The second stop on our Hanoi Food Tour was confusing at first. This cement-garage-type dwelling didn’t seem like a place we’d go to eat. Even as we stepped inside, past the motorcycle and piles of leaves, I wondered what we were doing there.
Lee gestured for us to sit on the sofa. Our hostess brought out a teapot and little thimble-sized glasses which she filled with tepid tea. One quick swig emptied our glasses. Our hostess poured us another few drops and we drank those, too. Then her husband pulled out a bottle of rice wine he’d made and filled our “glasses” back up. We happily slurped that back, so he filled our glasses again and again.
While we enjoyed his homemade libations, Lee explained that they had just catered a wedding the day before; 200 banana leaves filled with pork. So they didn’t have as much to show us, but they did have pork for us to try. The pork had been cooked inside the banana leaves and we eagerly unwrapped them to taste this new dish.
But we needed some instruction.
Our hostess came out with baskets full of leaves and Lee helped her make piles of different leaves on the mat in front of us. He explained that we’d take a fig leaf, then add pork, and mint, and basil, and any other herbs we wanted to use to flavor it. Then we’d fold our leaves up like a spring roll and dip them into the rice wine/vinegar sauce they’d prepared.
It. was. DELICIOUS!
We packed one fig leaf after another with all these flavorful, fresh offerings until I was so full of leaves that I couldn’t eat any more. I would have. I would have stuffed myself until I needed to be rolled out of there like the lumpy spring rolls I made, but after we demolished two packets of fermented pork, I remembered that we had other stops, too, so I tried to pace myself.
It didn’t work.Even when I heard that our next stop was to eat eels.
I really didn’t want to, but I was game. The women in the kitchen looked like they knew what they were doing.
And the coconut wine helped.
I loved the coconut wine. I only wish they’d use bigger glasses!
Once again, Lee explained how to assemble our eel pockets. They were wrapped exactly like the fermented pork spring rolls were. Partly because they used smaller leaves to begin with. But I will say, the crispy eel was quite tasty. If I didn’t know I was eating eel, I would have never guessed.
By the time we stopped for Ban Hoc (fresh rice noodles), I was so full that it didn’t seem like I could possibly eat another bite. But I did — for you, dear readers. I made that sacrifice for you so that I could honestly say that they were delicious.
What I enjoyed as much as the noodles was sitting in this local noodle shop watching the other patrons gather around a television set with their bowls to watch their version of Court TV. It seemed like a regular afternoon event there, and I was pleased to get this glimpse into their daily lives while I shared in the flavors of the Vietnamese countryside.
Have you seen places like the nondescript pork-fermenting place? Have you ever ventured inside to find out what mystery business transpired there?
I have a great weakness for pork, Juliann, not so sure about eels but I would be willing to give them a try. 🙂 Sounds like a fun, stuffing adventure. Pass the wine, please. –Curt
I know! I wanted to buy some coconut wine to take home, but couldn’t. It has to stay in the coconut to maintain its flavor. I loved it!
And I suspect that buying a coconut and pouring wine in it just isn’t the same thing. Laughing.
Juliann, travels in the Far East always generate interesting food stories, and your eel-meal proves the point. When we visited Cambodia, Vietnam was on our list but we couldn’t work it out. It’s still on my list, but eels …. not so much. ~James
Funny, James, I was deciding between Vietnam and Cambodia. Next time I’ll venture into Cambodia, too, and wouldn’t pass up eels if I found them on my plate again. 😊
Not sure I could stomach the eels either, but the ‘parcels’ of pork look enticing. Thank you for sticking it out 🙂
Haha. My pleasure (as it turns out). 🙂
I would definitely need the coconut wine to get me through, but hey when in Hanoi why not? It looks delicious, and so authentic! What a great food tour!
What I’ve learned is that coconut wine enhances everything! 😉 But seriously you’re right — it was a great food tour.
When we were bike touring Thailand, our guide took us to a restaurant on the beach that looked deserted. Once inside, the food was amazing. We would have never been able to find it without our guide, let alone dared to venture inside. What’s more, there was a Thai celebrity and his entourage eating there and we all got publicity shots. I can’t remember the name right now but he was described as the Thai Johnny Carson.
How fun! Tours really can be lots of fun. They know the off-the-beaten path spots, for sure.
Loved this post — what a wonderful food tour! This is the kind of tour that’s priceless because it gets you into experiences you’d never have otherwise. I’ve eaten eel in several countries and got over my squeamishness long ago — I’m sure it was wonderful. Everything you ate sounds amazing.
I never would have wandered into these places on my own. That is exactly why I book food tours when I can.
Eels! Eating eels! I count you among the bravest women I know! But I did love this glimpse into Vietnamese cooking.
Thanks. It would have been even easier to eat if I hadn’t known they were eels before I tried it. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss, but it all worked out this time.
Wow this food tour looks amazing! I love how authentic it is and that bowl of ban hoc looks LEGIT. What was coconut wine like?
The coconut was like heaven in a coconut shell. 🙂
Local food tour does take you to some interesting places. Probably it’s the best time to try some food that we don’t eat normally.
Very true. That’s how I feel about buffets, too: a great place to try new foods.
That’s such an interesting experience. I remember eating some sort of banana leaf wrapped sweet dish once with my Vietnamese friend. I didn’t know they use the leaves in so many different ways!
Me, neither. I guess it makes sense; we do it with herbs here, finely chopped, usually, but eating them this way was new to me.
Oh this makes me so hungry! Anything wrapped in banana leaves is okay by me – this is something I’ve seen in almost every tropical country I’ve visited. It seems to just elevate the flavors and juiciness! I would have stuffed myself too. 🙂
It was VERY flavorful. When I looked at the mat covered with leaves, it didn’t seem like it would be that filling. For the first time ever, I looked at greens and thought “rabbit food,” but it was fantastic and I felt full, but healthy. And definitely satisfying.
I would definitely try this place out. I haven’t been to SEA so my experience with these types of spots has been limited, but I have explored food markets in Japan, Seoul and Shanghai, it is fun to peek behind the curtain.