Food for Thought (in Vietnam)

Happy Thanksgiving!  We won't be able to have turkey on Thanksgiving this year with our friends and family but we can still contribute to the tradition of saying what we're grateful for. We're grateful for having the opportunity to take this year off and travel. We've met so many friendly people and even some of our friends from home along the way! We're grateful for the technology that has made keeping in touch easier. We're grateful for all the culture and foods we got to experience. Here's what we had in Vietnam!

Coffee - very strong and very rich, how a coffee should be. Sometimes they roast the beans in butter oil and sugar to give it sweet toffee flavor. They also have the infamous weasel coffee. It's the shit. Actually, I didn't care too much for it but Peter enjoyed it. It's smoother, creamier, and darker.

Spring Rolls - fried or fresh rice paper stuffed goodness. One time we had 20 of these. 

Phô - probably the most identifiable dish in Vietnamese cuisine. It's simple in delivery but extensive in preparation. Flat rice noodles are served in beef broth with slices of beef. 

Cassava - staple during the war. Now it's used in many desserts. 

Cơm Ga - means rice chicken but it's so much more than that. The rice is cooked in chicken stock with a pinch of turmeric. Shredded chicken plus Vietnamese mint and veggies are added on top. Considered a Hoi An specialty. 

White Rose - shrimp dumpling. Only one family knows the secret recipe and therefore supplies all the restaurants of Hoi An

Bánh Mì - baguette sandwiches. Vietnam knows how to do baguettes right thanks to the French.

Bánh Nâm - rice flour, stuffed with shrimp and wrapped in banana leaves

Bánh Bèo - steamed rice cake filled topped with shrimp, served with fish sauce and chili. 

Bánh Xèo - we had these wonderful greasy savory stuffed rice pancakes wrapped in rice paper with our homestay one night. It gets its name from the sizzling "xeeeeooo" sound of rice batter being poured into the hot pan. 

Cơm Cháy - Burned Rice - tastes like a savory rice cake. 

Bánh Khoai - a stuffed crunchy rice pancake served with peanut sauce. Usually filled with bean sprouts, shrimp, and pork so we got the vegetarian version. 

BBQ - you cook the meat yourself. They had every type of meat available but we just stuck to what we know. 

Rat - a popular food in the Mekong Delta. Tastes like chicken but with more tiny bones.

Snail - covered in a coconut sauce and topped with mint and chilies. These weren't very good

Chè - a sweet dessert soup! A variety of combinations of beans and gelatinous things exist. Ours was filled with red beans, grass jelly, mango, and coconut milk poured over ice. 

Fruit - fruit!