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| Cao lau (Hoi An noodles) street vendor is now open for business! Of course, red plastic stools are a must for good street food. Everything she needs (including the stools) are carried in two baskets. |
As far as we're concerned (and many will agree), Hoi An is the culinary capital of Vietnam. 4 centuries of trade with Japan, China, India, Netherlands, Portugal, etc. have resulted in taking the best culinary tips from these countries and incorporated into the best Vietnamese food we've had. Not to mention foods like Cao Lau that can only be made authentically in Hoi An using one of five well waters here. Not to mention the BEST banh mi sandwich exists in Hoi An. Never mind the other unique dishes specific to Hoi An and the greater Quang Nam Province, plus fresh seafood straight off the fishing boats in the South China Sea, that can keep us eating something different every day for the next year!
Here are lots of photos from the central market and a few of Hoi An's food specialties.
As part of the cooking class we attended, we first went to Hoi An's Central Market (Cho Hoi An) to procure some ingredients. Everyone at this busy market is a local, and they must think how crazy we tourists are for wanting to take pictures of them buying and selling foods at the market - something they do every day. Well, if we took them to a Super Walmart, they'd be taking pictures, too! We loved being part of the hustle and bustle, the vibrant colors, fresh ingredients, and still alive (but not for long!) animals and fish.
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| Live ducks and chicks for sale! |
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| Chickens headed to the market to be...you know... |
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| This guy got his ingredients and headed out of the market. |
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| Wow. Balloon and flower lady (swear she's in there somewhere) on a bicycle. |
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| The egg delivery guy. |
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| Bananas and okra. |
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| The tofu vendor. Looks like most of the tofu has already sold. |
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| Various sizes of rice noodles, quang nam noodles, and cao lau noodles for sale. |
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| Fresh made noodles drying. |
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| Cao lau noodles drying out. |
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| Inside the market building. |
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| Lots of unidentifiable condiments and dry goods. |
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| Various spices for sale: cinnamon, turmeric, white peppercorn, black peppercorn, cumin. |
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| Entering the meat market full of unidentifiable bits and pieces, but all fresh! No such thing as a freezer here except for ice and ice cream. |
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| "Squeal"! |
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| Entering the fish market. |
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| Fish market is right along the river where the boats pull up and drop off their catch. |
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| Our chef from Dao Tien cooking school and restaurant, talking about the crabs. |
HOI AN SPECIALTIES
Cao Lau (Hoi An noodles): They say, these toothsome noodles can only be made using the well water in Hoi An. Interestingly, only one family has the secret recipe that makes these noodles special, and others purchase the right to produce the noodles (think Coca Cola, KFC, etc.). Any others pretending to sell Hoi An noodles is a fake! Cao Lau is the dish using these noodles. It is served in a bowl with very little broth that is stronger than say, noodle soup. Herbs, sliced pork, bean sprouts, chilies, lime, are added. The thickness and chewiness of the noodles reminded us of Japanese udon noodles, but more of a fresh ramen noodle flavor.
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| This boat restaurant only served one kind of beer and Cao Lau. Perfect. That's all we need! |
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| Family of 3, preparing our noodle dish. |
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| Cao Lau noodles on a bed of greens and herbs, a savory salty broth, sliced pork, cracklings, and chilis and lime to taste. |
Quang Nam noodles: very similar to Cao Lau noodle dish in flavor and presentation. From the province in which Hoi An is part of, but others can't call the dish Cao Lau, so Quang Nam noodles is probably the next best thing.
Banh Xeo: Very thin egg omelette with pork, shrimp, and bean sprouts. This is wrapped into a spring roll wrapper with herbs and dipped into Vietnamese sweet and sour fish sauce.
Bia Hoi (fresh local beer): Fresh beer is brewed locally and must be consumed within 24 hours of bottling or from the keg because it is not preserved or sealed for shelf life like regular beers. It's super cheap at 20-25 cents per pint and very refreshing.
Fried wontons: This was not our favorite, but nevertheless, a Hoi An specialty. Fried wontons topped with a paste made of dried shrimp, tomatoes, chilies, and herbs.
Banh Mi at Phoung's: Refer to Tony Bourdain's episode of No Reservations about Vietnam. Enough said. Basically, our entire purpose of visiting Hoi An may have been to find this legendary banh mi stall on the east side of the central market.
Banh mi in Vietnam is probably like eating a hot dog in the States - there are regional differences to this national street food. Phoung's banh mi is probably more comparable to a Chicago dog (if we had to compare to a hot dog. It's really nothing like a hot dog...) in its multiple ingredients, textures and flavors.
She bakes the light and crunchy baguettes twice a day - morning and afternoon (our first attempt was when she ran out of bread) - and stuffs them with, in order of preparation: layer of liver pate, layer of mayonnaise, slices of BBQ pork, drizzle of fish sauce, fresh herbs, cucumber slices, drizzle of garlic dressing, tomato slices, pickled daikon radish and carrot slices, homemade chili paste, and a fried egg that is now scrambled (if you know to ask for it).
It was the BEST banh mi sandwich that we've had in Vietnam. It was a party in the mouth with all the different textures, freshness, and a PERFECT balance of salty, sweet, bitter, sour and plenty of umami. The egg was the icing on the cake.
It was raining and we had nowhere to go, so she gave us two red plastic stools to squat on in front of the store and we ate our sandwiches under the awning. There was a constant parade of locals on motorbikes dropping by to place their order and returning a few minutes later to pick up their to-go order. If we don't experience anything else in Vietnam, we're okay because we got to indulge in the cult following of Phoung's.
BBQ pork ribs at White Lotus: BBQ pork isn't a Hoi An specialty but we decided to mention it here because of the unusual pork rib presentation, but also because this restaurant, White Lotus, is run by an organization called Project Indochina - an NGO that supports poor rural communities in Cambodia and Vietnam through education including vocational opportunities, humanitarian aid such as water purification, and community support such as funding business startups, etc. The foundation also runs a hospitality training school, which culminates in the White Lotus restaurant in Hoi An. All the profit goes towards funding multiple, sustainable projects.
Grilled fish in banana leaf: Being right by the ocean, we must have some seafood but Akiko is allergic to most shellfish so our options are usually limited to, "Would you care for fish or squid?". There's nothing wrong with squid, but we prefer the fish. The fish was marinated in some kind of lemongrass, garlic, ginger, and turmeric marinade. Then wrapped in banana leaf and grilled over coals. It was very, very delicious.
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| The napkins arranged like a lotus flower. |
Well, that sums up our food highlights in Hoi An!
