Street Food of Hanoi
Apart from its strategic position as a jumping off point for both Sapa and Halong Bay, Hanoi drew my attention for being one of the best places in the world for street food. Erin and I have long bonded over our mutual passion for cheap eats and she was the perfect friend to join my gastronomic exploration of the Vietnamese capital. Since we are both urban dwellers and pretty intrepid eaters, we figured we could crack the street food code on our own. And we did ok at first. Vietnamese egg coffee, aka one of the most delicious things to ever hit my lips, was a winner.
And we successfully found and ate other Hanoi classics, like bun rieu, or crab noodle soup, banh cuon (steamed rice rolls), pho (the famous Vietnamese soup), and bun cha (grilled pork and noodles). But we ate many of these in restaurants. The street food scene of crouching down on blue plastic stools while a surly Vietnamese grandma serves you sustenance was intimidating. There are stalls on every block, but hardly any English is spoken, and it is tough to know how to order and what is good. So we decided to take a street food tour to ensure we weren’t leaving Hanoi without getting the full experience.
Our tour guide, Thanh, was a sweet and sassy 20something who listened to my dietary restrictions carefully and looked thoughtful as she heard what we had already eaten. ”You’ve already tried a lot,” she said, impressed. ”You eat egg, right?”
I sure do.
”How about duck embryo?”
And we were off!
Thanh flagged down a woman carrying two baskets over her shoulder, someone I would have never expected would be selling food. She just looked like she was on her way home with groceries. But she opened a basket, took out an egg, and cracked it open. Only Erin was brave enough to try the embryo.
I happily dug into an omelette fried with mugwort and tucked into a baguette, which Thanh informed me would help with menstrual pain.
From there we followed Thanh like hungry puppies through the back streets of Hanoi. Beers and dried squid and porridge with river clams were followed by a not too sweet dessert of grass jelly in jasmine scented water.
Everything was absolutely delicious (well, not the duck embryo) and half the time we were eating at stalls that seemed to be in a random person’s home. On the tour, we talked about parental expectations, the status of women in our respective countries, and most importantly, we learned the proper way to eat everything! I’ve found that in Vietnam you are often served about seven bowls of various herbs, noodles, and condiments, and it’s hard to tell what to mix together and how. Thanh was an incredible guide and I don’t think we could have had the full Hanoi experience without her. She ended the night by telling Erin to take care of me because I was too skinny. Considering the way I have been inhaling food in Asia, I don’t think that will be a problem for long!
