Whenever I visit Vietnam, I start out light with just one slightly full suitcase and invariably, come home with an extra bag crammed with items that I figure are hard to find abroad. (Or
maybe I was just impulse buying?!) On this last trip, I was able to ask my sister Tasha to fill one of her extra suitcases (she's a well schooled, prepared traveler) with my junk. She flew home after Saigon whereas I went on to other Asian countries.
Though I've been home for weeks, it wasn't till last week that my sister handed over my Saigon souvenir stash. Along with a bunch of the latest cookbooks, there were items like these:
From top left to right:
- Black peppercorns from Phu Quoc island are a little sweet compared to the Tellicherry peppercorns. The Phu Quoc island peppercorns are slightly reddish in color and quite lovely. Keep them in your freezer. White ones are available too. Buy ones that are legit, not merely bleached black peppercorns, which are cheaper but not as good as the real thing. Ask to taste one when you buy.
- Banh trang re are lacy, net-like wrappers that you can use for deep-fried cha gio rolls. They soak up a ton of oil but are very crisp. There's no need to soak them first. I got a 6-pack and refrigerate them for up to 6 months.
- Giant chopsticks used for fluffing up rice. These were found at the Phu Nhuan wet market and you'd mistaken them for spatulas. They're about 1 ¼ inches wide at the top. The handmade pair cost 7,000 VN dong, or about 55 cents! I splurged and got a pair for my mom, who is a hard woman to shop for but she was delighted by the gift.
- Banh trang bo bia dau xanh are a new item to me. I believe they're like Chinese spring roll wrappers or lumpia wrappers. They're made with wheat flour and tapioca flour and according to the packaging do not require water to get them rolling. They're for "rolling the fried meat roll" per the packaging. In Vietnamese it says that they're for cha gio xop (fried imperial rolls); xop means porous, so that doesn't quite make sense to me. Anyone familiar with these wrappers?
- Dried bamboo shoot is what those funky brown things are. The vendor at Cho Lon market told me to buy the premium kind (about $8 USD a kilo) because they're not stinky and don't require days of soaking. Now I have 2 kilos (4.4 pounds) of mang kho in my pantry. That's lots of bamboo. (Tips for cooking dried bamboo shoot.)
A few bottles of Cholimex hot sauce got broken in the luggage and Tasha had to throw them out. Too bad you can't bring fish sauce back. If they sold high quality nuoc mam in the duty free shops at the airport, I'd snap them up!
When you're traveling, what kinds of food souvenirs do you look for?
To securely package things up, I always bring a supply of plastic zip-top bags and bubble wrap. Any tips from you?
Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) says
A friend who recently returned from Vietnam brought me some lovely cinnamon in a cinnamon bark box, from the Ben Thanh market in Saigon, and some lovely sliced crystallized ginger, from a street vendor somewhere.
Anonymous says
Andrea, yes, I love Banh Trang Re!
Yes they do allow the rolls to soak up that oil but they have the best texture! They are a major guilty pleasure.
Robyn says
Andrea - I believe Graham Holliday posted on a Banh Trang place -- what goes in the wrappers is sliced pork and all kinds of greens. When we had them at some place about an hr south of Saigon I didn't recognize any of the greens at all ... the lady who owned the shop that we ate at said she picked them down by the river that morning (I ate them all and hoped for the best).
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steamykitchen says
re: banh trang re wrappers
do they feel/look like paper? I just bought a pack and they are super thin. I put shrimp, coriander stems, egg white and other spices in food processor, made into a paste. Then wrapped just a scant tbl of filling into roll. You can't use water to seal, the wrapper is so delicate that it would disintegrate. Dab your finger in the shrimp puree and use just a bit of that to seal the wrapper. Lay them seam side down on tapioca floured baking sheet (so it doesn't stick) and
Andrea Nguyen says
Robyn, I think Graham posted about banh trang suong which is left out overnight to wilt a tad. That's nice stuff.
Jaden, you got super thin rice papers -- like tissue you'd use for gift wrapping right? Banh tranh re looks more like cheesecloth -- as if it's woven. A guilty pleasure, indeed.
Dani says
Bringing food souvenirs into Australia is too difficult. So I never bother. Looks like you got some fun goodies.
Lili says
I usually bypass all the cheesy magnets, mugs, and t-shirts and head straight for the local supermarket. Last trip to Vienna/Budapest/Prague, I picked up tons of Hungarian Paprika and pepper sauce, some sort of dried pasta dumplings, some German chocolate wafer sandwich cookies (so good), and of course chocolates and candy.
My best (2 years ago, honeymoon in Tuscany)was 500g of dried porcini (yes, that is a lot and yes, I still have a lot of it), $35 for the lot. Lord knows what it would have
neg says
yup .. i got practically a box of banh trang re cuz they're delicious. i also got a box of banh phong tom which you can't find it here in the states. whenever, i go back home, i always shop for food whilst my foreign friends shop for clothes and souvenirs .. how weird ...lol
Andrea Nguyen says
Egg and yoghurt -- that's pretty good Lili. I never thought of that.
Neg, do you end up with an extra cardboard box of stuff? I always wonder what all the other Viet travelers bring back as I stand at the baggage claim area.
FJK says
Food and cooking souvenirs are my favorite -- just some examples
-- from Vietnam I brought crepe mix, coffee, cinnamon, tea and a charcoal grill (among other things)
-- from Budapest I brought copious amounts of paprika and gouloush "cream"
-- from Spain on various trips I've brought back a paella pan, a mortar and pestel, smoked paprika, a can of baby eels, rice, beans, tapas dishes, a wall holder for fresh parsely and more. Once I brought back a fold-up shopping cart with wheels.
-- from Paris
cbien says
Whenever my mom goes to Vietnam I always tell her to bring me back the following:
-coffee
-cashews (really good)
-peppercorns
Stuff that she always brings back on her own:
-coriander
-dried shrimp, squid, etc.
-mam! packaged in like triple plastic!
Funny enough, when I went to San Jose, CA for a wedding in July, I brought my Lock & Lock container knowing very well that I was going to be bringing food back. I brought back cooked banh bot loc and banh beo. YUM!!! I even put their nuoc mam in t
Anonymous says
So now you know a little bit. Even if you don't know everything, you've done something worthwhile: you've expanded your knowledge. - William B. Doyle, http://www.wbdoyle.com/tsfls/
katie says
Andrew, do you know where to buy more banh trang re? Like you, I brought back a couple packages with me, but I want to find/by more!
katie says
Wow - So embarrassed. Andrea -- not Andrew (the name of my boyfriend).
london inventory company says
This is lovely Thai kitchen. Thanks for the information.
Kitt Bo says
Have you ever found banh trang re in the U.S.? We learned about it in cooking class in Saigon and assumed we'd be able to find it at home in Denver, but no luck, not even online.
I've shown a picture of it in Vietnamese restaurants and groceries and most people don't even know what it is!
Hoping you can help.
Kitt
marlon says
Yes they do allow the rolls to soak up that oil but they have the best texture! They are a major guilty pleasure.
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