In Vietnam, do as the Vietnamese do. Eat Pho and Drink Vietnamese Coffee!
So this is what I did. This is part of the street food tour. I got on the bike and the tour guide zooms in and out of the flower market, pass many inter-junctions and turn right when the lights are red. It seems fine to her. Then at times, we slow down at a busy stretch ( in fact all the stretch was busy) and all the bikes stop and let each other pass after beeping non-stop. What an earful. This usually happens at junctions.
Oh, I am safe and not a scratch from any of the bikes! Then we pass the bridge and over the highways and reach some shops along the highway.
And there, we stop near the junction and onto the shop front of a closed shop. The shop has a concertino aluminium door, just like the ones in Malaysia and other South east Asian Countries. She rings somebody on the phone and a lady opens the door. It is her grandma. I think she is younger than me!!
Anyway, Ms Tam explained that her grandmother, has been operating in the little shop form many, many years. It is a tiny shop and they live upstairs. I can resonate with her, as I used to live in such a shop. The shop is now closed for the day and she purposely open it for me.
She then prepares the coffee and explains that she used to live her with her grandparents until she got married. This resonates with me, as many people live with their parents, in this case grand parents, until they get married. Those were the good old days and even today, in Asia, many young people live with their parents until they get married or buy a house.
I learn something new this time about Vietnamese coffee. Of course, it had loads of condensed milk in it. It is served cold, ok understandable as Vietnam can get pretty hot. A table is set for me facing the road. I have the honour of sitting on the shop front drinking the coffee, while ‘enjoying’ the sight and sound. There is not much to see as the streets are now highways and with street lamps. The market is just over the highways and flyovers, several metres away. The vendors of the market are the customers of the shop; and the sound…. well, sound of motorbikes every where!
The thing that is unique about drinking Vietnamese coffee is that Chinese Tea is served after coffee to cleanse the palette!! After being an old wrinkly, I still learn new things everyday! Interesting.
So we say good bye to the grandma. Then we head to another part of the city to have the very famous Pho (pronounced as fur)! It seems this is one of the famous stalls/ shops.
The Pho is very tasty and I enjoyed it very much. As usual it is served with loads of fresh vegetables and herbs.
The soup is simmered for hours to get the flavour. Unlike Chinese clear soup noodles, which we usually eat, the soup contains spices as well, which make is very flavoursome. I have chicken and Ms Tam has beef balls. Ooohh, it is good.
Here are 2 videos that will show you the 2 dishes we had. Enjoy.
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Until the next trip, happy eating.
Penang Lassie
