eG Foodblog: nakji - Our Girl in Hanoi

[Abra]

Nakji, this has been totally interesting and fun! I especially love the last day, the night market, the nem, the hot pot, are all really evocative.

Is that you with the water chestnut lady? Which is a lead-in to: I know you're from Halifax, but is your ethnic background part Asian? I was thinking that for sure until you said you never ate rice growing up.

Edited January 8, 2007 by Abra (log)

[sazji]

Oh my God...this is cruel and unusual display of food! :)

I was particularly struck by the sign advertising Döner Kebap, the meat on the upright spit. I wonder what the Turkey-Vietnam connection is? I'd love to find out who brought döner there!

[Dejah]

I love fresh waterchestnuts, but I hate peeling them. Did the lady selling them use a special tool, or was she just really adept with a paring knife?

Really enjoyed your blog. Thank you!

[sadie_siamesecat]

I've enjoyed this blog so much! But it has made me sad, too--my dear fiance is allergic to all nuts and all seafood, so a lot of this food would be off-limits to him--and I would be nervous traveling to an area where I don't know the language and where it might be hard making sure he doesn't get accidentally sent into anaphylactic shock!

I guess I will be making that trip to Vietnam by myself someday!!! (insert hopeful emoticon here)

[Nishla]

I love your version of hot pot, especially the fried rice at the end. Do you use a special pot for it or will any kind do? I really think I might have to get Vietnamese food for lunch tomorrow

[MarketStEl]

Let me just say that I have thoroughly enjoyed your cook's tour of Hanoi. And the friend who suggested going there instead of Phnom Penh was right -- the food there looks wonderful!

Thanks a bunch!

[Kouign Aman]

Thank you, its been a vivid and interesting trip, and yet, there is no stamp in my passport! I love your approach to doing the things you want to do. Did you choose to teach English to support your goal of foreign living, or were you already a teacher? <should I have asked this earlier?>

Thanks again, wow.

[nakji]

I know you're fromn Halifax, but is your ethnic background part Asian? I was thinking that for sure until you said you never ate rice growing up.

That is me in the picture. I'm half Inuit, which is a great excuse for being overweight. I can never complain about being cold, though! My Dad was raised in Hong Kong and Singapore, though, so I had a lot of Asian influence growing up...it's no surprise to my family that I ended up here.

The water chestnut lady had a really old looking paring knife.

I've enjoyed this blog so much! But it has made me sad, too--my dear fiance is allergic to all nuts and all seafood, so a lot of this food would be off-limits to him--and I would be nervous traveling to an area where I don't know the language and where it might be hard making sure he doesn't get accidentally sent into anaphylactic shock!

I guess I will be making that trip to Vietnam by myself someday!!! (insert hopeful emoticon here)

I'm so sorry to hear that. I have a friend who's coming in April who's allergic to shellfish - I hope she'll be okay! I also had a friend who visited, who is also severely allergic to peanuts - he had no problem at all. But we did have to eat in tourist cafes all the time.

I was particularly struck by the sign advertising Döner Kebap, the meat on the upright spit. I wonder what the Turkey-Vietnam connection is? I'd love to find out who brought döner there!

The Geothe Institute - the German cultural Centre. I don't know why, though.

I love your version of hot pot, especially the fried rice at the end. Do you use a special pot for it or will any kind do? I

I think it was just regular rice - but in Korea, they always use the short grain rice, like Japanese rice.

Let me just say that I have thoroughly enjoyed your cook's tour of Hanoi. And the friend who suggested going there instead of Phnom Penh was right -- the food there looks wonderful!

Oh yeah, we're way more fun than Phnom Penh. And our DVDs are cheaper, too!

Thank you, its been a vivid and interesting trip, and yet, there is no stamp in my passport! I love your approach to doing the things you want to do. Did you choose to teach English to support your goal of foreign living, or were you already a teacher? <should I have asked this earlier?>

Thanks again, wow.

I used to be a business consultant, and my husband a TV reporter. Then one day the urge hit us to travel, and we did. I really enjoy teaching, though, and I plan to take further training in it.

Thank you all again for dropping by!

[racheld]

As a former caterer and veteran of hundreds of midnight packup-and-carry-home of countless boxes, bags, bowls, etc., I'm fascinated that from the STREET they would pick up all these odd lots of spillable stuff and get it home and back the next time.

Do they bag up foods, stack up bowls, and load a car, cart, cycle?

The logistics of this thing is just amazing. Everything looks like the most delicious, interesting, gotta-have-some-NOW food. But I'm just speaking from my own caretaking with all the food I've sold and served over the years---hot food is easy to maintain with a heat source, but where do they WASH all the greens, cucumbers, salad items that go onto the sandwiches and wraps?

Thanks for the wonderful tour. I used to have a little almost-mantra back in the early seventies: Someday, that will be where we'll want to go on a vacation.

I'm so glad you've shown us your life there---it's much like I hoped.

[hzrt8w]

Edited to add: the bun hoi sounds a bit like the fried pho I get here - squares of rice noodle that have been deep-fried - is this the same?

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Bahn Hoi (sorry for the mis-spelling in earlier posts) is not deep-fried. It is steamed. I have posted some pictures of bahn hoi I had in a Californian Vietnamese restaurant:

Golden Deli Vietnamese Restaurant, San Gabriel, Family run, over 16 years

[Abra]

That's a lucky background you have, Nakji, so diverse.

We have a Seattle eG member who's half Inuit too - now what's the chance that eG gets two half Inuit members?

[Chufi]

Thank you so much for this week. It has been really interesting and has given me a craving or foods I did not know I could crave

I really feel I should explore Vietnamese food a little more.

Good luck with whatever your plans are, and if you end up in a new and wonderful country, please do another foodblog and share it with us!

[nakji]

As a former caterer and veteran of hundreds of midnight packup-and-carry-home of countless boxes, bags, bowls, etc., I'm fascinated that from the STREET they would pick up all these odd lots of spillable stuff and get it home and back the next time.

Do they bag up foods, stack up bowls, and load a car, cart, cycle?

The logistics of this thing is just amazing. Everything looks like the most delicious, interesting, gotta-have-some-NOW food. But I'm just speaking from my own caretaking with all the food I've sold and served over the years---hot food is easy to maintain with a heat source, but where do they WASH all the greens, cucumbers, salad items that go onto the sandwiches and wraps?

It's loaded up every night, and taken off to heaven knows where. Everything is washed in plastic tubs, right there on the street. Despite how that sounds, everything is very clean - at least to look at. People are always scrubbing, washing, or air-drying something out on the street.

You should see the ladies that carry their whole kitchen in two baskets - in one basket, they have a brazier going, with their pot on it, boiling away, and in the other basket, all their condiments and small plastic stools. When they find an amenable doorstep (often mine, since my house is one of the few on the street that isn't a store-front), they stop, set up their stools, and wait for the customers to roll in. If they see the police coming, they can pack up quickly and be on their way.

We have a Seattle eG member who's half Inuit too - now what's the chance that eG gets two half Inuit members?

Hey, together we make, like, a full Inuit. My background is from Labrador, though - I think our other member is from the West coast?

hrtz8w, thanks for sharing your picture. I haven't seen that around here, but it doesn't mean it isn't here. I'll keep my eyes out for it in the future - it looks delicious.

Chufi, I remember way back, you did a killer bibimbap in the cook-off thread. Perhaps we should have a Vietnamese dish cook-off? Something simple, like Bun bo nam bo? Or Caramel Pork?

If anyone would like to see more pictures of Vietnam, my husband is a Flickr member, and all his best stuff goes up there.

[hzrt8w]

... You should see the ladies that carry their whole kitchen in two baskets - in one basket, they have a brazier going, with their pot on it, boiling away, and in the other basket, all their condiments and small plastic stools. When they find an amenable doorstep (often mine, since my house is one of the few on the street that isn't a store-front), they stop, set up their stools, and wait for the customers to roll in. If they see the police coming, they can pack up quickly and be on their way.  ...

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This picture reminds me of the hawkers in Hong Kong in the 50's and 60's. They were everywhere. But as the country (or place) advances forward and more controls are enforced, street hawkers in Hong Kong became almost extinct. One thing for sure: wherever there is human settlement, there will be food vendors in one form or another.

[SuzySushi]

You should see the ladies that carry their whole kitchen in two baskets - in one basket, they have a brazier going, with their pot on it, boiling away, and in the other basket, all their condiments and small plastic stools. When they find an amenable doorstep (often mine, since my house is one of the few on the street that isn't a store-front), they stop, set up their stools, and wait for the customers to roll in. If they see the police coming, they can pack up quickly and be on their way.

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Now that is impressive! Thank you so much for blogging! What a fascinating glimpse into another culture.

[Laksa]

Thank you for taking us on a trip around Hanoi! I found it fascinating.

I'm glad to see the sugar cane resting in a plastic bucket - instead of on the pavement. The stalks have the ability to absorb liquid through osmosis, if you know what I mean.

BTW, what is SCM?

[sanrensho]

I've been enjoying this blog a lot. Just last night, daughter No. 1 (8 years old) declared that Vietnamese is her favorite food, as we were off to check out a new pho place.

I have a question about the rice paper in the above photo. I assume it's a fresh rice paper, which I've never seen available where I live.

What is the texture/chewiness like, compared to a rehydrated dry rice paper? The ones in the photo seem to be surprisingly "dry" or not sticky. Do the fresh rice papers dry out quickly or have to be prepped in any way before eating or for storage?

My understanding is that there are different types of rice papers depending on their uses (such as spring and salad rolls). Can you tell us about the different types that are available?

Thanks for the great blog!

Edited January 8, 2007 by sanrensho (log)

[C. sapidus]

nakji: Thank you for a fascinating, witty, and hunger-inducing blog. I would love, love, love to have access to the foods and ingredients that you have available. Perhaps the recently arrived Andrea Nguyen cookbook will help with the food, anyway.

Many have used the word “fascinating” in expressing appreciation for your blog. This fascination reflects your remarkable ability to illuminate Vietnamese food and culture. Many of us are familiar with Vietnamese people and Vietnamese food, but information on Vietnam itself, especially at a personal level, has been sparse in recent decades.

Kudos too, for the photography. Some of the images – the baskets of herbs and spices at your door, street scenes, expressions on faces, rows of tightly-packed scooters, and the kitchen balanced on a bamboo pole – communicate what no words can.

Thank you!