The Missing Ingredient: Notes from the Streets of Southeast Asia: The "Vietnamese Hooters" but with soft shell crab

Communism has socially liberated Vietnam. The trappings about modesty that countries like Taiwan or Thailand have do not exist here. Woman dress as if they are in the west. See through shirts, short skirts and spaghetti string tops. The restaurants are no different. Some restaurants specialize in eye candy and slop on rice. This restaurant that I have frequented with my guide Tai (who is 24) takes this all to new heights. As Vietnam puts on the after burners towards modernization it is also causing a mass urbanization. Many of the girls working at this restaurant make their way from the provinces to Saigon looking for work, sense of adventure and education. Many of these young ladies are about 20-24. They are chosen because of their looks. This is the Hooters of Vietnam. A place that tries’s to draw you in with looks rather than the food. This is not the Hooters the truckers of the US have become accustom to. There is serious cooking going on here and the food is just as good as the nice ladies. This place does not cater to foreigners but instead middle aged or retired Vietnamese men who make up about 80% percent of the clientele. You may think that this scene would throw off families from patronizing this establishment. You would be wrong; it all seems to coexist in yet another unique scene in this country.

This was Tai’s last day in Saigon so we were going to eat things that he could not get back in Boston. The first thing we ordered was fried fish in sweet and sour sauce.

This dish is certainly a derivation from a Chinese dish; the flavors were cloying and really like some Chinese food back in the states. What made up for the pedestrian flavor was the freshness of the fish and the excellent execution. When fried in this manner you can literally eat every part of the fish, scales, bones and all. With a bit of rice and some soy sauce it was great.

The second thing we got was a dish that I could have made at home. Beef with one of the wonderful spinach like greens this one being hollow and slightly bitter. I remember having this vegetable during my time in Taiwan. I think that this dish is another Chinese invention made with Vietnamese ingredients.

The best of the meal was when we ordered soft shell crab two ways. The first came with green rice Krispies. I’ve had soft shell crabs with cornmeal, flour, Panko and batter but never with green rice Krispies. The plate threw me off but after dipping it into a bit of sweet chili sauce and biting I realized that it gave you so much more crunch that they were a great accompaniment to the crabs richness. I guess everyone has his or her secrets. I know that some southerner’s secret to great fried chicken is to use crushed corn flakes. This may be it’s Vietnamese equivalent.

The second was much more straight foreword and just battered and fried but still as delicious. This restaurant may flaunt flesh like a meat market but it makes up for it with great food, excellent service and great old man watching.