Bun Bo Hue on Flickr.

My aunt went out to the market and brought this back. It’s so fresh even though it was packed. They pack it individually and they pack you a huge thing of vegetables to go with it.

This is a beef noodle soup with slices of beef shank, fried Vietnamese bologna and beef tendon. My grandmother put some pork hocks (uncured) in it sometimes or like….pig’s feet. But this version is just fine. This was a little underseasoned, though.

One of the best things about Vietnam vs. America….which might just be an Asia vs. America thing….is that the food is readily available, a good portion, cheap, and can sometimes be brought to you instead of having to trek over to somewhere far, far away (Chapel Hill to Raleigh) just to eat some Vietnamese food.

Another thing is that these people have been making this stuff for a long time. Just this stuff (sometimes some other things), so it’s not like a restaurant where you have to find the thing they do well and stick to it, you know? 

-HT 

Banh Cuon on Flickr.

This is Banh Cuon. The fish sauce was a little underseasoned, but it’s all good, still. The crepe had a great texture, not at all like what I’ve bought or what my mom has made. She does do this stuff for a living.

It’s a cheung fun-type rice flour crepe that’s been steamed and rolled atop an oiled round stone thing. Inside it is pork, woodear mushrooms, and taro. It’s topped with different kinds of Vietnamese Forcemeat/Bologna. One is simply wrapped in banana leaves and boiled, one is seasoned with cinnamon and herbs, boiled/steamed, maybe? And then fried on the outside to get that golden brownness.

Served with that, fried shallots, bean sprouts, thai basil and fish sauce. AWESOME. Two plates of this was 52VND, which is less than $3usd. It’s not very filling for people like my friend Travis, though, but I love it, especially with a dessert afterwards. I’m definitely gonna start eating desserts more here.

My grandmother and I also split one of these.

I’m not sure what’s in here. I just know it tastes like taro and shrimp. I loved the crunchiness, but it was a little underseasoned. The pepper paste was, of course, GREAT.

That’s it for today. I was pretty hungry, but I didn’t feel hungry enough to eat several of these. I ate the green slug dessert after I got back, but the picture wasn’t great, so I didn’t want to upload it. Later. I got a year for this stuff.

Here’s a video of her making it. Sorry for the bad interruptions. I wanted to be as non-intrusive as possible. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLYVZs7I5Kw&feature=youtu.be 

-HT

Bun Mam on Flickr.

Legit Breakfast might become a series now. This was today’s breakfast. I am starting to think I will love this big breakfast, small dinner thing.

Today’s noodle soup is a fermented fish paste broth with thick-cut rice vermicelli. It operates out of a small stall, just like this one:

He takes the fresh noodles, dip it into a pot of boiling water and into a bowl, then layers the meat, which in this case was squid, shrimp, fish cake, and crispy roast pork, and ladled some of the broth from the bigger pot, which also had eggplant. Some green onion was thrown on there and the whole thing is served with a small plate of split water spinach stalks, shredded banana flowers, bean sprouts and various other herbs, which probably included mint (as I tasted some) among other things. I don’t really look at what herbs are served to me anymore as they’re all so individually sized and guaranteed to go with whatever I’m eating. I do pick over things at home, though, because I get more of a choice. Then came the condiments that you add yourself.

The big bowl closest to you is a toasted, spicy lemongrass. Then comes a small squeeze of lime (or in my case, two) a crap ton of garlicky, spicy Thai chili pepper paste and possibly some fresh rounds of pepper. I’m dripping in sweat at this point, as I often am at breakfast. It’s a spicy, hot little noodle soup that should be a perfect solution to a wintery day, only people here champion through this in 38degreeC weather. 

For dessert, we snaked our way over the the sweet tofu lady again, because my aunt and my grandmother wanted some, and then onto another dessert stall to get my favorite. 

It’s the green sluggy dessert! I don’t know what to call it in English, but it’s Che Banh Lot in Vietnamese. The story is that it’s named because of the way it’s made. It’s a mixture of rice flour, Pandanus flavoring/water/paste, then cooked to thicken a bit and pressed through a sieve (or what I’ve been told, a colander), where it will fall into a bowl of ice water and solidify into strips. It is then eaten with coconut milk and some simple syrup. Pretty freaking delicious. We had to buy this home, though, because I had already had dessert at this point and couldn’t eat another bite. 

On our way out, my aunt stopped by a vegetable stall to get some cabbage, and next to that was this lady just roasting up some tasty, tasty meat. 

It is a meatball kind of mixture that’s probably got (I didn’t have it, so I don’t know) lemongrass, onions, pork, sugar (hence the glaze-y, glossy, caramelize appearance) and maybe fish sauce to season. It’s then formed along a skewer and dropped into that stone oven and roasted until cooked and caramelized. I was curious and amused as the lady took it out of the oven and used shears to quickly clip out the parts of the skewer that was too burnt. Smart. 

Also on our way out, we saw a place where I found tasty looking dragonfruits.

The mangoes, for some reason, are picked green and then allowed to ripen as they sit in markets like these to be sold. And then they are ripened some more after people buy it home and put it on the altars for ancestors and bodhisattvas. I would think they would be sold really ripe and then just eaten there. I don’t know. It sure crushed my hopes and dreams just a little. The dragonfruit, however, look pretty tasty. I’m expecting to get them some time during this next year and enjoying them like I never got to enjoy them in the US. 

I really do love these morning adventures. 

-HT

Legit Breakfast on Flickr.

MMM. MMM. MMM.

This was my first real venture out into Vietnam after I arrived. I holed up in my aunt’s house for a day, doing nothing but hanging onto my laptop for dear life and thinking “Oh God, I’m so not ready for this and nothing is like what I remembered.”

However, this morning my grandmother took me out the market where we used to do our daily morning grocery shopping trips (when I didn’t have school) and got breakfast with me. We went to a duck noodles stall and I got a noodle soup with duck, bamboo shoots and glass vermicelli. My grandmother got the same thing but with thin rice noodles instead. I loved the vermicelli. It was soft, but still a little chewy. The meat was tender, tasted pretty fresh (which it probably was….definitely when compared to frozen duck I often get in the US). The duck meat came in a salad, which was delicious. The fish sauce was well-seasoned, and the vegetables were fresh and crunchy. ARGH. Want more, but my stomach can’t handle that much food. One day at a time, I’ve got 364 days left, right? 

Here are the noodles before they were cooked:

It being out in the open really bothered me, but I sucked it up ‘cause I knew it would be good. Good choice. 

Then we snaked our way through the confusing market to get to the dessert.
 

Meet tofu lady. She made pretty good sweet tofu dessert. Better than Tracy. :P

It had small, chewy tapioca balls that were really delicious in contrast with the silken tofu. The ginger syrup was sweet, but served in moderation, so it wasn’t sickeningly so. There was also coconut water, supposedly, but I didn’t really taste it. I could just get the normal one and it would not have mattered to me. 

That was awesome breakfast. We don’t joke about food around here.

-HT- 

Pakwan Chicken Korma on Flickr.

This was really good. I mean…the portion is actually pretty big. The rice is endless, and there was a lot of the tasty pepper cracker (pardon my description) and the sauces/hot pickle.

Lamb Vindaloo?

The lamb was kinda gamey….but not as much as the lamb naan was. Flavors are good. I don’t have much to say about this place since my Indian food palate is not yet developed.

Sauces

Mint was not as good as my friend’s mom’s, but still good. Tamarind was the best I’ve had.

Paneer dish

I didn’t order this, so I don’t remember what it’s called, but it was also very good. I always like it when a vegetarian dish makes me happy.

Pretty good Indian food for Savannah, what I expected to be a deeply southern town.

-HT-

I Sacrificed Myself to the Mosquitoes to Get This Picture on Flickr.

Mosquitoes in Savannah by the river…that kills.

Papilotte Fries on Flickr.

Papilotte. What can I say about you? You clogged my arteries and buried my heart in layers of fat. Butter on Butter on Butter. I still love it, though.

Half Loaf of Brioche

This was buttery…so much so that I didn’t really even need to add butter. It was so good, though. It was especially good with the mushroom soup that I had. By the time I remembered, we had scarfed down a decent amount of the mushroom soup, so I didn’t get a picture. But the portions here were huge. I got two more of those slices of brioche to go with my soup. I’ve never been a fan of getting mushroom soup at a restaurant, but I was converted. The cashier was so sure I’d love it, and she was right. I’m glad I took that recommendation.

Bouchee a la Reine

I didn’t eat this, but I thought the portion was big considering I know that it was going to be heavy. My friend said it was super delicious. I was so full, but I wish I could’ve had a bite.

Mac and Craw

This was so good. Tracy says it’s bland, but I don’t think she got enough crawfish. That stuff was so good, but it was near the bottom, so if you go to Savannah and go here, you have to eat from the top to the bottom all at once so that you get the crust, the creamy pasta, and the crawfish flavor all at once. It looks small, but you would be fooled if you think that would not be enough for you. The arugula salad looks small smushed up like that, but NO. After the mac was done, I spread it out and it filled that plate. If you’ve had the salads at buns, it was enough to make a Buns-small sized arugula salad. I wanted more tomatoes, though, but I was satisfied with just the arugula. The dressing was great. I mean, I just loved this food.

Savannah….a really great place for food. Wasn’t exciting as a place, but I’m so glad I went. Go for St. Paddy’s.

-HT-

Warm Olives on Flickr.

T and I went to Toast in Durham and we found a delicious sandwich place. They call themselves something in Italian that I don’t remember, but I feel like they only need to let the food speak for them.

Chicken Liver Crostini

Super delicious. If you like liver, you will like this. I mean….GAH. There was a hint of cognac or brandy that I really liked. I could be wrong about the alcohol, but whatever it is I loved it. I was excited to see fennel in the description since I’ve never really had fennel, but after seeing it didn’t really have much pickled fennel on it I was disappointed. $4 is also steep for this dish. I would do about $3 or $3.50.

Panini Special

I really don’t remember what this was called, but it had ham and pickled hot peppers. That was really good. T usually doesn’t like ham, but she loved this. The cheese was so appropriate and milky but light. The peppers gave it an extra flavor that made it more than a ham and cheese.

Portabella and Arugula Panini

I beeline for anything with arugula. This was great, but it really needed some acidity for me. It was a bit heavy, and arugula didn’t have enough bite. I guess I’m used to eating raw arugula and I just didn’t get enough of the flavor that I love. I might just order something else next time, but I wasn’t disappointed with it. It was really good, just didn’t wow me.

I definitely would come back to toast. We definitely over-ordered with the warm olives, which were not that great even for T who’s an olive fan, but it would be cheap for someone wanting a light, cheap lunch. The panini were about $7-8/sandwich and crostini were $4/2 crostini. However, our friend who went there with us said she can fill up on 4 crostini. I might not, but I guess it’s doable. I would highly recommend it.

-HT-

Super Handsome Clyde on Flickr.

my friend’s super handsome 11-year-old golden retriever

-HT-

EDIT: So he tells me it’s actually the other golden, Bonnie.

accidentalchinesehipsters:

Let’s start from the right and work our way over:

1. Tropical Buddha with bread-offering necklace. Respect.

2. Military toilet cleaner (way too happy).

3. Wh… WHAT?! Androgenous topless nun without nipples?

4. It’s the Flying Pig from Kids in the Hall! Only he’s also a toilet cleaner.

5. Product mascot or super hero maybe. Clearly too invested in being the most attractive guy in the group to have a good costume.

———-

André from Germany met these guys on the way to his hotel room in Shenzhen in 2007: “Fun at a company party, as far as I recall it.”

What’s funny is i know exactly what this is a replica of so it’s doubly funny to me. It’s the old Journey to the West stuff. Starting from the right:

1. The bodhisattva
2. the general?
3. Guan Yin
4. the pig dude
5. the monkey