It is gilded with turmeric and filled with shrimps, bean sprouts and thinly sliced pork. The rice-powder crepe is named after the sound of batter poured in the pan (xeo”).
Together with bun, the dish comes with an array of toppings: fried tofu, fried spring rolls, cha com (fried Vietnamese ham mixed with green rice flakes), thinly-sliced boiled pork and fried pork intestine. Banh cuon is traditionally served with cha que (Vietnamese ham seasoned with cinnamon powder) dipped in the fish sauce and fried shallots, creating a contrast of flavour: light and rich, silky and crispy. Banh cuon, one of the definitive Northern Vietnamese food, is rice-flour pancakes (or some even call Vietnamese ravioli) stuffed with minced pork and wood ear mushrooms.
Or head to Xoi Cat Lam at No. 24 Duong Thanh Street if you crave for fleshier toppings. Hidden gem: The only thing to do is to count out the equivalence of 20 cents or 5,000VND and find your way to No. 44 Hang Hom Street in Old Quarter, joining a queue of locals at 6AM to opt for an authentic Hanoi food experience as your breakfast choice. Get there in the morning, we stopped by in the afternoon and she had already packed up her operation.
You’ll find all kinds of soup in Vietnam, Pho being the most classic, but this one is indeed special, with more flavor (plus snails!) than your usual soup fare. At the start of the episode, Bourdain was some soup with snails, fresh herbs, tomatoes, noodles, and broth. The watermelon vendor, with baskets bending from her shoulder-poles, is weightlifting – all day!
Fruit vendors spend their days pushing bikes and re-arranging their specimens into perfectly conical formation, meticulously examining longans or lychees for flaws. Butchers here constantly cast a tending eye over their cuts of meat, keeping up their appeal, shooing the odd fly, ready and poised with a sharp blade at hand. Hanoi tourist information is definitely not a western supermarket aisle, where even shouting blue murder is unlikely to bring customer service assistance.
But where there is food there are people. One can reach out and touch food up and down the length of any Hanoi street. Street-side meat, bicycles laden with fruit and vegetables, simmering pots of stock on doorsteps, boiling kettles, tipping teapots, sacks overflowing with rice – the streets are where the food action is at, not hidden indoors in gigantic supermarket halls nor protected behind glass windows or cabinetry.
There’s no doubt visitors to Hanoi – especially the food-centric ones – notice the constant presence of edible stuff on their strolls around the Old Quarter and further afield. Proceeds go to support hospitality training for underprivileged youth, so you’re helping a good cause while you indulge. French pastries here are for real – fresh, flaky, buttery, and likely to stop your heart – just the way they should be. Pop on into Le Croissant in the morning for a dose of fresh plain, chocolate or almond croissants.
Vietnam Travel 