Eating Our Way Through Vietnam

Anyone who knows me (even a little bit), knows I love food! I love how flavours mix together and can take something boring to a memorising encounter, how every food has a different texture, how it is served, how you eat it and this can vary by person or country, how different foods pair with different alcohols that can elevate a meal. When it comes down to it, I just genuinely enjoy food.

From past posts about the different countries we have been to, I always try to look up different foods that are specific to that area. Make a small mental list of things I really want to try and try very hard to not fear/judge foods before we try them.

I won't lie, I do struggle sometimes with goat or fish. We have had two very bad experiences that make me hesitate a bit. Especially throughout South East Asia, where fish you see the head or just the head as the meal. This is slightly off putting to me. We have had an experience in Nihn Bihn where the goat meat, fat and skin were all boiled together and did not break apart. Making a very chewy meat, with a gummy texture of fat and finished with a hard off putting exterior of skin, was not a pleasant experience. As a result of this, it has made us shy away from goat when we see them.

As we tour around Vietnam, we stop at the little carts on the side of the road selling anything that smells good and normally it ends up tasting amazing. There are so small sketchy looking restaurants that are packed with locals that no one speaks english. These have proven time and time again to be some of the best food.

So here are some of the most memorable foods we have tried along the way, along with some of our favourite or go to meals during our time in Vietnam.

Fried Morning Glories (Rau Moung Xao Toi)

The first time we read this on the menu and translated it, we both thought GoogleTranslate was wrong, which as we have experienced is not uncommon. Morning Glory, as in the vine flower that grows up peoples walls back home? I remember my Nan and Mum both growing as a child, however I did not think of ever eating them. HOLY MOLY let me tell you we have been missing out!

This dark green plant of goodness is a great topper on rice or noodles or a snack by itself. Cooked with garlic and chilli peppers, it is crunchy and bursting with deliciousness with a taste similar to spinach. We both love this dish and if we are unsure what we want to eat when out. We have never had a bad plate of fried Morning Glories.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Fried Chickens Feet

Again another GoogleTranslate we thought was wrong, that was right but turned out surprisingly good. Fried Chicken's Feet, very crunchy due to the skin with the little bit of meat that is on the foot is so tender. We have had these crunchy snacks two ways one with a salty light coating of some sort and the other with a light sauce over it, both were very good.

We actually enjoyed these so much that we have made them back home as well. They do take a full day of prepping and cooking, so I personally prefer when we have them on our travels.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Fried Squid (Muc Com Chien Man)

We like seafood and to be honest you can't come to SouthEast Asai and not like seafood. IT IS EVERYWHERE and it's cheap, with saying that there are loads of other food options as well.

This one sent us both for a loop, we were silly and expected the squid to be cut up and despined. Nope, cooked hole and despin as you eat. This tasty treat is a spicy medley of squid, onions, chilli peppers and other vegetables that are so delightful you won’t stop until it’s all gone.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Chicken & Rice (Com Ga)

This is exactly how it sounds white rice and roasted chicken, served cold. The chicken is roasted throughout the day and cut up as ordered. The skin is not crispy and we do tend to find a few bones in every meal. This description makes it sound boring, it really isn’t, it’s a quick tasty meal we both enjoy.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Spring Rolls ( New Lui)

A very common fried or uncooked snack. Fried or uncooked can be pre made and brought to your table or you can run into this scenario below. We came across a restaurant with a charcoal grill going outside with skewers that smelt amazing. We sat down and they served us rice paper, veggies, meat skewers, chilli sauce and a spicy peanut sauce.

Okay, at first we had no clue what to do, the lady running the restaurant was nice enough to show us. Make your own spring rolls, eat as many skewers as you would like. At the end they count the sticks and charge you per skewer eaten (7,000 vnd/skewer or $0.40 CAD/skewer).

You also do fried or uncooked spring rolls on every menu. Sometimes building your own is fun too, as you add the exact amount of veggies or spicy you want to them.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Pancakes (Banh Xeo)

We found a few different variations of this pancake, none of which were our favourites. It is a crispy pancake folded in half with eggs, vegetables or bean sprouts and full shrimp or prawns. A local man was trying to tell us it is like a pizza(?)I think our communications got lost in translation because I didn't see it. We tried it, I would have to be really hungry to try it again.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Fried Noodles (Mi)

Some come with pork, crispy greaves, chicken, goat, beef, tofu or vegetables. Made in house fresh noodles or instant noodles, either way this is a great dish. Every single one is different, every person or restaurant we have found adds their own twist on sauce or seasonings. Fried noodles have never disappointed us and are an easy dish to have on the go or when we really don’t know what we want for dinner that evening.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Sausages (Don Sun Nuong)

The actual translation comes out "double grilled cartilage”, which sounds questionable at best. These sausages were from a small cart on the side of the road and they were outstanding! You take a leaf, add in the other veggies, a piece of sausage and dip it in the spicy peanut sauce. The entire piece is bursting with juicy wonderful flavour, the veggies and leaf bring a nice crunchy aspect to the roll and the spicy peanut sauce is exactly as it sounds.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Sandwich (Bahn Mi)

Bahn Mi translates in English to ‘'bread”, walking around there are so many signs that just say "Bahn Mi". Once you enter the shop or go to the stall on the side of the road, you will find so many options for this sandwich. The traditional Banh Mi of pate, mayo, meat (pork), mixed thinly sliced veggies, spicy chilly sauce, fish sauce and some seasonings. Sometimes fish sauce or other pate is added as well. This does alter the flavour, I usually watch and ask for no fish sauce. The best is when they take this thin crusty bread, add a bit of butter to the outside and put it on the grill or panini it in a press.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

There are other options too, Ryan really likes the chicken option. It comes in a round bun with shredded chicken inside or the Banh Mi Que which is a thin bread stick with a bit of pate and chilli sauce in it.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Sweet Potato (Khoai Lang Lac)

Fried sweet potato, this is one of my favourite snacks or side dishes back home. What I did not expect was the topping that is put on the sweet potato in Vietnam. The potato is fried coated with flour, cheese powder seasoning and other seasonings. The portion is small and rightfully so, as it is very sweet and delectable.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Deep Fried Banana

To some this sounds gross or you have had it and it was not a hit. LET ME TELL YOU IT IS AMAZING! This deep fried, greasy, lightly batter, sweet treat is one of my personal favourites. You can find people on the side of the road selling fried bananas and at the markets as well. They are a heavier snack, we normally only eat one piece each (half a banana).

Sometimes people add coconut or mango with the slice of banana which just elevates the flavour and makes it a bit more candied. Honestly if you see a fried banana stand you need to stop and try this.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

These are some of the many dishes we tried during our time in Vietnam. However these are some of our favourites or go to meals or snacks while we are travelling.

Cheers!

**Please note that all opinions and views expressed in this post are my own, from my own experiences. If you would like to see more pictures follow me on Instagram vikki.gray **