My Weekend of Weird & Wonderful Food

Friday: It all started with a basic bowl of pig innards stew. It was purchased from a food cart on the side of the road. And it was delicious. Washed it down with a green substance that I think was bittermelon juice. Not as delicious.

Saturday: My cousins took me out for what was supposed to be a cobra dinner. That is, the cutting open of a live king cobra snake of our choice and enjoying it as a multi-course dinner made right before our eyes.

If that’s not enough, there’s a live beating heart up for grabs.

My hero, Anthony Bourdain, did it in Hanoi a couple years ago, beating heart and all. So you can imagine my excitement!

But alas, the place was closed when we arrived. Wahhhh. Perhaps another time. Besides, I read that it’s better to do in Hanoi than here in Saigon, because the snake options here are usually of the dead variety, preserved in bottled rice liquor (and duh, no beating heart). If i’m gonna do it, I might as well do it right. That is, live.

At least that’s what I tell myself to make up for the disappointment 🙁

So we opted for shark fin soup instead. Not as exciting, but still a delightfully unusual treat. I didn’t know what to expect. Maybe something fish-like? Or with a rubbery texture? Will it be served fin-up so I could swish it around in my bowl like it’s a real swimming shark?

Nope. I was waaay off. Imagine taking a wad of uncooked rice vermicelli noodles and putting it in boiling water until the noodles are only halfway cooked. Not crunchy, not soft; absorbed enough to start becoming transparent but not enough to separate into individual noodles. That’s what my shark fin looked like: clumps of partially cooked vermicelli.

As for the taste…pretty good. Nothing extraordinary. The shark fin was served in a thick, boiling oyster sauce soup complete with heaps of shiitake mushrooms. A dash of chili, a dash of fish sauce and an extra side of shiitake (oh yes) and it was perfect. Well, for me, at least. My taste buds were satisfied without the beansprouts and mint leaves everyone else was adding to their soup.

Dinner was followed by copious amounts of whiskey at a nightclub. Then it was off to a karaoke club where we indulged in even more whiskey, this time served with even more strangely delicious food, including at least four different varieties of snail.

Sunday: This morning’s hangover was cured with stir-fried chicken feet, roasted pigeon and a hotpot filled with all sorts of strange-looking goodies that I can’t even begin to name.

Oh how I love weird & wonderful food. Props to my stomach. I swear, it’s made of steel. I must be a real Asian after all.