More Eats!

Chi introduced me to more home-style Vietnamese cookin' this week, but first I thought I'd share a couple of random pics.

There was a huge rain storm that blew through Hanoi three afternoons ago.  The skies began clearing just as the sun was going down, creating yet another beautiful scene over the city.

I'm not quite sure what it is, but I've witnessed an inordinate number of truly beautiful sunsets here in Hanoi.  Maybe it's the smog?

The next day, I had to run downtown to the bank to clear up some things on my account.  As Chi and I drove up, we noticed a woman in front who was selling flowers in her uniquely Vietnamese way.
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After getting nowhere with the bank, we decided to try a new restaurant that Chi visits occassionally for yet another new Vietnamese food adventure!

The restaurant was Xoi Yen and was on a crowded street corner in downtown Hanoi.

We sat down and Chi ordered from a lengthy menu.  While we waited, I was able to take a few shots "into the kitchen"...which happened to be "out on the sidewalk".  

Here's one of the cooks, sitting next to her stove.  You can see a pan to her left where food was being grilled.  Behind her, also to her left, was the "refrigerator" where several ingredients were kept.  

She also had a couple of big balls of yellow rice behind her in a bowl; aside from grabbing one occasionally, I never did see what she did with them.  To the left, you can see a big wooden desk which is where the cashier sat, putting each order on a steel peg after each customer had paid.

This was lunch.  Details here are pretty sketchy.  The bowl was full of glutinous rice which was this restaurant's specialty.  Patrons can choose from a wide variety of toppings.  In this case, Chi picked chicken (with peeled?/fried? lemon leaves), a pate of some kind (she wasn't sure what) and red sausage.  They also brought some pork ribs with gravy which we poured over the rice.

The chicken with lemon leaves over the rice was delicious.  The pate and rice wasn't bad, especially with the pork gravy.

  

The red sausage on the other hand was, mmmm, intersting.  First it neither looked nor smelled like any sausage I've ever seen.  And it was bright red.  I told Chi I thought it looked like raspberry gummi fish. 

I had my doubts, but I gave it a try.  Oddly enough, it felt and tasted like gummi fish (more strawberry than raspberry however).  Chi was appalled.  

I'll go back for the rice and I'd be up for trying some new toppings.  But I'll stick to the candy store for more gummi fish. 

And I took this picture, not to show my mom how I cleaned my plate (as is usual here), but to show the cute, cheap little dishes most of the restaurants use here.  And note the beautiful floral design!