The Asian anti-ageing device!

Birds nest soup in a can (Birds)

There is a legend recounting the story of a King who fell ill and fled to a deserted island where he happened to eat the nest of a swallow. This left him feeling invigorated and revitalized so he could return to his rule .

Served in a bubbling broth , or canned for those on the go. Researchers claim there are a multitude of health benefits including lowering rates of cancer, higher calcium absorption and wrinkle busting collagen. Will this be the next anti-ageing break through? I think I'll just stick to sun cream and moisturizer.

Simplest Phô on earth!

Phô is the dish/ soup which everyone MUST try when coming to Vietnam but how simple is it to make your own? On the streets they boil the chicken carcasses for hours on end dispersing the flavours into the liquid. I tried to do the same thing for a few less hours and it makes the most tasteless stock on earth, you feel yourself reaching for the Swiss Bouillon stock cubes…

But then I finally came up with this recipe which works extremely well with leftover roast chicken, and you can throw in whatever ingredients you happen to have lying around!

STOCK:

1 chicken carcass

2 star Anise
1 carrot - diced
1 celery stick - diced into larger chunks
1/2 an onion
Black pepper
Water - enough to cover the chicken (roughly around 1-1.5 litres)

If it's not tasty enough add a stock cube (chicken).

INGREDIENTS FOR PHÔ:

1 inch fresh ginger finely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1/2 or more birds eye chilli - to taste
1 bunch of spring onions - just the green part
Roast chicken left overs OR 2 roasted legs skin removed; chop into small pieces
Fresh coriander to season
A little butter and olive oil for frying
Rice, glass, or egg noodles

METHOD:
Heat the butter and olive oil in a pan and fry the  ginger, garlic, chilli and spring onions till soft.
Add chicken stock and bring to the boil
Add chicken
When it is boiling add enough noodles for each person, these usually take 2-4 minutes to cook but check the packaging just in case.
Lastly add the chopped coriander.

SERVING:
I really recommend it with the traditional condiments of chilli sauce, lime, peanuts and soy sauce. You can eat it with crunchy bread as well.

My fallback food places

The food - there are literally hundreds of restaurants here serving phô (noodle soup) costing less than a dollar to those with the finest cuisine. Having a bit of a sweet tooth my personal favourite place is the ice cream shop 'Trang Tien'1 where you can get amazing coconut ice lollies for 5 thousand dong.

(Whilst taking this photograph I was almost smashed over the head with a glass by the angry owner of the shop;, buy the ice cream but do not mess with her!)

There is also 'Fanny's' ice cream2 shop with free wifi which my sister calls "free whiffy".

My top 5 food stops which you should make are:

1. 'Little Hanoi'3 - There are actually two of the same restaurant on the same street but all the food tastes delicious and I highly recommend the aubergine dishes.

2. 'Phô 24'4 - Phô 24 is phô for the upper class, but since it's so cheap everyone can afford it. Most of the things are delicious so be experimental however I always avoid anything involving chicken feet!

 (taken by me - she's looking a little shocked isn't she!)

3. 'Pappa Roti'5 - here you can buy a kind of cake/bread which tastes like coffee and butter, it is indescribable yet mouth watering I wouldn't say that it is especially Vietnamese food but definitely worth a visit.

(taken by me)

4. 'Rainbow café'6 - this is situated somewhere in the old quarter but if you go upstairs often there is a  breeze and you can watch people walk beneath. Also there is a DVD shop really close where I always stock up on the latest movies.

5. Roadside stalls - Lemon juice, Bun Bo Nam Bo and people-watching, what could be more sublime? Pick any roadside stall (if there are Vietnamese people eating there it's bound to be fine) and drag up a plastic stool; guaranteed to be one of the highlights of your trip.

The first time I went to a local restaurant we decided to have the hotpot, a bubbling cauldron of stock in which we added cabbage, and what seemed like a chicken recently scraped off the road. Me and my sister identified a lot of the organs of that chicken therefore I feel it was actually a very educational experience, plus this is the story I recount most often to people back home.

Make sure you know how to use chopsticks!

USEFUL VOCAB-

Gà - chicken

bò is beef.

cơm / gạo is rice

Kem is ice cream

Bun bo nam bo - A bed of green leaves with noodles, strips of barbecued meat, coriander, chilli ,lime and peanuts.

Chè - tea

bia - beer-  obviously I don't drink any at all but just in case you need it!

I would recommend speaking English since trying out your newly acquired Vietnamese skills may mean that you end up with jellyfish (Sứa) instead of milk (Sữa).

These are the only food related words I frequently use so hopefully they will help anyone either visiting or moving here.

Restaurant locations -

1. No. 35 Tràng Tiền Street - this is the original shop therefore it is extremely busy all the time however there are some other shops in other districts of Hanoi.

2. 48 Le Thai To St., Hoan Kiem Dist., HANOI
3. 21 Hang Gai Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.

4. Since this is a chain it is hard to only name one restaurant but there is one in Vincom towers and one in the middle of town - to find one closest to you they have a search tool on their website:

http://www.pho24.com.vn/htmls/index.php?f=store.php&cur=3&city=3&district=39&language=en

5. 34 Hang Gai, Hoàn Kiếm - this is the most central however like phô 24 it is a chain so there are many spread throughout the city,
6. Rainbow café - Hang Hanh street near Hoan Kiem lake.