noodlepie

Xiu mai

A month or so ago I blogged from a rather smart noodle soup on Ky Dong street in Saigon's District 3. Spotting something called xiu mai on the menu, I asked, "Can anyone tell me what Xiu Mai means?" The brilliant, beautiful folk who stumble around this joint and who really should be doing something far more useful with their lives, like reading Carpworld, put me straight. It's "soft beef meatballs in tomato sauce/soup that you eat with a crusty baguette" said one "a soft pork meatball.. banh mi xiu mai... it is the most popular dish for this type of meat..." added another."Xiu mai is also a steamed dough wrapper stuffed with pork, a type of dim sum ..." added one more. "The Xiu mai I know is a type of chinese dim sum. basically stem "cup" dumplings with minced pork topped with some orangy roe. (sometimes salty egg yolk is used). not too sure it's the same as in Vietnam." added yet another.

and Richard said, "The Chinese siu mai is ground pork in a pasta wrapper. The Vietnamese xiu mai (same name, probably of the same Chinese origin, but most definitely not the same dish is, like mentioned, a soft pork meatball cooked in a tomato-like broth, served with crusty bread or in a sandwich. It is delicious. Does anyone have a recipe for the Vietnamese xiu mai? If so, please email me directly." Well, regarding the Vietnamese version, they're all right - apart from the beef bit. And they are indeed scoffsational. At 3,000VD, they're also an ultra-bargain. More snaps. And if you can help recipe hunter Richard, as the man says, drop him an email.

Banh Trang

A new find. They're getting rarer. This street level stall serves a late afternoon snack  called Banh trang. Banh trang is the rice paper that gets thrown in with whatever you fancy from the tray above. Here we have deep-fried shallots, spring onion, fish balls, big tub of (manly) rau dang, minced red chilli, prawn powder, a large jar of nuoc mam (fish sauce) and some black stuff. Sorry, I don't know the name of that. It's 3 or 4,000VD a throw. I spot this seller at the corner of Luu Van Lang/Le Thi Rieng junction in District 1, Saigon. In fact I'm gobbling here immediately after I gobbled there.

Pictured above the seller is prepping my score. It's a decent little bite. I skip the chilli, but it's still got plenty engine power, not a little crunch and a healthy herb kick. Since I tried this I've seen two more stalls selling exactly the same thing. Funny. Never ever seen this in 8 years or more, then it's all over town like a dose of clap. As I've said before, you gotta keep your eyes open in this town.

Phantom flogger

This seller is about as street as you'll find in Saigon. She's plonked mid-street on the Luu Van Lang/Le Thi Rieng junction in District 1. She's rather mobile. After buying a selection of edibles from her bucket, I turn around and head off for a nibble and a conflab with noodlegirl, I turn back to give an approving nod to the seller and she's vanished. Upped and offed in a flash. Vapourised for all I know. Spooky. She sells okra, various kinds of fish balls, stuffed red chillies and banh my.



This is the first time I've seen fish paste stuffed red chillies sold as streetfood in Saigon. I buy a couple of them and a selection of here fish balls for 10,000VD. All come in a polystyrene box with two ingenious wooden eating implements. I don't know the names of what I ordered - I wasn't in 'blog mode' and didn't ask - However, I believe we're in similar territory to Ca Vien. Any insight, much appreciated.

That's a sweet, hot fluid sauce you can see drowning my nibbles. And there's a splash of Vietnam's nasty red sauce on top. The fish balls to the left are each stuffed with a quail's egg - shades of an  uber-oriental Scotch Egg. The stuffed chillies are a bitch. A tasty bitch. Whenever I consume vicious chillies like this I hiccup for 5 minutes post-scoff. Apparently I am not alone. It's a common reaction. Not big on Vietnamese fish paste - bit too industrial for my delicate palate - but this little lot was fun. If I spot this phantom flogger again I'll repeat the chilli order and check out her ladies fingers. Nice.

Competition time

Have bike. Will cook. But what's she flogging? Spotted on Le Thanh Ton street outside Song. Answer tomorrow. Exciting.

Street clock

This is another banana, sweet potato, batter snack seller. No big difference from what we've had before. I stopped by this one on Mac Dinh Chi street. She assembles her batter balls - Banh khoai? Banh cay? Anyone got the definitive name for these? -  into smalll firey, chilli laced balls, whereas the previous streetchef fashions a more rectangular specimen. 2,000VD will procure you a grabbag and - in the common parlance of 2004/2005 - You're good to go. Where did that phrase come from? I don't like it, bit too adagency, little bit salesreppy. Urgghh.

These snacks are great streetwalkin' nibbles, not that Saigon is a good walkin' city. It really ain't - too many parked motorbikes, broken paving slabs, people squatting, drinking tea, cooking etc. Quite stressfull now I think about it - in a pathetic kinda way. The interesting thing about all these streetsnacks is the apparent schedule they run to. Each dish seems to have an alloted slot (or slots) at particular times of the day. For instance this dish is strictly mid-morning. 8:30am, in the same spot as this seller, I found a grilled sweet potato seller. By the time I return, she's gone. Just pre and apres lunch it's che and streetfruit. Come early evening the glorious streetcorn carts arrive. I tell ya' - you could set your watch by what you see on the streets of Saigon. More snaps from the street. Bonus off-topic, bizarre Asian link of the day, Ssahn.com (via Sarah Dopp)

Like a rolling street

I've only ever seen bo bia sold from carts like this around Saigon. Bo bia are small rice paper rolls filled with bun (cold white vermicelli noodle), basil, small dried prawns, pickled carrot and raddish, crushed peanuts, chili, lettuce and some slices of slightly sweet 'red sausage' called (I think) lap xuong. This vendor keeps all the ingredients in a glass cabinet. She only has a few bo bia on display above her soup vat. Pernickety Saigonese buyers want their purchase daisy fresh. Quite right. Bo bia can suffer heat wilt.

A 5,000VD portion comes with a few greens (if you ask politely) and a bag of tuong. Tuong is a tart, sweet, moderately hot bean sauce used to dip the bo bia into. They're healthy, they're a wee bit hot (as in chili hot) and they're rather light. Definitely a street snack as opposed to a full blown stuffout. However, three bo bia followed by a couple of banana ricewiches and swilled down with a streetside cafe sua da make for an agreeable, if rapid al fresco lunch that still comes in at under a buck. I found this seller on Nguyen Du Street, but keep 'em peeled they're all over town especially from 5pm(ish).

I believe in the streets

The recent flurry of activity around the 'Is she or isn't she' weeping virgin of Saigon means the streets have been flooded with bauble sellers accosting the catholic crew for a religious dime or dollar. Almost a week has past since the first 'tears' were spotted by a lottery ticket seller. The believers still congregate in their hundreds to marvel at the concrete statue opposite the HSBC cash machine in central Saigon. Fortunately for the faithful, there are snack vendors aplenty on Nguyen Du street to sustain them throughout their vigil. The seller above normally flogs 80 chuoi nep nuong - rice wrapped bananas - and 20 bot ban - bean paste ball wrapped in sticky tapioca - a day around District 1 from her mobile stall. She tells me trade in her 2,000VD nibbles has been a wee brisker this past week. Praise be.

I've covered chuoi nep nuong before, so I won't gas. Just sit back and ogle. Bloody gorgeous, innit? Hell - why not download the large version and reset your computer wallpaper. Not big enough? Think you can take more? really? Then chuoi nep nuong gigantic is the one for you. Study it carefully. I swear the one bottom left is blubbering. More scenes from the stall here. For more on Weeping Mary, see week old on the spot reports from The Rice Bowl and No Star Where.

In the black

As mentioned previously, it's highly unlikely I'd take up train spotting, traverse the Sahara barfeoot or start sodomising small mammals in the garden shed in order to get at a bowl of xoi. But I am a completist and Xoi niep than, or sticky black rice xoi, is unfamiliar turf and so to be... errr... complete - I'll tuck in. Strolling round Cholon, or Chinatown, in District 5 the other morning - after negotiating the all too familiar pleasure that is collecting a parcel sent from overseas in Vietnam - "Who sent it?" "I have no idea" "You must know who sent it, if you want to open it." "OK. I like quizzes. How many guesses do I get?" etc. ad infinitum, smile, bow, smile, scrape, beg, cry, thank you so much for giving me my parcel. I am not worthy of your generosity. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Post-Post Office I spot this seller at 86 Phung Hung street sitting next to a banana seller, behind a rather natty mobile banh mi sarnie parlour and a passing Chinese salty egg seller. She sells Xoi niep than and Xoi dau xanh vo , or green bean xoi. 2,000Vd a pop. I'm going black. It comes with sugar, shredded coconut, grean bean paste and something, I think she says, is called muoi dau. . Not sure what that means, but it's some kind of brownish powder. There's also the option to add some deep fried shallots.

Above is a pre-coconut, pre-sugar, pre-muoi dau black xoi with just the bean paste spread on top. It's about 8:45 am and this is a well-sweet breakfast. I more used to this - in my better dreams - or even this - so xoi is always going to have a battle on its hands to win over my taste buds. The rice is dry and slightly crunchy. It combines well with the healthy sweetness of the beanpaste. But babe, hold the sugar, she keeps plying me with more... What is it with these southern sweettooth fetishists? So, xoi niep than. Not bad, but never again (probably). More shots from Chinatown.

In need of coc

If you're in need of coc, you'll find plenty available on the streets of Saigon at the moment. October and November are big coc months. I find three sellers at the junction of Hai Ba Trung and Nguyen Huu Cau streets in District 1. The one pictured above plies coc from a bicycle basket stall a length or two up the road from a guy with his nuts out. Most popular coc in Saigon come from either Vinh Long or Can Tho in the Mekong Delta. However, I understand other southern provinces are known to send their best coc to market too when they're big enough.

5,000VD buys me three hard cocs and a small bag of salt to dip them into. Coc is a fruit with a big seed in the middle and an orangey, tart, soft, juicy, flesh.

Can't say I'm a coc lover, but I'll give anything a go. I'm not sure what coc is in English. In French I think it's pomme something or other. If you know, please let me know in the comments. Meanwhile, if you spot coc for sale on the streets, have a nibble.

You're nuts

Nuts. Roasted chesnuts to be exact. The commoner's Christmas streetsnack of choice on the streets of London a hundred years ago or so.  For all I know the 21st century FairTraded, EU stamped, bearded treehugger version will be this season's hit with the hip back blighty-way. In Saigon Hat de, as they're known, are seasonal and a snip at 5000VD per 100g. I'm useless with weights. Never quite know what 100g, 500g, 1kg etc. means in hard numbers i.e. whether we're talking 4 oranges, 20 strawberries, 4 dried camels, a couple of fillets of cod or whatever. Turns out 100g of Hat de, during this controlled experiment at least, results in 13 chesnuts in old money. Enough for one, pathetic for two.

This guy sells his nuts on Hai Ba Trung street opposite the market at the junction with Nguyen Huu Cau street in District 1, not a million miles away from the 'famous' Banh xeo, a Cock tai streetstall, a very decent Chao ca and a respectable Com ga. If you look at the snap above you can see this seller's ample nuts are spread out on the 3-wheel barrow tabletop for passers by to fondle, stroke or buy as they please. He roasts each nut in a hot pan full of rock salt, which you can just see on the right, for thirty minutes, or by clicking that link. Which one? this one. After half an hour his nuts are steaming hot and fit to burst. Quite a handfull I imagine.

They're salty and sweet and nutty (oh really? you don't say). The heat cracks open a few of them allowing the salt to seap in. Those that don't crack need a bit of mouth to nut action to get at what's inside. If you also tongue the nuts on the outside, you get a not unpleasant rough, rustic, salt sensation. Not for everyone I guess. But I found it quite yum. So, to recap. Nuts. Not bollocks. More snaps here.