- All right, hey everyone, it's Mark Wiens.
I am in Saigon, Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam,
and I'm sitting down for what is one of,
I guess you could call it a pastime
or a highly enjoyed meal in Vietnam,
uh, eating snails.
(chillout beats)
So first, you choose your type of shellfish or snail.
And then once you know which snail you want,
then you tell them how you want it cooked.
So, they have like five different ways to cook it,
I think one is stir-fried, sauteed,
steamed, a bunch of different ways.
But this is like a Vietnamese pastime,
it's extremely popular,
and whenever you eat shellfish and snails
you have to be drinking beer as well.
At least, almost everyone does.
So I am sitting right along the street,
actually just a couple blocks from where I'm staying,
and I have ordered a couple of different dishes
of which a few I know what they are,
and a few I have no idea what they are.
Oh, and one that just came.
Ohh-kay.
Oh, these are the crazy ones.
I'm not sure what kind of snail this is
but it was recommended by our waiter.
This is a huge--
that's huge.
Comparison of this one and this one.
Oh, that's hot.
Oh that's hot.
Okay, I'm gonna grab these little two-prong fork.
I think I'm gonna start with--
I think these are the Babylon snails,
or Babylon snai-- yeah, I think so.
Anyways, and this is stir-fried in chili and garlic.
Okay, let me poke it and then pull.
Oh yeah, okay that came out nicely.
Okay so the problem is that all the seasoning
is on the shell, but then when I pulled it out
it's like a naked, a little naked snail.
So, I don't know if I should dip in a sauce?
Okay I'll dip a little bit,
and then I'm gonna eat it, okay.
Mmmm.
Oh wow.
That is--
it's a little bit on the chewy side,
but I do like that seasoning.
The seasoning is like garlic salt--
garlic salt and chili, mmm.
Oh that's chewy, but in a very good way.
Almost like squid, mmm.
Okay, this one is another snail and I can see--
and this one I think is stewed in coconut milk,
and then it is topped with a handful of Vietnamese mint,
or Vietnamese coriander.
Let me try to find a big one.
Okay, here we go.
Wow.
I didn't even know how to eat this,
but the kind waiters here have told me
that I gotta suck this one,
'cause I was trying to poke down here,
but there was nothing to poke.
Mmmm, okay.
I sucked down a bunch of sauce first.
And then the little snail came like, sliming out at the end.
That almost has the texture of an oyster.
It's slimy, and then that's like
a kind of a sweet coconut milk curry.
I think I should chase it with some Vietnamese mint.
Mmm, once you're finished eating these snails,
you just toss the shell into the garbage below.
Okay, these are scallops, and they're just little scallops,
but I think they're grilled face down, or shell down,
and then they are topped with green onions and peanuts.
So I don't think I've ever had the combination
of scallops and peanuts,
so I am looking forward to this one.
I'm not sure if you should just go in with your face,
or eat-- but anyways,
I guess I'll go with the fork method first,
try to scoop on all those peanuts.
Okay.
Mmmmm.
Oh yeah.
Oh that really works,
oh that really works well.
And then you're supposed to chase it
with the Vietnamese coriander as well.
And I'm just gonna--
I think I'm just gonna bite straight into this shell
to get everything out.
Mmmmm.
Oh, I think there must be some butter on that
because it tastes so good.
Oh, wow.
That is a combination,
scallops and peanuts, that I never would have thought of.
And it doesn't--
to me it doesn't even sound that good.
But it's actually amazing.
It has that beautiful sweetness from the scallop,
and then that peanutty nutty flavor,
and then also the crunchiness from the peanuts.
That is awesome.
That's like a scallop with peanut butter.
Amazing.
I also got some beef stir-fried with noodles.
Gotta get a bit of a more filling dish as well,
and so let me taste that.
Mmmmm.
Oh yeah.
Again, the beef in Vietnam is so good,
and that's stir-fried on top of noodles,
with some Gai-Lan Chinese broccoli on there.
That's marvelous, the beef.
And also I got some morning glory,
stir-fried I think with just garlic.
Mmmm.
Stir-fried to perfection.
It's crispy and fresh,
and nice and garlic-y.
The time has come to sample the beasts,
these giant, scary looking snail-mollusks,
and they almost look like they've been diced up,
and then some chili sauce has been thrown in there.
I don't even know how to go about eating this,
but potentially scoop it all out.
Or maybe it's--
oh, they sort of cut it into bite-size pieces, maybe.
Perhaps.
Anyway, okay.
I don't know if I should do some prying action,
some leverage, get a little leverage up in there.
Oh, there we go.
Oh yeah, look at that.
Okay, I'm gonna try what this is.
It has the same texture as squid,
it's chewy...
Oh, man.
That's wonderful.
It has like a sweet--
kind of a sweet and salty chili sauce on it.
I like that.
And that's so meaty.
Oh yeah, one more.
One more big bite.
Mmmmm...
That might be the best one.
Oh, that's wonderful.
Literally I've seen people with these shells like in their--
like as a decoration in their house.
But I think I'll throw this guy out.
That was amazing.
I think I'm going straight back to those--
Where did my little fork go? Oh.
I'm going in for another.
I'm gonna squeeze on some lime,
and then I'm gonna try to add a few more--
a few of these chilies to top it off.
I think that might make it perfect.
This might be the best thing I've ever tried.
All right, I'm gonna just slurp this bad boy down.
Mmmmm.
Oh that's so good.
Now if your hands get too juicy or dirty,
they always have these wet-wipes
readily available on your table,
and you can always wipe your mouth and your face.
You definitely have to wipe your face
after a meal like that.
There were definitely some snail splatters
all around my mouth.
That was delicious.
You gotta make sure to clean out your teeth,
I'm sure I have lots of bits of snail
all up in my teeth,
but that was a truly marvelous meal.
I especially loved those scallops with the peanuts,
a combination that I never would have thought of,
but it was amazing.
And then also those giant...
The giant--
the giant shells were also very good, nice and chewy,
but I loved the flavor,
and I also loved that chewy texture of them.
But really, everything was very good,
and this style of dining and socializing
and relaxing and slowly eating
is definitely a style of Vietnamese cuisine
that I love and enjoy.
Thank you so much for watching this video,
hope you enjoyed it,
please remember to give it a thumbs up,
leave a comment below,
and I'll see you on the next food/dining adventure.
(tropical world music)