The Feel-Good Factor

Saigon is not the most cordial city in the world. It's a little rough-and-tumble, a bit jagged-edged, pretty aggressive. Energetic, exciting, adrenaline-pumping - yes. Warm and gooey? Not exactly, and especially not when compared with the larger cities of its Southeast Asian neighbors. When you're a resident, the place starts to wear on you a bit.

Hong Hanh was our Saigon oasis of niceness. From our first appearance at the top of the precariously steep and narrow flight of stairs that lead to Hong Hanh's second-floor perch we were never made to feel anything but welcome. We didn't speak a word of Vietnamese (shame on us, but that's the way it was) and no one at Hong Hanh spoke a word of English, but we weren't brushed off as the pain-in-the-arse foreigners, ushered to a corner table and then ignored for the duration of our stay. We were treated like every other customer: efficiently, affably, and with lots of smiles.

(We don't suppose it hurt that we often ordered the equivalent of several meals at one sitting and cleaned our plates every time.)

Our memories of those smiles - and of its mostly Hue-influenced specialties - carried us directly from hotel check-in to Hong Hanh's doorstep. We were happy to find that, other than the young staff's average height, little has changed over the past couple of years. The food's still fantastic, and the welcome is still warm. We were remembered, and even greeted with tears by Hong Hanh's proprietress. We got a little choked up ourselves.

Then we set to work and started ordering.

Hong Hanh's menu - which had been translated, with varying degrees of success, into English during our absence - is extensive: various noodles and banh cuon (rice flour 'pancakes' with various fillings) compete for attention with banh da (rice cracker) dishes, nem nuong Hue (sour fermented pork sausages with a chili kick), and a few miscellaneous snacks. We stuck with our favorites and were gratified to find them as scrumptious as we remembered.

Hong Hanh's bun thit nuong is simply stellar: room-temperature bun (rice vermicelli) topped with grilled pork, carrot and daikon radish pickle, peanuts, and fried shallots. The pork in this version is sliced extra thin and lacquered with a sweet fish sauce and black pepper marinade, chewy and tender at the same time, and exceptionally smoky. Beneath the bun lies a generous mound of pickled vegetables and shredded herbs.

Banh can cua is thick, round tapioca starch noodles in a crab broth made viscous by the addition of tapioca flour. Hong Hanh's version boasts an exceptionally rich, complex broth courtesy of the addition of pork bones (one of which will end up in your bowl, sporting tender meat) and plenty of black pepper, and each serving is crowded with generous chunks of crab meat, crab and pork dumplings, a rectangle of pork blood, and a slice or two of daikon radish. Chinese deep-fried crullers do a good job of absorbing all the goodness the bowl has to offer, and the ubiquitous 'side salad' of bean sprouts and green leaves freshens things up a bit.

Less well-known than pho and bun are Vietnamese mien (bean starch noodles). Hong Hanh's mien preparations include a fine mien cua nuoc leo, a delicious concoction of crab meat, crab balls, slivered bamboo, mushrooms, pork blood, and mien in a meaty-shellfishy broth.

No meal at Hong Hanh is complete without at least one order of banh da (black sesame seed-studded rice cracker), here eaten with miniscule clams sauteed with copious amounts of lemongrass and chopped green onions and peppery polygonum (the dish is called banh da xuc hen; a version with snails - xuc oc - is also available).

Served with peanuts and fresh polygonum on the side, this Hue specialty is just the sort of combination of textures, temperatures, and strong yet complementary flavors that Vietnamese cooks excel at. Sitting at our table-with-a-view, we had to marvel that food this ethereal could be churned out by Hong Hanh's color-coordinated staff (Friday is pink day for gals, brown day for guys) from such a cramped and basic 'kitchen' and prep area. It's dishes like this that drew us back week after week, sometimes days in a row, for two-plus years.

That, and those smiles.

Hong Hanh, 2nd floor 17A Nguyen Thi Minh Kai Street, Saigon. Morning to night, with a break between 2 and 3pm.

Comments

[Sticky]

Really enjoying the series on Saigon. I wish I could get down there a bit more often!

[Chad Edward]

Is polygonum common in Vietnamese dishes? Only in a particular area or all over Vietnam?

[Jennifer Jeffrey]

Those smiles are so genuine and warm... sounds like a wonderful place to spend some time.

Gorgeous shot of the city through the electric wires!

[Nate]

First of all, those summer rolls look absolutely perfect. Second, the grilled pork on the bun thit nuong is just the way I like it.

I just had a banh canh tom cua at a local restaurant...the noodles are the same but the broth was way more orange. Could it have been due to the addition of shrimp? Whatever it was, it was good! The noodles were similar in texture to assam laksa nodles, and with the addition of thinly sliced red onions, it tasted faintly like a relative of assam laksa.

[Robyn]

Sticky - and I wish I could get up there a bit more often!

Chad - yes, polygonum (Polygonum odoratum, a.k.a. rau ram) is a very common Vietnamese ingredient, all over the country.

Jennifer - helter skelter electrical wires ... a common sight in Asia. ;-)

Nate - yes, I've had more orange versions in Vietnam that didn't incorporate pork (all crab, or crab and shrimp). Also - Vietnamese cooks use annatto seeds to tint some foods red!
Interesting your comparison to assam laksa -bec I had the same thought whilst eating a couple of dishes in Saigon (similarities to Malaysian food). For me the polygonum/Vietnamese coriander really reminds me of Malaysia.

[Xander]

I love the photograph of the street scene. It's taken from such an unusual angle, but perfectly captures life on the pavement of Ho Chi Minh. -X

[Christine]

I've enjoyed looking through your posts on my homeland. The photographs really take me there and I can't help but a feel a little homesick.

I was wondering - did you ever try Bánh Căng?

[Robyn]

Thanks Xander. I agree - the wires, the motorbikes, the meal-on-wheels ... very Vietnam.

Hi Christine - banh cang ... do you mean rice flour cakes?

[Christine]

Yes, Bánh Căng are these small, round rice flour cakes that are pan-fried in these special that have scalloped (don't know if that's the right word) indents in them. Here's a link to a photo:
http://tinyurl.com/ysp5fb

They're like crispy, slightly denser versions of Bánh Bèo. If you haven't tried them, I hope you'll get a chance to next time your in Viet Nam.

[Robyn]

Christine - thanks, we'll keep an eye out for them. That contraption in the photo that you've linked to looks almost exactly like a rice cake cooker we came across in Bali.

[Jess]

The photos and the food looks amazing. I have been reading your blog for some time and I must say, it is one of my favourites.

[joey]

We just had dinner at our favorite Vietnamese place and I tried bun thit nuong for the very first time! I had no idea what it was, just that it looked great, so I tried it and loved it...now I come here and see your lovely post :) Visiting your site never fails to make me smile...and sigh in gratitude for living in Asia :)

[robyn]

jess - thanks for your kind words!

joey - that's fantastic! If we've led you to try bun thit nuong (one of our favorites) then the post has done it's job! (We're thankful we live in Asia too.)

[Austin]

I'm in Saigon for a bit and hit this place up for dinner last night and lunch today and really enjoyed it -- thanks for the lead! Will hopefully do a post on in the next couple days.

[Dave]

This entry made me cry. You know, when you are touched by all that is good about people.