A food trip to North Vietnam

Mention exotic Vietnam — the “S”shaped mountainous and hilly hub of Southeast Asia — and you’ll find me rattling off in a huff Miss Saigon, lacquerware, dragon fruit, pho, baguette and scooter as some of its best reminders. The West End-debuted musical Miss Saigon popularized by Lea Salonga may just be an offshoot of the real Vietnam during Ho Chi Minh’s regime. But it tells quite much about post-war Vietnam even as Kim and Chris passionately crooned “Sun and Moon” towards curtain call.

While the framed lacquer ware is an all-time favorite take-home souvenir of tourists and the dragon fruit is very traditional, the pho, baguette and scooter are vivid reminders of the daily life in Vietnam.

At the capital city of Ho Chi Minh, for instance, mornings you’ll find street bakeries swarmed with people buying baguette, a shorter French bread which was one of the hand-me-downs of the colonizing French who settled up north in Hanoi.

The four-season Hanoi was said to be the French fashion capital of Asia then where well-coiffed and chicly- clad femmes started the wide-brimmed hat and high-heel fad that was later adopted locally by the ao dai-wearing ladies.

“Ao dai” is the traditional costume of Vietnamese women made of simple, usually monochromatic gown with thighhigh slits paired with pyjama-like pants.Local women would use the conical palmstrewn hat instead of the big European floral-studded or ribboned hats as headgear in lieu of parasols or umbrella.

It’s fun to watch ao dai-dressed local ladies in clogs riding scooter everyday, anywhere in Vietnam.Ever wonder why Vietnamese ladies are usually slim, befitting the figure-hugging ao dai?

Probably, we surmised, it’s because of the physical and environmental dynamics. It could be that the Vietnamese took after their earliest Chinese ancestors (Vietnam and China are literally neighbors) who are very frugal and hard working, meaning they devote much time to work and eat less.

But wait, they also had French and Portuguese settlers, meaning they could have also imbibed much of the fine dining and wining habits of Europeans. Does it mean they don’t overindulge in food or are they small eaters?

The basically agricultural Vietnam yields typically Asian foodstuffs like grains, vegetables and fruits, among others.Meaning our diet could be similar to theirs.But how come they seem to be so genetically-endowed that Vietnamese women could very well sport the body-hugging ao dai daily just as we are so comfy with shirts and slacks?

It’s in the diet.The not-so-secret hush-hush was revealed to us by Ms. Jeanne Gauddah Menguito, the lovely patrician Vietnamese-French owner of Pho Bac, a flourishing restaurant of Vietnamese specialties.

The Hanoi-born and Saigon-bred lady is a third generation restaurateur in Vietnam whose family popularized a now 14-year-old restaurant in Hanoi called La Savoie, named after a very popular mountain resort in France. She later got married to an overseas working Filipino engineer-turned-real estate developer whom she met during the latter’s Vietnam stint.

Ms. Jeanne, residing in the Philippines for more than 20 years now, has adapted to the Filipino culture and environs.She noted how friendly and warm Filipinos made her easily adjust to her other home.

Of course she used to miss her native Hanoi and its four seasons, where the fusion of French and Vietnamese cultures is very buoyant.But currently, she does monthly business trips to Vietnam to buy supplies for Pho Bac.

Pho Bac, which means noodles from Northern Vietnam, particularly Hanoi where she is from, is a nine-year-old family business that she’s operating with the help of a son. Its latest outlet recently opened in Harrison Plaza Village Square in Manila.

For a sample of authentic Vietnamese cuisine, Ms. Jeanne recently treated us to a mid-week dinner of sumptuous, mostly vegetarian dishes.The fares primarily consisted of pho or noodles and an assortment of three to seven vegetable dishes made more appetizing with chili and the Vietnamese favorite sauce nuoc mam (fish sauce), just like our very own “patis”, a predominantly food flavor enhancer in most Asian countries.

Ms. Jeanne said the Vietnamese people love to eat.But they are fond of eating a good variety of healthy, natural foods – in short, balanced diet!Our gastronomic trip consisted of fried spring rolls, fresh rolls stuffed with four kinds of vegetables (i.e. sweet basil, carrots, beets, mint leaves, lettuce, etc.) vegetarian cold noodles and crepe, as well as the chicken with egg noodles, capped with irresistible desserts such as the glutinous and not-so-sweet pandan pudding, the hot and crispy sweet monggo stuffed rolls and the very refreshing black gulaman (gelatin) with shaved ice and magic seeds.

The intriguing magic seeds are black, smaller-than-pinhead seeds that expand or get bigger once soaked or mixed with water or any liquid.Ms. Jeanne said it has medicinal value and is regarded in Vietnam as good for the body.

To compliment the vegetarian fare, she suggested us to drink warm gohyah tea (bitter gourd or amargozo), which she said is good for the bile, liver and helps keep cholesterol at bay.

You know why most Vietnamese are slender even if they eat a lot, intimated Ms. Jeanne, “Their diet is mostly made up of many vegetables, a dish for example has an average of four to seven or more vegetables, and they love to eat them fresh.They may put some meat but very sparingly.”

Noodle soups with vegetables, for instance, are topped with few thin slices of pork or beef.To garnish fresh salads, they add shredded chicken meat or some shrimps and other seafood sparingly, she said.

Tofu is another much raved about ingredient in most of Pho Bac’s vegetarian dishes.The protein-rich slabs of ground, caked soya can even stand on its own as a delectable yet healthy tofu steak or a good mix with other cold or hot noodles.

Ms. Jeanne also shared another nonfattening secret of Vietnamese food.A kilo of rice can already make three kilos of their noodles.That’s why, she said, even if you eat three cups of noodles it’s still less or just about a cup of plain steamed rice.

What’s more, every cup of noodles is mixed with a good variety of vegetables such as sweet basil, bean sprouts, lemon grass, carrot strips, to name a few.That accounts for a well-balanced diet of carbohydrates, protein and fiber minus cholesterol and the greasy, fattening add ons of meat-loaded meals or fastfood stuffs.

Know what makes their noodle soup so appetizing and equally healthy?The pureed vegetable-laden then sifted and shank-simmered broth is cooked slowly to achieve a very delectable flavor.Mixed hot with a motley of ingredients and it is already a meal in itself!

So, is there anything in store for those who are semi-vegan or meat lovers?

Pho Bac does not disappoint.Among the restaurant’s non-vegetarian dishes that go well with rice are spareribs or chicken with lemon grass, beef stew with rice or French bread, spicy chicken, grilled tangigue or blue marlin.Yummy toppings include caramelized porkloin, beef and mixed seafoods.

Some of the regular diners’ favorites are pork barbecue with rice wrapper, grilled beef with rice wrapper, shrimp on cane with rice wrapper, Vietnamese Crepe, pan fried beef with kangkong.

Another hearty treat but light on the tummy are the restaurant’s hot soup noodles.Variants come in small and large portions such as beef or beef balls, Saigon, chicken or chicken with egg noodles, chicken sotanghon, Cambodian, and beef stew.

Fresh fruit shakes in season are highly recommended to go with most of the dishes although the restaurant also serves a variety of soda, softdrinks, beer and other cold or hot drinks.