Alley eating

Vietnam's national dish is considered Pho (Beef Noodle Soup), however, let me introduce to you "Bun Dau" or Rice Noodles with Tofu.

Alleyways in Ha Noi are my favorite place to seek out cheap and extremely tasty food.  There is an alley way right off of my front entrance in Ha Noi, where at 11:00am, vendors set up their food, little plastic tables and chairs.  As the vendors begin to cook, the aroma of their specialty fills the air: smells of lemon-grass, mint, and ginger mix with the odors of shrimp paste and fish sauce, creating a perfect balance of smells that welcomes the hungry to sit down.  By noon, the alley is packed with office workers, house-makers and other Hanoians, squatting on the plastic chairs, hovering over low multi-colored plastic tables, eating Bun Dau.  This image is set against a back-drop of colonial yellow colored walls remaining from the French era.  The branches of trees from the courtyards behind the walls create a canopy on top, sheltering patrons from the hot sun.

I take a seat and ask the lady selling for one order of Bun Dau.  Within 5 minutes, the food comes out on the tray: a plate full of mint, basil and other herbs, another plate of fried tofu that is crispy golden on the outside and warm and soft on the inside, a third plate full of round rice noodles, and a small bowl of purple shrimp paste mixed with kumquat juice and chili-peppers.  My mouth salivates as I look at the food.  I take up my chopsticks, get a piece of tofu and some noodles, dip it in the shrimp paste and put it in my mouth.  The mixture of the hot tofu with the salty-spicy-sour shrimp paste is countered by the cold noddles.  I then eat some mint and basil leaves to wash away the salty-spicy-sour taste and start the process over again.

After I finish the savory meal, it is time to move onto dessert!  The next vendor over sells "che," a sweet Vietnamese dessert consisting of condensed milk, coconut milk, sweet bananas, peanuts and tapioca balls, all mixed in with crushed ice.  It is the perfect way to erase the pungent shrimp paste taste from my mouth.

Main Course "Bun Dau:" 15,000VND
Dessert "Che:" 16,000VND
Total: 31,000VND

At 20,000VND to $1, the total meal comes to be around $1.50!

It is moments like these that I wish I could freeze in time: the amazing balance of favors created from such simple, amazing food, combined with the environment of alley-way eating.  In my opinion, this has to be one of the best kept secrets of Ha Noi.