Boots in the Oven

Bánh Xèo Ngọc Sơn - Now THIS is a pancake.

2012-05-24T10:08:00-05:00

Bánh Xèo. Sure, yeah, whatever. It's just, like, a fried rice-paper crepe with some bean sprouts and pork and shrimp or whatever. Maybe some coconut milk. Nuffin' fancy, right? I mean, we all know pancakes, amirite?

WRONG! GO TO District 5 in HCMC! SIT DOWN in Bánh Xèo Ngọc Sơn (you might have to go up a floor or two - the place is pretty popular)!

ORDER a Bánh Xèo! You will get... THIS. (Oh, right - it doesn't automatically come with the Bánh trứng, the rice paper for wrapping. Order that, too.)

Look at that beast! Perfect crispy middle! Perfect lacy edges! Not the least hint of sogginess or overfrying or grease overload, all hallmarks of lesser versions! You can even see the outline of some of the shrimp inside, where they caramelized against the wok!

Hack off a chunk, with your chopsticks or a fork or your fingers (they're going to get greasy, anyway, so you might as well just dive in, I don't know why suddenly you'd be this shrinking violet), and wrap up with some herbs in a leaf of lettuce or mustard greens. MUSTARD GREENS! Then in the rice paper, which you don't even need to wet.

Logan tends to make them prettier than me, but he went to cooking school. See, that tuition plus year in Italy were good for something.

Dip in nước chấm (chile fish dipping sauce - Bánh xèo Ngọc Sơn's is particularly good) and shove into your mouth. Remember to chew, as this is how you'll enjoy the textures - crispy fried pancake yielding to softer, more steamed areas; crunchy bean sprouts; chewy pork slices; the snap of shrimp.

Repeat until you can't repeat any more. We ordered a second Bánh xèo for backup.

These people know what they're doing. The woman downstairs works up to seven woks at a time, constantly turning out perfect pancake after perfect pancake.

Bonus, just for you - video! How many bánh xèo do you think this lady has made, to have technique this perfect?

We walked back to our hotel in District 1 from here. It took about an hour through some fascinating neighborhoods, where we passed late-night fruit markets, blaring karaoke bars, teenagers on scooters sharing ice creams, and parents waiting to pick up their children from English night school.

Highly recommended. And another indication that sometimes Foursquare can really come through with the food recs in an unfamiliar city.

Bánh Xèo Ngọc Sơn: 103 Ngô Quyền in District 5.

ALSO! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my not so little any more brother, David! We'll take you out for a hoedown sometime soon, I promise.

We're Going Back to Sài Gòn: The more things change...

2012-05-23T10:09:00-05:00

Oh, were we excited to get back to Ho Chi Minh City! Back to the streetfood of dreams, back to our favorite market in the world, back to the constant exhilirating games of Frogger as you scurry between motorbikes on the busy boulevards...

But it turns out things have changed in Sài Gòn since our visit in 2007. The city is more developed, tourist paths are easier, and good food is a little trickier to find.

The scooters are still there, maybe even in more force than five years ago. Facing down a wall of them at a red light still makes my skin tingle in the beginnings of an adrenaline rush.

Helmets have gotten more stylish; you can get versions that mimic baseball caps or newsboys.

Stylin'. And responsible.

Nobody's as comfortable on a scooter as the Vietnamese.

Streetfood's still there in District 1, though prices have gone up and some of the banh mi joints don't look as good.

Typical restaurant.

A fresh juice is a nice way to break up your day a bit - though this stand didn't go to the trouble of filtering out the passiontfruit seeds. Sip and spit, sip and spit.

And Ben Thanh Market. Chợ Bến Thành is where the difference was most wrenching, for us. Five years ago, the tourist stalls existed alongside places where actual Vietnamese came to buy fruits and meats and fish pastes; now those stalls are being almost entirely crowded out by places selling the same tourist clothes (sleeveless Beer Chang shirts; Hammer pants) that you can buy anywhere in southeast Asia.

The food court area is still there, but there are way more Western tourists sitting down and demanding pork with rice when that's not even what they make, and way fewer locals.

We went back to stall 1138 for their Mì Quảng, a dish I've been dreaming about since I had it in June 2007. Here's the version from then (taken with an inferior camera and five fewer years of food photography experience under our belts!):

And now. No cracker, not as much variety, and though you can't see it in this picture, not as much flavor.

Damn sight better photo though...

(Luckily, we found a REALLY good one elsewhere. It pays well to walk around this food area and see what looks good and what the various specialties are - try to tune out the calls of the women running the stalls and pushing menus into your hands, though I know it's difficult! And remember that you can order things from multiple stalls, no matter where you are, as long as you order at least one dish from the stall you're sitting at.)

Better Mì Quảng, from stall 1030.

I still love bánh bèo, though it was interesting to learn the Saigon version is different from the style that's traditional in Huế.

As far as the night market goes at Chợ Bến Thành, I'd have to say don't bother. The number of restaurants is down to two or three, and those are filled with tourists that have been bussed in and seated together at long buffet tables. Gone are the hanging live frogs and the seafood tables; all the menus look the same now.

We hung our heads and walked a few blocks away to have a mediocre sticky rice with chicken. This one came with unformed eggs that are found in a hen after it's been killed. Logan had been dying to try them ever since we first spotted them in Mexico. They taste basicaly like egg yolks but a little richer.

This is all not to say that we didn't enjoy our stop in HCMC. We had amazing phở, and I finally learned what the fuss is about bánh xèo (posts to come). Next time, I think, we'll just have to make our base outside of the tourist center of District 1 (I'm looking at you District 4!)

Easy Riders, Dalat

2012-05-22T12:10:00-05:00

Before we arrived in Vietnam, I'd been dreaming about doing a tour with the Easy Riders. This blog post from Surrounded by the Sound, which I read pretty early into our trip last year, really clinched it for me. Get out in the countryside! See the people going about their daily lives! Get away from all those other lame-o tourists too afraid to see the REAL 'Nam!

Well... just before we arrived in Đà Lạt, we started doing some research. Turns out these trips, if you want to do an overnight, run in the neighborhood of $120-$150 per couple per day, depending on where you want to go and a few other factors. Not including food. This in a place where you can get a really nice hotel room for $25 a night and rent a scooter for an additional $10. The math just didn't make any sense to us.

On top of that, after our arrival in Dalat, we saw what a glut there was in the market. Dudes wearing "Easy Riders" jackets loiter in front of all the tourist hotels, plucking at your sleeve as you walk by. They pretty much all offer the same basic itineraries, so this previously untrodden tourist-free wonderpath has become pretty well trampled down.

But I was not prepared to let the dream die. So Logan found (it wasn't too hard - he was hanging out in front of the hotel and was BY FAR the nicest guy Logan chatted with) a really delightful guy named Châu Thiệt, or Ted, who took us on a wide-ranging day trip for $22 each.

Logan rode with Ted, while I rode with Ted's friend.

Rachel frustrated by Logan and Ted's superior hog riding skilz.

First stop: Linh Phuoc, the Dragon Pagoda, where their big white Buddha was recently painted gold.

This particular pagoda is famed far and wide for the quality of their bells; temples all over the region place orders here to be filled. The process was very cool to see, as the molds for the bronze bells are all carved by hand!

Ted showed us that once the bells are completed and installed, people write prayers and supplications and stick them inside - from the booming toll straight to Buddha's ear.

Were you wondering why it's called the Dragon Pagoda? Supercool dragons, of course! With carlight eyes and beer-bottle bodies!

That's my kinda dragon. Rowr!

Ted also showed Logan that tiger's claw flowers make a wonderful ersatz moustache, if yours is just taking too long to grow in. LOVE THIS PHOTO. Logan's so patient.

Well sort of patient...

We also got to learn a lot about silk production, from worm all the way to woven fabric! Intellectually, I was always aware of the fact that silk is spun from silkworm cocoons, but seeing the process was completely fascinating and perhaps worth the trip on its own.

First, we went by a place that gets the silkworms and feeds them on mulberry leaves until they begin to spin.

The cocoons and hard working larvae are kept on these frames in the sun - we could get right up and poke 'em! which Logan did.

More of a caress if you ask me. -L

I gotta say, the silkworm larvae are not the sexiest beasts in the animal kingdom.

After their cocoon is completely spun, the frames are broken down and the pupae are taken to a nearby factory. They're then dumped into hot water, which kills them (the catepillars are apparently then sold as food in Vietnam!) and begins to break down the silk fibers so they can be spun.

Many of these women were handling 15 or 20 cocoons at a time, threading them onto the bobbins that spun silk thread ceaselessly over their heads.

In a corner of the factory, one woman was working with the larger cocoons that are made when two larvae spin a cocoon together. This makes a much thicker silk filament.

The strands these women produce are then woven into thread, some of which is made into raw silk fabric for export. Some have patterns woven into them by an honest to goodness Jacquard loom, which uses actual punch cards I've never seen outside of a museum (Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, specifically - our post here)! The racket these looms make is deafening and a bit hypnotic.

And then! Off to the waterfalls! Where we did lots of clambering and managed to mostly not injure ourselves one little bit.

The happy couple at Elephant Falls:

Just above Elephat Falls is a pagoda with very nice grounds you can explore. Dalat is famous for being one of the cooler spots in Vietnam, due to its altitude (this is why so many veggies and flowers can be grown here), so wandering outside was very pleasant.

Plus, this pagoda has the best happy Buddha ever!

The navel of the gods.

It's interesting to see how offerings left in temples differ. In some places, you'll see older-style stuff like fruit and rice, but more and more often there are boxes of cookies and pyramids of soda cans.

Last stop (after a very full day!) Dalat's train station, built in 1938 in a local Art Deco-ish style.

The only service currently running from this station is a short tourist jaunt - it doesn't actually connect to any of the main lines anymore. Turns out it was bombed. A lot. And the tracks haven't been repaired since the war. So now it's pretty quiet, with a souvenir shop and a few old train models. It's a popular place for wedding portraits.

Our one-day trip with Ted and company was great. He was really personable, telling lots of stories about the surrounding areas and his life in Vietnam - he was in the South Vietnamese army and was in a reeducation camp after the war. Talk about good times. I would definitely recommend him if you're looking to do an Easy Rider style tour of Da Lat.

Here's Ted's contact info:

tel. 063. 38 34 157 mobile 0914 031 620

ted_easyrider (at) yahoo (dot) com (don't want him to get spammed on our account!)

He also will run the multi-day tours, if you're interested (and the math works for you).

Dalat Eating: Top 4

2012-05-21T12:10:00-05:00

Food in Dalat (or Đà Lạt) was quite a surprise. The town is in the highlands and is home to a lot of ethnic minority Vietnamese. Both of these were new to me, so I guess coming across a bunch of new dishes should have been expected. Regardless, I was extremely pleased.

In Dalat, in general, stick to the street food. Most of the restaurants we saw wanted to sell us nachos alfredo or fettuccine burgers or something equally blech-worthy. There are no shortages of adorable roadside and market eateries, so I implore you to take full advantage.

Also, Dalat is a vegetarian heaven. We didn't make much use of it (for no particular reason), but there aren't many towns around that can boast such a high percentage of meatless dining options. I'm really not sure why; I'm guessing it has something to do with monks.

But down to business. If you find yourself in Dalat, these are the four places that I wouldn't miss grabbing a bite at.

1. Bánh Tráng Nướng from this Adorable Lady on Nguyễn Văn Trỗi St.

Bánh tráng nướng are large sheets of rice paper grilled over smoldering coals and topped with all sorts of delightful goodies. I'm sure any day now some jackass will start marketing it as Vietnamese Pizza.

Almost always you'll get an egg, either chicken or quail, cracked on top. Pork, beef, scallions, chili, pounded shrimp, mayo, and Laughing Cow cheese are all viable options as well.

A lot of places fold the bánh tráng in half, but this lady gives you your own set of scissors (along with some chili dipping sauce) so you can dismember it to your personal taste.

I'm pretty sure she only sticks around until lunch, so after 3 or 4 pm her tiny red stools may have disappeared.

61 Nguyễn Văn Trỗi, Ward 2, Da Lat

2. Bánh Căn from Bánh Căn Quỳnh Thanh

Bánh căn are super cool looking rice cakes grilled in little terracotta half dome molds. Often a quail egg is broken inside, then the lids are put on until they cook through. Once unveiled, the two halves are united to form one light, fluffy ball of crisp goodness.

They're usually eaten by themselves dipped in a light fish sauce, but you can also get them like we did with a side of bánh lọc and a steamed rice flour dumpling stuffed with minced pork and mushroom. On the side came the dipping sauce with two of the softest, most tender meatballs I've ever had.

I'm pretty sure this lady is around until 7pm or so but I wouldn't bet anything too valuable on it.

53 Nguyễn Văn Trỗi, Ward 2, Da Lat (just to the left of the pet store)

3. Food Stalls at Chợ Đà Lạt

On the second floor of the large central market you can find all kinds of impressive offerings. The vendors are a little pushy, but take your time and do some perusing. See what's busy (duh) and gather up an assortment of dishes.

We picked some roll-you-own spring rolls, a bowl of bun nem nướng (grilled sausage on vermicelli), and an order of surprisingly tasty bánh khoái.

Chợ Đà Lạt- It's the huge market in the center of town. You can't miss it.

4. Everything at Quán Ăn Cu Đức.

Quán Ăn Cu Đức is the only real sit-down place I'm gonna recommend, but it's a doozy. This highland style eatery specializes in a wide range of meats and vegetables that you grill yourself on an inverted roof tile.

While insanely popular it is in no way geared to western tourists. The staff are friendly but don't expect a lick of English and don't be surprised if you become an object of interest for the surrounding tables.

We had the cá sấu nướng ngói (crocodile with okra and eggplant marinated in turmeric and chili) and the somewhat less exotic but possibly even better tasting bò nướng ngói (house specialty beef filet).

With the meats you get all sorts of nifty accoutrements like green chili and lime dipping sauce, roasted peanuts, a massive sesame rice cracker, seasoned salt, and a very interesting pickled palm fruit that I'm still trying to figure out the name for.

Anybody know these things are called?

Hands down my favorite dish though was the đậu bắp luộc. It translates as just 'boiled okra', but at Quán Ăn Cu Đức they serve it with a clay pot of bubbling fish caramel mixed with some sort of chopped nut.

That's the sauce in the back right.

I can not describe the ground-shaking deliciousness. I'm pretty sure this was one of my favorite dishes we've had the whole trip. Which is why it makes me extra sad that I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS!!! Ghawr! Knash! Friggit!

If you can send me a recipe, I'll give you France.

Quán Ăn Cu Đức - 6A Nguyễn Lương Bằng, Ward 2, Đà Lạt.

You can check out part of their menu here (in Vietnamese, but Google Translate helps a bit)

So there you have it folks. Plenty of eating stops to keep you busy in the temperate oasis of Dalat. Don't blow it.

Welcome to Đà Lạt

2012-05-17T10:37:00-05:00

Đà Lạt, or Dalat, is a town in the highlands about 7 hours away from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Its altitude means that the weather is lovely and springlike year-round, which is perfect for springtime vegetables and flowers - very different from the tropical heat of the surrounding countryside.

We knew our bus from Nha Trang had to be getting close to Dalat when we saw all the greenhouses. Entire hillsides were covered with them. It's kinda creepy.

Inside these greenhouses? Flowers! Mainly for the domestic market, though some are exported to Japan, Australia, the US, and Europe.

Looks like these mums are just about ready to go.

Individully wrapped for your convenience.

Because of Dalat's climate, there are fruits and vegetables growing in great quantity here that you just don't see elsewhere in the country. A trip to chợ Đà Lạt, the Dalat market, highlighted this for us.

Gorgeous long-stemmed globe artichokes were everywhere! Oh, how I longed for a steamer basket and some lemon butter...

The Vietnamese word for artichoke is Atisô (there's a touch of the French influence for you) and the most popular way to consume it seems to be as trà atisô - artichoke tea. Dried artichoke is sold all over the town, and the tea is supposed to be good for your skin and liver function.

We were also surprised by the number of berries at the Dalat market. You just don't see many blackberries and strawberries in other traditional markets in southern Vietnam, but here, piles of them were everywhere and shops sold fresh strawberry concentrate, great for adding to your soda.

Of course, we were most definitely still in Vietnam, so there were the more usual tropical fruits. And chickens, both live and pre-killed for ease of use.

An odd tableau.

I love Vietnamese markets. The sights, the smells, the sounds, the bustling...

Dalat is also known for other agricultural products uncommon in the rest of the country. For instance, grapes for wine are grown here (there's that French legacy again!), as well as... COFFEE! Dalat grows the country's finest, and we were lucky to be there when many of the coffee bushes were in bloom. I've never seen coffee flowers before - they smell delightfully energizing.

(Here I am with Ted, our Easy Rider guide - more about that trip later.)

You may have heard of kopi luwak, or weasel coffee. In Vietnam, it's called cà phê Chồn. This is coffee that's been processed by a weasel (more specifically, a civet), by which I mean the weasel eats the coffee berry, digests the fruity flesh surrounding the bean, and then poops out the undigested coffee bean. After a thorough cleaning and roasting, this coffee is said to have a stronger and more piquant aroma and flavor, and commands astronomically high prices compared to your regular cup o'joe.

The reality of the life of the poor weasel (Chồn) was pretty depressing. We visited a place that makes cà phê Chồn, and their civets were kept in small cages with wide slats for their excrement to fall through. They danced back and forth and tried to hide from our prying eyes; but there was nowhere to go.

Here's the unproccessed civet poop, full of coffee:

Apparently there are now chemical means to simulate the flavor of weasel coffee, and supposedly some places don't treat their weasels like this, but I'll definitely remember those eyes the next time I see a $50 cuppa civet coffee on a menu. Avoid please.

On a happier note - vegetables, growing green on fertile fields! (On a followup misanthropic note, apparently these terraces aren't too stable and sometimes collapse. Why can't I keep on the sunny side of this post?)

Besides wine, Dalat also makes rice spirits - we stopped by a still to have a taste. Mmmm, burns the nose-hairs. Strong stuff.

Looking for other attractions in Dalat (besides eating their mindblowing streetfood, also coming up in another post)? Well, it's a haven for domestic tourism, also because of the climate, so there are hilariously tacky attractions geared towards honeymooners like the Valley of Love, which we skipped.

We did make it to Hang Nga, the "Crazy House." You may be wondering how the house got its name...

The Crazy House is the pet project (and money pit, apparently) of a daughter of one of Dalat's most prominent families. For a few thousand dong, you can tour the place, taking its winding staircases up and over buildings and teetering on foot-wide paths that soar over rooftops.

Or, for like $70 a night, you can stay there and have tourists peeking in on your hotel room starting at 7 every morning. No thanks.

Here's one guest room, with an organic-looking staircase reaching up to the second-floor bed.

Many of the rooms are animal-themed, you lucky hotel guests you, though I don't know how well I'd sleep with this huge bird looming inches from my bed. I mean, what in the actual hell is going on here?

Dalat was great. What a strange collection of attractions! In the next couple of posts, we'll show you the places to eat in town and discuss whether or not you should take a motorcycle trip with the ubiquitous Easy Rider gangs. Stay tuned next week, same bat-time, same bat-worldwideweb address!