Hungry?

McDonald’s has not made it to Việt Nam - - yet.  KFC has arrived in Sài Gòn and Hà Nội, but there are no western fast food joints in the smaller cities, such as Huê.

Maybe you are like this young man – on his cell phone at 7 AM, and late for class at the university.  (Yes, classes start at 7).  He has his choice of many different foods served up by the street vendors.  Possibly he wants some bún bò Huê, a beef noodle soup , or maybe bún hen, a spicy noodle and mussel dish found only in Huê.  Across the street is a small sandwich shop on wheels.  This is nourishing food – and very cheap.  A dish of sticky rice will cost 3,000 Vietnamese đông– about 18 cents.  Most westerners shy away from street food, and that is a shame.  Its good stuff.

(Be sure to click on each photo to see a larger version.)

The characters change as the day progresses.  In the late afternoon, a new vendor peddles her corn-on-the-cob,  hot and fresh out of the boiling water.  She will stay in place well after dark or until her supply is sold.

The vendors do not make much money.  Most likely each will take home about $1.00 to $1.50 each day.  That is not quite as bad as it sounds as most likely, there is another source of income.  They provide good cheap food for the working men and women of Huê, as well as the students at the nearby teacher’s college.  These girls fuel up before taking a final exam at the end of the semester.

Hey – there are starving students in every culture.

Comments

[Ellen]

My favorite vendor "song" was one I heard in Pleiku sung by a lady selling duck eggs. My favorite vendor dish was tofu with hot, sweet ginger sauce. Bon Appetite!

Ellen

[Tom Murray]

Doug,

I love the item sold by a vendor on bicycle that is hot, round, soft dough filled with vegetables. I bought them in the morning outside your hotel, the Truong Giang. The hotel clerks were always yelling at them to clear the entrance of the hotel. I think they wanted them to go across the street with everyone else.

Saigon has its own "fast food" restaurant called The Lotteria. It is famous for its shrimp sandwich. I ate there once in two years. The ketchup for the french fries is definitely not American.

I walked by the KFC in Thu Duc many times. It's right near the entrance of a gigantic store that reminds me of Wal-Mart, although it is a different big box store. I was surprised to see them serving mashed potatoes and gravy. Upon a closer look it was not potatoes. It was white rice formed into an intertesting pile that looked like mashed potatoes.

Tom

[MGB]

Though I consider myself a gourmond, street food is way outside the radar of what I am going to sample in any country, and am deeply suspicious of any food described using the word 'interesting.'

Enjoy, Sweetie, and remember, it's Cipro 500mg every 12 hours for 6 doses and Loperamide 2mg for each episode.

xoxo

[Duong Lam Anh]

Tom,
Because I love ketchup with french fries, when I had my lunch in the Lotteria, I looked for ketchup and found out that there were two different bottles, one for "real American ketchup" and the other for chilli sauce. I guess you picked up the chilli one (brighter in color.) Vietnamese people like chilli sauce and I find it interesting to see it served there in a more westernized restaurant. A clever adaptation.