Saturday 11 June 2011

VIETNAM: Ho Chi Minh City




Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon, is situated on the banks of the Saigon River and 60 km from the South China Sea.





Coffee is strong and mostly black here too but there's also a variation that we hadn't seen anywhere else: Weasel coffee. There's no weasel IN the coffee but they contribute a great deal to the coffee. The beans are fed to the weasels, digested and later collected, ground and brewed. You should end up with a musky and yet smooth coffee. This will make the coffee incredibly expensive of course so it's most likely that you will be sold a fake where the beans are fermented with the help of an enzyme rather than a weasel.



Bun thit nuong is a great breakfast dish of grilled pork served on cold thin rice vermicelli, fresh herbs like mint, pickled carrot and daikon, bean sprouts, peanuts and served with a sweet fish sauce.






Summer roll or Vietnamese spring roll filled with pork and shrimps alongside freh herbs and wrapped in thin rice paper.






Haven't seen coconut like this before but so much easier to take-away it can almost compete with a bottle or can of soda pop, but then you can't open a can and eat the fresh juicy flesh inside, can you?



Phở is a Vietnamese noodle soup, usually served with beef or chicken but in my case with tofu. The rice noodles are served with sweet basil, lime and bean sprouts that are added to the soup by the diner. There are regional differences in the North and South of Vietnam when it comes to the garnishes and the width of the noodles.






Fresh sugar cane juice is the best in this heat and I couldn't resist taking a big gulp before I took the photo...

2 comments:

burn66 said...

I have been so inspired by your blog that I made cold Vietnamese noodles last weekend for my veggie in-laws (& husband). They were very good but in no way as good as what you are having... but I get so hungry every time I read UF that I have to do something to quell my cravings! xx

Cheap Flights to Ho Chi Minh City said...

Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey.