- [Trevor] Coming up for all you Food Rangers,
we're going for a full-on local experience in Danang,
as we join local food experts Summer and Helen.
They'll be taking us for a ton of street food
in Danang, Central Vietnam.
All right, check it out, guys.
It's Trevor James.
I am in the beautiful coastal Vietnamese city of Danang,
and today, I am so excited because I'm meeting up
with a couple local food experts here in Danang,
and they're gonna take me
on a full-on Central Vietnamese street food tour.
I can't wait.
(guitar music)
- As soon as you arrive in Danang,
you'll be blown away at just how much street food there is.
Danang is centrally located in Vietnam
and has some of the most famous food you can find
in the whole country,
and since we wanted to try
some of Central Vietnam's best street foods,
we met up first with Summer Le,
who runs a Danang cuisine YouTube channel,
while running food tours as well.
Summer took us on a huge breakfast street food tour
before we met up with her sister Helen,
who runs Helen's Recipes on YouTube.
Let's eat!
- Summer! - Nice to meet you!
- Nice to meet you.
So we're going for a big breakfast walk?
- Okay! - How much you can eat?
- I can do... I can do pretty well.
(Trevor and Summer laugh)
- After a little walk down the breakfast street,
Summer brought me to try one
of the most beautiful looking street foods
that I've ever seen, the bánh bèo.
These beautiful little Vietnamese street snacks
kind of are like a Vietnamese tapa,
made of steamed rice flour and a pork topping,
with peanuts and fried shallots.
(plates clattering)
- [Trevor] These are the bánh bèo here?
- [Summer] Yeah.
- [Trevor] They're like little--
- [Summer] This is bigger than Hue version.
This is the Danang.
- [Trevor] Danang version of bánh bèo, ooh.
- Bigger. - Is this like a rice flour?
- [Summer] Uh huh. Steamed.
- [Trevor] Steamed rice flour, nice.
- [Summer] The mushy topping is made from pork and mushrooms
- [Trevor] Oh, pork and mushroom sauce.
- [Summer] (speaks in foreign language)
- [Trevor] That is colorful!
Oh yeah, she just put some fried shallots on.
- [Summer] The dry topping...
- Dry? - No, that one is peanut.
- [Trevor] Dry peanut? Oh yeah.
Wow!
- So, first, you detach it from the base.
- Okay..
Nice!
- [Summer] This food is also very kid-friendly as well.
- [Trevor] Kid-friendly?
- [Summer] The cake, my baby loves.
- (laughs) - This one.
She always say, "Bánh bèo, bánh bèo!"
- [Trevor] Bánh bèo!
With the fish sauce in?
Okay, I gotta make a cross here.
- [Summer] Otherwise, it would splash.
- [Trevor] Oh, okay.
- [Summer] No, cut it like...
- [Trevor] There. Like that?
- [Summer] Yeah! (laughs)
- Let's try it out!
Mmm...
Oh...
Oh wow!
Yeah, that peanut flavor.
That sauce is really nice.
It's not very strong.
- [Summer] No...
- [Trevor] It's very savory and light
with the rice flour.
Very nice.
There's also quite a bit of sweetness in there.
It's like the perfect mix of between sweet and savory.
- And a little bit fat from the peanuts as well
and the shallot oil.
- (speaks in foreign language)
- What are we getting here?
- It's the...
We call Bun Mam. - Bun Mam.
- It's a noodle salad with anchovy sauce.
- Okay!
Bun Mam!
Summer brought me to try the classic stinky,
salty, and pungent Bun Mam,
a rice noodle dish with pork belly, veg, and herbs,
like Vietnamese mint, some young jackfruit,
and all powered with a strong anchovy sauce.
This is potent.
- Let me tell you.
If you ask any Danang local what is their favorite dish,
it's this one. - This one?
- This one.
- Awesome.
- But it's not for everyone - Oh, it's a strong--
- It's not for the faint of heart!
This is my favorite dish.
It's called Bun Mam. - Bun Mam.
- Basically just rice noodle. - Rice noodle?
Oh wow, look at that.
- A lot of vegetables
and roasted pork.
- Pork belly. - Yeah.
And uh-- - What's this?
- Anchovy sauce on top - Anchovy sauce.
Oh so it's going to be strong.
- [Summer] It is strong.
- That looks good.
- Smell like hell, tastes like heaven!
This dish is so good!
- Oh, it is a potent...
It is a potent aroma.
- If you don't eat
and the person next to you is eating this dish,
you just want to punch him in the face.
- Mmm...
Mmm!
Oh, it's great!
It's not that strong.
You can taste a little bit of the anchovy flavor,
but not bad at all.
It's also a little sweet.
It's like a little sweet-- - Probably from the pineapple.
(speaks in foreign language)
- That was really nice!
Bye!
- My sister Helen will show you around Danang
in the afternoon. - In the afternoon
for more food. - For more food!
- Yeah, I'm really looking forward to that.
This was just the warm-up for a huge day
of eating street food in Danang.
After hanging out with Summer, I met up with Helen,
who took me to try a ton
of different, unique Vietnamese street foods.
Hi Helen!
- Hi, how are you?
- Nice to meet you! - Nice to meet you, too!
- Wow, really nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you, nice to meet you.
- Really looking forward to this.
- Yeah, I'm so excited!
- It's beautiful here in Danang.
First up, Helen brought me to try
a classic Danang noodle soup dish,
the Bánh Canh Ruong,
stuffed with tons of delightful goodies,
like pork and fish cake, beef sausage,
quail egg, and fermented pork sausage,
all in a broth with huge mackerel chunks.
So flavorful!
So what are we having up here?
- We're gonna have a noodle soup that you would eat
with a spoon. - Really?
- And it probably the only noodle soup
that you're gonna eat with a spoon here.
- Oh, nice!
- It's called Bánh Canh Ruong
because this area used to be a rice field,
and then now it's all the house rising up,
but then you still call this Bánh Canh Ruong--
- Bánh Canh Ruong? - It means rice field.
Yeah, because it's so good, that we stay
for a very long time.
- Great!
- (street noise drowns out speaker)
- So this is the Bánh Canh Ruong?
- So they have fish cake,
and this is used to wrap in banana leaf.
It's beef--
- [Trevor] Fish cake?
- Beef sausage. - Beef sausage.
- And quail egg. - Quail egg.
- [Helen] And this is lamb with this fermented pork,
you know?
- Fermented pork? - Yes.
- Fermented pork sausage. - Nice!
(speaks in foreign language)
- This looks good!
And what's the broth?
- It's pork based. - Pork base, nice.
Bánh Canh Ruong - Bánh Canh Ruong, yes!
- Looks beautiful!
- So this is the special version with everything,
and this one is a smaller version.
This tapioca noodles is more chewy,
and then this one is wheat, so--
- [Trevor] Tapioca and wheat?
- [Helen] So I choose a mix of bowls
for you to try. - Perfect!
Mmm!
Quail eggs, there's a lot in here!
That's great!
- Familiar with in China,
but here they also have a spring rolls.
- Spring rolls! - Yeah!
- There's lots of stuff in here.
Herbs, is that Vietnamese...?
- Vietnamese mint and coriander.
- Coriander. Lots of pepper.
- Huge chunks of pork. - Huge chunk of pork, wow!
That looks great!
Mmm...
Oh wow!
- Yeah, you need to try this!
This is special.
- That's really nice!
Vietnamese mint!
- Makes a difference, right? - Oh yeah.
And there's that black pepper flavor in there,
and the broth is really nice.
That pork broth. Look at that.
There's the spring roll.
- [Helen] Yeah, the fish.
They make it with mackerel fish.
- [Trevor] Mmm, mackerel fish.
- [Helen] It makes the flavor of the broth more intense.
- [Trevor] Oh yeah, that is nice!
- [Helen] Only Danang people know about this dish.
It's not popular with foreigners
or even other Vietnamese who come
from other parts of Vietnam here.
- I love the mixture of noodles.
Tapioca and wheat.
The fish cakes, the mackerel...
Oh, that flavor!
A little spicy with the chili? Oh yeah.
- And the fermented pork gives it a tangy,
slightly tangy flavor.
- After finishing that delicious bowl of soup,
Helen brought us to try a famous dessert in Danang,
avocado with coconut ice cream.
So what do we have here?
- Kem bo
- Kem, kem bo - Kem bo
Kem is ice cream, and then Bo is avocado.
- Oh, Kem bo, it's ice cream with avocado?
- Yeah. - Wow!
- Kem bo? - Kem bo.
- Kem bo
- So that's the avocado. - Avocado mash.
- It kinda looks like guacamole.
- Yeah, I know!
We eat avocado here as a dessert.
- Dessert. - Only dessert.
No savory dish. - Wow.
- And then they add coconut ice cream.
- Avocado, coconut ice cream, and ice?
- No ice. Oh, a little bit of ice,
and then that coconut sauce here.
- Coconut sauce. - Yes,
and then caramelized coconut...
- Oh, like coconut jelly?
- No, this one here.
- Oh!
- Caramelized coconut ribbon.
- [Trevor] Is that good?
I gotta try it.
Avocado, coconut ice cream, and this is...
- Caramelized coconut... - Caramelized coconut.
Oh yeah!
Mmm!
Whoa!
That is so sweet,
and the avocado mixes in there really nicely.
- Yeah.
And you got the crunch of the caramelized--
- With the crunch. - Yeah.
- It's so refreshing.
Wow!
So what's next?
- We're going to a snack place.
- Okay? - Yeah.
- All right, let's go check it out.
Next up, Helen brought us to try
some famous Danang spring rolls,
wrapped in mustard greens.
These were to die for!
(background noise drowns out speaker)
- Special kind?
- Yeah, you don't have to soak it in water.
It's like very delicate,
and you can already roll like this.
- It actually feels like paper!
- (laughs) It is!
Yeah, so she wrapped it already once,
and then, she wrap it one more.
- Oh, and she's putting it in right now.
- It's gonna have a really flaky crust.
- Flaky? - Yeah.
Very crispy and flaky crust.
And you're gonna have this direct (mumbles)
- Oh perfect!
- [Helen] This is Vietnam.
You eat the veggies like a cow.
- Wow!
What a true spring roll feast we have here!
- [Helen] It's wrapped in mustard leaves,
so this is mustard leaves.
You can cook veggie soup with it,
but here we eat it raw like lettuce.
So you're gonna wrap everything here.
- Ohh.
- Then, green papaya.
- So you take the spring roll
and you put it into the mustard leaf?
- [Helen] Yes, and then cucumber.
- [Trevor] Green papaya and cucumber.
- [Helen] And then you wrap it up.
- [Trevor] Whoa
- So it's gonna balance out the greasiness of the--
I think they do need some herbs, like mint and stuff.
- [Trevor] Oh nice!
- Mmm!
Oh wow!
- It's like a little bit of mustard flavoring.
- Mmm! - Yeah.
- I just got it there.
- It's tastes the-- - A slight touch of mustard,
yeah. - Right.
Different than lettuce.
- [Trevor] For the next killer street food meal in Danang,
Helen brought us to try one of Vietnam's
most famous street foods, the Banh Mi sandwich.
Banh Mi!
- Banh Mi! - Banh Mi, Banh Mi!
- So they have here, you know, breadstick
with just fill with patê and fat.
And then the normal banh mi with different cuts.
- Cold cuts - Yes, a lot of cold cuts
and spring onion.
- Oh yeah.
- [Trevor] Banh mi
- [Helen] Yeah, they have the oven.
- [Trevor] Oh, coal oven!
- [Helen] The charcoal oven here.
- [Trevor] Oh yeah.
- (speaks in foreign language)
- [Trevor] Look at all these breadsticks!
- [Helen] There's so many.
- [Trevor] With the patê.
- This one is just patê and chili sauce, that's it.
But it's amazing.
- This is just patê and chili sauce?
- Yes. - Wow!
- Pork lard. - Pork lard?
- Pork lard, yeah.
So very rich and creamy, very good.
I used to have a food tour with Summer,
and I brought some customer, some foreigners here,
and every day after that, I come here again,
and I see them eating here.
- They always come back?
- They come back every day,
for the whole week that they are here.
- Wow,
this is banh mi heaven.
- Yeah, I know!
- Oh yeah, the traditional banh mi.
Oh wow, look at that.
- Be careful on this, the green chili.
- Oh!
So it has the pork sausage, cucumber, green chili,
is this-- - Vietnamese mint.
- Vietnamese mint. - Yeah.
- Onion and looks like some salt and pepper,
some patê. - Yeah.
- Ohh!
Oh and some sliced...
Sliced ham in there, too.
Okay.
Cheers!
- Cheers! (laughs)
- Mmm!
- The bread is like very light and airy.
It's crispy.
Really good.
- Oh yeah.
I just missed the chili.
- (laughs)
- So I didn't get any spice, but that sausage in there
with that light and fluffy bread, a little peppery,
and that Vietnamese mint, so fresh!
For a final meal, we had to eat the soul of Danang cuisine,
the Mi Quang.
It's like a half soup, half salad,
so rich with chicken broth and turmeric colored rice noodles
with tons of fresh veg and topped with chicken,
shrimp, jellyfish, and rice crackers.
You'll fall in love with that rich spicy broth
on your first bite.
- We have a Mi Quang Xu,
a quang noodle with jellyfish.
- Ooh! - Yeah!
- Quang noodle with jellyfish.
Awesome!
Ohh, jellyfish!
- So the original mi quang is with pork and shrimp,
but here, they put jellyfish,
so it makes it a very special dish.
- Oh wow.
Wow, that's really colorful!
Nice, so we have--
You were saying these were rice noodles with turmeric?
- Yeah. - Jellyfish?
- Jellyfish, yeah. - Roasted peanuts,
rice paper, it's grilled. - Yes, grilled.
So you gonna break it into smaller pieces...
- Oh! - Right.
- [Trevor] And then?
- [Helen] Squeeze in a little bit of lime (mumbles)
Yeah, okay, not too much - Not too much
- And add the greens - Add the greens?
- Yeah - So we have here some?
- Banana blossom is a must.
- Banana blossom. Some mint?
- Lettuce and mint and radish sprouts.
- Oh yeah - Yeah
Mix it up.
You have pork and shrimp, some quail eggs,
and bean sprouts and everything.
- [Trevor] Totally unique and colorful!
- [Helen] Right, love the color
- [Trevor] Colorful
You wanna try with me?
- [Helen] You go first.
- Look at that.
Oh wow!
It's so fresh!
- I know!
I'm full now, but...
Whoa, not too much, it's very spicy!
- The salad, all the greens in there, make it so fresh.
Very clean and healthy feeling.
- Right, show them the jellyfish!
- Where's the jellyfish? - There!
- Oh, there's a little jellyfish.
- We also have a little bit of the crunchy papaya there,
you know? - Yeah.
- Green papaya.
So we all want to have, you know,
crunchy, crispy, fresh, and chewy,
slightly soft, it's all--
- It's all in there!
- Yeah, it's all in one bite.
- It feels so good; it feels so healthy!
- Yeah, right? - Yeah.
- What a great time hanging out with you and Summer today.
Amazing food!
Thank you so much!
- Our pleasure!
- Great time, so you can check out their channels.
I'm gonna put a link in the description below,
or you can just click right here.
You should definitely check it out.
They have tons of Vietnamese recipes and street food videos.
What a great time.
Thank you so much for watching.
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