Food School

This trip is not about food discovery, it's only about food memory. Making sure my taste intelligence stays current.

This is banh cuon - rice noodle ribbons, deep fried savory bread (with shrimp and mung beans), Vietnamese bologna (I will never ask what's in it, it's delicious), basil, cucumber and bean sprouts. And, of course, the nuoc cham.

Nam saw me eating this at a market stand one morning and, of course, became fixated on the fact that I wasn't eating the best banh cuon in the city. So the next day he took me to this drive-up stand, pushed his way to the front and ordered. I became hooked on it. So yesterday, in Nam's honor, I walked here and ate it with the locals. Of course I got lots of stares, but if I cared about that I wouldn't have left the castle for two years.

And this is banh beo Hue - glutinous rice filled with shrimp (shells still on) and mung bean, the bologna again, topped with cilantro, croutons and dusted with shrimp flakes (orange stuff). And topped with nuoc cham. Very similar to banh cuon, but different consistency. Same same but different.

And to close, this is Hainese Signapore steamed chicken over yellow rice, topped with cilantro, cucumbers, with a side of sweet dipping sauce. I found this place on accident once when I was lost in a downpour on my way home from school. I almost couldn't find it again, but after three trips down the wrong street, there it was.

OK, that is all for Food School today.