ottawa foodies

Ottawa Foodies here talk about Phở and Vietnamese spring rolls all the times (yes, these are the trademarks of Vietnamese cuisine). How about some other popular Vietnamese dishes?

I remember Vietnam was called “a country full of fishes and rice” before the Vietnam War (i.e., before all the bombs destroying all the good soils there). The country is in the process of recovering.

My nephew went to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) again and wrote in his email: “For the second year in a row we returned to Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City. As we remember, the unforgettable site is the mob of motorcycles that endlessly intertwines in the streets. There are no rules on the road except don't get hit. It is really, really crazy. The new thing this year is a few new traffic lights, but no one really follows them.

Hmmm. All the good food are still here! Abundance in rice, fresh seafood, fruits and fresh vegetables. Vietnamese recipes use many vegetables, lemon grass, lime and basil. Fat people are hardly to be seen. This must have to do with their diet!

Photo shown is: Chefs at Quan An Ngon restaurant in HCMC, deep-frying Banh Tom Ho Tay (Fried shrimp cakes). Very famous restaurant in HCMC!

Any one tried sugarcane shrimps? I haven't yet. This is one of the popular dishes in Vietnam.

Mien Luon (eel soup with translucent noodles/vermicelli) set from Quan An Ngon. The eel is chopped into small chunks and deep-fried before being put on top of the vermicelli, and the soup itself is clear and very lightly flavoured.

On the side plate, there were Quai (breadstick), rau răm (Vietnamese Coriander), some sliced onions, a bowl of nasty chili sauce and a squeeze of lemon.

Great info and pictures, Ashley! Some of the Vietnamese restaurants in Ottawa offer sugarcane shrimp -- usually in conjunction with some other meat like lemongrass beef. I find it a little sweet for my taste (it is sugarcane after all) but the overall flavour is great!

I know that New Mee Fung New Mee Fung has it on their menu (see my photo here: ottawafoodies.com). I've seen it elsewhere too but can't say for sure where.

Sugarcane shrimp is one of my favourite dishes. I used to get it all the time at the hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurant I frequented when I was in grad school. I especially like chewing on the sugarcane after you're done eating the shrimp.

I love the sugarcane shrimp as well! Yum. They have it at Van Vans on Holland Ave.

Just FYI for those that didn't know (I didn't until fairly recently), the sugarcane shrimp dish has pork in it (in the form of pork fat). My non meat eating friends and non pork eating friends used to order it thinking it was just shrimp...

:(

I love it, pork fat, shrimp and noodles. So nice..