Vietnamese Street Food

Oh, is there a better cuisine in the world! In my travels I've had some spectacular meals, and more finely tuned my appreciation for national cuisines - Italian, goes without saying; Indian, the diversity and flavour of vegetables and pulses; Chinese, ooooh duck; Russian...um...the dill.

But I am fully taken with Vietnamese food in general and at its essence is the simple tasty creations available on every street corner. That something as simple as beef broth poured over noodles and topped with herbs can taste so incredibly good is a credit to the Vietnamese.

My first introduction to Vietnamese street food was in Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon) where I sampled the national dish, pho. More on that later, as this was just a baby step in the scheme of things when it comes to that dish.

Later in Nha Trang I had a baguette on the way to the beach. Since Russia and up until Vietnam, my travels have been generall devoid of leavened bread - which I consider a good thing. But Vietnam, being a former French colony, acquired its former masters' skills for baking (and taste for coffee). They proceeded to put their own twist on a sandwich, however, in coming up with this concoction. A Vietnamese baguette will generally cost about $0.50 from a cart on the street, and come with most or all of the following:

• coriander (cilantro)

• cucumber

• lettuce

• mayonnaise

• pate

• mystery meat-based products #1, #2, #3 (one looked like processed chicken loaf, one like pork fat with barbeque sauce, the other...I don't even hazard to guess)

• chili sauce

• fish sauce

Hoi An emphasised Vietnam's ability to take anything and make it extra delicious by wrapping it in rice paper and fresh herbs. Banh Xeo was such a thing, a crispy rice pancake (but the rice was pulverised into a batter) filled with bean sprouts, chicken/pork/prawn, carrots and other goodies, then wrapped in rice paper and fresh herbs and dipped in nuoc mam - chili fish sauce. Also in Hoi An we sampled a Vietnamese hot pot - I'm not generally a hot pot fan, as I find them a bit bland and not worth the effort. But the Vietnamese hot pot broth has fresh herbs, tamarind for a souring agent, and tomatoes along with the chosen meat or seafood - poured over rice noodles it was just to die for.

Hanoi's contribution to my street food tour is not inconsiderable. Tangy barbequed beef, grilled on makeshift barbeques atop a little plastic table - though at $10 I got completely hosed on the bill after being ushered to a seat with a lit barbeque placed in front of me before I could say "how much?". Bun cha, my favourite, was simply grilled pork patties on top rice vermicelli with (again) heaps of herbs and sweet nuoc mam to dip it all in (or pour over, as I did).

But back to pho...in my cooking class in Hoi An we tackled this dish from scratch. Normally the beef broth is simmered for the better part of a day, but we only had 2-3 hours so it was a shortened affair. Grilled beef bones were combined with fresh lemongrass and grilled shallots, ginger, and onion to make a light aromatic stock. We steamed a batter made of soaked rice to make fresh noodles and later poured the stock into a bowl with thinly sliced raw beef, green onion, noodles and bean sprouts. The garnish was as large as the bowl itself - 4 to 5 types of herbs comprising different varieties of mint and basil, plus Chinese celery and sawtooth coriander. Freshly squeezed lime cheeks and thinly sliced red chilis to taste. Such a medley of fresh, aromatic flavours I would be content to eat for the rest of my days.

So, Vietnamese food - what's the secret? Fresh herbs. And lots of 'em. Bitter, pungent, aromatic, sweet, spicy, crispy and refreshing. Vietnamese food doesn't have the rich coconut cream of Thai food, or the oily salty heaviness of Chinese food (though there is some influence, especially in North Vietnam). You can eat till you're satisfied and yet...not feel stuffed. The perfect diet food.

In Laos I met a mother and son from New York - the mother was a retired nurse, probably in her 70s, and they were headed to Vietnam. I started raving about the food and gave her my ultimate piece of advice, which is don't even bother with the restaurants - just eat on the street! She said "oh my gawd, my docta told me not to eat fresh vegetables! I've seen how they wash the dishes on the street!" I consoled her with two things: 1) follow that advice, and you miss out on the best part of Vietnam 2) Just because you eat in a restaurant doesn't mean they're not doing the exact same thing to the dishes as they do on the street, just behind a brick wall...

My last tip is to bring breath mints or chewing gum...there's a fair bit of raw garlic in there!