Lutong Daza goes to Hanoi (Part 2)

MANILA, Philippines — (This is a continuation of last week’s piece, which chronicled my trip to Hanoi with the cast and crew of Lutong Daza for the taping of our cooking show’s first anniversary episodes. Part 1 was about Day 1 of our trip on March 18, which was the day we arrived in Hanoi. This piece is about Day 2, March 19.)

On Day 2 of our trip to Hanoi, March 19, the Lutong Daza cast and crew enjoyed a bahn mi breakfast. Bahn mi, which literally means bread, is made of a short baguette (Vietnam was a French colony from 1887 to 1954), and the use of this famous French bread with its crispy crust and soft and airy inside texture makes this sandwich a must-try. It is a savory sandwich with chicken liver pate, meat or cold cuts, cilantro, pickled carrots and daikon, and cucumber and red chilies.

I love bahn mi because it is filling and delicious, especially when the baguette is extra toasty with lots of cilantro. Making breakfast even more memorable was the fact that my cousin Sandy Daza and I enjoyed our bahn mi al fresco.

After breakfast, we headed to Dong Xuan Market for our “One Million Dong Shopping Challenge.” Dong Xuan is the most popular market in Hanoi for those on the lookout for dry goods, souvenir items, clothes, and assorted food items. Jennie Celdran, our executive producer, gave Sandy and I one million dong each, which is roughly about P2,400. The challenge was to see who would be able to buy the most items with the one million dong in 30 minutes, me or Sandy.

I believe I won the challenge hands down because I was able to buy some wallets, pouches, Vietnamese coffee packs and dried fruits and stayed within budget. Sandy, on the other hand, overspent and bought 12 bottles of Vietnamese fish sauce, coffee and some dried fruits and nuts.

After shopping, we met Nee, the culinary instructor who was going to teach us how to cook Vietnamese fried spring rolls, papaya salad and egg coffee. But before that, we had to buy the ingredients ourselves in the market. As we were walking to buy the ingredients, Nee told us that it’s not uncommon for Vietnamese to go to the wet market twice a day to ensure the freshness of their ingredients. And since we were going to learn how to make fried spring rolls and papaya salad, we bought fresh ground pork, carrots, fresh rice noodles, rice paper, papaya and beef jerky.

When we got to the cooking school, Sandy and I helped Nee prepare the ingredients. Pretty soon, we were making Vietnamese fried spring rolls, papaya salad and egg coffee. Later, we ate everything that we had cooked for lunch, and it was hearty and delicious!

After lunch, we went our separate ways. My son Paolo wanted to shop, and Hanoi is famous for selling overruns from brands like Nike, North Face, Under Armor, Patagonia, etc. And when you walk the maze-like streets of the Old Quarter, shops selling these brands line the streets and it’s hard to resist the urge to indulge in retail therapy. We walked into a store that sold heaps of shirts and jackets that Paolo liked. Whether they were overruns, good imitations or outright fakes, Paolo was only too happy to buy clothes not only for himself, but as pasalubongs for his siblings and friends as well.

I, on the other hand, gravitated towards stores that sold houseware like the lacquer trays and coasters that Vietnam is famous for. I also looked at an assortment of beautifully embroidered table linens, but was able to resist buying any since I had some of those back home. Instead, I bought a few hand-embroidered linen pouches that made nice pasalubongs. Here’s a tip, dear readers: don’t be shy about making tawad! After all, who doesn’t love getting a bargain after a bit of haggling?

Following our shopping adventure, we headed back to the hotel so we could rest a bit before we headed out for dinner in Cha Ca La Vong. When I first visited Hanoi 10 years ago, I remember having eaten their one and only dish and I was excited to have it again.

Established in 1871, Cha Ca La Vong is one of Hanoi’s oldest eateries. It is dedicated to only one dish called cha ca, which is white fish cooked with lots of turmeric, dill, herbs and cilantro. In Hanoi, they use snakehead fish that’s grilled before it’s brought to you. It’s then fried at your table to give it a crispier texture.

The fish is accompanied with a bowl of rice noodles that make it a masterpiece of flavor thanks to the generous servings of all those herbs. Another great thing about it is that it’s not filling because it’s fish, so there was no guilt after indulging in many mouthfuls of succulent cha ca.

After dinner, we decided to walk and explore the city some more. We walked along Hoan Kiem Lake, where it was nice just to people-watch. By 9 p.m., I was ready to call it a night. This is because I still had to pack and fly back to Manila early the next day, while Sandy, my son and the rest of the production crew were staying another day.

I got up at 5:30 a.m. the next day and left the hotel at 6 a.m. to make it in time for my Cebu Pacific flight. We departed Hanoi at 8:40 a.m. and arrived in Manila at 1:30 p.m.

Though my weekend in Hanoi was jampacked, I enjoyed every minute of it. The highlight was the food trip, which was a delicious, gastronomic delight that was surprisingly inexpensive… no wonder more and more Filipinos are discovering Hanoi. I’m already looking forward to another visit so I can experience even more of the city’s uniquely captivating French Indochinese charm.

(Catch Lutong Daza Goes to Hanoi Part 2 on Saturday, June 17, at 11 a.m. on NET25.)