The variety of different street foods prepared in carts and little stoves on the streets is amazing. Down every small alley way there are people making a living specialising in preparing some type of food. Snack, sweet, bbq, noodles, pho to name a few. Just set up the cart, a few low tables and some plastic stools and you’re in business.
The back of my Saigon map is filled with addresses and food names, in both English and Vietnamese to help me search them out. One needs a little extra help initially to decipher the meaning of the foreign names on the carts.
For lunch at the Secret Garden on Pasteur near the Independence Palace we had Xoi chien (Deep-fried sticky rice) topped with pork, salad and pork floss. Also we had Heo kho dau hu (braised pork tofu). Both were delicious.
For a early tea I hunted for Bo La Lot. I new roughly were this cart was located on Va Van Tan and with a little help from another food cart lady collected a take away and headed back to the House to eat it with a beer. Bo La Lot is spiced beef wrapped in Betel (La Lot) leaf then grilled over hot coals. To eat it you take a triangle of rice paper, place on some lettuce, noodles, chilli, pickled vegetables, mint and Vietnamese mint. Wrap it up and then dip into the delicously pungent sauce.
Several hours later we headed out onto the streets again on a mission to locate Cam Tam or Bbq pork with rice. A guest from France was telling us about it as we were sitting chatting in the lounge of the homestay. This was pork grilled again over hot coals and served with various condiments on a bed of rice and some vegetables. Delicious. Served as usual with the obligatory glass of iced tea.
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