- It looks like it would be the best jerky
you would ever have.
- Ooh. - It smells like bacon,
a little bit. - What?
- It's a succulent Vietnamese snack.
- Mm.
- Today we are here to try Vietnamese snacks.
- Mm. (hands clap)
- Excited.
- I have no idea what the Vietnamese snacks are.
- I don't know what to expect either.
I feel like I don't really eat Vietnamese food that often.
- I'm expecting fresh.
- Ooh, love fresh!
- Hi, my name is Shirley Le.
I'm a Vietnamese-Australian writer from Western Sydney.
Vietnamese snacks are all about
that great balance of flavor,
a bit of savoriness,
a bit of saltiness,
and sweetness,
and spiciness.
There's something called, "mon nhau",
which is little dishes
that you can have with beer.
Growing up,
I absolutely love Vietnamese snacks,
especially the sweet stuff.
Anything fun, colorful, and squishy.
I really enjoyed that as a child.
Jackfruit chips are called, "mit say"
in Vietnamese,
which translates to dried jackfruit.
The diaspora communities love to have dried jackfruit
because it's quite hard to find fresh jackfruit
in western countries.
- What is that?
- Is it like a fish?
- [Both] Durian!
- Oh, whoops.
- [Rizcel] It's jackfruit.
- Oh. - Oh.
(both laugh)
- Oh my gawd,
that has a smell.
- My mom used to love eating this.
(bite crunches)
(jackfruit falls) (Sohan crunches)
- You like it? (crunches)
- Yeah.
- It doesn't taste anything like it smells.
- Yeah.
- Which is wigging me out.
- Okay, for Australians
who are watching this,
the texture is like a clinker.
- What is a clinker?
- [Rizcel] Yes. - A clinker.
(bell chimes) - A clinker
is a chocolate almond shaped delight.
The inside is a crunchy, hard, chalky piece.
- Oh.
- I mean, I can see how these would be like,
a Morris snack like chips you just like,
nom, nom, nom. - Yeah.
- Beef jerky in Vietnamese is called, "kho bo".
It's different from the varieties
that you find in western grocery stores
because it's heavily marinated
in a variety of spices,
such as curry powder
and lots of chili.
There's also a hint of sugar in there.
- Dried beef. - Beef.
- Oh no. I don't think I'm gonna like this.
- Oh. - Oh my gawd,
It smells, - Beefy.
(cow moos)
- beefy and fishy. - Yes.
- And for something to say dry,
it looks quite wet.
- Yeah.
(both laugh)
- It looks like it would be the best jerky
you would ever have.
- There's a chili fla- - (coughs) Yeah.
The chili's spicy.
- Oh yeah, I just,
- It has a good chew. - I just got a kick.
- Yeah, right?
And like it comes to you. (whistle blows)
You can get the sweetness.
- Oh, gawd! - Its spiciness.
- It's getting worse.
- It makes it salty and sweet.
It's got the total unami profile.
- Now, do people eat this on its own
or do they eat it with like rice?
- [Rizcel] They have it with beer.
- Beer! - Yeah.
- Okay.
I find myself going back for more bites
so I think I like this one.
- Yeah. I like this one too.
- Tamarind candy is "keo me" in Vietnamese,
and it's got that lovely balance
between sour and sweet flavors.
When you bite into it,
it's quite crunchy
or you can just leave it in your mouth
and it'll dissolve that way.
- Do I spy candy?
- If this is anything like the candy I had before,
I don't know if I'd like this one.
- Yeah.
- In India, we used to have a lot of like tamarind candy
and it'll be like sour
and just like, mm.
- Oh my gawd.
It looks like a Werther's original.
- Yeah it does. (Corina laugh)
- It tastes like watermelon.
- I'm surprised.
I was expecting it to be a lot more soury.
This is sweet though.
This a fun candy.
- I like this one. - Mm.
- I would definitely go back for another one.
- Yeah.
- I just get like sweet sugar
and then tangy, tangy, tangy.
- Mm. - I don't know how...
- Tangy, tangy, tangy. (Sybil laughs)
- "Keo ca phe" coffee candy
has a really strong condensed coffee flavor.
Vietnamese people,
we love our strong coffee
that's due to the French colonial influences
on our dining culture.
When you unwrap that wrapper,
you are going to pop it into your mouth.
You can either chew on it
and feel that coffee crunch
or let it dissolve on your tongue.
(gasps) - Okay. (laughs)
- Keo ca phe!
I love Keo ca phe! (laughs)
Sorry, sound. (bell dings)
- This is really big
in Italian and Greek households.
- Oh! - I think that,
I didn't like it
and I used to, - Oh.
- put it in and go, blah!
And like, spit it out. - Oh.
- Ugh, the smell.
Oh my God.
You can? Oh, you got that. (laughs)
- We got there in the end.
Oh my gawd.
- That's bitter,
more bitter than I remember.
- Mm, see?
- It doesn't actually taste like candy to me.
- Mm.
- It just tastes like coffee.
I don't know if I would go for this.
I think I would just have a coffee.
- Have you ever had a Vietnamese iced coffee
where it's really strong - Uh-uh.
- and then it's got condensed milk in it
so it's really sweet. - Oh.
- This is giving me all those notes.
- I personally really love this one.
- Mm.
- I have a very strong attachment to this.
- Banana candy is "keo chuoi" in Vietnamese.
In Vietnam, it's a hot and humid country,
so we grow a lot of bananas.
Keo chuoi is made out of sugar bananas,
coconut flesh, and sugar.
All of that is cut up quite finely
and melted down.
It's quite laborious
to go through that process
so you're better off buying it.
Keo chuoi is for everyone,
regardless of how old you are.
Just be careful with your teeth
because it's quite sticky.
- You know, banana candy here
is like a banana shaped lolly. (laughs)
- Oh yes, yes.
- How do you open...(laughs)
- The packaging is really hard
to open in these things.
- I'm not the biggest fan of banana
so this is gonna be interesting.
Ah!
Oh gawd. - Ooh.
And very chewy. - Mm.
- There's a lot of flavor, - Mm.
- but the texture
is as Letting it down. - Yeah.
You know what it reminds me of?
Sesame snaps.
- Ah, yep, yep, yep.
- This is a little bit acquired as well.
- The mung bean cakes
are called "banh da lon" in Vietnamese.
Banh da lon translates to pig skin cake.
It's made out of tapioca and mung bean
and it's steamed in layers.
It's such a fun snack to eat.
You can eat it as is
and chew through it,
or you can peel off each layer.
You can call that playing with your food,
but hey,
I think that's just part of the fun.
- I've seen these growing up
so many times in like Asian groceries.
- Is it jelly?
Is it a roll-up?
Is it cake?
- Pig skin cake.
That doesn't - That doesn't
- look anything like pig skin. - sound appealing.
- Like, it looks like pork belly,
like the layers of pork belly.
- Oh! Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Like, maybe?
- It's serving looks.
It's like layered candy.
It's fun.
- I can't really taste anything.
- Mm.
- It becomes cake in your mouth.
- I wonder how mung bean
got to this form.
Isn't mung mean a bean?
(bell chimes)
- I think its tapioca.
- Oh.
- It's very reminiscent of a Filipino dessert as well.
- This would be like a perfect,
like after work snack,
you know, you come home and then you're like,
"Oh, I need a tea and a little snack."
And this would be perfect.
- Yeah. Oh my gawd, okay.
- Black sesame rice paper can be translated
into "banh trang me den" in Vietnamese.
It's such a fun snack.
It's one of my favorites.
You can pop it into the microwave
and it gloriously puffs up.
It's made out of rice
and sesame seeds dotted throughout.
You can enjoy it with (Vietnamese word),
which is a papaya salad,
or you can just enjoy it on its own.
It's very light, airy and crunchy.
- Beautiful!
I like it.
- It looks like dragon fruit.
- Wow. - Wow.
- This looks like a great,
yummy, crunchy snack! - And it's firm.
- Big as my head. (Corina knocks)
- That's fun.
- I reckon I'm gonna love these.
- Yeah.
(snack breaks) - Oh!
- Ooh.
- It smells like bacon a little bit.
- What? (sniffs)
Where? - Do you reckon?
- This is like what sesame snaps
would want to be when they grow up.
- Yes. - Yeah.
- It's yum.
It's simple.
- Mm.
- I didn't taste bacon. (laughs)
- Okay. (laughs) - My taste is deceiving.
- "Sinh to bo" translates to avocado shake
in English.
It is another symbol of French influence
on Vietnamese cuisine.
In Australia,
we're so used to seeing avocados
in the form of savory dishes.
Vietnamese people,
we enjoy avocado as a dessert,
especially in (Vietnamese word).
We mash it up with condensed milk,
and ice, and it's the perfect treat
on a hot and humid day.
- I saw this and I was like,
avocado smoothie?
And but I don't think it's avocado smoothie.
- [Rizcel] It is.
- [Both] Oh!
- Okay. - Avocado shake?
- I've tried this before, but, - What?
- it's been a very long time.
- For me, avocado is like, savory.
- Savory, yeah.
- Like a sweet shake.
You're walking there like a vanilla shake
but just with avocado.
- Yeah.
- Which is what it is.
- So. (laughs)
- I like it.
- No. - No? (laughs)
- I don't know.
I don't like it at all.
It kind of tastes like when you heat up avocado.
- Oh, yeah. - And you you know
how it tastes like different? - Mm-hm.
- That's what I'm getting in this,
but it's cold.
- I'm like on the total opposite end
it's so hot, I love this. (laughs)
- It's a grower.
Definitely a grower. - The entire time
you're talking, I'm just drinking it.
I really like this. (Ryan laughs)
- I'm so sorry.
(Corina laughs)
It's not for me.
- It's okay.
- "Che ba mau" dessert with three colors.
It's the perfect snack
to enjoy in a sweltering climate.
A lot of Asian countries
have their own version of a shaved ice dessert,
and this is Vietnam's version.
- Okay. This is fun in a cup,
if I ever saw it.
- This looks amazing.
- Yeah.
- Oh, no.
I dunno how to maneuver this. (Ryan laughs)
- Okay. (spoon hits)
- Sorry. (laughs)
- This looks like in the Philippines,
it's called a (Filipino word).
and it gives very much - Yeah.
similar vibes.
- Got three colors.
We've got green, we've got red,
and we've got yellow.
What do you reckon is? - What about the purple?
- The tree colors.
This is red.
This, what is this color then?
- The milky.
- [Rizcel] So the three colors are,
(bell dings) the yellow mung beans,
(bell dings) the red beans
(bell dings) and the green egg are jelly.
- Okay. Well, the milk doesn't count as a color.
- (laughs) No.
- I like it.
- This is heaven.
- But I prefer drinking the liquid
rather than crunching the ice.
I'll take your liquid
and you can have my beans.
- Perfect. - Mm.
- Perfect pair.
- It's like a explosion of rainbows
in your mouth. (laughs)
- "Chao tom" sugar cane, prawn sticks.
You have a shrimp paste
wrapped around a stick of sugar cane.
It's actually considered quite a posh snack,
but of course you can also enjoy it with,
you guessed it,
a can of beer.
- It's like a tornado potato,
but a tornado skewer.
- I love everything about this.
I love prawn.
I love sugar cane,
like the actual stick.
Amazing.
- Oh, yeah!
This smells so good.
- Okay. This has to be the best snack.
- Yeah, it's so good.
- Do you reckon that? - Mm! Mm!
- There's a party going on
in Sybil's mouth right now - Mm-hm.
- and you're not invited.
- Mm. - Very yummy.
- It's a succulent Vietnamese snack.
- The skewer part is also something you can eat
and that's just beautiful,
magical. - Wait, what?
You can eat that?
- You just chew it, - [Rizcel] I don't think,
- don't swallow. - Yeah, don't eat the fibers.
- That's amazing.
I thought it was there just for looks.
- No. - Oh my gawd,
everything has a purpose.
- Yes! It's so good!
- Oh!
- [Rizcel] This is all so good with beer.
- Oh. - Yeah, I bet it is.
- (laughs) Everything we like is good with beer.
- Everything's good with beer.
- Yeah, like it doesn't look,
probably doesn't look like much,
but it's definitely giving a lot.
- Salt and pepper quail, "chim cut rang muoi tieu".
It's the perfect snack
to enjoy with alcohol,
and it's in one of the categories
of (Vietnamese word) dishes
that you have with beer.
You've got that lovely crunch
because the quail has been deep fried,
and the meat is very flavorful as well
because it's been marinated overnight
in green onion, Chinese five spice powder,
and lots of other lovely ingredients.
- Yum! - Ooh!
- Chili.
- Look at like the little quail leg.
It's so adorable.
- Quail. - Quail.
- Is that a bird?
- [Rizcel] Yeah, a little bird.
- [Both] Oh!
- Oh no! - Oh!
- You can see it. - See like the whole
form of it.
- You can see it.
I don't like that.
- It's just like chicken
- But it'll be a lot more bony, right?
- Are you gonna have the chili?
- Ah...
- Somehow I have no problem eating chicken wings.
(both laugh)
- I know, like...
- Yeah, it's yum.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- I bet, do they eat this with beer as well?
- [Rizcel] Yeah.
- Yeah. Okay.
- I feel like my grandma would love this
cause she loves like,
eating meat on the bone
and like sucking the meat - Yeah!
off the bone. - Yeah.
- And then when she's done,
you see the bones and they are clean.
(laughs)
- Deep fried won tons, "hoanh thanh chien".
It's a lovely snack
that is crunchy on the outside
and quite soft on the inside.
The filling is minced prawn and pork
mixed with shallots
and a bit of sugar and salt as well.
And the mince is wrapped
in a wrapper made out of egg and flour
and all of that goodness
is then deep fried.
- [Both] Deep fried won tons!
- See, this is the perfect snack food.
- Oh, yes. - Because,
- and it's like a, - you can...
- one bite sort of thing?
- Yeah. I think from the name itself,
I know I'd probably like this. (laughs)
- Yeah.
- This is what I imagine
I could have with a beer.
- Yes. - Do they have this
with a beer?
Okay.
- If you serve this at a party,
a hundred percent,
this would be one of the first things
to clear out.
- The texture.
Like it's all about the texture for me.
You get that crunchiness.
Like altogether,
this snack is the bomb.com. - Mm-hm.
- Are we saying that still? (laughs)
- I reckon they all slayed so hard.
- Yeah.
- Minus the avocado one. (laughs)
- Think for me,
highlight was that avocado smoothie.
(both laugh)
- I am totally down for all the fried foods.
- Oh yes.
I absolutely adore the sugar cane prawn stick.
It was beautiful.
- I think I've seen a lot of these
different types of foods growing up,
but I never really got to try them.
But trying them today
really just solidified
that Vietnamese people
can make really good food.
- I wrote this book called, "Funny Ethnics".
It's my debut novel.
It's about being Vietnamese-Australian
and growing up in Western Sydney.
Check it out.
(upbeat music)