Foodie update ~ Sea snails, Superfoods, and Sweets, Viet Nam

 Sea snails

Just one of the more intriguing street side vendors…  cooked on the street corner with lemon grass and spring onions and served with a spicy chili sauce. Utensil used for spearing the snail and extraction, are small metal pointers that look like arrow heads.

On the left, some kind of clam shells and on the right, sea snails.
Ben enjoying the Vietnamese equivalent of French “bigornot” – in the family of sea snails
Longan Berries
This is Peta’s favorite Vietnamese fruit by far. It is a Vietnamese classic. Smaller than a lychee, but similar in taste and juiciness. The nutritional value of these little gems, also called “dragon eyes” is mind blowing. High in iron, good cancer preventative, good for the heart and a has a calming effect on the nervous system.
These fruit ladies roam the streets in the morning.
A “longon berry” lady measures out her fruit by the kilo. 50.000 duong = $2

 Hanoi desert specialty – Thach che

We kept walking past glass stalls of strange gelatinous looking colored balls and squares. They did not look particularly appealing, but eventually we decided to give this desert a try in case we were missing something good.

We selected a mixed glass of grapefruit compote, beans, preserved longon berries, lotus beans, mochi type balls all covered by a liquidy coconut milk yogurt topped with shaved ice. Very interesting, especially texture wise, and suprisingly tasty and refreshing.

Point to what you want and it gets put in the glass, or just allow the server to come up with her  selected combination.

 Juices everywhere  

So far, best of class is the sugar cane juice which is sold directly on the street, as is coconut water. Other kinds of juices, can be had in juice “bars”. Two we really like are grapefruit and white pomegranate juice.

Raw sugarcane being put through the presser to extract it’s juice.
Sugarcane juice consists of water brimming with an abundance of vitamins and minerals. It is  rich in calcium, chromium, cobalt, copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, potassium and zinc.  It also contains iron and vitamins A, C, B1, B2, B3, B5, and B6, plus a high concentration of phytonutrients (including chlorophyll), antioxidants, proteins, soluble fiber and numerous other health supportive compounds. 
 
 Working synergistically, these nutrients provide a supremely health-promoting food which has been studied for its role in fighting cancer, stabilizing blood sugar levels in diabetics, assisting in weight loss, reducing fevers, clearing the kidneys, preventing tooth decay, and a host of other health benefits.

 Latest Market finds…

A box of beautifully colored quail eggs
Eeeewww….. eels don’t look so appetizing alive

5 thoughts on “Foodie update ~ Sea snails, Superfoods, and Sweets, Viet Nam

  1. JB

    So far I am familiar with the snails which I love (with butter garlic sauce…)
    Are the eels as good as the one they sell in the streets of Amsterdam???
    Quail eggs …with caviar….Miam miam !!!!!!!!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign me up to receive new posts

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.