Reflections of Joanne

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all photos, travelogues and journals are made available for non-commercial use only. © 2000 JSL

VIETNAM, SPIRIT OF INDOCHINA

5. Culinary Fare

I have walked into the kitchen of expensive Vietnamese restaurants and felt cockroaches crunching underfoot. Just because the kitchen is hidden doesn't mean that it is clean.
Art of negotiation starts here. The more you bargain, the better respected you are. I bought my first bag of four oranges amounting to 35,000 dongs which is equivalent to 60 cents per orange. That's a four-letter word in bold print: OUCH! Another American I know along the way had bargained for 8,000 dongs for four!
The heaping teaspoons of white crystals going into my soup is msg. There again, everyone loves "Cao Lao" street food. A fellow American backpacker has amounted 185 bowls of soup throughout his 40 days' journey!
After several weeks in-country there is nothing in the world you want more than a big bowl of spaghetti with homemade sauce. The ketchup-rice-noodle concoctions at the local cafes just won't cut it anymore. What to do? A fellow Australian couple that I connected with in Hanoi merely dragged me along to Moca Café - packed with foreigners and Japanese, breathing down burgers and yes, French fries.
One can of coke costs more than a liter of hard liquor. It also costs more than a beer and about as much as two bowls of soup. But for hygiene sake - hot tea, please - just in case of food poisoning even with bottled water.
The French left behind a railroad, a bunch of ruins... and baguettes. Crispy loaves, chewy white on the inside and golden brown on the outside. They cost about ten cents. If they're more than a few hours old they drop to half price. After a day they are resold to be fried in the marketplace. Small mobile sandwich carts will fill them with cucumbers, runny butter, shredded carrots and an unidentifiable pate for a few more cents.
Rice wine is not wine. It is 15% by volume ethanol. In rural areas it is usually homemade and served in an ancient plastic water bottle. It causes the hangover from Hell. I learned this as the owner of a local family restaurant served the barley looking color drink in a one-liter mineral water bottle and a shot glass. My Australian guide pours and serves it to the person next to his right. This goes on and on till the whole bottle is empty. It cost less than 80 cents per bottle! Snake wine - hang over and vomited the entire next day.
Some soup shops advertise by sending teenage boys out with two wooden sticks that they tap together in a rhythmic pattern. You may order soup from them and it will be delivered. The pattern - short-short/short-short/long-long - is the same throughout Vietnam.
Dog meat - is a delicacy and quite expensive. This I shall pass.
Local ice cream - it's a sin - thinly shaved twirls of coconuts wrapped round gigantic scoops of coconut ice cream, top with brittle nuts and coconut milk…all for 30 cents, fully garnished in a fancy frozen ice cream glass.


just experience \| just sights \| just blah \| just write all photos, travelogues and journals are made available for non-commercial use only. © 2000 JSL
*VIETNAM, SPIRIT OF INDOCHINA*
Why \| Journey Begins \| Packing List \| Accommodation \| Bargaining \| Illegal \| Arrest \| Transportation \| Culinary Fare \| Hygiene and Conveniences \| Bank and Post Office \| Television Network \| End of my Journey
	5. Culinary Fare I have walked into the kitchen of expensive Vietnamese restaurants and felt cockroaches crunching underfoot. Just because the kitchen is hidden doesn't mean that it is clean. Art of negotiation starts here. The more you bargain, the better respected you are. I bought my first bag of four oranges amounting to 35,000 dongs which is equivalent to 60 cents per orange. That's a four-letter word in bold print: OUCH! Another American I know along the way had bargained for 8,000 dongs for four! The heaping teaspoons of white crystals going into my soup is msg. There again, everyone loves "Cao Lao" street food. A fellow American backpacker has amounted 185 bowls of soup throughout his 40 days' journey! After several weeks in-country there is nothing in the world you want more than a big bowl of spaghetti with homemade sauce. The ketchup-rice-noodle concoctions at the local cafes just won't cut it anymore. What to do? A fellow Australian couple that I connected with in Hanoi merely dragged me along to Moca Café - packed with foreigners and Japanese, breathing down burgers and yes, French fries. One can of coke costs more than a liter of hard liquor. It also costs more than a beer and about as much as two bowls of soup. But for hygiene sake - hot tea, please - just in case of food poisoning even with bottled water. The French left behind a railroad, a bunch of ruins... and baguettes. Crispy loaves, chewy white on the inside and golden brown on the outside. They cost about ten cents. If they're more than a few hours old they drop to half price. After a day they are resold to be fried in the marketplace. Small mobile sandwich carts will fill them with cucumbers, runny butter, shredded carrots and an unidentifiable pate for a few more cents. Rice wine is not wine. It is 15% by volume ethanol. In rural areas it is usually homemade and served in an ancient plastic water bottle. It causes the hangover from Hell. I learned this as the owner of a local family restaurant served the barley looking color drink in a one-liter mineral water bottle and a shot glass. My Australian guide pours and serves it to the person next to his right. This goes on and on till the whole bottle is empty. It cost less than 80 cents per bottle! Snake wine - hang over and vomited the entire next day. Some soup shops advertise by sending teenage boys out with two wooden sticks that they tap together in a rhythmic pattern. You may order soup from them and it will be delivered. The pattern - short-short/short-short/long-long - is the same throughout Vietnam. Dog meat - is a delicacy and quite expensive. This I shall pass. Local ice cream - it's a sin - thinly shaved twirls of coconuts wrapped round gigantic scoops of coconut ice cream, top with brittle nuts and coconut milk…all for 30 cents, fully garnished in a fancy frozen ice cream glass.