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Vietnam Food-a-Rama!

PoS

Minister of Love
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First day in Ho Chi Minh City was a blast.

First dish I ate- and I forgot what it was called. Rice batter shaped into crepe and rolled up along with savory meats into something akin to a soft eggroll. With the sweet roast pork fillet on top along with caramelized garlic and scallions, the mint and basil puts this over the top. You need to dip it into the fish sauce laced with garlic and peppers to complete it. Outstanding.

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Then we had a dessert thats basically preserved fruits and soy mixed with ice and condensed milk. Light and sweet.

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Pho- raw beef topped with broth. Add the chilis, brown sauce and the rest. Enjoy.

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I'm not going to post any banh mi pics since everyone knows what they are. Suffice to say if you buy it from some vendor on the street and they make it in front of you then you will not be disappointed. Ive eaten two in the first day and they were the greatest sandwiches Ive eaten, Roast pork, crackling skin, pickled veggies, chilis and their sauces... its addictive. A 6 inch sandwich for 64 cents and better tasting than anything else- believe it.
 
Stay away from the street vendor Balut and you should be OK.
 
First day in Ho Chi Minh City was a blast.

First dish I ate- and I forgot what it was called. Rice batter shaped into crepe and rolled up along with savory meats into something akin to a soft eggroll.

Banh xeo, also filled with shrimp, fish, vegetables and combinations, usually savory, sometimes spicy. A cross over from French cuisine, which in turn came from Viennese cuisine, which was an interpretation of Russian Bliny with caviar. Suffer you fool, I wish I was with you. :)

Have a great time.
 
I love Vietnam! Dalat, HCMC, Nha Trang, Hue, Halong Bay, Hanoi, etc.

Eat as much pho as possible, it makes great breakfast. Durian, mangosteen, rambutans...etc....mmmmm
 
I love Vietnam! Dalat, HCMC, Nha Trang, Hue, Halong Bay, Hanoi, etc.

Eat as much pho as possible, it makes great breakfast. Durian, mangosteen, rambutans...etc....mmmmm

One would have to wonder exactly how hungry the first person to eat a durian was.
 
One would have to wonder exactly how hungry the first person to eat a durian was.

Tasty stuff. I went for pho last night as I'm coming down with this icky head cold. Great medicine...
 
Tasty stuff. I went for pho last night as I'm coming down with this icky head cold. Great medicine...

Must be a thing! I had Vietnamese beef with lemongrass (Bun Bo Xao...don't ask me how to pronounce it) last night.
 
Must be a thing! I had Vietnamese beef with lemongrass (Bun Bo Xao...don't ask me how to pronounce it) last night.

Pho Ga' chicken pho is a cure all, throw in a good dollop of sriacha and plenty of jalepenos and basil leaves, and drink up.....
 
Stay away from the street vendor Balut and you should be OK.

Funny you mention that. My stomach dropped when our foodie tour guide offered this to me. No, it isnt an aborted duck fetus but a chicken egg with the yolk removed, spices added in and then grilled. Ate it with raw basil and salt. Not bad actually.

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Breakfast before heading out to see the Cu Chi tunnels. Our guide ordered us some deep fried banana fritters which were pretty good: sweet and crunchy. To the right is our guide's vegetarian breakfast of spring rolls.

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I had a Pho (as usual), this one had beef and an egg roll as well as fatty gristle. Very filling.

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Third pic is from a hole in the wall where we had lunch after exploring the tunnels (one heck of an adventure which I will relate to in the tavern thread). Stir fried veggies like string beans, along with tofu cooked several different ways, an egg omelet with herbs, and some very sweet roasted chicken- they killed it live for us while its brothers and sisters were running and pecking around lol.

Very good food. Never had a bad meal here so far. I now vote for Vietnam with having the best cuisine of Asia.
 
Hookay, I actually did a foodie tour- which meant our guide brought us to a number of different eating spots in the city, away from the touristy areas to experience the real cuisine of Saigon. It was a bit dangerous riding on the back of motorbikes throughout the area, but in the end it worked out alright.

5 stops + unlimited food = fun.

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I forgot the name of this, but its basically a Vietnamese burrito. You get rice paper wraps and stick a little bit of all the ingredients into it before wrapping it up and using the dipping sauce. The rice paper is very sticky so it takes a lot of skill to prevent it from collapsing.

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This one was the highlight of the evening. To the left are sort of deep fried pancakes with shrimp and coconut sauce on top. Amazing. Then the one on the right is sort of a fried wrap with lots of seafood and mushrooms inside of it- you wrap it all up in fresh herbs like a Korean BBQ and then use the dipping sauce.

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This one was a unique experience since we ate at a streetside illegal restaurant. The owners basically put up bunch of plastic chairs in front of a closed car dealership that evening and added a portable grill and made Vietnamese pizzas (grilled rice crust with sausage, cheese, tamarind and chili sauce), and Vietnamese calzones to a huge hungry crowd of locals. Very fun time.
 
Hookay, I actually did a foodie tour- which meant our guide brought us to a number of different eating spots in the city, away from the touristy areas to experience the real cuisine of Saigon. It was a bit dangerous riding on the back of motorbikes throughout the area, but in the end it worked out alright.

5 stops + unlimited food = fun.

OitJD09.jpg


I forgot the name of this, but its basically a Vietnamese burrito. You get rice paper wraps and stick a little bit of all the ingredients into it before wrapping it up and using the dipping sauce. The rice paper is very sticky so it takes a lot of skill to prevent it from collapsing.

XJE4S3H.jpg


This one was the highlight of the evening. To the left are sort of deep fried pancakes with shrimp and coconut sauce on top. Amazing. Then the one on the right is sort of a fried wrap with lots of seafood and mushrooms inside of it- you wrap it all up in fresh herbs like a Korean BBQ and then use the dipping sauce.

UQxXdji.jpg


This one was a unique experience since we ate at a streetside illegal restaurant. The owners basically put up bunch of plastic chairs in front of a closed car dealership that evening and added a portable grill and made Vietnamese pizzas (grilled rice crust with sausage, cheese, tamarind and chili sauce), and Vietnamese calzones to a huge hungry crowd of locals. Very fun time.

My mouth is literally watering.........do you hear more Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City? Saigon seems less a mouthful...
 
My mouth is literally watering.........do you hear more Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City? Saigon seems less a mouthful...

Ive spoken to several locals about this very question and it seems both terms are correct. When Saigon was conquered by the north, the new rulers incorporated several neighboring districts to form the new Ho Chi Minh City. Saigon can still be referred to the original districts before unification, though official government word on it says you should refer to the city only as HCMC.
 
The food looks horrible and I like a variety of foods.
 
Cuisine from Hue- some of you might recognize the name of that city which played a pivotal role in the Tet Offensive during the war.

The first is shrimp pancakes with pork rind and the ubiquitous fish sauce.

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Last days in the city.

My son took too long at the hotel so I went out and grabbed a quick bite.

This is bun cha, the same dish that Anthony Bourdain ate with Obama. It's not a soup, but rather a sauce where you can put in veggies and noodles and grilled meat into. At the side are beef sticks wrapped in leaves.

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Last entry:

This is a very popular street snack in Vietnam. It's made from fried corn with toasted garlic, shallots and dried shrimp mixed with chili sauce.

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And this one is egg yolk coffee, apparently invented in Saigon. Not bad, though I'm not really a serious coffee drinker.

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