Vietnam Food – Hello there!

Day 5: Saigon — Never Looking Back

“The best way out is always through.” ― Robert Frost

View of District 4 through a rainy window [8/23/2023]

Through only five days, I can say that Vietnam is a wonderful country that I developed a connection with. But it would be a blatant lie if I said I even came close to comprehending this complex and convoluted place. However, it takes little time for some aspects of Vietnamese society to be realized and appreciated.

First of all, the radiance of its people. They are some of the kindest and purest souls I’ve ever met. Helpful, curious, and always willing to serve you up something absurdly delicious, their warm demeanor puts you at ease and helps you feel right at home. Even with the extensive language barrier between us, these attributes naturally pour out of them.

Secondly, the food. It boggles my mind how many street food stalls and restaurants one can stumble upon in Saigon. But we must keep in mind that many Saigonese eat primarily on the streets, and with over 8.9 million people, that’s a massive demand to cover. On the ground level, this makes for a truly staggering amount of street vendors and food operations. Walking hungrily down the streets is a full-body experience for us food-obsessed travelers.

While aimlessly exploring, I came across various markets of food stalls and restaurants, which often veered off into surrounding street food-infested alleyways, which in turn opened up into a new market, which also contained completely undiscovered food-lined mazes. And it seems like one could just repeat this process in an endless loop; the number of culinary options here is virtually limitless.

Finally, the unique energy and ambiance this city possesses. When you arrive in Saigon, there is no middle ground; you are met with a multitude of extremes: The traffic has the ferocity of a starved predator; cars and motorbikes veer around pedestrians and one another with only millimeters of room to play with. Stray dogs run amiss beneath your feet. The ears fill with the yelling of merchants, attempting to sell or barter whatever it is they have. Live caged chickens await slaughter only footsteps away from luxury hotels. Street children with tattered clothes beg on the sidewalk while unfazed onlookers stuff their faces with food. Multimillion-dollar construction projects tower over dirty and decayed apartment buildings.

A true city of contrasts and intensity; it isn’t for the faint of heart.

Growing pains are inevitable for someplace developing this rapidly. Saigon is changing; this much is evident when one simply sets eyes on the city. While confronting extreme poverty here is still impossible to avoid, there is also money flowing, and opportunity. The Vietnamese have fought incredibly hard to get to this place, and they now have a chance to progress — they have hope for the future.

It is uncertain what the Vietnam of tomorrow will look like. But what is certain is the character and strength of its people. They have put aside their unimaginably difficult past — through pure grit, tenacity, and forgiveness, they have resurrected their homeland into the Vietnam of today. With that, it also will be their duty to confront and overcome the new challenges they will inevitably face, shaping their country’s future. And if history tells us anything, it’s that they will prevail.

If there’s one thing we can learn from Vietnam, it’s to never look back. Leave it all in the rearview.

Motorbike cruising, leaving District 4 [8/21/23]

Saigon, until we meet again…

Day 3: Saigon — A Glutton’s Wet Dream

“All of the things I need for happiness: Low plastic stool, check. Tiny little plastic table, check. Something delicious in a bowl, check.” — Anthony Bourdain discussing eating in Vietnam

Me posing with a fresh *bánh xèo* (a stuffed pancake made with rice flour, water, and turmeric powder) [8/20/23]

It doesn’t matter who you are, what your title is, or how much money you make, when you eat on the street in Vietnam, you are part of the collective street food consciousness. Everyone is on the same level here, so pull your little plastic seat up to your miniature table and get cozy, everything is going to be just fine.

Friends exchanging laughs in the buzzing Ho Thi Ky market in Saigon’s District 10 [8/20/2023]

After spending the better part of the evening zooming around on a moped and trying different street food areas and markets around the city, I can say the energy of these places is almost indescribable. The streets and alleyways are packed to the brim with hungry patrons (and moto scooters of course), all embarking on the same mission to satisfy their palates. To say the options here are overwhelming would be a massive understatement. Stumbling around, the eyes, ears, and nose are under constant bombardment from the seemingly endless number of street vendors.

It almost feels as if one is under an intoxicating incantation of culinary delight, as seemingly involuntarily, your innate hedonism successfully sieges the mind and leads you to wherever your stomach can attain the gluttonous satisfaction it is pleading for.

Scenes from Ho Thi Ky market in Saigon’s District 10 [8/20/23]

I only have around five days here, so it would be utterly impossible to even scratch the surface of the food scene in this city. But you can bet that I’ve been making the most of my time.

For every meal, I’ve tried something different. For such a relatively small country, Vietnam has an impressive amount of food diversity, which varies greatly depending on the region of the country you find yourself in. With that being said, I am writing particularly about the food in Saigon. However, the cool thing about the largest cities in most countries is that many people from different regions move to them for better opportunities and economic mobility, and they often bring their food too. So, this results in Saigon having regional food specialties as well.

Many dishes of Saigon’s cuisine can be found in bowls and are accompanied by a host of additives and sauces. Depending on the dish you order, your server will bring out: fresh herbs and greens, bean sprouts, limes, fish sauce, pickled vegetables, dried crunchy onions, black vinegar, minced or whole garlic, hot sauce, hoisin sauce, fresh chilis, dry chili powder, and chili oil (and I’m sure there are more possibilities). This means that with each broth, for example, flavor profiles can change as you’re eating. You have complete control. Want to make your meal more sweet, spicy, crunchy, salty, savory, tangy, or acidic? No worries, they got you covered.

These options allow you to enjoy many different flavor profiles all while slurping on the same bowl of noodles — it’s remarkable, and one of the things I love most about the experience of eating Vietnamese food.

A bowl of *bún cá*, showcasing the various condiments/additives one can add [8/19/2023]

Other than the obvious phở and bánh mì, the dishes I have enjoyed the most (in no particular order) are as follows:

Bún chả – dish of grilled pork meatballs served with a golden broth, rice noodles, and various other additives
Cơm tấm – typical for breakfast, a dish made from rice with fractured rice grains (broken rice) and topped with a variety of additives
Bún thịt nướng – a dish with a combination of grilled pork, rice noodles, veggies, and fish sauce
Chuối Nếp Nướng – a snack with grilled banana wrapped in sticky rice, topped with pure coconut milk
Bún riêu – rice noodle soup made with pork-based broth and tomatoes. It can contain onions, crab meatballs, snails, various types of meat, and fried tofu

The food here alone is enough to make me want to stay. It’s unpretentious and inexplicitly delicious. No one is trying to dress it up and make it something that it’s not. It is pure and comes from the very soul of the Vietnamese people. And they are more than happy to share. Through it, one can be transported to another realm, where the essence of what makes the people here so amazing can be felt.

It’s going to be difficult to part ways…

A street vendor dishing out a breakfast favorite, *cơm tấm*, in a Saigon District 4 alleyway [8/22/2023]

Day 1: Saigon — Vibrant, Unpretentious, and Delicious

“A day of traveling will bring a basketful of learning.” — Vietnamese Proverb

View overlooking Saigon’s District 1 [8/18/2023]

I arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport rather disoriented and disheveled. After over 30 hours of continuous travel, I was ready to hit the ground running. I went through customs and quickly found the public transport bus to make my way towards the city center.

There is an interesting sense of informality and lawlessness here, especially when it comes to traffic patterns. The constant beeping and zooming of the vehicles all around me was impossible to ignore. While chugging along in the public bus likely from the 90s, I could already feel the electric buzz of this Southeast Asian mega-city — it was almost palpable. I was now at the mercy of Saigon.

And oh, the mopeds. They are everywhere here. And I mean everywhere. There is an endless sea of them, looking out onto the asphalt, they never stop coming; no matter the time of day. Think you can take refuge on the sidewalk? Think again, that “pedestrian” area is free game for them as well. I learned this all too quickly after not glancing over my shoulder before I stepped onto one… close call.

I also noticed almost immediately the sheer size and importance of the informal economy here. Drivers pull to the side of the street in busy traffic to have a chat with the street merchants, or to buy up whatever it is they happen to be selling. And people are selling everything here. From clothes, scrap metal, souvenirs, magazines, the daily newspaper, shoes, hats, literally about anything you can imagine can be bought off the side of the road. Street vendors are the true heartbeat of this city.

Also, the food. My god is it everywhere. I’m like a kid in a candy store here. Except the candy store spans farther than the eyes can see and has candy varieties whose names I can’t pronounce. Down every alley, every street, every last crevasse of the city, you will see a vendor selling something delicious.

Another thing that sticks out is the kindness and hospitality of the Vietnamese people. Now, I know about three words in Vietnamese, but this didn’t stop me from trying my hand at ordering something when I first landed. You would be surprised how far you can get by body language and pointing alone; I’m making due. And my taste buds have thanked me greatly for it so far.

For my first dinner, I decided to enjoy some nem nướng cuon (grilled pork spring rolls).

The way this dish works is, they give you all the ingredients (rice paper, meat, various herbs/greens, and a plethora of sauces) and it’s up to you to construct the roll. The older woman in charge of the restaurant was watching in concern and suspense and I attempted to assemble my first roll. And I have to admit, I was a bit intimidated. After witnessing my struggle, she soon came over to lend a helping hand and kindly showed me a more efficient method.

When I finally made one in success, I could tell both she and my waiter were elated. They expressed genuine joy that I was able to now fully experience the meal in its purest form. I think there was something beautiful about this moment, and it speaks volumes about the Vietnamese people. They are extremely proud of their food culture and love to share it with others. I won’t forget this brief instant of shared happiness. What we couldn’t communicate with words was made up by the connection of simply being human.

Don’t be afraid to look like an idiot, it’s how experts begin.