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| "Back of the Bike" Chef's Tour |
Chef Dan and Foodie Elisse that we are, and Saigon being world-famous for its food, I booked us two food excursions during our three days: an
amazing private, evening, 5-hour "Chef's Tour" with Fred, the Director of "Back of the Bike" Tours, and the delicious morning
"Pho Trail" tour, with Barbara of the Barbara-and-Vu team who run
"Saigon Street Eats". We took a great cooking class at the
Vietnam Cookery Center
in 2008, with a shopping trip to the market, so this time we wanted to do something different. And now there are Lots of
"foodie" tours in Saigon with 5-star reviews- so I was truly spoiled for
choice- but BOY, did I pick good!!
We met Fred and his
"Back of the Bike" team- our two motorbike guides and their photographer- at the Saigon Opera House at 5pm, and took off through the city for what was truly THE Foodie Tour to beat all! I believe we visited every single one of Saigon's districts, and we ate truly amazing food
(see the menu below), laughed a lot, drank tasty things and toasted each other a lot ("Mo, Hai, Ba- YO!"), got back to our hotel so stuffed we were literally waddling, and learned So much about Saigon and its social and culinary scene that I had to ask Fred to send me an email with everything he told us, as I couldn't take notes!
I have included all of what he sent me below as it's truly fascinating! Our motorbike guides were incredible and fabulous- I called my driver "Penelope Pitstop", because her ability as both a driver and a guide simply blew me away!
We literally motorbiked through totally hidden neighborhoods in Saigon that you'd never even know existed, unless a local knew to take you there, and saw a nighttime city that is seriously Times Square x1000! This was THE BEST NIGHT IN SAIGON EVER, and truly THE tour for a chef, or an adventurous foodie!
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| Off we go! |
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| Our first stop: a street stall that's Saigon-famous for Papaya Salad (see below) |
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| Jullienned Green Papaya Salad, topped with Thai Basil, Dried Beef Liver,
Toasted Peanuts, and Prawn Crackers. Sauced with Chili Sauce and Light
Fish Sauce |
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| Banh Beo: Tender Rice Dumplings Topped with Dried Shrimp, and Crispy Pork Skin: YUM! |
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| More YUM! |
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| Me and Penelope Pitstop- driving AND showing me the sights of Saigon! |
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| Bo La Lot: Minced Beef Grilled in Aromatic Leaves, with Green Banana, Star Fruit and lettuce for wrapping. Served with Anchovy and Pineapple Sauce. |
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| Mo, Hai, Ba- YO! |
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| How it's done... |
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| Voilla! |
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| SERIOUS eating! |
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| Banh Xeo: Crispy Rice Flour ”Crepe,” Stuffed with Shrimp, Pork and Bean sprouts. Served with Fresh Lettuce and Sweet Fish Sauce. |
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| Me & Penelope Pitstop! |
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| Mi Vit Tiem: A Whole Duck Leg Braised until Tender, in a Chinese Inspired Dark Rich Broth; served with Egg Noodles and Green Cabbage |
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| The AMAZING places you'll go... |
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| Grilled Octopus! YUM!!! |
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| Okra! |
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| More, more, more! |
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| Grilled prawns! More YUM! |
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| A last drink stop! |
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| Highlands Sim Wine- for THE best Foodie Tour Guides, EVER! |
What we ate, and where:
Goi Du Du Bo, District 1, Le Van Tam Park
Jullienned Green Papaya Salad, topped with Thai Basil, Dried Beef Liver, Toasted Peanuts and Prawn Crackers. Sauced with Chili Sauce and Light Fish Sauce.
Banh Beo: Tender Rice Dumplings, topped with Dried Shrimp, and Crispy Pork Skin.
Banh Bot Loc: Hue Style Tapioca Dumpling, Stuffed with Dried Shrimp, topped with Green Onion and Sweet Fish Sauce.
Goi Vit, District 3
Duck Salad with Banana Flower, Shaved Cabbage, Water Spinach, Fresh Herbs, and Ginger Fish Sauce.
Banh Xeo: Crispy Rice Flour "Crepe", Stuffed with Shrimp, Pork, and Bean Sprouts. Served with Fresh Lettuce and Sweet Fish Sauce.
Bo La Lot: Minced Beef Grilled in Aromatic Leaves, with Green Banana, Star Fruit, and lettuce for wrapping. Served with Anchovy and Pineapple Sauce.
Mi Vit Tiem: A Whole Duck Leg Braised until tender in a Chinese-Inspired Dark Rich Broth, served with Egg Noodles and Green Cabbage.
Bach Tuoc Nuong, Ech Nuong, Suon Heo Nuong, Chan Ga Nuong, Tom Nuong, District 4
Grilled Octopus, Frog, Pork Ribs, Chicken Feet, Shrimp, with Sate, and Okra
The expression is:
"Sleep in District 3" (old and
beautiful villas, quiet neighborhood)
"Eat in District 5" (Known for good Chinese
food, as this is Cho Lon "Big Market" named after the multiple, large
Chinese markets that have been here since the 1700's)
"Dance in District 1" (Known for night
clubs and night life, still to this day)
"Get Robbed in District 4" (This is
due to being notorious for petty theft and being the home of gangsters during
the 1970's)
District 1 is known for having the
old French monuments in place such as the Notre Dame Cathedral, Central Post
Office, Rainbow Bridge, Opera House, and the list can go on for a while. Today
District 1 has lot of high-end shopping, along with the sightseeing. The plan
for the future is to have most of District 1 as a walking area, with no
motorbikes, cars, etc., much like the city of Hoi An does for its old
town. This could really create an improvement in the tourist sector of
Vietnam, as many people don't feel that Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) is a walking city with all of our
restaurants, shops, and motorbike parking consuming many of our
sidewalks.
District 4, being on the of mostly
populated areas of HCMC, was also known for being the poorest area, giving way
to its reputation for petty theft and gangsters taking advantage of the poor to
join their gangs for the hope of an easier and better life. Today, District 4
is going through a bit of a "gentrification" process, with younger
people moving to the area for its location and price. The food scene in District
4 is also one of the best in HCMC, since it’s one of the most populated areas.
There are many streets in District 4 that are known for serving snails and
seafood, along with BBQ places popping up in between these restaurants.
District 10 is one of the largest
districts in HCMC. This area is extremely local and has almost
everything that you would want without the expensive prices of District 1 or
3. This area of the city is scattered
with street food, restaurants, malls, coffee shops, and Karaoke. You can find
many young students hanging out in District 10 as it is affordable, but still
close enough to District 1 to feel like you are going out.
District 3 is a bit expensive like District
1, but not “foreigner expensive”, meaning that the price points for the small
boutique shops and restaurants are aimed at Vietnamese clientele and not at
foreigners. The rent in this area can also be quiet high because of its
location proximity to District 1, but it is also valued as a great place to
have children, since a lot of the back streets and alleys are clean, quiet, and
safe. If you dig around in District 3, you can really find some gems of
street food.
District 5, has one of the most
interesting histories of the districts, as this, at one point in time, was a
completely separate city from "Saigon"; in the 1950s it was joined
together with Saigon. The name for the whole city then was "Saigon-Cho
Lon"; the last part was later dropped. The name Saigon can actually be
dated back to the name of the first market in District 5, which was called Cho
Saigon, while the part we know as District 1 was called "Ben Nghe".
It appears that the French enjoyed the name of that market so much they decided
to name the center of the city after it.
To dive into the history of the
immigrating Chinese into Vietnam is long and deep. You can still see old
communal temples that were built for various Chinese sects coming from different
provinces of China. There were 7 of these temples; today only 6 remain,
but they are in excellent condition. In regards to food in Chinatown, you can
still find many great restaurants serving up a Vietnamese/Chinese approach to
traditional Chinese dishes. Locals are notorious for saying that the food in
District 5 is quite expensive, though.
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The next morning (yes, really!), we did the breakfast-lunch
Saigon Street Eats "Pho Trail" Tour, and we started the morning with Barbara at
Pho Phu Huong, an "off the beaten path" pho
restaurant that's been serving this classic Vietnamese noodle soup for more than 30 years, and is famous for it- and had great Vietnamese coffee, too! Then we meandered though the neighborhood, past bakeries,
com tam
(broken rice) restaurants, and other intriguing local shops, as well as the wet market- and as we walked, we tasted, learned about, bought, and gathered various delicious foods from local stalls and vendors, all carried for us by Barbara's diligent assistant!
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| Barbara explains pho & the herbs... |
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| Pho Phu Huong |
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| Vietnamese herbs for Pho |
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| More Pho Herbs... |
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| Cutest cakes in the world! |
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| Bahn Mi (Vietnamese Sandwich) food cart |
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| Gathering yummy things for lunch! |
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| Lotto ticket for luck! |
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| Betel Nut "flowers" |
My only real disappointment was that I didn't get to the chew
betel nut that
we saw in the market! I have been wanting to chew betel nut since
hearing my mom's stories about it from her year in India during WWII,
when she was a US Army WAC soldier stationed there! Next time!
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| Shrimp... |
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| Enough shrimp for ya? |
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| Pickles... |
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| The women meat-cutters in the market |
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| Eggs- ALL different Kinds of eggs! |
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| Candling eggs... |
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| Coconut milk desert |
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| THE most delicious Tamarind candy!!! |
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| Tamarind Candy! |
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| Chili-Salt and Lemongrass-Salt... |
Dan and I bought chili and lemongrass salt in the market, as well as
Amazing-Delicious sour-salty-sweet Tamarind Candy- which I actually found the recipe for online, thanks to BFF Cindy:
see my previous blog post "Vietnamese Herbs & Tamarind Candy"
I planted the seeds- and they sprouted!- in the hope of one day having a little tamarind tree here in West Virginia!
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| Noodles! |
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| More noodles! |
Then we went to a nearby temple, where we sat in their garden and had a
picnic of all the yummy foods we'd gathered! After eating, we then
explored the temple, dedicated to an Imperial
military leader, and had our fortunes told by kneeling in front of the alter, concentrating, and repeatedly tossing a
jar of numbered sticks- and Barbara emailed us the results!
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| Where we cast the sticks and had our fortunes told... |
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| A beautiful 3D mosaic... |
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