Asia tripping - part VI: Hanoi street food, Vietnam

This is the sixth of several brief posts of my recent trip to Asia: photos, food and a few thoughts.

Streets of the Old Quarter, Hanoi, Vietnam

While it may have taken a few outings to get used to, I eventually found myself loving the streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter – for their character, efficiency of sorts, and the way things just work regardless of the hindrances in place.

Streetside fruit stall behind Dong Xuan markets

It felt like a people’s place, as opposed to a place for business or trade – perhaps with the exception of the Dong Xuan markets which were selling mostly cheap clothes.

Food alley next to Dong Xuan Markets

Following a quick tour of the said markets, we stumbled upon an alleyway filled with restaurants and open air stalls. People sat on small plastic chairs in the lane while motorbike and scooter traffic continued to drive through; past the diners and beeping through the pedestrians.

Minding the scooter traffic as you eat

There was lots of food on offer, from spring rolls and pho, to less commonly seen dishes and even a buffet style store. We managed to watchfully dodge and scoot our way to the end of the alley; a little unsure about protocol and cleanliness, but mostly hungry.

Making banh cuon

It was hard not to be enthralled by the fashionable young boy making banh cuon to order. He would speedily ladle and spread a thin, white batter on to a cloth stretched over a steamer pot and put the lid on for no more than half a minute.

Making banh cuon sheets

Lifting up a lid of steam, he would delicately peel the thin steamed rice noodle off the cloth, sprinkle a filling within, and have it rolled, chopped and on a plate in a matter of seconds, before getting on to making the next one.

Our banh cuon is served

We squeezed into our seats next to a bubbling pot and power outlet, and had banh cuon in front of us in moments. Topped with fried shallots and a dried seafood floss of some sort, we self-garnished from a big bowl of Vietnamese mint.

A mint garnish

The pieces were easily broken into bite sizes and dipped into nuoc cham; the silky texture savoured with the lumpy pork and woodear mushroom filling, as well as the sweetly tart sauce. It was our first enlightening meal in Vietnam.

Frying banh tom

After what was really a snack, we shifted down one stall to where the smell of deep-fry tempted. Banh tom, we were told, fritters of white sweet potato slivers with whole, unpeeled prawns; battered and fried into a cake.

Takeaway pickles and dipping sauce

An order is accompanied by a shared metal plate of fresh herbs and mixed lettuce leaves, and a bowl each of thinly sliced pickled vegetables, submerged in a dark brown dipping sauce.

One of the ladies at the stall fishes out the cooked banh tom from the woks of hot oil, roughly cuts them up with scissors, and plates them up for the customer. She even does a takeaway trade with a copious use of plastic bags.

Banh tom

The banh tom were expectedly crunchy and a bit oily, which was easily ignored after a dunk in the dipping sauce and wrapped with herbs in lettuce.

A tiny fried prawn

The best part was the prawns – heads, tails, legs and all fried to a crisp, however sparse they were.

Baguettes by bicycle, near Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi, Vietnam

The French influence in Hanoi can't be clearer than locals and their baguettes. Whether street side, on a bicycle or indeed, multiple 'stalls' along the highway on the way to Halong Bay, it seems a fresh baguette, or banh mi is simply a daily ritual.

Baguettes by the street side

Spring rolls by the street side

Baguettes aren't the only things on random street corners. Here, two young girls were making and deep frying two types of spring rolls, with passersby simply ordering and eating by the stall side, amid the usual traffic.

Heavy scooter traffic

One of the beef salad stores near the Hoan Kiem Lake

Later in the day, back towards the Hoan Kiem Lake area, we came across two street stalls across the road from each other – both packed with puffy-jacketed, seated diners munching on what looked like green papaya salads.

Dressing the salad

Watching the stallholders was entertainment itself – a handful of julienned green papaya, a sprinkle of thinly sliced beef, scissor-snipped dried liver (we think) and more snippings of fresh green herbs.

Dressing, much like nuoc cham, came from large soft drink bottles and was poured liberally over the salads, which were then ferried through the seated crowd from a guy who would take payment.

Nom thit bo kho

And with disposable chopsticks, we ate nom thit bo kho on the cold street with the locals, picking every last bit of papaya and every last morsel of beef. The crushed nuts and mint leaves as garnishes were a highlight of the salad.

And indeed, street food in Hanoi was an illness-free food highlight of the city and our trip overall. More Asia tripping posts to come on Vietnam, Hong Kong and Malaysia.