The Melting Pot:
SPECIAL COLUMN: Part 2: Vietnamese and the mobility of the Vietnamese “floating
markets”
Food and other shopping in the US is much
different from shopping in Viet Nam. We
drive to grocery, specialty, clothing, farmers’ markets/stands, etc. to obtain
our goods but we don’t have markets like they do in the Mekong Delta!!
In Viet Nam every morning before
dawn, farmers and vendors from the surrounding countryside load narrow wooden
boats and large-hulled freighters with the recent harvest and other goods. They
chug past broad lilies and lotus blooms, through shallow tributaries lined with
bamboo houses, to the nearest local market or to park and sell their goods.
They paint eyes on the bows of their boats. The arched vessels look toward the
sky, while the low-lying local boats peer into their native silt-stained
waters. On each boat, goods are hung on bamboo poles that are called “cay
beo”. Hundreds of such poles point sky-wards. Boats also operate like “taxis”
which is very convenient for tourists around the region.
An army of
sampans, painted with bright colors (yellows, blues and reds) jockey for
position as radiant pineapples, taro root, coconuts, pumpkins, bananas, pomelos
(the largest of the citrus fruits, with a thick yellow skin and bitter pulp
that resembles grapefruit in flavor), longan (juicy fruit related to the lychee), jackfruit, pineapples, watermelons, mangoes, durians (a stinky fruit with a
divine taste, so they say),
bananas, oranges, coconuts, squash,
cabbage, onions, greens, change
hands with the speed of light, along with fistfuls of crumpled Vietnamese Dong
bills. Besides fruits, local products like snakes,
birds, turtles, pot-bellied pigs, etc. are easy to find.
Although they are floating markets, services are available, foods and drinks on small boats
twist and turn to serve hungry sellers and buyers. When someone wants to buy
the products, they only need to whistle or wave.
Markets can be extremely large: 400 to 500 boats filled with
fruits, vegetables, and other products are anchor along the banks of the
river. On the floating markets you not only find people buying and
selling, but you will also find floating restaurants, bars, gas stations, and
many other stores. Canals in the area are simply the easiest and fastest means
of transportation.
Shoppers come by land and water, and as they stumble from
boat to boat, they often interrupt their shopping to enjoy bowls of noodles on
open fires in the special ‘fast food’ sampans.
Products favored
by urban gastronomers would be seafood, wild birds, cao (regional Vietnamese
dish made with noodles, pork, and local greens), cu dat (specialty dishes), stork and dove which are sold at the
market. Other dishes could include Pho (soup made from beef
stock, spices, noodles and thinly sliced beef or chicken), Bun Cha (grilled pork and
noodles), Bun Thang (vermicelli soup with chicken, egg and pork), Da
Cua (Crab noodles), Com Chay (rice crackers), Mien Luon (eel soup), Bun Bo (spicy lemongrass noodle
soup), My Quang (rice noodles tinted yellow with turmeric and
proteins are usually shrimp, pork, chicken, fish), Pho Kho (dry noodles), Banh Khot (miniature rice
pancakes), Goi Cuon (spring rolls), Com Mien Cua (meat with vermicelli soup),
Hu Tieu Xao (deep fried seafood, pork and beef with noodles), and Banh Ca Cua
(crab meat with rice noodles).
Christine
Willard, a native of western Pennsylvania, researches and blogs about the food unique to western
Pennsylvania. She currently resides in North
Carolina.
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