15g fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1x small clove of garlic, peeled and grated
2x cilantro plants, stemmed and finely chopped
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (hot or sweet to taste)
250ml sour cream
250ml Baltic style yogurt
Combine ingredients and allow flavours to marry in refrigerator for at least an hour.
Hoi An - Street Breakfast
I broke the yolk on the egg before I took this photo. The dish was still screaming hot so I wanted to give the yolk a chance to coagulate with the gravy that is ladled over top. It comes topped with canned ham (a Viet version of Spam) some real meat and lots of onions. A nice fresh baguette is served on the side (quality baguettes are the only good thing the French did for the Vietnamese).
I ordered a coffee along side and it came to 23,000 dong (or roughly $1.50). Without the coffee the dish is 15,000 (or just under a dollar). It is easily the best breakfast deal in Hoi An. If you get up early enough they are served all around the main tailor market, otherwise head to the Hanh Cafe office the stall I ate at was just around the corner, just off the main drag.
I ordered a coffee along side and it came to 23,000 dong (or roughly $1.50). Without the coffee the dish is 15,000 (or just under a dollar). It is easily the best breakfast deal in Hoi An. If you get up early enough they are served all around the main tailor market, otherwise head to the Hanh Cafe office the stall I ate at was just around the corner, just off the main drag.
Hoi An Street Food - Part 1
Cao Lau is the local specialty noodle dish in Hoi An. It is a bit like New York City pizza, it just can't be re-created elsewhere. The reason is actually the same as for NYC pizza; it all has to do with the water. Hoi An noodles are made with well water that has a unique mineral composition, so even if you get everything else right, it just won't taste the same.
My biggest complaint about Hoi An is the price of food. I expect to pay more in a restaurant, there is more overhead, but noodle stalls are supposed to be the cheap local's alternative. The price for the noodles at this stall was similar to all the restaurants. It turns out all the locals were Vietnamese tourists. Oh well...
It was over priced for a noodle stall, but it is nice to actually watch your dish being prepared, where you can see that everything is fresh. Behind closed restaurant doors you can never be sure how fresh your food is.
Cao Lau is not quite like Pho or Bun, there is actually little broth. It is more a bowl of noodles than a bowl of noodle soup. The rice noodles come with a healthy serving of sliced pork, and lots of fresh lettuce, basil and bean sprouts.
Cao Lau, Hoi An noodles with pork.
My biggest complaint about Hoi An is the price of food. I expect to pay more in a restaurant, there is more overhead, but noodle stalls are supposed to be the cheap local's alternative. The price for the noodles at this stall was similar to all the restaurants. It turns out all the locals were Vietnamese tourists. Oh well...
It was over priced for a noodle stall, but it is nice to actually watch your dish being prepared, where you can see that everything is fresh. Behind closed restaurant doors you can never be sure how fresh your food is.
Cao Lau is not quite like Pho or Bun, there is actually little broth. It is more a bowl of noodles than a bowl of noodle soup. The rice noodles come with a healthy serving of sliced pork, and lots of fresh lettuce, basil and bean sprouts.
Cao Lau, Hoi An noodles with pork.
Hanoi Street Food Part 2
I am writing this post while enjoying a bowl of sweet pumpkin soup at a Hanoi's most popular guesthouse, The Hanoi Youth Hotel. While I have been trying to stick to street food, this place makes a great lemonade and the prices are rather reasonable (as long as you stay away from pizza and burgers), and it all comes with free wi-fi connection.
Anyhow on to yesterday's massive lunch.
I walked by this place and they were frying up fresh spring rolls, and they smelled so delicious I had to come in and try them. I shot this video while waiting for what I thought was just going to be two spring rolls (which is what I tried to order).
What I got instead of two spring rolls is a massive spread of food. A bowl of steaming broth with BBQ meat which I assume was pork, and grilled little meat balls, which again I assume were made with pork. Who knows, or cares really, as long as it tastes good, right? Accompanying this was a massive plate of noodles, which you add to the broth as you go (I watched how the locals ate it and just followed suit). When the mama set the soup in front of she tossed in a spoonful of red stuff from a plastic container, pointed to the fresh hot peppers and indicated that I should add some (which naturally I did). The salad is a mix of bib lettuce, a little mint, and basil, which you pick at as you go.
The whole spread.
This set me back 40,000 dong.
Soup with some noodles tossed in.
Spring rolls for dipping into the soup
or eaten with some of the herbs from the fresh salad.
Anyhow on to yesterday's massive lunch.
I walked by this place and they were frying up fresh spring rolls, and they smelled so delicious I had to come in and try them. I shot this video while waiting for what I thought was just going to be two spring rolls (which is what I tried to order).
What I got instead of two spring rolls is a massive spread of food. A bowl of steaming broth with BBQ meat which I assume was pork, and grilled little meat balls, which again I assume were made with pork. Who knows, or cares really, as long as it tastes good, right? Accompanying this was a massive plate of noodles, which you add to the broth as you go (I watched how the locals ate it and just followed suit). When the mama set the soup in front of she tossed in a spoonful of red stuff from a plastic container, pointed to the fresh hot peppers and indicated that I should add some (which naturally I did). The salad is a mix of bib lettuce, a little mint, and basil, which you pick at as you go.
The whole spread.This set me back 40,000 dong.
Soup with some noodles tossed in.
Spring rolls for dipping into the soupor eaten with some of the herbs from the fresh salad.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)