Initially aiming to witness the beauty of Hoan Kiem Lake, we were stranded at a grundgy corner of Hanoi. The dogs' heads, hanging frogs, fried scorpions, and many other creatures that become the common menu on fear factor show, shockingly welcomed us, along with their fellow meats and the celebrity on the block, the snails. This was a Vietnamese traditional market, full of wet ditches and flies, where displays of fresh bones and loins, unfrozen and non-canned, were on sale.
As a country which has survived from more than one thousand years of wars, Vietnam has developed the cuisine that resembles the art of survival. During the American/ Vietnam war, many Vietnamese dug long tunnels and ran a harsh life underneath. Unavailability of proper foods had forced the underground people to consume any living animals around, including snakes and rats.
Suddenly a woman on a bike approached us, “Sir! Buy this one, Sir!” Attached to her bike was a glassed box full of banh ran, a kind of rounded, wheat flour fried cake, coated on fructose. Several different mashed fillings were available from mung beans, coconuts, to minced meats. Two Singaporeans in our group rightly purchased some of the banh ran. It was clear that dinner time at the hotel would not start until six hours later. Supply of glucose was needed to maintain our walks.
Not familiar with the kind of chopped meats stuffed inside, one of them surprisingly exclaimed, “It’s good!” At this kind of market, it is important not to judge the food by its cover. Being convinced, each of us began to taste the cake; sweet, crispy, and chewy. Slowly, the faces of disgust disappeared. The view of the dead meats was decorating our craving expressions as the banh ran’s lady smiled recalling “Twenty thousand Dong. All!” It was likely overpriced.
She left happily and our hungers were temporarily saved. We then continued to search our way to the lake. In order to survive, sometimes what we need is a simple adaptation.
