Viet-YUM! A guide to authentic Vietnamese cuisine!
EPISODE 2: Street BBQ @ Sapa Nướng | 83 Nguyễn Thái Học, Hanoi
Welcome to the second installation of our Vietnamese cuisine blog. If you missed last week go check it out sometime!
EPISODE 1 - Bún chả | 34 Hàng Than, Hanoi
This week we got into some street BBQ. These popular street side spots are perfect to take your significant other, go with a few friends, or go after work with your colleagues. They are primarily only open for dinner time, most opening around 6 P.M. and closing around 10 or 11 P.M.
We decided to go to one of our favorite street BBQs:
Sapa Nướng | 83 Nguyễn Thái Học, Hanoi
After we sat down in a couple of flimsy, plastic chairs and matching blue table, one of the women who worked there came to bring us a menu. We already knew what we wanted. We selected the "2 Người" combo to share. If you haven't guessed it yet, that's for two people. We also ordered two Bia Saigon to sip on while we waited.
One disappointing thing that I found moving from the States to Vietnam, was the fact that nearly all Vietnamese restaurants that have beer, will give to you at room temperature and a glass of ice for you to pour your beer over. After awhile it's something you just get over and accept. This ice cold beverage definitely did the trick at keeping me cool on this very humid evening.
As we sipped our ice cold beer, one of the owners of the restaurant began to light charcoal for our grill.
After they are lit, he brings them in a bucket, and places it in the middle of our table.
Next, comes a couple of small green dishes containing fresh red chili, salt, and lime. The other half is filled with their homemade chili sauce. Diners usually squeeze the lime juice in the salt and mix to use as a dip.
This plate has pieces of bread with a honey butter spread on them. Best served lightly grilled, and golden brown.
We got our combo plate which had all of our grill-able items. It includes so many different things, so I'll just go over some of the main attractions.
Tôm/Tome/ - Shrimp, in this case two large river shrimp.
At the top of the grill are a few thick slices of Thịt Ba Chỉ/Teet Ba Chee/ - Pork belly. These ones take the longest to grill so it's good to get them started first. Here we have the shrimp cooking with the honey butter bread and a piece of corn on the cob.
This one is my girlfriend's favorite, Cá Trứng /Ka Choong/. It's a river fish with an abundance of eggs in it's body. The eggs make the fish soft and gives it a creamy taste.
My personal favorite at street BBQ are the Bò Cuốn Nấm /Baw Kuon Num/ - Beef wrapped mushrooms. I love biting into one of these. The savory tender beef gives way to a pleasant crunch from the mushrooms. Both complimented by the char grill taste. I absolutely recommend these to anyone.
For the last portion of the meal we grilled Sườn/Sue-Uhn/ - Short pork ribs, a little bit of Bạch Tuộc /Back (said quickly) Two-uck/ - Octopus, and another favorite of ours, Nầm /Num/. Nầm is difficult to describe. It's layers of fat from the chest of pigs or cows. This one is beef Nầm , or if you want to be childish like the two of us you can just call them "boobs". They are rich and taste buttery.
It's also great to grill up the Đậu Nhớt /Doh Nyuht/ - Okra, Cà Tím /Cah Teem/ - Eggplant, and Đậu Phụ /Doh Fu/ - Tofu. They are easy to cook on the outer edges to keep from burning them too bad.
Street BBQ is a great option if you want to eat a variety of meats and veggies, and it's also rather inexpensive. The whole meal with drinks cost us around 12 USD. I'd say the only small downside is having to grill everything yourself and eat as you go. It's a small chore however, for the amazing food that you'll get to eat.
We are going to continue these blogs, trying to make at least 1 per week. If you guys know of any Vietnamese food you want us to try and document for you, let us know!
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Kyle: @Secretplans
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Hẹn Gặp Lại / See you later STEEMIT