TRAVELLIVE 01-2016

VISIT TRADITIONAL
VIETNAMESE MARKETS:
REMEMBER TO BUY
FLOWERS!
No matter if
I'm travelling
around my
country or
visiting a
new land in the world, the
very first place I go isn't a
landscape, but a market.
Nowhere else can give
you more real images of
locals than in a market.
And, of course, shopping
at traditional Vietnamese
market is always my choice
on the first days of the year.
Foreigners find it quite weird
when realizing that in these
markets, there are hundreds
of flowers and greens which
are just used to ... eat. A
friend of mine has shared
that culinary culture is a
door to the soul of a land.
When wandering around
Vietnamese markets, I feel
our "soul" is so beautiful and
harmonious as we eat plenty
of flowers and greens. Try
it, and after the trip, when
looking at a flower or a leaf,
you will likely ask yourself
whether it is edible or not.
Aside from tasting
scrumptious dishes, there
is a greater way to explore
culinary world: cook a dish as
a local do! In any Vietnamese
kitchen, you can find so
many {toys} such as a plastic
tube used for removing water
morning glory (spinach)'s
leaves, a pig-iron knife or
a tool to prepare banana
blossom. Surprise yourself
by cooking pho (Vietnamese
noodles), rolls, beef roll with
piper lolot or lotus salad - the
dishes that you often admire
on newspaper and travel
magazines. Especially, try to
make goi cuon (translucent
fresh spring roll) - one
of the 10 most delicious
Vietnamese dishes. You only
need to roll all ingredients
including prawn, pork,
vegetables, small spring
onion and shallot together
inside a girdle cake named
banh trang. Fast and yummy!
It is also the reason why this
dish is favored on special
occasions as hostesses do
not need spend much time
preparing for large meals.
If you want to reduce the
amount of glucose, then take
cabbage, or other leaves to
roll with shrimp, meat and all
sorts of vegetables. Easy and
pleasant! Don't worry if you
don't cook well, just }roll} to
the kitchen and enjoy your
"work of art"!
LEAVES AND FLOWERS:
EVERY DISH IS DELICIOUS!
Japanese people fry marble
leaves to eat, French cook
beef with artichoke flower,
but no country uses as many
kinds of flowers in cooking as
Vietnam. In the past, almost
all Vietnamese people didn't
have enough money to buy
white rice and fresh meat, so
they used leaves as spices and
got flowers and fruits served
as side food. Tet was the
only time they ate meat and
eggs. Pork simmered with
eggs became a traditional
dish on this celebration.
Nowadays, foreign visitors
usually "oh" "wow" when
noticing Vietnamese people
use a dozen kinds of leaves
in a meal or stir-fry flower to
eat instead of ice cream on
hot days.
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VIETNAMESE
TRAVELLIVE