The last one in Ho Chi Minh before we left to go Kuala Lumpur, I found a food that made me regret leaving the country so quickly. Starting with extraordinary hunger, my husband and I looked for food around the hotel where we were staying. Pressed for time and only a few of us left of Vietnam, we tried to find cheap food near Ben Thanh.
That morning, I had already prepared my bags and suitcase, so I woke up too early to prepare everything so as not to rush. Then look for breakfast so that your stomach is full for a long time. Transit makes me too scared, so I have to prepare everything. But, we only have a few Vietnamese, many restaurants are closed so you can't use credit cards and debit cards.
After 30 minutes looking for cheap food, of course I also wanted something new, authentic Vietnamese, we found a small busy alley with several people sitting. Of course I look for food that is not contaminated with pork, so this is a difficult challenge. Actually, at that time I really wanted to enjoy banh mi, but several halal restaurants weren't open yet and all the outlets used pork. I enjoyed this morning with something very complicated, but it turned out that it brought us to an unexpected event and this was the most delicious food I have ever eaten in Vietnam.
At first I was very pessimistic because I understand very well that Vietnam has very little halal food. However, we were very persistent and asked local residents even though speaking English was difficult, but when we had given up, we found something unexpected. I asked a woman who was sitting in the small alley, 'Does this dish use pork? He answered: No, it's a beef stew.” Suddenly we ordered 1 bowl to share for two because we didn't have enough money to buy more than 1 bowl.
A bowl of the food we ordered came, in the form of 1 bowl containing beef stew, 2 pieces of banh or Vietnamese bread, 1 bowl containing basil leaves and compliment. I was also surprised that it seemed like the bowl of beef stew might be very spicy because the color was too red. They call it Bho Kho or Vietnamese Braised Beef Stew.
The woman taught me how to eat Bo Kho properly, where I have to mix it and bite it all at once, it will make this food very delicious. I split the banh or bread and dipped it in the bowl of beef stew, then finished with a bite of basil leaves which made the taste even more fragrant. You can also add basil leaves directly to the beef stew, but my husband doesn't really like these leaves. He said he was a little bothered by the smell, even though I thought it was a good thing to eat it all at once.
I started to pay attention to the contents of the beef stew bowl, where there was braised beef mixed with a very thick sauce. Inside there are pieces of carrot and tomato, so the taste is not spicy but slightly sour. Like meat soup but mixed with tomato paste and whole tomatoes dipped and boiled together. The braised beef is very tender, as are the carrots which are cut into quite large sizes.
The sauce from Boh Kho is very oily and high in fat, perhaps because the spices are mixed with oil for frying plus the braised beef has quite a layer of fat. I think this is a big enough breakfast to fill our energy as we have to get ready for the airport and wait for our flight schedule.
One of the little things that I like in Vietnam is this small alley full of unique things that I don't usually see in my city. Especially with this short chair, it is very suitable for eating. Mini sized tables and chairs, you will only find this in Vietnam. Especially with a glass of caphe sua with ice.
See you the next time hive friends!
Editing by Lightroom and VN iphone 11
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