Street Food
07 Nov 2007

Cruising the Mekong Delta

Filed Under:

6 Comments

The Astronomer and I played hooky two Fridays ago to visit the Mekong Delta. We traveled with a tour group (Sinh Cafe) because the southern part of Vietnam isn’t as accessible as the larger cities. For a measly eighteen bucks, we enjoyed a two-day, one-night excursion and a souvenir t-shirt.

We began our tour at 8 AM at the Sinh Cafe office in Saigon. We arrived in the Mekong two and a half hours later and boarded a boat to see the Cai Be floating market. Unfortunately, it was quite late by Vietnam standards and most of the buying and selling action had died down.

The second stop on the tour was at the Thanh Phong candy “factory” where we saw coconut candy, rice paper and rice crispy treats being made. The coconut candy tasted like dulce de leche with only a hint of coconut, while the rice crispy treats reminded me of Kashi puffed cereal. We were told that the rice paper would be used to make egg rolls.

After the factory tour, we boarded the boat to explore the delta a bit more and then headed to lunch. Lunch was included in the package and consisted of soup, rice, pork chops, egg rolls, and some veggies. I ate way too many sweets during the candy tour, so I gave my chop and rice to my hungry traveling companion. The soup was a simple vegetable and pasta combination that seems to be a Mekong Delta specialty.

Course I: vegetable and pasta soup

Course II: pork chops with rice, vegetables and egg rolls

Toward the end of lunch, a three-piece Vietnamese band performed songs using traditional instruments. I really liked how the singers contorted their voices for the Cải Lương numbers.

Post-lunch we hopped on the boat once more to further explore the Delta. The surroundings were beautiful and peaceful. After an hour or so, the boat dropped us off in the city of Vinh Long where we boarded a bus that took us to the city of Can Tho via ferry.

For dinner, The Astronomer and I ditched the tour group and sought out some good ‘ol street food. Can Tho is the largest city in the southern portion of the country, but sadly doesn’t have a large selection of street eats. We stopped for a bite at a stall selling bun mang on Tran Viet Chau Street.

The damp Mekong air put us in the mood for a hot bowl of duck noodle soup.

Duck Noodle Soup (10,000 VND)

The bun mang really hit the spot; I especially enjoyed dipping the duck in the ginger fish sauce. The Astronomer drowned his blood Jello in the ginger fish sauce to make it more palatable—whatever floats your boat. After dinner we went to the hotel and crashed.

Day two of the tour began bright and early. The hotel buzzed our room at 6:30 AM and we departed to see the Cai Rang floating market at 7:30 AM. The market is mainly for wholesalers rather than regular folks, so we didn’t make any purchases. The large pole on each boat signifies what the boat is selling.

After a three-hour tour of the markets and surrounding areas, we arrived at a fruit orchard to relax. There were many hammocks set up along the shady trees, which The Astronomer really dug. We also enjoyed some fresh fruits.

The penultimate stop on the Mekong Delta tour was at a rice husking factory. As a proponent of whole-grains and fiber, I must admit that I was saddened by this whole affair. We saw a huge machine that essentially stripped the nutrients from the rice—how depressing.

Before busing back to Saigon, the tour stopped at a restaurant in Can Tho for lunch. The prices were high and the portions were small. Double whammy. Time constraints made it impossible to ditch the group during this meal. The Astronomer ordered the beef and fries, while I had some frog!

Beef and fries with baguette (30,000 VND)

Frog sauteed with onions, glass noodles, and mushrooms (30,000 VND)

This was my first encounter with frog, which I thought tasted like a cross between chicken and fish. Ribbit! My mom says that I should eat a lot of frog in Vietnam because American frozen frog just isn’t as good. Yes, ma’am.

Mekong Delta
06 Nov 2007

Vegetation Profile: Bitter Melon

Filed Under:

10 Comments

Momordica charantia is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown for edible fruit, which is among the most bitter of all vegetables. English names for the plant and its fruit include bitter melon or bitter gourd (translated from Chinese: 苦瓜; pinyin: kǔguā), in Jamaica it is generally known as cerasse. The original home of the species is not known, other than that it is a native of the tropics. It is widely grown in South and Southeast Asia, China, Africa, and the Caribbean.

The fruit has a distinct warty looking exterior and an oblong shape. It is hollow in cross-section, with a relatively thin layer of flesh surrounding a central seed cavity filled with large flat seeds and pith. Bitter melon comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. The typical Chinese phenotype is 20 to 30 cm long, oblong with bluntly tapering ends and pale green in color, with a gently undulating, warty surface.

Bitter melon or khổ qua is a staple in down home Vietnamese cooking. I have encountered it stuffed with ground meat at com binh dan establishments and simmered in a soup at my grandma’s sister’s house. I’ve even seen it stuffed with meat and simmering in a soup simultaneously. Regardless of the style of preparation, bitter melon seems to be an acquired taste that just doesn’t vibe well with me. The melon’s texture is pleasant, but its flavor is way too harsh.

Restaurant Review
05 Nov 2007

Long Huy – Ho Chi Minh City

Filed Under:

1 Comment

October 23, 2007
Cuisine: Vietnamese

129 Cach Mang Thang Tam Street
District 3, Ho Chi Minh City

Phone: 8342859
Website: none

—

Goi Cuon (3,000 VND/roll)

Banh Xeo Dac Biet (25,000 VND)

—

The Astronomer and I drive on CMT8 daily as part of our commute to work. While he’s concentrating on delivering us to our destination safely, I am on the lookout for new eateries to try. Long Huy has been on my list for quite sometime, and we finally dropped in for lunch a few weeks back when we weren’t in the mood for our usual vegetarian fare.

Long Huy is a very pretty restaurant and was packed on the afternoon we visited. The entrance houses a fairly large open kitchen with rows of woks for sizzling-up the restaurant’s signature dish, banh xeo. The dining room is spacious with plenty of chairs and tables for the hoards of patrons in need of a crepe fix. In addition to banh xeo, Long Huy’s menu includes over 300 other Vietnamese items.

We began our meal with goi cuon—three for The Astronomer and two for me. The rolls contained large boiled shrimp, boiled pork slices, vermicelli noodles, and greens. The accompanying hoisin-based dipping sauce was well-executed, as were the rolls.

While visiting Da Nang in early September, I chowed down on banh xeo for lunch daily. Although I was unaware at the time, The Astronomer thought I was eating an omelet. As an egg-hater, he never sampled the dish. Ever since discovering that it is in fact not an egg-y creation, The Astronomer has been wanting to revisit banh xeo.

Unlike the tiny crepes in Da Nang, Long Huy’s banh xeo were humongous (see head to “head” comparison below). The Astronomer and I shared the banh xeo dac biet, which was filled with bean sprouts, shrimp, squid, ground beef, and pork and served with nuoc mam and a tray of herbs and lettuce.

The giant crepe was damn fine and on par with grandma’s, which is saying an awful lot. My only complaint is that with such a large banh xeo, much of the filling goes towards the center, leaving the outskirts barren. If Long Huy can figure out how to evenly distribute the goods, they’ll be golden!