Category Archive for ‘Chao’ at gas•tron•o•my

Archive for the 'Chao' Category

Tết Đoan Ngọ

Published

on June 11, 2008

in Banh Hoi, Banh U, Bo Bia, Chao, Com Ruou, Family Gatherings, Saigon and Xoi

. 6 Comments

Asians are a ritualistic bunch.

This past Sunday was the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. The “double fifth” day represents the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. The Chinese celebrate with dragon boat festivals, the Koreans have Dano and the Japanese recognize kodomo no hi.

In Vietnam, we celebrated Tết Đoan Ngọ:

Tết Đoan Ngọ (literally: Tết: festival, Đoan: the start / straight / middle / righteousness / just, Ngọ: the seventh animal of the Chinese zodiac- the horse), Tết Đoan Dương (Dương: yang), Tết Trùng Ngũ (Trùng: double, Ngũ: the fifth), Tết Đoan Ngũ, Tết Trùng Nhĩ or Tết Nửa Năm (Nửa Năm: a half of a year) is a festival celebrated at noon on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. This day is the day when the Great Bear star’s tail direct exactly to the south. At this time, the universe brings the greatest amount of yang yi in the entire year. Therefore, creatures and people must become stronger in both their health and their souls to overcome this.

Ba Sau (my grandma’s sister) invited us over to her home to celebrate the holiday with a midday feast. We indulged in sticky rice, barbecued pork, banh hoi, chicken porridge, boiled chicken, bo bia, fried rice and goi.

The two traditional foods of the holiday are banh u and com ruou. Banh u are pyramidal sticky rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves. They are oftentimes stuffed with mung beans, but the ones we had at Ba Sau’s were plain, so we dipped them in sugar. The banana leaf essence is the dominant flavor.

Com ruou, which literally translates as “rice wine,” are little balls of fermented rice bathed in wine. My aunt told me that com ruou is eaten early in the day to fight the “worms” in one’s stomach. In addition to being ritualistic, the Vietnamese are also very superstitious! Com ruou is very strong and quite delicious. I think the worms in my stomach were properly extinguished after consuming three balls.

The Astronomer and I are thankful to have Ba Sau in Saigon to introduce us to these wonderful local foods, traditions and customs. She’s the best!

Cháo Lòng

Published

Gastronomer

on March 19, 2008

in Chao, Gio Chao Quay, Saigon, Street Food and Vietnamese

. 4 Comments

Offal isn’t awful.

One of the aspects that I appreciate most about Vietnamese cuisine is that nothing goes to waste. From bones to meat to blood and guts, each and every part of an animal is put to good culinary use. Cháo lòng turns piggy odds and ends that most butchers would toss out with the garbage into hearty and soothing rice porridge.

Cháo Lòng is one of the rare offerings in Saigon that is served from morning until evening. The dish is hot, satisfying and easy on the pocket at only 6,000 VND a bowl. Street vendors dishing up cháo lòng can be easily spotted with their giant metal vats and glass display cases filled with piles of offal and stacks of golden fried dough (giò cháo quẩy).

The heart of cháo lòng consists of rice softened in a flavorful broth with cubes of congealed blood (huyết) thrown in for good measure. To serve, the porridge and huyết are ladled into a large bowl along with slices of liver, chunks of tubular innards and various forcemeats. Scallions, fresh ground pepper and small pieces of fried dough are then scattered on top. Fresh bean sprouts, lime wedges, ginger and fish sauce are available tableside for diners to season their cháo to taste.

The highlight of cháo lòng are the slices of fried dough. When incorporated into the steaming porridge, the dough softens and engorges as it soaks up the porridge like a sponge.

Despite eliciting strong distaste from the majority of Westerners, offal is actually quite mild and surprisingly palatable. The consistency may be a turn off to some, but I completely embrace its subtle chewiness.

Cháo lòng is certainly not the most aesthetically pleasing dish, but its flavors and textures more than make up for its lack of presentation.

One Broth, Two Dishes

Published

Gastronomer

on February 12, 2008

in Bun Rieu, Canh Bun, Chao, Gio Chao Quay, Restaurant Review, Saigon and Vietnamese

. 0 Comments

January 29, 2008
Cuisine: Vietnamese

193 Ly Chinh Thang Street
District 3, Ho Chi Minh City

Phone: none
Website: none
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Canh Bun (8,000 VND)

Bun Rieu (8,000 VND)

Chao Muc (5,000 VND)

Ca Phe Sua Da (5,000 VND)

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Another day, another new noodle soup to try!

The Astronomer, our pal Cathy and I lunched at a not-so-pretty eatery on Ly Chinh Thang Street advertising canh bun, bun rieu and chao muc. We ordered one of each for variety’s sake, but I was particularly interested in the canh bun because I have never tried it before.

Canh is a light Vietnamese soup eaten with rice, while bun are vermicelli rice noodles. Surprisingly, canh bun is not a combination of the two. Tricky, huh?

It turns out that canh bun is exactly the same as bun rieu (vermicelli noodles in a sour crab-based broth) with the addition of blanched spinach served alongside the essential herbs and greens. Not the most innovative dish, but I can find no fault in extra nutrients and fiber. Anything for 5-a-day.

The bun rieu here was very good. Unlike my family’s version or the one at Thanh Hai, this one came with spongy squares of deep-fried tofu that soaked up the sour broth nicely and contained cubes of blood jello that are much tastier than they look.

The chao muc was my personal favorite of the meal. The smoky squid porridge was topped with ground black pepper, chopped scallions and pieces of fried dough. Similar to the tofu in the bun rieu, the fried dough soaked up the porridge with its oily goodness. There were several pieces of actual squid, but they blended in with the hot porridge.

After three steamy dishes, we headed to a drink vendor several blocks down for some ca phe sua da (Vietnamese coffee with sweetened condensed milk on ice). Although I usually passed on this stuff back home, I am officially a huge fan. What’s there not to like about drinking melted coffee ice cream? I have seen the light.

Bé Ốc

Published

Gastronomer

on January 22, 2008

in Chao, Hot Vit Lon, Restaurant Review, Saigon, Seafood, Seafood, Street Food and Vietnamese

. 5 Comments

January 12 and 20, 2008
Cuisine: Vietnamese, Seafood

58/53 Vinh Khanh Street
District 4, Ho Chi Minh City

Phone: 0903658293
Website: none

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Chao Ngheu - clam porridge (20,000 VND)

So Huyet Xao Toi - blood cockles fried in garlic (20,000 VND)

Oc Mo Xao Me - snails sauteed in tamarind (20,000 VND)

Chem Chep Nuong - grilled mussels with scallion oil and peanuts (20,000 VND)

Ngheu Hap Xa - clams steamed with lemongrass (20,000 VND)

Hot Vit Lon Xao Me - fertilized duck with tamarind (5,000 VND)

Cua Rang Muoi - crab prepared with salt and garlic (80,000 VND)

So Huyet Xao Me - blood cockles sauteed in tamarind (20,000 VND)

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Bé Ốc is a bumpin’ sidewalk seafood joint in District 4 I discovered a few weeks back while taking a xe om. The Astronomer and I, along with our friends Zach and Tom and Tom’s GF Vuong, came here for dinner last Saturday after a long day of pretending to be tourists at the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Cao Dai Temple.

Sidewalk seafood eateries in Saigon usually begin setting up shop at around 5 PM. Their menus tend to be heavy on the protein, light on the carbohydrates and cheap in the beer department. Talk about the perfect formula for getting extremely wasted! The restaurant’s main clientèle are chain smoking, beer guzzling, middle-aged guys looking to relax after a hard days work. Woot to that! There’s also a spattering of families and women, and the occasional expatriates.

I have found that it is really difficult in Vietnam to get waiters and waitresses’ opinions on the best dishes of the house. I’ve pretty much stopped asking because their response most of the time is “everything is good,” which isn’t the least bit helpful.

Directionless, we decided to order a slew of shellfish and crustaceans prepared in a variety of ways. We also ordered a large bowl of clam porridge to share and a couple hot vit lon for good measure.

Everyone thought that the snails sauteed in tamarind were stellar. In fact, Zach proclaimed them the best thing he’s tasted in the country! The spicy, sweet and sour flavors hit all the right notes, and the little bits of rendered pork fat and garlic paired tastily with the tender snails.

Another highlight were the grilled mussels with scallion oil and crushed peanuts. The mussels were lightly cooked and smoky, while the peanuts and scallions provided depth and texture to the dish. It’s incredible how such simple ingredients can yield deliciously complex flavors!

One of the most interesting dishes of the evening was the duck fetus. Hot vit lon, which is usually eaten fresh out of the shell with herbs, salt and pepper, was dressed to the nines at Bé Ốc. The tamarind, fried shallots, peanuts and basil completely overpowered the defenseless duckling, which was actually not a bad thing because without adornments, the fetus looks like unappetizing gray matter.

We finished off our seafood feast with piping hot clam porridge, which had an abundance of clams and subtle ginger and cilantro undertones. While hot porridge doesn’t usually appeal to me in the intense Saigon heat, the cool breeze blowing through District 4 this evening made it quite palatable.

Bé Ốc is good times. Bring your friends.

Duck Two-Ways: Cháo Vịt & Gỏi Vịt

Published

Gastronomer

on October 22, 2007

in Chao, Goi, Restaurant Review, Saigon, Street Food and Vietnamese

. 1 Comment

October 16, 2007
Cuisine: Vietnamese

Corner of Dien Bien Phu Street and Nguyen Thuong Hien
District 3, Ho Chi Minh City

Phone: none
Website: none

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Goi Vit - Duck Salad (45,000 VND)

Chao Vit - Duck Porridge (3,000 VND)

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I thought for a split second about naming this post “What the Duck?” or “Duck Face,” but then I remembered that I’m an adult and not a foul-mouthed buffoon. So “Duck Two-Ways” it is.

The Astronomer has been hankering for duck these past few weeks, so we ducked under an awning specializing in everything vit for lunch the other afternoon. We ordered a plate of goi vit to share and each had a bowl of chao vit.

The huge bowls of chao vit contained congealed blood (AKA blood Jello), fresh bean sprouts, ground pepper and scallions.

I thought the chao vit was decent, but my grandmother’s version is SO much better. Whereas the flavors in grandma’s chao vit are clean and distinctly duck, the broth here was cloudy and not ducky enough. It’s really not fair to compare…

On the other hand, The Astronomer enjoyed his bowl of chao vit so much that he ordered another! So, the jury is clearly split over the chao vit.

The goi vit has thus far been the most expensive street food we’ve ever ordered. Large pieces of meat in Saigon come at a hefty price, and on this occasion, it was completely worth it.

A generous portion of boiled duck was chopped up and served atop a bed of greens dressed in a light vinaigrette. The ginger and fish sauce accompaniment brought out the duck’s subtle flavors.

For the most part, the food in Vietnam has been either on par or better than my family’s cooking. However, in the case of chao vit, I really yearned for grandma’s special touch.