Centripetal Force

Global Journey: Scene V

Chè is a term for a family of sweet and icy deserts. Black, yellow, red or mung beans, coconut milk, durian, agar-agar jelly, tapioca balls stuffed with coconut shavings and so on.... Today it’s chopped up Hội An corn in a sweet and goey mucus-like solution- a.k.a. Chè Bắp.

From now on I'm wrapping all Christmas gifts in banana leaves. Al Gore never thought of that.

Open up your gift and you've got a steamed sticky rice paste stuffed with mung bean paste. Call it bánh ít lá gai. -->A laborious process no doubt, but one will run you just about 5.3 ¢ [1.000 VND].

Hến Trộn a.k.a. hến xào. Nearly microscopic river mussels are stir-fried and mixed with onions, chilies, rau răm and topped with peanuts. The meaty mixture is scooped up with crispy rice crackers and downed. These hến are harvested from the nearby rivers, no dirty fish farms up in here. Big ups to the ravenous couple for introducing me to this dish back in the day. One of my favorites in all of Asia.

Stroll over to the streetside stall of Cao Lầu Tý where many a grandma, grandson and uncle get their grub switched ON.

Thick rice flour ash-soaked noodles mixed with slices of roast pork and pork-fat crisped croutons. One of secrets lies in the local well water used. I don't dare ask more.

Bánh Đập. Steamed sheets of fresh paper are sandwiched between a willing pair of grilled rice crackers. The combination is dipped in a type of mắm- fermented fish paste that makes the standard nước mắm smells like petunias. Yet another resourceful creation combining rice with rice- from the country that ranks #2 in the world in per-capita rice consumption [trailing Burma].

Actually ate this one outside of Hội An but central Việt Nam style cơm gà chicken rice can be found all around Quảng Nam from Tam Kỳ to Đà Nẵng. The free range chicken is key. Vietnamese like their chicken a bit more fibrous than most westerners. As a cycle dude told me the other day: Western girls have bodies like gà công nghiệp - industrial chickens with soft and saggy flesh, while Vietnamese women are like gà chặt or gà ta- free roaming chickens with tight breast and asses. Feelin' THAT.

Stay Unshackled.

Open-air Evenings

Smack in between slimy succulent street food and indoor, air-con restaurants lies the genre of Vietnamese eateries known simply as 'quán ăn'. At these establishments you're still sitting on plastic chairs of varying heights (ranging from 1 1/2 to 3 feet off the ground), but you have a menu to order from and a waiter or waitress who'll attend to your every need throughout the evening.

The basic 'quán ăn' usually centers around drinking, with middle-aged Vietnamese men making up the majority of the demographic. The food accompanying the drinks is mostly seafood- cooked in a no-frills fashion.

My new found love for baby mussels had me ordering none other than 'Hến Xào Xúc Bánh Đa'. A dish of stir-fried baby mussels with peanuts, sesame seeds, lemongrass and chili. You're given a large toasted rice cracker to scoop up the mussels. Just divine.

Saigon Red beer with ice cubes- an absolute necessity on a balmy evening in Southern Vietnam. A good 'quán ăn' (such as this one) will have servers constantly replacing your beer's slowly melting ice cubes with new ones- keeping it chilled to perfection.

Don't expect to sit down for dinner here without at least one slightly intoxicated diner asking you to (making you?) pound beer with him. 'một trăm' means 100 in Vietnamese but is also a call to down your icy mug in one go. Who am I to reject this friendly offer of intoxication?

On the left stands a street artist who'll sketch your mug for a very reasonable price. He actually didn't try to sell me his services but..

He did ask for my autograph. No charge buddy.

* There's a clutch of well known 'quán ăn' restaurants on Nguyễn Tri Phương street, south of Ba Tháng Hai street (District 10), although just looks for sidewalk plastic tables with groups of inebriated men cheersing every happening of the night.*

Stay GlobaL.