Cuy for Dinner

Kim tries "Cuy Confit" for dinner last night at the InkaTerra hotel. "Cuy" = guinea pig - a very common dish in Central & South America! "Cuy" is the noise that a guinea pig makes.

2000 Kinds of Potatoes & Kim with Baby Llamas

Peru was the first place in the world to cultivate potatoes ... and ... they say that Peru has over 2000 different kinds of potatoes - ranging in many different sizes, shapes & colors! Vendors like that shown in top pic tend to specialize in specific kinds of potatoes.

Bottom pic = just had to get this pic with Kim!

Com Tam

It has been a while since I posted a blog dispatch. This is because not much has been happening. However, because many of you have asked several questions about Vietnamese foods, I decided to post this update.

Com Tam (pronounced "cum tum") is one of my favorite lunches or dinners. Com means "broken rice", which is just like regular rice but "broken" into smaller pieces resulting in a pleasant yet different texture than regular rice.

I am not sure what Tam literally means - but in this case it signifies "pork chop". It is normally served with a clear, pork-broth soup with "greens", and a small dish of cooked vegetables. The "dipping sauce" is mildly hot. It is normally served with Cha Da (iced green tea). All are delicious and only cost $2.39 as shown - including drink!

Saigon Street Sandwich

You can buy a multitude of foods on the streets of any city in Vietnam - everything from famous Vietnamese pho's (noodle soups) to com tam (grilled pork with broken rice - one of my favorites) to 4-course meals to fresh fruits (whole or peeled/sliced portions). I love the sandwiches you can buy from street vendors like the one in this pic. A classic sandwich is a very fresh baguette with a pate, a little lettuce, tomato, sliced cucumbers - sometimes with "special sauces" but I like mine with classic Vietnamese fish sauce. Sandwiches come ready-made (see bottom shelf of cart in above pic) or can be tailor-made with whatever you want!

Fruit

Fresh fruit is always available all over Vietnam from vendors as shown in above pic - available whole or peeled/sliced.

Favorite Vietnamese Fruits

My favorites are mango, dwarf watermelon, and Dragon Fruits.
Above pic is of a Dragon Fruit plant with fruits! I had never before seen potted Dragon Fruit plants - they were being sold in the Tet flower market!

Another Food Favorite & Me

I forgot to mention my other favorite Filipino food - Pork Adobo shown in top pic. It is pork chopped into bite-size pieces cooked in a somewhat spicy sauce always served with rice & those small limes in small bowel @ top of pic. It is delicious w the very stronge-flavored lime juice & several other sauces they serve on the side. No mango shakes at my favorite beach side restaurant where I always buy this dish - so had to settle for iced tea.
Several have said they doubted I was actually on Boracay Island because they had not seen me in any pics - hence the 2nd pic above of me on White Beach.

Boracay Island - Favorite Foods

Several of you have asked "Why no food pics!?" Filipinos do have a unique cuisine - most of it has never been appealing to me. BUT - they do love their pork dishes - almost as much as I do! The top pic is Litson Baboy - suckling pig slowly cooked over an open charcoal file & literally chopped to pieces & served with a thick pepper/lime juice/bbq sauce. Delicious. The lower pic is Liempo - pork belly which is a thick slice of bacon with lots of fat cooked over a charcoal fire normally served with a soup and rice. And that's my favorite drink - a mango shake. A Litson Baboy dinner is rather expensive - about $6. The entire Liempo meal as shown is about $1.50
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Phu Quoc Lunch

Pic is of Linh (left) & her mother (Thuy on right) preparing a traditional Vietnamese "Hot Pot". The restaurant presents a "hot pot" full of a broth .served on top of a burner. To ensure the freshness & quality of the hot pot's ingredients - fresh vegetables (I only recognized lettuce & tomatoes but there were many other "unknown" types) and, in this case, fresh, raw seafood (shrimp, squid & fish) are served on the side - normally also with pre-cooked wheat noodles. The female(s) @ the table prepare the food by shredding, breaking up vegetables, and putting them & seafood all into the "hot pot". - where they simmer until cooked & are then served (of course - by the females) in small bowls.

CORRECTIONS & Clarification

My friend has corrected what I said above & provided additional/interesting info as follows:

Ca Phe Sua Da: Sua = milk, Da = ice

Com Tam: rice is milled to remove the hull, during which it may be crushed or broken into smaller pieces. This "broken rice" is what is served with the BBQ'd pork.

3 Saigon Food/Drink Favorites - Breakfast

Many of you have asked about my favorite Vietnamese foods, eating/drinking habits and food costs while in Saigon. So - hear is some basic info.
Breakfast is included in my hotel costs - and I start each day with it!. There are 2 breakfast choices daily (always the same) - a "breakfast stew" or "fried eggs". I always get the "fried eggs" as pictured above. This IS a Vietnamese breakfast comprised of 2/always hard-fried eggs, a few sliced fresh vegetables, & a large/fresh/toasted bagette.
Unlike the Vietnamese who normally make a very common carry-with-you-breakfast-sandwich by putting the eggs & vegetables on the bagette & adding fish sauce, I eat eggs with fish sauce and bagette separately - putting butter & jelly (normally provided to westerners) on the bagette. It's a hardy breakfast that I look forward to consuming each day!

Saigon Food/Drink Favorites - Com Tam

One of my favorite Vietnamese foods, found throughout the country, is Com Tam = BBQ'd pork served with something like a "shredded" rice <- difficult to explain - but taste like any rice - just a different texture. A very traditional Vietnamese dish, it is eaten throughout the day - even for breakfast. The above pics show com tam pork being grilled by a street vendor (w an entrance to Saigon's central market in distant background) & com tam in its final serving/presentation form (as served in one of my favorite a/c restaurants). In addition to the "shredded rice", Com Tam is always served with a tasty, warm, melon soup, and a delicious spicy-hot, sweet/sour sauce. Cost at an air-conditioned restaurant = US$1.73 or about the same as a ca phe sua da in a coffee shop. Com tam from a street vendor cost about US$1..

NOTE: above pics taken w BB - all others in this update were taken w Nikon - which are better?

Saigon Food/Drink Favorites - Ca Phe Sua Da

In the US, iced tea is my favorite year-round drink - but it is difficult to find in Vietnam. Sans availability of iced tea, Ca Phe Sua Da* has always been my favorite Vietnamese drink. I drink it @ breakfast & often throughout the day. It is an iced coffee made of very, very strong, fresh-ground-slow-brewed Vietnamese coffee & condensed milk. It is very popular in Vietnam year-round. It is presented in both traditional & "modern" versions (both versions are shown in above pics). In a traditional coffee house, the drink is served in a "brewer" which drips hot water thru coffee grinds into a small glass containing the condensed milk. When coffee has brewed (which can take some time), you stir the coffee/milk and pour it into a glass of ice. Cost about 60 cents. In a modern, air-conditioned coffee house such as the very popular Highland Coffee shops, they are served already mixed on ice w/straw, and cost about US$1.72. Both versions are always served with ice water (modern version) or weak, iced green tea (traditional) chasers.

*ca phe = coffee, sua = iced & da = milk) - pronounced ca-fe-sooo-ah-dah

Southeast Asia Fruit Primer

Some time ago, a friend suggested that I put together a primer about SE Asian fruits. I hesitated doing so because albeit I had tasted/consumed many, I only knew their native names and little more. Then a few days ago, I ran into a French food journalist who was authoring a "dispatch" on SE Asian fruits. She shared some of her info with me about the stranger fruits. So, I took some pics and am sending them with descriptions and background info shared by the French journalist:

Front Left - Mangos teen

a fruit that is unique to South-East Asia. The fruit is extremely hard to grow and it often takes 8-15 years for a tree to bear fruits. The rind of the mangos teen is dark purple marked by a yellowish resin. In terms of size and shape, the mangos teen is similar to the Japanese persimmon. It is also compared to a small tomato.
When sliced at the equator, the mangos teen yields white segments of flesh. These segments taste sweet and sour and have a slight acid after-taste similar to grapes or strawberries.

Front Right - Rambutan (chom chom)

A rambutan tree has broad foliage and many branches. In the southern provinces, the tree yields fruit at the beginning of the rainy season . The chom chom fruit season lasts until the end of the rainy season (from May to October). The skin of this fruit is tough, thick and hairy. Its meat is transparent white and tender, and has a cool sweet taste. The most reputed rambutan fruit nation-wide is grown in Binh Hoa Phuoc village in Long Ho district in Vinh Long province, some 5Okm north of Ho Chi Minh City.

Rear Left - Longan (Qua Nhãn)
In Vietnamese, "long nhãn" means dragon eye. Hung Yen Longans were among the food items reserved as tributes to the Kings. The Longan is a close relative to the litchi. Longans are grown mostly in the cooler highlands of South-East Asia. It was brought here by Chinese immigrants as they migrated south and settled in various areas. The peel is brown and brittle. The meat is translucent white and is very juicy and sweet. In Vietnam, dried longans are cooked in water to make a dessert drink called long nhãn'. Longan is a protein rich fruit. It is usually used as a main ingredient, along with lotus seeds, to make sweet soup, which is considered a very good summer refreshment that I have enjoyed many times. The seedless longan, when dried, is also a very fine choice choice of French connoisseurs.

Rear Right
Plum Apple with thin edible skin and white flesh that has a sweet, kinda chewy, crunchy apple taste. Very good and refreshing when chilled. They also make delicious fruit smoothies from these - one of my favorites!



Front Left - Star Apple (vu sua)
No better word than marvelous can be used to praise the tropical fruit with the name Vu Sua (milk from the breast). Upon entering a star apple orchard, the most famous located in Can Tho Province in the Mekong River Delta, visitors can see for themselves the hundreds of star apples suspended from the branches. The round smooth fruit are all of equal size. The shape of the star apple matches the name attached to it, as does its juice which is fragrantly sweet and milky white like breast milk.
If visitors are unfamiliar to the region, they can be guided by locals on how to enjoy the fruit. A novice will certainly peel the fruit with a sharp knife, which may cause the precious juice inside to be wasted. Instead of doing this, you should first gently squeeze the fruit, then cut a hole in its top and squeeze out its juice into your mouth! Novice (Westerners) usually use a knife to cut the fruit into two parts before using a spoon to scoop out the pulp, bit by bit, until nothing is left. They also make great milkshakes with this fruit!

Front Right - Custard Apple (Mang Cau)
In Vietnam, there are two kinds of custard apple: firm and soft. Both varieties can have various shapes - they can be round or oval. When a custard apples is ripe, it is easy to peel. The peel is thick, green, and covered with white or green pollen - it looks similar to an artichoke. The pulp is white or light yellow and contains many black seeds. Xiem custard apples (like those in pic) are oval or heart shaped. Their peel is green with thorns, which turn black when the fruit is ripe. The fruits are generally big and can reach 1.5 kg. The pulp is white, hard, and a bit
sour. Custard apple trees deliver fruit after three or four years of growth. A tree produces on average from 50 to 100 fruits per year. The fruits ripens on the tree and then cracks, especially during the rainy season. One of my favorate "milkshakes" is made from the custard apple!

Rear Right - Green dragon (Thanh Long)
is the name of a newly cultivated fruit. It is rather big, weighs from 200 to 500 grams, and has pink or dark-red color. The ripe
fruit looks like the kohlrabi cabbage and has an oval shape. When ripe, the fruit peels as easily as a banana. Its pulp is white and gelatinous. The pulp contains many seeds that cannot be extracted. The seeds taste like cactus, giving the fruit a sweet and sour taste. Before 1945, green dragon fruits were not sold in southern markets. It is said that Americans brought green dragon fruits to the south. Bushes of green dragon fruits can be seen climbing to tree trunks in gardens and even on doors. Different from any other southern fruit, its harvest season is particular; fruits become available in markets in October, November, April, and May.
They are more expensive in October and April, since there are smaller
quantities available.



No SE Asian fruit list would be complete without including the infamous Durian or Sau Rieng which in Vietnamese means "one's own sorrows". According to southern Vietnam's locals' immortal love story - Long ago, there was a young couple that lived in the region. Because of social prejudices that could not be overcome, the couple sought their own deaths in order to be forever faithful to each other. Their own sorrows received the population's sympathies, and the story of their tragedy has been handed down from generation to generation. To commemorate the couple, the locals have named one of their most valuable fruits sau rieng.

Durian is an expensive fruit. One Durian fruit is five to six times larger than a Mango. Its skin is thick, rough, and covered with sharp thorns. With a gentle cut between the edges of the outer shell, you can easily open the fruit to expose the layers of bright yellow segments of meat that make the pulp look like it is covered with a thin layer of butter.

The pulp has a kind of custard texture and taste. However, their odor is terrible - similar to a combination of rotten eggs and onions! Most hotels forbid their presence in rooms. Once opened, their odor permeates everything and lingers for hours. I have attempted to eat them twice and both times had difficulty keeping them "down".

FAQs - Communism, Crocks, and Massages

Have yoy had any honest, open discussions with any Vietnamese that speak good English about their gov't?

Yes with a couple of people. Most interesting was a 2+ hour conversation I had last night with a 20-something VN guy who had a dual VN/USA citizenship. He and family are from. Saigon area, southerners. They and evidently most south VN do no and never have (even b4 the war) like north VN. The gov't is made up of about 65% north and 35% south VN. ALL south VN in the gov't are VC war "heros" and for the most part not like by the general south VN people. Gov't is far less intrusive now then it was just a couple of years ago.. Capitalism (free and open) is now the unstopable driving force in the south. Many have also said that the south VN are tremendously more honest and cordial than the northern VN. The only rule that is STRICKLY enforced (as in u can diappear) is speaking out against the gov't.

Crocks!? There have been many questions and nasty comments about my crocks.

Bottom line is Yeap - that's what I've been wearing since my arrival in Indochina - and will probably be wearing whenever I'm in the tropics. The are more protective than most sandles and much easier to keep clean/dry than tennis shoes. And yes, they do sell them here - but I've only seen them for sale in HCMC. And yes I have seen others wearing them - mostly Eastern Europeans - I've seen no Vietnamese wearing them.

How are/can/do you cope with temperature/humidity!?

Pretty hot and high humidity daily. So far, HCMC worse. Everywhere I've been both temps and humidity have been well into 90's daily. Yes - I sweat profusely - but when there is a slight breeze and I'm chilling somewhere like a cafe or beach - I now cool down quickly.. So I guess I'm getting used to it.

Any health problems?

Uncle Ho's Revenge caught up to me a few days ago - throughout a night! Although I was a bit nausious the next day - all appears ok now. And I haven't changed my easting/drinking habits - still eating street food and using a lot of ice <- hydration is important so I am constantly drinking something, consuming massive amounts of watermellon (thankfully sold on streets all over for about 10 cents), and ice cream, and fresh coconuts' milk "in shell"! Still able to keep my insulin cold - but can be a major problem doing so. No diabetic-related probs. Finally, yes I believe am loosing weight - no scales but shorts' waste seem much "roomer"!

What do you do about laundry?

I have been living with 3 t-shirts, 2 pairs of shorts, and swim trunks since I hit the country. I do laundry nightly when I take a shower, hang it in AC, and it's dry by the time I get up. Laundry is really cheap though - a little more than $1 per kilo - washed, dried, folded and packaged!

What about bugs - mosquitos!?

Surprisingly I haven't had a prob anyplace I've been so far. I haven't used any form of deet since I've been here and think I've only been bitten a couple of times.

Massages?

Let me just say that they are everything you ever heard or read about - hours long, beautiful ladies, and inexpensive.. I am addicted.

By the way, I went to the top of the mountain along beach today to get pagoda and beach pics - but it rained all AM so the Blackberry stayed in a ziplock bag! Really miserable - but the sun came out just as I gotten back to the hotel - which is where and when I got the best photo of the Louisiane Brewhouse Beach Club - see photo on left! Note that it and beach are still pretty much empty - but I spent an enjoyable day there chatting with 3, 20-something Aussie girls <- sorry left the BB charging in room! Nice day though and yes another lobster consumed on the beach!