Besides my family and friends that I miss the most, I would say I really miss Vietnamese food. Talking about Vietnamese food, I bet most of you think about Pho (the Vietnamese traditional noodle soup). Pho is very common breakfast in Vietnam and one of my favorite dishes. If you stay at any location in Hanoi, you can find a Pho shop within 10 minutes on a motorbike. Other than Pho, I don’t think many people know about how the food is various in Vietnam. Vietnamese food is different from each part of the country. Northern food is a bit more like Chinese food (a lot of stir-fried and steamed) and going down to the Center and the South of Vietnam, the food getting spicier and sweeter. In Vietnam, since I am from the North, I am used to and prefer Northern style.
Before moving to the States, I did not worry at all about the food here because I have pretty strong stomach. Unfortunately, on the first two days being in America, my stomach bothered me a lot. Then Ben’s mom bought me a bag of rice. Again, I want to say I am very lucky to have such a great mother-in-law. It was definitely the BEST rice I have ever had. Then we tried to cook some other dishes of Vietnamese food at home.
When we were in California, our friend Mai from Vietnam asked us to go to one of her favorite Pho shop downtown LA. Ben and I were very excited to try the first Pho in the US, especially it is recommended by our friend who is from the North of Vietnam! So we went very early in the morning to the place where the Pho shop is. I was so happy to see the first restaurant with Vietnamese sign. I kept pointing at all other signs of restaurants nearby in Vietnamese. The Pho we had actually was just ok for me. It was pretty much the same as Pho style in Sai Gon (Southern style), except I don’t think they use the fresh noodle in California. So it was not as good as we have in Hanoi. After breakfast, I was still very excited about trying other kinds of Vietnamese food around. And we ended up by having lunch at another Vietnamese Restaurant. After all, I think Vietnamese food in America is probably from the South of Vietnam, because most of Vietnamese people staying in America are from the South. Now I hope I can find more ingredients from which I can cook my real Vietnamese food at home.
If you ever find a place that does Northern style pho, tell me! I like the pho here as well, but it's just not the same :(
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could start your own phở shop?
ReplyDeleteHuyen oi! I can't agree with you more: pho in Hanoi is best! But, like you, I miss Vietnamese food so much that even Saigon style pho makes me very happy :)
ReplyDeleteEvery now and then you will find a pho place in northern style. If you go to Washington DC, check out Minh Restaurant and Pho Xe Lua at Eden Center- both offer northern style cuisines.
ReplyDeleteJust a note, even though it's easier to find processed ingredients to cook Vietnamese food here, eventually you will learn to tweak your cooking style to make those ingredients taste JUST like the food at home, and I think sometimes even better ;)
hi huyen! if you & ben ever come to SF, there's a place called Turtle Tower that does northern style! of course, probably not as good as in Vietnam, though.
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