What better way to start our foodie holiday in Vietnam than with a street food tour of Hanoi! We met our guide Tu at our hotel and set off on a three hour culinary adventure. Our first stop was a tiny family run restaurant down a dark alley where we sampled delicious spicy beef noodles, crabcakes and fishcakes and eel noodles, all washed down with a cold Hanoi beer. It was really nice to sit down with Tu and to ask him our many questions about Vietnamese food, culture and traditions.
The beef noodles were particularly delicious: warm soft noodles,crunchy vegetables and marinated beef strips, which left me with a warm tingling sensation on my lips and a real sense of excitement about the food that was to follow.
Next stop was an extraordinary dessert. A glass mug full of coconut milk, tapioca pearls, mung beans, fresh fruit topped up with ice and mixed together. Each mouthful was a surprise with different textures and flavours working together to create something completely different to anything I had tasted before.
A short taxi ride later we arrived at the west lake and had our first taste of Vietnamese coffee. I went for a black coffee served in a tiny cup in a dish of hot water to keep it warm while Anthony went for an iced coffee with condensed milk. We also had the most delicious dozen yogurt coffee flavour for Anthony and passion fruit for me.
Rather more awake after our jolt of caffeine, we headed back towards the old city and had another fantastic dish. Rice pancakes stuffed with wood ear mushrooms covered in fresh coriander and deep fried shallots served with a rich sweet meaty broth. I was amazing how the broth brought out the flavour of the pancakes. Without it, the pancakes were almost a little bland but as soon as they touched the broth, magic seemed to happen and there was an instant explosion of flavour.
Our next dish was a traditional pho and although this was a dish we had eaten before, it was like none we had ever tasted. The flavours were very clean and we felt as though we were eating the most healthy dish ever with poached chicken, an amazing clear chicken broth and crunchy spring onions.
Our final dish was an amazing dessert of fermented wild rice and yogurt, which was like nothing I had tasted before and I loved it! The slightly sweet and tangy yoghurt was a perfect accompaniment to the fermented black rice.
All too soon we were back at our hotel and our tour was ending. Tu gave us so many excellent recommendations and I can't wait to get out and find more new and exciting street food. This was a fantastic start to our holiday. Thank you so much Tu for a wonderful evening!
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