I'm full to the brim with rice and noodles....

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For most of the last 3 weeks, I've had rice or noodles in some form nearly every lunch and dinner.

So this week in the touristy town of Sapa in the far north west of Vietnam, I admit I have 'weakened' and had a burger and chips, plus fresh apple pie!!! Most of the restaurants here offer western food as well as local Vietnamese dishes and they do it pretty well.

However, I thought I'd write a little blog and include some photos of my food experiences in Vietnam, as they have been quite amazingly diverse.

My favourite spot for food so far is definitely Hoi An in central Vietnam... the food there was an amazing mix of flavours (herbs, chilli, fish sauce, ginger etc) and all the ingredients were so fresh. Hoi An is where Kaylene and I did a one-day cooking class, so hopefully I can re-create some of the fantastic dishes when I get home.

In the north, the taste of the food has been more bland and salty, and in some cases quite similar to Chinese food. However, up here I've ventured into more local eating places not 'tourist' type restaurants.

As an introduction, Kaylene and I did a 'street food' tour on foot in Hanoi ... it was a fantastic way to have dinner, as our guide took us to places we wouldn't have been game to go into on our own, and we got to taste lots of local specialities.

The most interesting thing we learnt is that many of the local food places in the Hanoi old quarter only serve one dish ... they become known for it, and in some cases have been making the same food at the same location for several generations.

It was great to have the guide explain the dishes to us, and translate the menus ... however there are also times when I think it's better not to know.

For example, I met up with a Kiwi girl here in Sapa a few days ago and we decided to have lunch in the local market.

I pointed to what a local was eating ... it looked great ... a big steaming bowl of noodles with vegetables and what looked like pieces of mushroom. And for a very cheap price of $1.25.

However, as I ate, I became more convinced that it wasn't mushroom pieces as I'd initially thought ... but exactly what it was I couldn't quite figure out. My best guess was little tiny snails!!!

But as it all seemed freshly made and it was a popular eating place with the locals ....I figured I'd not think about the ingredients, and just keep eating!

Thankfully there were no nasty after-effects 😊

enjoy the photos... until next blog, love Alison.

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Photos

My Snail (?) Eating Experience
Eating a bowl of noodles and who knows what else at the markets in Sapa.

Green Papaya Salad with Shrimp
This dish tasted as delicious as it looked. It was one of the things on the menu at our cooking class.

Seafood Lunch in the Mekong Delta
On our two day tour in the Mekong Delta, our guide bought fresh fruit at the market. And then we stopped at a streetside vendor and bought some huge live prawns and other seafood and took them with us to this restaurant where they were prepared for our lunch. I guess it's one way the tour company can be certain their clients get served (very) fresh seafood!

Snack before Breakfast
On this day we were up at dawn to visit the floating markets in a Mekong area town. Our guide had us climb onto the roof of this boat where we had a great view ... plus half a fresh pineapple each as a snack. So sweet!

Fun Friday Night Out!
This local restaurant was recommended by our hotel in Hue as a place we could try the local specialty - rice 'cakes' wrapped in bamboo leaves. The restaurant was fun ... we enjoyed the atmosphere with all the locals dressed up for what was probably quite an expensive night out for them.

But the Food Didn't Appeal
However, we were less impressed with the food itself. The rice cakes were a gooey mixture in the banana leaves ... the texture was rather offputting!?

Stuffed Squid
By contrast, my meal of stuffed squid one night in Hoi An was divine.

Cooking Class
Budding chefs in action. There were 12 in the class, and we each got to choose a dish to prepare and cook ourselves. Then we got to eat a bit of everyones! By the end of the day, we were completely overloaded with delicious food.

My creation...
The dish I made was barbecued pork on lemongrass sticks ... which you ate by wrapping in rice paper with the herbs and thin noodles. Mmmm...

So tasty...
I've eaten lots of spring rolls since coming to Vietnam, but the ones created at the cooking class were the best!

Street Food Tour
Our fun guide for the street food tour. She had us tasting everything from fresh home brewed beer to local iceblocks from the convenience store to plenty of different noodle and rice dishes.

One local 'hole in the wall' restaurant...
Many of the street food places have a little room off the street with these tiny little chairs ... not so comfortable for our long western legs!

Rice Pancakes...
The food itself is usually prepared on the footpath ... here this lady is rolling out and cooking rice pancakes which you then eat with various fillings.