Nguyen Ngoc Huy For three years now, I’ve been following the news on heat waves and hot spells happening all over the world, including Vietnam. The pattern is pretty obvious: record-breaking high temperatures, followed by more record breakers. I am sure many of us are asking the same question. When will the heat waves and hot spells, or global warming in general, stop? Is there a maximum threshold? A breaking point? We don’t know. Here’s what we do know. Humanity won’t last long at this rate. The first time I encountered this topic up close was the heat wave in northern Vietnam in 2017. It was a heat wave unlike any other before it: 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in most northern areas including Hanoi. I remember thinking: this is it, this is the peak. There is no way it can get hotter. Boy, was I wrong. Last July, a similar heat wave struck Vietnam for about five days. Right from my balcony, I recorded a felt temperature of 50 degrees Celsius. It … [Read more...] about Global warming’s the fight of our lives. We’re losing it
What dry ice is made of
Don’t know what to eat? Try Saigon’s underground food court
Sense Market on Pham Ngu Lao Street in HCMC’s District 1 is a great eating spot for both tourists and locals. Its underground food court serves a variety of foods, ranging from Vietnamese dishes from all over the country to international cuisine. It is also clean and spacious. Try this mango salad with dried anchovy and rice. The salty anchovies and sweet and sour mango combined with crunchy peanuts will sure tickle your taste buds. This delicious sweet and sour shrimp hotpot, served with vegetables like okra and elephant ear plant is a crowd pleaser. This dish of banh hoi (rolls of rice vermicelli sheets), which can be eaten with grilled pork, fried spring rolls and grilled pork sausages, is enough for two people. Nha Trang-style grilled pork sausages, fried rice paper, fresh vegetables, and herbs are the ingredients in this delicious self-made spring roll dish. Do not forget to order sour fermented pork sausages and sweet chili fish sauce to eat with your grilled pork … [Read more...] about Don’t know what to eat? Try Saigon’s underground food court
CNN lists 40 delicious Vietnamese foods
1. Pho What list of Vietnamese cuisine would be complete without pho? According to CNN, it's almost impossible to walk a block in any major Vietnamese destination without bumping into a crowd of hungry patrons slurping noodles at a makeshift pho stand. This simple staple consisting of a salty broth, fresh rice noodles, a sprinkling of herbs and chicken or beef, features predominately in the local diet -and understandably so. It's cheap, tasty, and widely available at all hours. 2. Cha ca Hanoians consider cha ca to be so exceptional that there is a street in the capital dedicated to these fried morsels of fish. This namesake alley is home to Cha Ca La Vong, which serves sizzling chunks of fish seasoned with garlic, ginger, turmeric and dill on a hot pan tableside. “Cha Ca La Vong may be the busiest but the service is a bit gruff and the food is overpriced. Instead make your way to Duong Thanh in Hanoi's Hoan Kiem district, where you'll find plenty of more affordable but just as … [Read more...] about CNN lists 40 delicious Vietnamese foods
Staying cool with a bowl of tào phớ
Viet Nam News Hồ Hoàng With outdoor temperatures hitting 50 degrees, Hanoians are suffering from another severe summer. Each year is hotter than the last thanks to climate change. Unlike the heat of the World Cup, which is really exciting, this heat can actually burn you. In an experiment by VTV, candles melted under the afternoon sun in minutes. The sweltering weather is a daytime nightmare for employees, especially those outdoors. But luckily, tào phớ (soya bean curd) comes to the rescue as one of the best summer foods in Việt Nam. “On July 1st, there were too many customers to count, but I went through about 1,500 plastic cups used to hold the tào phớ. This wasn’t counting servings ot caramel and sweet soup,” said Lê Thu Nga, the owner of a summer food shop in Linh Đàm Market (in Hà Nội’s Hoàng Mai District). She explained that tào phớ helps to cool … [Read more...] about Staying cool with a bowl of tào phớ
A scoop of holy water
Viet Nam News That summer I visited Varanasi for the first time. That city is considered a holy place because of its location on the sacred Ganges river. I had promised myself on this visit to that city I would visit the river. I was not traveling for pleasure. I’d be working. As a postgraduate student researching Oriental culture, I had accepted an offer to do some translations for the Indian railway ministry. Before I went to India to study, I had worked as an interpreter for diplomatic delegations for several years, so that work wasn’t unfamiliar to me. The only unfamiliar thing was that it was my first time interpreting for the railway industry, which required me to know about locomotives and diesel engines. For example, until then I only knew “solution” meant a way of solving something. Only when I visited the petrochemical factory of the Varanasi railway company did I learn that it had another meaning: a homogeneous, molecular … [Read more...] about A scoop of holy water