Food in Place

I wake up every morning craving Pho Ga, or Vietnamese chicken noodle soup.  Something about the steamy deliciousness of it; fresh ingredients; two of my favorite condiments too--cilantro and lime.  Accompany with Nau Da (Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk), and I would be content.  The Special K cereal I have in the morning now just doesn't cut it.  I think I could be happy in any culture that eats Xoi Ga (chicken & sticky rice), Pho, or some other hearty, but healthy, food for breakfast. 


Xoi Ga, with Sausage & Fried Egg, in Ha Noi

I didn't get to taste all of the wonderful foods that Ha Noi has to offer, and this makes me sad.  But in Da Nang (or "Halong Bay on Land") we had our fill of goat, prepared many ways, which, I wasn't crazy about, but tried.  Goat is chewy.  I am happy to be an adventurous eater, which I find is a quality absent in American culture.  I think I get it from my dad; growing up, he'd eat anything while my mother watched on in disgust.  She hadn't even had rice until she met him.  On the Asian side of my family we say a person is a "real HuYoung" by their adventuresome eating.  The "nasty bits" are, in fact, the tastiest, most valued parts of the animal in other cultures, but we are breed to think of them as "bad". 

I miss papaya salad too.  I want some "morning glory" and boc choy.  Some of those tiny fried spring rolls filled with crab.  Banh Bao, Bahn Mi...it's all coming back now.  I want those small bananas that taste more like sweet potatoes.  I want the accessibility and affordability of food--I do not like having to drive 10 minutes to pay $20 for a pizza.  I want to walk out my door and have it there, right in front of me.  I want to pay no more than $2 for Xoi Ga that will fill me up for the day.  I want to sit on small plastic stools with my soup, watching the world go by.


My First Ha Noi Street Food Experience

I want to taste the world's foods.  Yes, Vietnam, I want to try more of your cuisine, but want Chinese, Thai, Indian, Argentenian, Spanish, Brazilian...I want it all, in its place.  Food can be an experience of place, but eating food in its place is being there, in the moment.  I don't even care if I like it, I just want it.  Perhaps food is the real way to experience culture.