Today, we met in the evening instead of the usual Saturday morning. We decided to go on a night out to the different night time hang out of them. We met at Bach Khoa, the area where many schools and universities are concentrated. Most of the students have fond memories of the area here as they studied in this area in secondary or pre-university level.
They told us the history of this area, and we learnt that the name of the street which Daniel and I are staying in is actually name after the first principal of Bach Khoa University. : ) Actually, Bach Khoa area is where most of the technical Universities are located, eg Back Khoa Technological University, Open University, University of Architecture, University of Dentistry, University of Education blab la to named a few..
After walking around looking at the different road side vendors, we finally found one that we would like to try. Manh kept joking about bringing us to eat the half formed eggs or the pig blood soup and even dog meat. But I told him that I wouldn’t dare to try and declined politely. The shop that we ended up in sells snacks and finger food. And we found something familiar: you tiao!! And this is the point when Daniel makes everyone laugh.
Daniel tried to tell the story of the origins of you tiao. But I think his version is the modern version: a man scored 10 Olympics medal but was betrayed by someone… I had to tell him that the man was Yue Fei, the famous Song dynasty general. And, no he didn’t get 10 Olympics medal. He got 10 summons from the emperor to retreat back to court when he was winning the war with the Mongols. He was betrayed by a court official and his wife who were jealous of his achievements. Chinese fried you tiao to symbolize the frying of the couple in hot oil for betraying Yue Fei and causing his death.
But now, we only remembered the taste of the you tiao. Not a lot of people remembered the story behind it and the loyal general who sacrificed himself. Surprisingly, our Vietnamese friends told us they knew the story too, and that is the story of their you tiao too! Even though our you tiao tasted different from Vietnamese you tiao, ours being more floury and much bigger, it is the symbol of Chinese influence on Vietnam.
shi lei
A taste of street Vietnamese food!
My and Thuy, students of our English club, took us to the roadside to eat Vietnamese snacks. An interesting eye opener was that Vietnamese people like to sit on really low chairs and really low tables and just soak in the atmosphere , while enjoying the food being served.
Another thing I learnt about Vietnamese culture is the way they call the eating house servers, usually shouting "em oi!" or if the waiter is older "anh oi(males) or chi oi(females). In Singapore we would just raise our hands and wait to be served. I would conclude that Vietnamese people have a more family orientated culture, and these terms would usually refer to references for family members. Also, that Vietnamese people are quite outspoken and familiar with each other in the calling of these terms, like as if they have a bond between each Vietnamese person, regardless of whether they knew the person or not, a kind of similarity shared through the language and culture.
Well, the food was local snacks in Vietnam, such as fried dumplings , spring rolls , french fries, something like the "Old Chang Kee" in Singapore, but Vietnamese style. It was interesting to see a wide variety of these dishes that they have, and they were rather cheap and delicious as well!. A diversification of something similar to Chinese snacks, but done in a Vietnamese way. Such an example would be "Banh Bao" or Bread Bun, this is similar to what the Chinese have in "Bao Zi" or buns, just that in Vietnam, its specialty is having mushrooms and an quill egg inside, the most common Bao in Vietnam and something unique to them. Another instance is the "quey" in Vietnam, which is a miniature version of the "You Tiao" in Chinese food!
Chinese "You Tiao"
Vietnamese "quay" , which is much smaller in size than its Chinese counterpart
The low chairs and tables.
photos courtesy of oishiieats.blogspot.com
Banh Bao , with mushrooms and a quill egg inside
Overall, it was an enjoyable night of food and drinks! As well as a good experience of Vietnamese roadside food culture!
Cheers,
Daniel Foo
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