This conversation had to happen, so pull up your chair and listen closely. We’ll probably move around a lot, so try to stay with me. Vietnam is a land not for the squeamish. If sanitation is your thing, then for an entry visa, you need not apply. The French influences are apparent here. There is a strange refinement to their food but an underlying simplicity that is not lost.
Picky eating is a concept unknown here and at first, can be a bit shocking. They have no understanding of not eating something put in front of you, and they are unapologetic about it. The whole thing is eaten, and bones spit out. Very little is trimmed, and membranes are almost always left intact. The only thing I’ve ever seen spit out here that wasn’t by me, was a completely cleaned chicken bone that looked like it had been bleached in the sun. It had been chewed sucked and gnawed on until not even the cartilage was left.
The eggs are often fertilized, unlaid, absent of the whites, and covered in the veins of the newly developing embryo. When you go to eat on the streets, make sure the pots of broth are boiling and the stall is busy. Each street vendor only sells a few variations of their dish, so if they are busy, the food is turning over and fresh. It’s not the kind of place where you’ve got that one piece of fish in the back that no one is ordering. Everyone at the stall receives the same thing. There are more Western-style restaurants with extensive menus, cleaner appearances, and more Western-style service, but where’s the fun in that?
People say Vietnam has some of the best food in the world, and it’s one of a couple of reasons why I came here. There has been so much written about the food in this ancient land it’s a surprise it’s not more common in the States. It has a uniqueness not found anywhere else on the planet, yet a simplicity that offers refinement. It’s almost always comprised of locally resourced ingredients, and the region’s geographical makeup almost always dictates its regional offerings. If you are on the coast, you eat seafood; if you are in the mountains, you eat chicken, wild boar, river fish, and beef. Regional herbs and spices are unique to their proximity.
Everything is on the menu here: frogs, rodents and geckos. Amphibians, fish, mammals, and reptiles. If it doesn’t physically kill you from poison or toxin, then you better believe someone, somewhere, is eating it. You eat rice-based foods always. I’m not going to say wheat is uncommon here, as the Banh Mi (French baguette sandwich) is one of Vietnam’s most iconic dishes. Its contents almost always include the French-invented pate, But its similarities end there. What it’s filled with beyond that is as varied, diverse, and regionally inspired as most things in this country.
As I traverse Vietnam from almost top to bottom, the food changes as visibly as the landscape. Yet, it always has an underlying commonality that makes it uniquely Vietnamese. The Vietnamese are great at a lot of things. Their noodles are lighter and more delicate than their Chinese counterparts, and their broths are lighter and more refined than the Japanese ramen. At every meal and with every dish, you will find herbs, lettuce, raw vegetables, chilies, and citrus, all of which add freshness and brightness to everything you eat.
Anthony Bourdain once said, “Good food is often, even most often, simple food.” There is no place that statement is more true than in the streets of Vietnam. Nothing is more pure and honest about food than sitting on a small plastic stool on the sidewalk as the motorbikes wiz by and enjoying a delicious bowl of whatever is placed in front of you. Food has always been my adventure.
Whether it’s in a taco shop tucked down a dingy back alley in Mexico City, drinking homemade pineapple beer while devouring a plate of al pastor, or eating pork with blue cheese and roasted Demi at the Fog City diner in San Francisco. Whenever I can and wherever I can, I chase my personal dragon, food. I chase it in my backyard and down the street. I always search deeper, and I always want more. Food is my own personal rabbit hole, but this time, it’s proved deeper than I realized.
