Vietnamese hotpot (Lẩu) and barbecue

One other Vietnamese typical dish. Well, It’s actually pretty Asian.

In Vietnam, there aren’t many things that make the hotpot truly Vietnamese apart from the dipping sauces.

However, depending on where you order it, you can end up with a lot of weird stuffs: beef brains, beef tongue, hatched eggs (you know, this egg full of a baby chicken that you will boil with the egg and eat (and sip the liquid inside sometimes…)?)…

But sometimes it can just be good, with meat or seafood you are used to.

There is this really weird dipping sauce made with (I think) fermented shrimp and garlic. It nearly stinks, but it’s really tasty and could be good if the taste was not that overwhelming. The you usually have nuoc mam or a sauce made with nuoc mam.

It is served with rice noodles (bun or pho) or wheat noodles (mi) which are the same as the ones in the Cup Noodles.

For the barbecues, you have also the same dipping sauces, but you usually have slightly normal meats like beef.
I had once a garlic marinated beef, it was really delicious!
Barbecues can sometimes offer real vegetables, like eggplant but you can also see some fresh herbs that Vietnamese call vegetables (and for the barbecue, I really wonder if you have to eat them raw or to “grill” them).

Never forget that even if barbecues and hotpots (usually sold in the same place) it is made for at least 3 persons. Then, if you’re a big eater, I advise you to take more than you should.