AMAZING FOOD in Saigon

We have really enjoyed our time in HCMC thus far.  I'll have more pictures later, but wanted to talk about the awesome motorcycle food tour we went on a couple of nights ago.  

In Saigon there are approximately 11 million people and 6 million motor bikes. Motor bike (motorcycle) is absolutely the number one method of transport in this city, and it's really crazy to experience both as a pedestrian and a rider!  Thankfully the speed limit is really low (around 35 MPH) and everyone usually wears a helmet.  Surprisingly there are very few accidents in the city - the drivers are skilled and pay close attention to what they're doing.

Our 2nd night here we went on a street food tour with Back of the Bike Tours (http://backofthebiketours.com).  The two young female drivers picked us up at our hotel, gave us helmets, showed us how to ride on the back of their bikes, and we took off across town for a four hour, five stop, eating extravaganza.  Both girls were super friendly, energetic and funny - we had an awesome time with them.  We met up with another two couples and their drivers, then weaved through the insane traffic of HCMC on the back of these bikes.  It was freaking awesome!

We got to visit several different districts of Saigon, which was really cool.  We were definitely outside of the touristy areas and into the real heart of the city - and on a Friday night, to boot. We were the only non-Vietnamese people at the various restaurants/food vendors.  The city has so much energy, too!  A very vibrant feel.

First stop was for a dish called Banh Trang Nuong, which was kind of like pizza.  The base is a type of rice paper and they top it with butter, cheese (only a little bit), onions, and various meats.  Then you dip the pieces into a spicy chili sauce and/or tamarind sauce.  Yum!

Oh that reminds me - I kept saying "yum!" about the food and the tour guides would laugh. Apparently that word means "horny" in Vietnamese. "Yummy" is ok, though.

At the 2nd restaurant we tried something called Cut Chien Bo.  It's quail that is deep fried in butter and served with the most delicious baguettes. I wasn't too keen on the quail, but mostly because it was pretty greasy.  Buddy enjoyed it though - he ate two quail heads!  He says the beaks were a little bit crunchy.

Next stop we tried duck leg with a side of noodles in a dark broth (Mi Vit Tiem).  The duck was amazing!  I've never been a big fan of duck, but this was the bomb.

By the fourth restaurant we were getting a little full, but this one was definitely my favorite. Buddy tried his hand at cooking the Banh Xeo (hopefully we will have pics of this later).  They use a small cast iron skillet over an open flame to fry up a crispy rice flour crepe.  Once the crepe is nearly cooked, various meats are added (shrimp, pork) along with some bean sprouts.  Then at the table, there were piles of fresh lettuces and herbs that you roll up with the crepe into a rice paper - like a small burrito - and dip into a sweet fish sauce.  It was so amazing!!  I can't wait to have this dish again, definitely my favorite so far.

As a "treat" (?), our hosts then challenged us to try balut. First let me say that at the beginning of our trip, I committed to trying foods that I normally don't eat.  I've eaten way more meat these past few days than I normally would.  But balut is quite a step further, and I'm proud to say that I went for it. Buddy actually made it through the entire thing (!!!), whereas I only drank the juice and took one big bite.  I couldn't keep going after the first bite, but Buddy powered through the whole thing!  Our tour guides were impressed with him.  If you don't know what balut it, check this out:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(food)

The final stop was an ice cream/fruit shop that was really great, although I was so full by this time that it was hard to fit anything else in!  We were cracking up with our tour guides and they were asking us to teach them some English bad words and slang.  It's funny, Buddy and I both cuss *all the time*, but when the girls asked us for some good cuss words we kinda froze. Couldn't think of anything besides f-ck and sh-t!  I feel like we really under-represented ourselves there.  :-)