You can Viet on it

Why I love Vietnamese food

Vietnamese food is one of my top favorites among Asian cuisines. I love the uniqueness of its herbs and spices, plus there is hardly any guilt pigging out on it since almost all the dishes are loaded with fresh, bursting, healthy vegetables.

Vietnam was once a colony of France, therefore one will find many Vietnamese restaurants on the streets of Paris. When I lived there, my brother Bong and I would regularly visit a restaurant not far from our restaurant Aux Iles Philippines. Pallotte D’OR was owned by a Vietnamese gentleman who was good friends with my brother. I only remember the crispy lumpia wrapped in leaves with its patis sauce. It was certainly one of our favorites. There too was a Vietnam town in the outskirts of Paris. I remember a store with three ladies making just banh mi. That was all they made—the Vietnamese sandwich. There were never ending lines at that store.

Many decades after, I got a chance to visit the real Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh or Saigon. I immediately fell in love with the place because of the food and shopping. The shopping, I learned, was not that great, unless you were looking for house décor. Clothes, forget it. The only drawback is the weather. It is as warm as, if not hotter than Manila. After a few minutes of being out, I would look for a cooler place to rest. I had also been to Nah Trang and Hanoi, both beautiful places, but I still prefer Ho Chi Minh because of the food.

But all that changed recently. Lutong Daza, our cooking show on Net 25, went to Hanoi to do a show. The idea was to eat at various restaurants and try to copy the dishes and demo them on the show, simplified.

Cebu Pacific flies to Hanoi every day. The flight leaves early morning and you get there with a full day ahead of you. I love this schedule since the other ones leave almost midnight. You wake up with deep eyebags. You may order from Cebu Pacific pretty good meals ahead of time and enjoy them before you land. Manila to Hanoi is only a three-hour flight so to me this was perfect as I was able to catch up on my sleep and arrive fresh. What a discovery to have Cebu Pac get you there in a few hours!

We arrived early at the hotel and our rooms were not ready yet. No problem. You know why? The weather was perfect, between 17 and 20 degrees. So, we asked the front desk where we could have a piping hot bowl of beef pho and we were pointed to a stall a few minutes away from the hotel. We were eight in all, all hungry and excited. The beef pho arrived piping hot topped with different cuts of beef—some even raw. But the heat of the broth would do the cooking. The soup was steaming, the beef tender, and the noodles nice and chewy. Outstanding! We went back after a few days. It was quite inexpensive too.

Other interesting things we did included a four-hour scooter food tour of Hanoi for $45 (included in the price were five meals). Food was unique and so delicious. We also attended a cooking class where I learned to make Vietnamese papaya salad and crispy lumpia with all the sauces. We ate at this place called Cha Ca La Vong, where we had a fish dish topped with noodles, spring onions, and dill and eaten with either bagoong or patis sauce. Oh my! Delicious! I also had Hanoi’s version of banh mi. I learned not to compare Saigon and Hanoi food, and just enjoy it.

I had also been to Nah Trang and Hanoi, both beautiful places, but I still prefer Ho Chi Minh because of the food. But all that changed recently.

We went to the market and found delicious champuy and many pasalubongs.

Hanoi has become my no. 1 destination in Vietnam, especially when the weather is cool (It can also get very warm in late March and a few months after).

I envy the markets in Vietnam for their healthy produce. I’ve come a long way from the Vietnam food I was introduced to many decades ago. As Arnie would say, “I’ll be back!”