Bizarre yet tasty dishes in Vietnam

Some expats living in Vietnam confessed that they have tried strange local dishes and gradually fell in love with the flavors. After all, sampling new dishes is a way to understand the customs and traditions of the country in which they are living. Here are the stories of five expats in Hanoi who have strong stomachs and have tried several strange dishes that the even locals fear to eat.

Self-cooked dog meat
Sean Cogills still remembers the first time he tried dog meat: it was not at a restaurant but at home prepared by himself.

Waking up after his 23rd birthday, Sean wandered around a market on Bach Dang Street and came across a dog meat stall. Curious, he asked to buy a block of meat for VND50,000 (US$2.5). He even remembered to get some vermicelli to complete the dish.

At home, Dale started to boil the meat and used the spices available . Unexpectedly, the broth turned out to have a strange green color and stinky smell!

“I brought a dish of dog meat out to eat at the balcony. I thought I would think a lot about the dog I used to play with during my childhood back in Ireland. But no, I was still busy vomiting as my home-cooked dish was so disgusting,” said Sean.

After that failed culinary trial, Sean had a second chance to try the dog dish in a restaurant and loved the flavors.

“It is like pork but chewier. Although not a daily dish, it is something to try. As people often say ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’,” Sean said.

Feeling a heartbeat in the throat
“The heart thumps, and gets stuck in my throat for a while before I wash it down with some strong wine,” recalled Luke Poulson, about eating a famous snake dish from Le Mat village.

This English DJ, who has lived in Vietnam for two years, has no better word to describe the dish than ‘bizarre’.

However, he still loves snake meat, which he finds tastier than chicken or pork, thanks to its strong flavor. Another of Luke’s favorites is pork intestines, which are similar to the pork sausages he often has back his hometown in northern England.

Luke finds Vietnamese cuisine surprisingly creative, while most of the food in England or European countries is processed and canned.

“In England, even the chicken does not look like a chicken as it has lost its head!” he said.

Blood flavored soup
“The first time I swallowed a spoon of tiet canh (raw blood soup), I felt like I was licking blood off my face after being beaten,” said Michael Vong, a Malaysian businessman.

That was his initial feeling after being taken to eat the special dish for the first time. Gradually, however, Michael started to like the flavors of the soup when served with herbs and peanuts.

He reveals he spots a good street food stall by checking the crowd. The more packed it is, the tastier the food it serves. Many Vietnamese friends also complimented Michael on his good culinary knowledge, some even said he has become more local than them.

But Michael says he was recently advised not to eat his favorite soup dish by his wife, who believed it would make him more violent.

“My wife probably just watches too much Twilight,” he said.

You are what you eat
Having lived in Vietnam for 5 years, Australian Malcolm Duckett is a fan of street food. He is averse to western food like KFC, and McDonalds and has a fear that his favorite street food stalls will have to make way for these big franchises in the near future.

Malcolm finds the most delicious Vietnamese dishes on the street rather than in restaurants. He explains that each stall only serves one dish like sticky rice, escargot or rice porridge and the seller, also the cook, has become a master of that dish.

Malcolm says he likes the Vietnamese conception of ‘You are what you eat’.

“My girlfriend is a dancer and she loves grilled chicken legs. Maybe eating rice porridge made from innards will help my stomach get better,” reasoned Malcolm.

Pork kidneys are soft and sweet
Although animal intestines are inedible in the US, Dale Watkins fell in love with the Phnom Penh noodle and kidney soup at first bite.

“The pork kidney has a very special taste, which is soft and sweet. The noodles are chewy. I love to eat to soup with spicy satay,” said Dale.

Dale used to take his foreign friends to try this dish without revealing to them what was inside. They all loved the soup even though they later found out they had tried pork innards.

After three years of living in Vietnam, Dale finds the Vietnamese proudest of their traditional dishes than any other nationals.

“Any Vietnamese meeting me for the first time ask what dishes I have tried,” said Dale.

“People here identify themselves with a special dish of their hometown. It is a remarkable part in your culture.”