Ingredients 5 oz dried lotus seeds (Hat Sen) 5 oz pearl barley (Bo Bo) 2 cups thinly sliced dried seaweed/kelp (Rong Bien) 5 oz The filling is quick to throw together, and if you use a pre-made crust or frozen puff pastry, you can have egg tarts in under an hour from start to finish. And Why Are They So Delicious. Believed to have "cooling" properties according to Chinese medicine, the most basic nước sâm recipe contains sugar cane, nettle leaves, grass roots and corn silk—an illustration of the Vietnamese aversion to wasting anything. While most guidebooks will tell you to always avoid ice when you travel in Southeast Asia, in Vietnam the ice tends to be safe. It is made by simmering coconut milk and sugar, and thickened with a bit of tapioca starch. A visit to Hanoi is not considered complete without a pilgrimage to Bia Hoi Corner (at the junction of Luong Ngoc Quyen, Ta Hien and Dinh Liet) to try bia hơi (fresh beer), a low-alcohol draft beer with a clean, crisp taste. Add 10 cups water to the pot along with the 4 cups presoaking liquid from dried logans. This also allows for customization. The original and naturally flavored beverage is rich in glucose, sucrose, proteins, and other minerals. It is then steamed with coconut milk and sugar, then topped with a mixture of freshly grated coconuts, toasted sesame seeds, roasted peanuts, sugar and salt. Holland's Heineken, Singapore's Tiger Beer, and Japan's Sapporo are also popular, and there's an increasing number of microbreweries producing a range of craft beers. Here I did a take on this traditional Vietnamese snack.The bananas were crispy on the outside, and warm and sweet on the inside. You'll find smoothies with fresh dragonfruit, custard apple, and jackfruit, along with ice and condensed milk or yogurt. My favorite Vietnamese dessert (chè) is the simplest of them all: Chè Hoa Cau. If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment. But the term refers to much more than just the drinks; there's a whole range of tapas-style dishes that accompany a Vietnamese drinking session, such as prawns barbecued with chili and salt, clams steamed with lemongrass, green mango with a prawn-chili-salt dip, or coconut snails sauteed with butter and fish sauce. In Vietnamese, the phrase "di nhau" means "to go drinking." In the central region of Vietnam, the local beers are Huda (the name combines the words Hue, Vietnam's former Imperial capital, and Denmark), and Bia La Rue, a slightly more bitter beer believed to have originated from a French recipe. Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast and Stuffing (Thanksgiving for a Small Crowd), Herb-Rubbed Crisp-Skinned Butterflied Roast Turkey. A range of wonderful snacks such as spicy squid jerky and barbecued meat or seafood usually accompanies this type of drinking session. You can't walk a block of any street in the country and not see someone enjoying a coffee in one form or another. My favorite breakfast item during my stay in Vietnam was Xoi La Cam, a sweet version of glutinous rice. It has a hint of sweetness, which makes it very easy to consume a bunch at once...something I frequently do and not too ashamed to admit. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. These white globes are usually kept on ice until you order one, then a giant machete is used to chop a hole in the top. Some people like to put all the ingredients together in a big pot (like me) as it takes up less fridge space. Sinh Tố (Fruit Smoothie) Smoothies are everywhere in Vietnam, and we're not just talking strawberry … The two most popular ways to drink local coffee are cà phê sữa đá (iced coffee with condensed milk) or cà phê đá (iced black coffee). Of course, the locals don't always choose the local brew. My favorite is the sinh tố mãng cầu (soursop smoothie), a refreshing sweet-and-tart treat made from a fruit that's native to South and Central America and popular in Southeast Asia for a creamy flavor reminiscent of both strawberries and pineapples. If you are drinking (or eating) something with crushed ice, be a bit more careful, because ice is usually delivered in large blocks and crushed by hand (and it's the hands you have to worry about). The filling is encased in a dough of glutinous rice flour then rolled in sesame seeds and deep-fried. You can have this all times of day, and I used to travel far to get my hands on one of these babies. Comments can take a minute to appear—please be patient! In Vietnam, we use avocados in desserts. The same crisp skin and juicy meat as our classic recipe, but with a flavor-packed herb butter to coat it. That's a mistake: the country's drinks are as delicious and diverse as its cuisine. Che Sam Bo Luong is a refreshing Vietnamese iced dessert drink made with an assortment of dried Chinese/Vietnamese herbal ingredients, including red jujubes/dates (Tao Do), thinly sliced seaweed/kelp (Rong Bien), longans (Nhan Nhuc), lotus seeds (Hat Sen) and pearl barley (Bo Bo). This sweet and nutty Vietnamese herbal tea is usually served over ice, making it perfect to sip in the chaos and noise of a Vietnamese wet market on a steamy day. Hard white coconut flesh is a sign that the fruit is too old for drinking.