An (ongoing) edible journey through Vietnam

“I am not a glutton, I am an explorer of food.” – Erma Bombeck 

If you love food and sampling the local cuisine is a big deal when you’re away then Vietnam will not disappoint. The Vietnamese food culture is buzzing, with street food, barbecues and restaurants saturating the streets. Vietnam has a huge meat-eating culture and they particularly love pork. Seafood is also very popular, especially in coastal towns such as Mui Ne and Halong Bay. There’s also a huge variety of vegetarian dishes – a personal favourite being garlic-drenched vegetables and fried tofu. 

As per the title of this post, my edible journey though the Vietnamese cuisine is ongoing and I’ll be sure to update it whenever I eat something amazing, which I’m sure will be quite often…

Phở (noodle soup)

Phở is the one. A big bowl of noodles in a broth ready to slurp away. I don’t eat meat but if I did I still think I’d go for seafood soup. It usually has squid, prawns and clams and generous amounts of garlic and chilli, along with pak choi and other greens.

   

Cơm tấm (broken rice)

My Vietnamese ‘bread and butter’ – a simple, no qualms portion of rice and whatever else you fancy.

Seafood

When we went to Mui Ne we stayed at Hom Ron Beach Resort and slept in hammocks on the beach. Literally on our doorstep was this lovely lady cooking seafood. There were scallops, squid, clams and octopus. The scallops were topped with a satay sauce, so good and so cheap! A mixed plate cost me less than £1.50.

Juicy corn is the best snack. Of course it’s covered in lashings of salt but it’s too good to care.

A part of me think fruit should be left well and truly alone… but when you add chili salt! It’s served with most fruit in Vietnam but my favourite is mango.

I always end up eating a whole bag of this stuff to myself, oops! Bánh tráng trộn is a mourish mix of fried rice paper, chili, salt, garlic and peanuts. It’s served with mango shavings and axial basil and you can also eat it with quail eggs, pork and beef.