large cobra and snap shots of ourselves with it! Not to mention, we got to try snake wine (this one was much better and a higher quality than the first one I tried!)  Lastly, we got to ride in small boats with Vietnamese rowers, paddling through the jungle, down the river among the bamboo and towering greenery.  It was so serene and I wish I could have paddled on forever, exploring. Sure, it was carefully laid out and thus, touristy in this sense, but it was definitely an interesting day – a mix of culture, amazing foods, good people, relaxing and learning about the Mekong Delta.

Lunch in the Mekong Delta on the first day of our trip brought us to yet another island.  We ate in an airy pagoda over a pond filled with floating lotus pads and flowers.  After lunch, we walked around the small island amongst the bamboo and palm trees, walked across a sketchy bamboo stick bridge over a pond (very carefully to keep balance, might I add), watched as people fed hungry alligators and then lounged in the shade of the small pagodas, watching the river as boats lazily pulled up to the island. They even had hammocks you could “rent out” to take a nap in, but if we used those, I don’t think we would have been able to get up!

My dish of the day, Elephant Ear Fish is very common in the Mekong Delta region and in fact, it was actually served upright on a stand, just like in the photo.  Diners share it, picking around at the moist fish flesh with their chopsticks.  They dip it in nuoc cham fish sauce and eat it with greens and herbs, such as Vietnamese coriander, mint and thai basil as well as cucumber, rice noodles and rice paper, which you can use to roll up the fish and veggies. 

Lemongrass Chicken Stir-fry - Sunday, May 25, 2014

Dish of the day: Lemongrass Chicken Stir-fry

Where it’s found: In my kitchen!

Breaking it down: 2+ large diced chicken breast, half (or more) of a julienned carrot, 2 cups of bean sprouts, 1 sliced onion, 2 cups of green beans,  minced garlic, cooking oil, a touch of chili pepper, salt and pepper to taste, rice (i.e. jasmine), lemongrass sauce (you can buy it pre-made or can make it homemade – see the details here). Makes 3-4 servings.

Tonight, after work, Patrick and I made a delicious lemongrass chicken stir-fry dinner.  We kicked back and watched tv at night, relaxing after a hectic work week! We had an early night though to get enough sleep for our Mekong Delta trip the next morning!

If I were to make it again, I would probably add a type of soft nut, perhaps cashews or peanuts to round out the textures.  Another option is to use egg, rice or rice-tapioca noodles in the stir-fry instead of rice.