Vietnam – Saigon

Saigon is a city in motion, and one of its signature features is the preponderance of motorbikes.  They swarm the streets, park on the sidewalks, and even double as unlikely day beds with folks sprawling out over the tops of them.  As a pedestrian, crossing the street is a fun little game.  Without the advantage of stoplights to create intervals free of oncoming traffic, the maxim “look twice” is replaced with “don’t look, just go”, keeping faith that the bikes will all swerve around you as you cross.  And somehow, they do.

Picture stepping into the fray

In another fortuitous international crossing of paths, Daniel and Leah were in town this week and the three of us took a tour of Saigon’s most acclaimed street food stalls, getting around (naturally) on the backs of our guides’ motorbikes.  The dishes were all delicious, and the overall menu of this epic progressive meal was thoughtfully planned.  Here is what we ate:

• Papaya salad with prawn wafers, beef jerkey, peanuts, basil, fish sauce, and chili sauce
• Thin rice noodles stuffed with ground pork and green onions, topped with fried onions
• Vermicelli with pork sausage, grilled pork steak, fried spring roll with ground peanuts and fish sauce
• Fried cakes of rice flour, coconut milk, and turmeric topped with shrimp or ground pork (eaten wrapped in lettuce leaves and fresh herbs and dipped in fish sauce)
• Mango, sticky rice, and coconut ice cream / Dark sticky rice, ice cream, blackberry preserves

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While we are here, Daniel and I are taking a page from Son’s playbook and ordering some custom clothing from Tailor Chanh.  It is fast and affordable here to get suits made to order, either by bringing an example to be copied or just letting them take your measurements and picking out a fabric.  Further, it’s fun and I was most pleased by the quality of the items I received.

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One of the Vietnamese experiences we sought was drinking bia hoi, a beer that is served the same day it is brewed (for $0.25 per liter).  We found it in a genre-defining dive bar: an old machinist shop, rows of community tables with plastic chairs, a surprising number of customers for noon on a weekday, almost all men with almost all their teeth, and the occasional rat scurrying across the floor.  The beer was light and refreshing, served from re-purposed plastic bottles and poured over ice (if you dare).

Bia Hoi

Bia Hoi

We visited the Jade Emperor Pagoda, a Taoist temple with fierce deities surrounding its alter and the War Remnants Museum which was distinctly North Vietnamese in perspective (e.g., totally unforgiving to the United States).  We shopped the unfamiliar offerings in the markets and grocery stores, tasted culinary staples like Pho and Ca Phe Sua Da, and hung out in the city’s rooftop bars.  Compared to Thai Coffee which is made with brewed coffee or even Nescafe, the Vietnamese version (Ca Phe Sua Da) kicks it up a notch by using espresso.  Mixed with condensed milk and served over ice, it is an intense blast of sweetness and bold coffee flavor that always jolts my eyes wide open with the first straw full.

Emperor Jade Pagoda

Pho

Ca Phe Sua Da

Rooftop view of Saigon River

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