Like Parker mentioned in his cooking post, Hoi An is known to have some of the best food in all of Vietnam. We initially didn't really understand the hype but, over time, we definitely found some great food.
Here is a post dedicated to food for those of you who find this interesting!
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| Private lunch in a quiet cafe |
Hoi An has ~5 dishes unique to its area of Vietnam: mi quang (noodle dish), cao lau (noodle dish), com ga (chicken rice), banh xeo (crispy rice pancakes) and white rose dumplings (steamed rice dumplings).
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| Nathan enjoying some mi quang noodles |
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| Cao lau |
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| Banh xeo |
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| White Rose Dumplings |
We tried many other traditional Vietnamese food, too.
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| Grilled chicken with lemongrass and chili in a banana leaf |
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| Nathan devoured it! |
Pho soup was definitely our go-to meal on this leg of the trip. We had competitions trying to pronounce it as authentically as possible- "fuh" soup. Mike just couldn't seem to get it right! Every soup we tried had its own unique spicing and came with a different spread of toppings.
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| Parker sometimes had pho soup twice in one day |
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| Chicken pho with onions, spices and chili |
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| Extra toppings to put in Pho- vietnamese basil, extra chili, pickled papaya, picked shallots, coriander and bean sprouts |
Another highlight for us was the green papaya or green mango salads offered at many of the restaurants.
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| Green mango salad with rice crackers |
One of the neatest places we went was a marketplace restaurant and cooking school. All the food was cooked in plain sight at different stations depending on the dish.
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| Salad station |
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Watching his mi quang noodles being made
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| Pomelo salad with chicken |
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| Food cooked in a clay pot is popular- in this case, chicken |
After our less-than-stellar exposure to Banh Mi in Ho Chi Minh City, we decided to give the famous baguette sandwiches another go. We learned that if we asked them to "hold the paté" it tasted much better.
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| Our first Banh Mi in Hoi An |
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| Watching Banh Mi being made in Hoi An's most famous joint- probably one of the best sandwiches I have ever eaten: grilled chicken with lots of fresh greens and herbs, pickled radishes and carrots and lots of unique delicious spices! |
Despite all the great food we had, we definitely had a few "interesting" moments. Going regularly to the local markets for fruit and seeing the meat sections, definitely promoted vegetarianism in our family! Also, the thought of congealed chicken blood in Hoi An's famous chicken rice dish pushed us to avoid trying this local delicacy.
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| So much raw meat |
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| The tofu sitting out in the heat didn't seem too appealing either! |
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| Seafood at 8pm anyone? |
Having this served with our chicken dinner also left most of us without an appetite.
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| When they say whole chicken, they mean whole chicken |
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| The chickens in Vietnam have very little muscle...little meat but lots of skin, bone and cartilage...yum?! |
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| We also learned that the entire pig is used for food in Vietnam...including the ears. Ever heard of pig ear salad? |
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| Check out some of the dishes served at one of Hoi An's more popular restaurants |
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| More delicious food?! |
In addition to buying fruit at the market, we bought fruit from these street vendors.
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| Traditional way of carrying anything and everything |
Hoi An is very touristy and, as a result, most restaurants offer Western fare- albeit at inflated prices. Still, a burger
and pizza every once in a while were treats for the kids!
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| A beef burger but please "hold the egg" |
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| Vietnam's version of a margarita pizza...served with Heinz ketchup |
One of the most different dishes I tried was passion fruit chicken
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| Chicken cooked in passion fruit |
As Nathan mentioned in his post, we were in Vietnam at the time of Tet. Sweet and savory rice cakes are a special treat at this time. One of the restaurant owners in Hoi An made us some of her family recipe to try. Like most things in Vietnams, they, too, were fried!
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| Savory rice cakes |
When we were out in town in the evening, the kids enjoyed finishing off their day with a banana and nutella crepe!
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| A market staple in South East Asia- banana pancakes/crepes |
During our travel health consultation before leaving, we were warned not to eat uncooked herbs and vegetables in Vietnam. We played it safe initially but, as the time passed, we grew more adventurous and consciously chose higher end restaurants in which to try fresh produce. By upping our food budget by ~$10/day, we were able to enjoy lots of fresh food in a safe manner!!
Cheryl, this is my kind of post! I loved the Weird and Wounderful sign too!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about you while I wrote it. Glad you enjoyed it!
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