Feb 2008

Lunching with Bà Sáu

Bà Sáu, my grandma’s younger sister, rocks my world. I hope to be just as cool as her when I get old.

Like the majority of people in Vietnam, Bà Sáu rises early. A couple Friday’s ago, she woke me up at the ungodly hour of 8:30 to invite me to lunch at her house. Even though I was groggy as heck, I was fortunately conscious enough to accept because Bà Sáu is a culinary genius. Seriously.

On this afternoon, The Astronomer, Luscious and I feasted on fresh cha gio (egg rolls), bo bia (spring rolls with jicama, carrots and Chinese sausage), leftover banh chung from the New Year, watermelon, and preserved pineapple candies.

This is the second time The Astronomer and I have been treated to Bà Sáu’s famous cha gio, which contain pork, shallots, taro root and are about the size of one’s pinky finger. The Astronomer pops these cha gio into his mouth like bonbons. Learning how to make these babies is on top of my to-do list, so look out for a recipe in the future.

Her bo bia was killer as well. I was certain that bo bia was the one Vietnamese dish that was superiorly prepared in America. However, I changed my mind with one bite of Bà Sáu’s rendition. Whereas the carrot and jicama slaw is usually sauteed until softened, Bà Sáu leaves a bit of crunch in the vegetables which elevates the dish to new heights.

While we were eating up a storm, Bà Sáu was downing a Tiger Beer. She says that beer aids in the digestion of meat. I told you she was cool.

The best thing about Bà Sáu is that she’s sort of a bully when it comes to feeding her guests. She insists that we gorge until our bellies can handle no more. At one point during lunch, we ran out of bun (rice vermicelli noodles), so she sent her daughter out to buy more even though we were full and begged her not to.

Another awesome thing about Bà Sáu is that after she’s stuffed us to the max, she packs up extra food and fruits for us to bring home and enjoy later.

She’s the best.

Previous Post
Next Post

8 thoughts on “Lunching with Bà Sáu

  1. hehe…good catch Thanh…but maybe her actual name is Sa’o? 🙂

    Those eggrolls looks yummy…fresh and crunchy

  2. WC – the funny thing about Vietnamese ladies is that they stuff you silly and then expect you to stay slim! That’s hard work!

    Trinh – I’m glad you dig the blog and hopefully I can deliver some quality recipes so that you can recreate the magic of Vietnam at home.

    Thanh – Thanks for catching that! I am so illiterate it hurts, but I’m working on it 😉

    Calthang – fresh and crunchy indeed!

  3. typical southern hospitality. I guess you are southerner too right? hat off to ba` sau’; she’s every bit of as my grandma was (my grandma passed away 5years ago) 🙁

  4. I am in America now, and i desperately want to taste these dishes again. I love street foods. especially Bo Bia, Xoi Man, and Cha gio.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *