Foodie tales from Saigon

Working with food has brought me to bustling, progressive Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, but my adoration, fascination and love for gustatory treasures has made me want to stay a little longer than my three-day contract.

I have worked as a food stylist for TV commercial director Mandy Reyes for several projects and we creative partners hit if off really well, just like jam to toast. So when his team was commissioned by a Vietnamese company to produce a TV ad for a new brand of packed noodles, he got me once more onboard to pitch in. This time, however, my normal food-styling team of four people — including me — would be cut to just two, since it was to be shot in Vietnam. So the workload, from marketing to execution to cleanup, would be shared between Kathy Sion and I. 

Our hosts, the Omachi Group, were very warm and accommodating and during the shoot, they were nothing but short of amazed at almost everything we did! They were easy to please and were very happy with our work. For me, the tasks we performed were already routine, but nonetheless in their point of view, it was like we were weaving magic before their eyes. We could so easily get spoiled by all the attention and adulation we’ve received that it seems tempting to just move and shift our careers here, I thought.

It’s funny but just the day before the shoot, the treatment we got during our trip to the market was the total opposite. The requirements needed for the shoot were fresh, colorful vegetables, among others, and as I browsed for the items needed, I was scolded by the vendor to the point of being shooed out of her stall. She rudely slapped my hand as I examined her wares. With the help of our interpreter I explained that I would buy whatever item I touched. When she understood, her mood changed and she actually treated me like I was her number-one customer! That was a strange and amusing bit of cultural exchange there!

On one of our breaks during the production shoot, I asked Lieu, the local food stylist assigned to help us, if she could show me how to make

Lieu showing the paraphernalia needed to make Vietnamese Coffee

Vietnam’s signature coffee, because I bought a coffee press and Vietnamese coffee beans. Right there and then, she took all the paraphernalia needed to create this caffeine-induced treat. I was rapt as I watched her go through the traditional ritual of preparing the blissful concoction. It was just the delightful kick I needed to ease the heavy workload of the day.

At the end of the shoot, Kathy had to have a bite of Saigon’s signature super sandwich, the banh mi thit, a warmed baguette spread with mayonnaise and pate, and usually filled with ham, cucumber, tomato, cilantro, and chilies. Touted as “the ultimate on-the-go street fare,” this monster of a baguette sandwich is sold on just about every corner of Saigon, from shop fronts and push carts to motorbikes and hawkers selling it from shoulder poles.

I learned that the French introduced baguettes to Vietnam. The locals call the loaves banh tay (literally, “foreign cake”), which during olden days were reserved only for the rich Vietnamese who normally dipped it in condensed milk.

Today it is hailed as Vietnam’s national sandwich. These days vendors stuff these continually evolving, versatile baguettes with just about anything deliciously imaginable: cheese, tinned sardines in tomato sauce, shredded chicken, grilled pork patties, meatballs in sweet barbecue sauce, and fried eggs cooked to order.

A popular street food for locals and tourists alike, banh mi can be a snack or a meal. Some swear it tastes like a dream when it is eaten within five minutes of it being made — when the baguette is still warm and has lent its warmth to the paté and deli stuffing while not wilting the veggies. 

Kathy got her banh mi fix from a hawker stall near our hotel.

The adventurous foodie that she is, she didn’t mind that the vendor used her hands, without wearing gloves and holding money at the same time. I passed on the opportunity. Haha, I guess I am not that adventurous when hygiene issues are concerned. But I am eager about finding out how the Vietnamese baguette is made. According to Kathy, the baguette’s texture is crispy and thin outside while light, fluffy and airy inside.

There’s more to Saigon than meets the belly! It is indeed a haven for chowhounds, from the deli-stuffed banh mi thit baguettes to the blissfully cool ca phe sua da.Hopefully on my next visit I will make time to ingest, digest and devour more of its gustatory wonders.

Here Is How To Make Vietnamese Coffee

You will need a Vietnamese coffee filter and condensed milk.

Put about 1/3 of an inch of condensed milk at the bottom of a coffee cup.

Remove the lid of the coffee device.

Lift the coffee filter.

The art of making Vietnamese coffee

Place 1 1/2 tablespoons of coffee into the device. 

Put the filter back, pressing only lightly on top of the coffee to get it snug.

Put the device on top of the coffee cup. Pour hot water into the device until it is 1/4 full. Place the cover. Let the coffee drip. If water flows then you have to tighten the filter. It will take five minutes.

When the dripping stops, remove the device. Stir the condensed milk. If you want to drink it cold, just add ice.

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