Category: Food

Henry landed me today with a big task – work my way through lashings of pork belly pieces.

He asked a friend to stock up for the cafe, but the friend got the order wrong. He manhandles a pig’s worth of meat onto the table.

It’s mine! It’s a tough call, but I think I’m up to the challenge, since pork belly pieces are my favourite Vietnamese meat.

In case motivation wanes, I composed the wee ditty below to help me through the Last Days in Nha Trang.

Pork belly slabs
good for the muscles

pork belly slabs
need no hustles

the more you eat
the better you feel

pork belly slabs 
for every meal

Above are two of the latest ‘adventures in food’ as part of making a pig of myself in my last days here in the Tropics.

Yes, ‘pig skin cake’ ( a.k.a Bánh da lợn ) is indeed the name of the dessert on the right. The specimen above, I’m guessing, is made from tapioca starch.

On trying it, I was a little disappointed – it’s an almost tasteless bundle of carbs, but went down easily enough with the usual spoonful of cacao and wads of coconut cream.

On the left is another episode in chocolate-making. Pretty basic – cacao, butter, a duck egg, and coconut cream. Directions – 1) whip up ingredients. 2) stash in freezer.

Works a treat, a filling stop-gap snack with a tiny amount of sugar.

The morning jaunt to the market came with a warning.

The old chap from the cafe over the road – which I hobble past every day – was gesturing at my foot, pointing to the Cassava root ( mmmm ), and wagging his index finger.

On asking Henry over coffee, it turns out the delicious root ( AKA “Yuca” ) is very bad for inflammation, especially when one is lame. Who knew?

Apparently, the ground Yuca is acceptable, but the sap from the root – which looks like a white carrot – is released upon chopping, and does all varieties of mischief.

Henry being his generous self has offered to bring some for my sampling tomorrow. I shall report back therewith.

First things first…

I’ve booked a flight SGN -> SIN -> AKL on September 20^th.

It arrives in Auckland Sept. 21 at 0815. The suspense of it all was taking a toll, so I’ve bitten the bullet and stumped up $1100+ USD, on what I hope is good advice that the flight will more than likely get off the ground.

So that leaves 32 days, or so, to finish exploring Vietnam. And, of course, the food adventures continue. Above is the result of this morning’s haul.

I have other plans, as well, for the last days in this here tropical paradise;

• Get this damned leg plaster removed, I’m hoping by the end of August latest. I suspect and hope that I might have recovered a little faster than doctor’s expectations. The ankle is starting to feel stronger, and is giving me less gyp day-by-day.
• Once that’s off, get back in the briny. The sea, and riding a bike, are two things I love about Nha Trang.
• Maybe take a 3 – 5 day trip to DaLat, the inland high altitude city which I always planned to at least visit. But that depends on this-and-that, including organising Visa.

It’s a huge relief having bought the ticket. Anything could happen in the meantime, of course, but I’m betting that the flight will get off the ground.

Above is the local market on Lạc Long Quân St, Nha Trang. It’s 5 minutes walk from my apartment on Van Kiep. As you look at the map below, follow Lac Long Quan down, and to the right, and Van Kiep is the second street.

The hobble, on crutches, has become a daily morning ritual, before the blessed caffeine injection.

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I finally got it together to pull some old tricks in the New Place.

The dodgy looking … matter in the bowl is my first successful Vietnam attempt at almond bread / cake. Ingredients are pretty simple – baking powder ( mixed myself from baking soda and cream of tartar ), a duck egg, and almond flour, or ground almonds.

It soaks up anything – I could use it to mop the bench – and is healthy and satisfying.

In today’s case, it’s on the menu with the crockpot dish above. That’s Basa fish, red peppers, pak choi, and carrots. Here’s the directions – throw the veges in with some water, bring to the boil, let cool, add fish. Maybe some salt. Simmer. Forget until hungry.

At chow-down time, I’ll usually add coconut cream, and maybe turmeric, but today, I’ll be sampling it with said almond bread.

Phwoar !!