A Taste of Hanoi

Vietnam's unwitting menace

I hope that I don't sound like the kind of instagram-savvy, social-networking oriented kind of person. I know I travel to and share decent amount about various locations that are out of the ordinary, but please know that I don't really do it properly. I am not smart. I don't do things right the first time, nor do I do them close-to-well the second. Fortunately, this is the third time I've been given the chance to visit one of the few remaining Communist countries left in the world (and not to celebrate the glorious achievements of the proletariat). Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and it's northernmost major city. 


In case you've seen the episode, Top Gear's Vietnam special sparked my interest with their penultimate scenes in Ha Long Bay, home to a particulary unique collection of tall mountainous islands that make for some great photos. 

Vietnam is especially magnetic to me because of the simple opportunities to enjoy myself. I've been lucky to be able to travel to a plethora of places and get a little taste of what each has to offer. Once you find what's best for you, there's not much that can deter you from returning, but that's something that I'll touch more on later. For now, let me show you a bit of food. 

The best 'Chicken Noodle' soup there is

Eating is something we all do (I hope). We eat to relax, to savor, or maybe just to keep living. Moving from one place to another, and seeing what and how different countries grow, harvest, combine, prepare and serve their food is a telling tale to the culture of the people. For Vietnam, it's a bare-bones simplicity that combines a few fresh ingredients to make fragrant soups, noodle dishes and fried meats. 

Vietnam is also a coffee bean powerhouse, second only to Brazil in coffee exports. Their stuff is a little different though, and is certainly worth a try if you're ever out in that neck of the woods. My favourite find was an 'egg coffee', a cappuccino made with condensed milk & an egg yolk. For someone who only started drinking the stuff a year ago, I think I'm justified in buying 3 kgs of the stuff to bring back to Macau (at about $21/kg, I think that's a fair price to pay for some special stuff)

Macau doesn't exactly have locally grown food, and most of the Asian cuisine offered in restaurants is more or less similar in terms of ingredients and preparation (a lot of boiled, steamed or fried things served with rice). On a completely different side of the spectrum, nearly every meal offered is made from ingredients within the country (another reason why it's so cheap), which makes the freshness of each dish unparalleled. Combine that with the beautiful simplicity of the recipes made everything unbelievably satisfying. 

This is not Italian food

WARNING - HISTORY LESSONS AHEAD
I like to use geography as a reference point for how contrasting foods are shared, interpreted, mixed and born. Some basic ideas are shared throughout cuisine worldwide (such as using rice & grains as a simple base for a meal), others are unique and endemic to the area (like sushi/kimbop in North East Asia). Whether you travel to New Orleans, Stockholm or Chiang Mai, you'll find the same basic ingredients, but the availability and cultural influences have produced some tasty products. Chinese food ideas made their way to Italy centuries ago, pasta was an adaptation of Chinese noodles, using wheat instead of rice as the base (pizza was born from the introduction of a type of flat bread brought from China). Foods from the new world were introduced to the old and quickly adapted into the local fare. In Italy, the favourite treats of coffee, cocoa, tomatoes, and bell peppers couldn't be found in Europe prior to international trade. Nowadays, we enjoy pretty much everything that's. I used Chilean avacados, Indian Cumin, Chinese cilantro, Mexican peppers and Australian beef to make Tuesday night's tacos. Not a bad time to be alive eh?

South-east Asia has a myriad of types of food, each cuisine effecting the other (noodles, curries, stir fries, buns, fresh & fried rolls, soups & sauces). The Vietnamese share a lot of soup-based & noodle dishes with their Cantonese neighbours, while using the chilies, lemongrass and other potent herbs & spices that the Thai cultures to the west also enjoy. 

A typical Banh Mi goes for
about $1-2

There are plenty of toppings
 to choose from

History has also been a big factor in the flavours to that comprise Vietnam's iconic foods. Take Banh Mi for example; This is a delicious, unique and incredibly popular Vietnamese food. It's a sandwich comprised of a fresh, crispy baguette, filled with several different kinds of meat, fresh vegetables & herbs, a few peppers and a fantastic sauce that gives the crunchy sandwich a fantastic, juicy center with a myriad of complimentary flavours. Since Vietnam (and Cambodia & Laos) were French overseas territories (colonies), they inherited some of the edible components of the European country. Coffee is served with condensed milk, both imported from the French (the same reason Hong Kong has delicious milk tea).

Beef in a red-wine curry
served with french bread

Fried spicy pork meat and broth,
served with rice noodles & green stuff

My last day in Hanoi was dominated by a self-guided feast foodie tour. Our AirBnb even had a map detailing all the local specialties in all their various forms, a rented motorbike making the journey between stops easier (and far more entertaining). Even with portion sizes relatively small, it takes considerable inner strength to push through after your first few rounds of lunch. Not the 'master your mind' kind of resilience, more the 'goddamn it I won't be in Vietnam until the spring, I've got to get my money's worth' kind of stubborn stupidity. It was a stomach-stressfully satisfying day, but at least I had a good 9 hours to semi-digest my meals to make room for the others, and plenty of good coffee. 

Hue-style noodles with a big
knuckle-looking thing

Coconut ice cream for 40 cents

And that makes it for the last vacation of 2016, aside from the upcoming Christmas break in December. While I don't have the travel bug as badly as I used to, to me Vietnam has been a fantastically inviting and satisfying place to spend one's time in, come and see for yourself some time! 

(and don't forget to drop me a line on your way over)