Vietnamese Food and Markets

Chicken on Display - Hanoi, Vietnam

The one that *didn't* get away. Dig deeper into Hanoi's food and markets.

Escargot - Hanoi, Vietnam

Escargot picante! Another round of dishes at Hanoi's Quan An Ngon restaurant. Dig deeper into Hanoi's food and markets.

Quan An Ngon Restaurant - Hanoi, Vietnam

Looking for a safe place for an introduction to Vietnamese food? This is the place. The garden area is surrounded by kitchens in an open air street-stall style, so you can walk around and choose your meal based on what you see cooking or what you smell coming out of the stand. You can always ask questions. And as on the street, everything is fresh to order. Dig deeper into Hanoi's food and markets.

Vietnamese Coffee - Hanoi, Vietnam

We were spoiled by cafe sua (coffee with sweet milk) in Vietnam, served as pictured here. The resulting coffee is strong, but not bitter. With the sweetened condensed milk, it had a dark chocolate, mocha flavor. Dessert! Dig deeper into Hanoi's food and markets.

Crab, Herbs, Vermicelli Noodles - Hanoi, Vietnam

One of the dishes we ordered at Quan An Ngon was crab and shrimp paste barbecued and wrapped around sugar cane (Chao Tom). This version came with greens, noodles and dry, crispy rice paper to wrap the result like a spring roll. The waitress demonstrates the perfect technique with the rice paper to pile on the vermicelli noodles, crab and herbs. The result, divine. Dig deeper into Hanoi's food and markets.

Improvised Sprinkler - Hanoi, Vietnam

When you don't have a comprehensive grocery store sprinkler system, just poke a few holes in a plastic bottle, fill it partially with water and then squeeze for instantly refreshed fruits and vegetables. Dig deeper into Hanoi's food and markets.

Red Roasted Chicken Delight - Hanoi, Vietnam

Whatever happened to that "golden yellow color"? Dig deeper into Hanoi's food and markets.

Fresh Spring Rolls - Hanoi, Vietnam

Dig deeper into Hanoi's food and markets.

Hanoi Fish with Tumeric and Dill - Hanoi, Vietnam

The streets of Hanoi's old town are named in traditional commerce fashion. However, you can no longer find chickens for sale on Chicken Street. You can, however, find Cha Ca on Cha Ca street. Cha Ca is a distinct hot pot meal of fish, turmeric, dill, coriander and other greens served with noodles, peanuts, vinegar and chilies. When you enter Cha Ca La Vong restaurant, a small card is placed on your table indicating that only one dish is served. After a short time, the main event shows up - sizzling fish in a yellow tumeric sauce. Pile in the greens and noodles, tasty bits, stir and enjoy the feast! Dig deeper into Hanoi's food and markets.

Vendor and Her Goods - Hanoi, Vietnam

Like restaurants, vegetable and fruit markets are set up on the sidewalk outside of the Dong Xuan market. In Hanoi, sidewalks are intended for making business, not strolling. Dig deeper into Hanoi's food and markets.

White Rose Dumplings - Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi An is known for several specialty dishes, including White Rose shrimp dumplings. The recipe for these dumplings is secret, held by one family in Hoi An who supplies all the restaurants. We tried White Rose dumplings the first time at Cafe des Amis along the river. It was one of six dishes that came as a set seafood menu. We ordered one menu for the two of us, and left stuffed to the gills. Read more about Hoi An food specialties.

Mango and Sticky Rice - Hoi An, Vietnam

The Swedish women who were on the trek with us in Sapa recommended Mango Rooms restaurant in Hoi An where, surprise surprise, everything on the menu features mango. We decided to finish off our meal with a sophisticated version of mango and sticky rice. It was almost too pretty to eat....but we managed. Read about Hoi An's food specialties.

Squid Flowers - Hoi An, Vietnam

Pieces of squid cut for the effect of a flower. This was part of the preparation of warm squid salad in a pineapple. Scoring squid not only makes it look pretty, but allows it to expand while cooking in order to better absorb the flavor of the sauce it's cooked in. Read about Hoi An's food specialties.

Fried Wantons - Hoi An, Vietnam

We had heard wantons were a specialty in Hoi An, but weren't expecting such a feast of shrimp, peppers and herbs on top of this dose. All Hoi An wantons are made by the same family as the White Rose dumplings. What a monopoly! Read about Hoi An's food specialties.

Bahn Xeo in Rice Paper - Hoi An, Vietnam

Bahn Xeo is a savory pancake with shrimp and pork sprinkled into its turmeric-touched batter. The pancake is filled with herbs and bean sprouts and should be rolled tight with rice paper. We tried this in several restaurants without the rice paper - what a mess! We also learned how to make tomato roses and cucumber fans. We don't expect to use that skill any time soon though. Read about Hoi An food specialties.

Cao Lau - Hoi An, Vietnam

Cao Lau is another dish that can only be made in Hoi An because the secret ingredient is water that comes from one special well in town. The dish is wonderful with thick rice noodles, roasted pork, fresh herbs, thin crispy croutons , all topped off with a rich soy sauce. Read about Hoi An's food specialties.

Spring Rolls - Hoi An, Vietnam

During our cooking course in Hoi An, we learned how to make fresh rice paper in order to roll our own spring rolls. Dan did quite well with his papers; Audrey needed a few more tries... The result was the same for both, however - tasty and fresh spring rolls filled with shrimp, noodles and fresh herbs. Read about Hoi An's food specialties.

Shrimps - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Beautiful shrimp stare out at us from a carved-out coconut. Seafood restaurants set up outside Ben Thanh market in the evening once the indoor market closes. This place also had live frogs hanging on a string. Each time a person would get close, all the legs would move about. It was a bit creepy, actually. Welcome to Saigon food scene. Read more about snackin' in Saigon.

Sticky Rice - Saigon, Vietnam

Audrey's favorite - sticky rice. And, four different types to choose from! The dark variety was the best of this bunch. But it still can't hold a candle to the texture and nutty flavor of the purple and dark sticky rice in Laos. Read more about snackin' in Saigon.

Blood Arcas - Saigon, Vietnam

Sounds gross, we know. Absolutely not. The recommendation came from the waitress at our favorite sidewalk restaurant outside of Ben Thanh market. And inquiring minds wanted to know...or at least try. The taste more than exceeded our expectations - grilled mollusks (blood arca) that were buttery and clean, topped with roasted peanuts, spring onions, vinegar sauce and fresh herbs. Read about snackin' in Saigon.

Best Dim Sum - Saigon, Vietnam

We had a craving for dim sum one day and satisfied it with a visit to Lucky Star. Some of the best dim sum we've ever had. The shrimp dumplings were sufficiently loaded with meat and herbs and complemented with various dipping sauces. At $1.50 per basket, it was hard to tear ourselves away from this place. Read more about snackin' in Saigon.

Prawns - Saigon, Vietnam

A great selection of huge prawns on offer at Ben Thanh market in Saigon. We were fortunate that our hotel was just half a block away, making it a easy to pop into the market for a small (or substantial) snack at one of the stalls when we were feeling peckish. Read more about snackin' in Saigon.

Spring Rolls - Saigon, Vietnam

Hand rolled to perfection, these beautiful shrimp fresh spring rolls are part of a bulk order from a small stand at Ben Thanh market. We started rolling our own fresh spring rolls while still in Prague, thanks to the ingredients we were able to acquire at the Vietnamese markets. You can imagine our delight when finding them all over Vietnam. The more herbs rolled, the better. It makes an ideal savory snack - clean and healthy. Read about snackin' in Saigon.

Bo La Lot ( Seasoned Beef in Betel Leaf) - Saigon, Vietnam

Crab on sugar cane (Chao Tom) makes another appearance, at left. But the show-stealer here is the Bo La Lot, or seasoned beef in a leaf. The vendor told us it was betel leaf, though Vietnamese street food experts might argue with that. Anyhow, this grilled dish became one of our favorite snacks inside the Ben Thanh market. The beef was seasoned (nutmeg and fermented fish sauce?) and topped with roasted peanuts and a zippy dipping sauce. Read more about snackin' in Saigon.

Fish - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

More fish than you can shake a stick at. Read about snackin' in Saigon.