i bid you adieu…for now

fox and i spent last week in paris. it was as delectable as ever. there’s nothing i love more than a french baguette and a block of cheese. is there anything better than that? while the weather was less than desirable, i didn’t let that deter me from enjoying my time there. i absolutely adore this city. to me, it feels like at every turn, at every step, i am walking and breathing history. we spent most of our days exploring the city on foot, stumbling on tiny cobblestone streets, figuring out our ways when we were lost. it was as magical as the first time.

our first leg of the trip we rented a car and drove to lyon.  an old city approximately four hours away from paris.  en route, you drive through the bourgogne (burgundy) region where there are many, many wineries.  a friend of mine had sent me a list of small villages to pass through where they produce the most amazing wines.  we stopped in one place, did a self-tour and breathed in the foggy air.  the scenery was definitely isolated and cold with no one in sight, it was like a scene from a scary movie.  i can’t imagine what it’s like during the warmer months, i can only picture beautiful green sceneries with birds singing and flowers budding.

while in lyon, we dined on lyonnais food.  many restaurants there claim that they are bouchon but apparently when i was reading on what the word means, it says that there are about 20 officially certified bouchons in or near lyon.  what is it, you ask? it is a restaurant that serves traditional lyonnais food surrounding sausages, duck pâté, hearty and meaty dishes that tend to be on the fatty side.  our food was so good, i wanted seconds.

our first day back in the city, we must have walked a good eight hours or so around the city. with no agenda in mind, we just walked and walked, passing by sites inadvertently. this city is magnificent and it’s even more magnificent as the sun was setting creating this serene backdrop for their ancient architecture. we rested in the park in between the eye of paris and the louvre, admiring it all. then off we went again into the night. by the next morning our bodies were achy, especially our legs. we had no idea how much we walked the day before, but it was all worth it.

i spent a lot of my time in the boulangeries, smelling and staring at baskets and baskets of baguettes, somehow they aren’t just the same here. no really, they are not the same.  then i made my move to the pastisserie and charcuterie, smelling and staring at cases of desserts and cheeses.  i wish i could remember what cheese i tried, all i know was when i tasted it, i died a little and went to heaven.  yes it was that good! that was all i needed – cheese and bread and i was a happy camper. i even smuggled some back in my luggage…oops, i just ratted myself out.

happy eating!

dieu

coconut palm tree in all its glory

in my last post i wrote about coconut palm tree as it is translated. i wanted to show you some visual so you can easily identify them if you ever make your way to vietnam.

from tree to sugar.  it’s amazing how many different things can come from one single thing.  i’m in awe.

happy eating!

dieu

sài gòn đẹp lắm, sài gòn ơi, sài gòn ơi

this song was written during the time of uncertainties in vietnam.  it was a time when my dad was growing into adulthood, when the country was deciding his fate.  his family was drifted apart by war, his siblings were separated.  some were deciding their own fate by moving away from home to create a better future.  he was one out of six.  my grandma was a resilient woman, not only having raised six kids on her own but she made sure they were educated, which was rare when the country was divided and the future looked bleak.  she worked for the french during colonization.  as a child, she would reprimand me with words in french, it only added to my confusion as i didn’t understand what she was saying.  it saddens me to this very day that our time together was so short, i wanted to learn more about her story, her struggle to raise her kids as a single parent and as a woman during that period.  i’m sure when i asked her to teach me a few words in french, they were mostly profanes.  she would never admit it.

i remember listening to this song growing up especially during tết, a grand celebration that engulfs the entire country.  i remember the market being opened late, hoa mai (ochna integerrima flower) all over the city, our annual awkward family picture, as a child it was magical.  come to think of it now, it is still pretty magical.  there are songs that i associate with that time when i hear them because my dad played them constantly when i was little.  he would tell me the stories that went along with the songs.  he would tell me just feel what s/he is singing about, “can’t you feel his/her pain, can’t you feel his/her love for the country.”  um, no dad i’m 6.  even now when he plays them, he will say there will be no one like this singer, just listen to the words.  for him, it reminds him of growing up and his experience.    most of these songs were written before 1975 to express their love for their country before war and politics raged on.

Before motorbikes became a popular means of transportation, we had a bicycle that dad courted us around on.  he would never let me sit in the back on the chance that i would fall asleep and let go and fall off.  he took me all around sài gòn, teaching me history, telling me about our family story, my treat was sugar cane juice pressed with kumquat served in a plastic bag with a straw poking out.  it was definitely a thirst quencher for the scorching hot summer days.  it was my drink of choice as a child, even today i still remember it fondly.  fox, munch, and i drank so much of it on our trip, it was great.  we even had to haggle with the vendor to sell us a stick of sugar cane so fox and munch could chew on it to squeeze as much juice as they possibly could.  it was quite a scene, between them gnawing on the sugar cane and the debacle with the vendor.

that was from our first night.  while it wasn’t in a plastic bag, it was still good.  the sugar cane sticks along with a kumquat fruit that adds a hint of citrus flavor are pressed in between a juice wheel which spits the liquid out at the bottom in a huge bowl then it’s ladled into a bag or a glass like above.

happy eating!

dieu

a walk down memory lane

it’s been a few months since i’ve come home from vietnam and i can’t help but reminisce about my [short] trip.  when we first got home to the states, that first week was rough.  there were sleepless nights, i remember waking up at ungodly hours and forcing myself to sleep.  it was a painful first week back, i suffered majorly at work, falling asleep at my desk, falling asleep wherever i could basically.  cooking was out of the question, eating out became an expensive habit.  i rid myself of that habit real quick.  i took my butt back into the kitchen and made food again.  as much as i enjoy the freedom of cooking my own meals, i sure miss having food readily available right outside my doorstep, down the street, or at every turn.  vietnam was seriously food heaven, i came to this conclusion on my trip which i shared with munch and fox that if anything, eating is vietnam’s favorite pastime, the country eats constantly; at dawn, morning, afternoon, early evening, dusk, evening, late night, top of the hour, all day, everyday.  if you like food, this is definitely the place to visit.

for no particular reason, i especially miss vietnam very much today.  as i’m sitting at my desk chugging along with the work day, i wish i could savor a bowl of soup with long strands of noodles, hearty and flavorful broth with bean sprouts and different herbs.  i wish i could step outside my office door and ask the vendor on the street to serve me a bowl.  oh, no wait, that only exists in my fantasy.   munch said a while back that “i even miss the constant rumble of a gozillion motorbikes outside our window”.   when we came back, we were greeted with the jarring sound of sirens, we immediately wanted to hop back on the plane and turn around immediately.

organized chaos is how i would best describe vietnam.  it was chaotic, noisy, busy, bustlin’, nerve wrecking but through the midst of it all, somehow it works. it’s part of everyone’s daily life, to bust through the chaos and coexist.  every morning we strayed away from our part of town and headed for my aunt’s house for some street alley phở by taking the bus. the driver was neither warm nor friendly. there’s no bell system to indicate a stop request. you just…shout at the driver when you want to get off. the bus still moves as you make your way off. pretty different from our so-called organized system here.  it was efficient, reliable and punctual. the bus was always there everytime. the longest time we waited was a little over five minutes.  dc transit, take note.

my bowl of rare beef and meatballs phở was so steaming hot that it fogged up my lens.  for old time’s sake that reminded me my childhood, i even remembered to ask for an egg cracked right in the middle of my bowl.  it was a smooth slurp.  despite the sweltering heat during our dining experience, we enjoyed our phở to the fullest.

my cousin, lucky, made a concoction of hot sauce and sautéed chilli with lime juice to dip out meatballs in.  street alley food, we will meet again soon enough.  until then, i will carry on with the dull work day reminiscing.  more on vietnam coming soon.

happy eating!

dieu

one sip and you’ll be hooked

vietnam is famously known for its cà phê sữa đá (iced milk coffee). the bitterness of the dark coffee combined with the sweetness of condensed milk makes one hell of a dangerous drink. in my very humble and unbiased opinion, it’s very distinctive from all other coffees. fox just about drank himself silly over these. there were days where he had at least 4 glasses. i’m telling you it’s an addictive little drink, but oh so good.

throughout our time there you could find cà phê sữa đá on just about every street you cross, every drink vendor sells them at their stand. it costs anywhere between 7,000 – 15,000 vietnamese đồng, roughly about $.40 – .75 american dollars, except if you go to fancy restaurant then it’s much more expensive, but compared to american dollars, the most expensive will cost you a whopping $2. not bad at all, right?

the condensed milk is poured in a glass at the very bottom, then the metal coffee filter is carefully placed over the mouth of the glass, boiling water is poured in and you sit back to watch the magic happen. the filter begins to dispense coffee drops down into the milk. you wait until it’s done then you take a long spoon to stir and mix the two together. ribbons of milk begin to strand out away from the clump. the black coffee is now no longer bitter, but is rather ever so sweet with the milk. it is the perfect relationship. crushed ice is added into the glass to help cool your palette and your soul during a hot day. you sit on the stool on the sidewalk to watch as people go by. you may wave hello or it may just be you and your cà phê sữa đá. what more could you ask for?

happy eating!

dieu

good eats

well, here we are again…stateside.  it was a wonderful two weeks.  i am having a hard time readjusting, completely jet lagged still.

our first day.

11/12/11

we got up at 6 am to make our way to long thành district, which is a little over an hour outside of saigon, to visit my uncle. the hotel served breakfast with all of your vietnamese fixings; rice crepes, spring rolls, bread, laughing cow cheese, fruits (the fruits were amazing!), yogurt, etc. you are probably thinking who can eat spring rolls at 6am? ha I can! i don’t think vietnamese food has a distinction between breakfast, lunch and dinner.  we came back for seconds and thirds, couldn’t resist ourselves.

with our bellies full, we hopped in a van that was driving us to long thành. i know it has been a while since i was exposed to the traffic here, but seriously, people here put dc drivers to shame. it had been raining here the day we arrived and the flood hadn’t finished draining but people were still driving through it without being bothered by it dodging one another through traffic to make their way onward. incredible. scooters, scooters, everywhere causing congestion but driving here is almost like having a sixth sense almost. you immediately know what to do naturally. the three of us; munch, fox and myself successfully crossed the street during oncoming traffic, a mass caravan of scooters came at us like we were being lunged at by a massive football player. it was exhilarating at best. the trick here is you don’t stop once you cross, they will dodge you but it’s when you stop they don’t know what to do.

the ride felt short even though long thành is far. we turned into my uncle’s street, roadside vendors smiled as they see americans and việt kiều (loosely translated as a term that refers to vietnamese people who live abroad) making their way through the busy tiny street. we looked for a house with a bánh cuốn (thin rice cake) business and there we were, recognized by my cousins. we went inside and were immediately served refreshments. my uncle, the head of the house sat in a wooden chair greeted me with endless smiles, i was happy to see him. the man who partially raised my dad has become older, more frail, but still has ample energy. my cousins looked like they haven’t aged in years, what’s their secret?

one of my cousins who makes and sells bánh cuốn at the front of the house served everyone their own plate.  bánh cuốn is a steamed rolled cake that’s made from rice batter.  it is poured thinly onto a flat round surface. once it’s steamed, it gets stuffed with minced and seasoned meat, usually pork, and woodear mushroom.  you take a chopstick to roll the cake from the edge on one side and fold it over. the cake is plated with chả lụa, sprinkled fried onion and garnished with chopped mint, bean sprouts and dressed with chilli nước mắm (fish sauce). it was refreshing, just like everything i remembered.

our bellies full for a second time, we took a stroll through the market to buy fruits and flowers to take to my grandmother’s grave.  a moment i was dreading, not because i didn’t want to go, it just meant for me that she’s no longer here…permanently.  it’s something i haven’t come to terms with.  she passed when i was a junior in college. i still remember that phone call from my dad.  i didn’t realize the last i saw her would be the last time.  as i stood there by her graveside, i breathed in a moment to catch my breath.  tears started to fall.  i miss her…i said a silent goodnight.

we hopped back into the car to return home.  my aunt prepared a marvelous feast.  it was enough to feed an entire army of people.  we sat together at the table feasting.  i ate like a hungry vulture.  her food was just as delicious as i remembered when i was little.  i savored every bite, devoured every dish on that table.  then i remembered why i returned home.  every smell, every taste, every bite connected me back to my roots.

there was more, the camera didn’t capture all.

so now, how do i re-create these dishes?

happy eating!

dieu