Refreshments Take Many Forms

On sultry days, people in Saigon eat and drink special things to refresh themselves

By Tran Tan My

In Saigon, at the hottest time of year — April and May — people can quench their thirst by using a wide variety of beverages such as bottled soft drinks, lemonade, orange juice, tea with ice, coconut milk and fruit juices. They also refresh themselves by eating special dishes. Here are some groups of common foods:

Foods made of seeds or leaves.
Hot e, luoi uoi: Hot e are the seeds of a kind of common spicy plant that is called sweet basil and has the height of half a meter to one meter. Luoi uoi (Scaphium macropodium) is a species of wood tree which is 25-30 meters high. Dry seeds from this tree have the size of an adult’s finger tip; they are brown, have coarse skin, and swell when soaked. Hot e and luoi uoi are soaked in the water separately, then mixed with each other, and are eaten with some refined sugar and ice.

Suong sam: This kind of refreshment food is prepared from the leaf of a kind of creeper whose scientific name is Cyclea peltata. To make it, people break the leaves in a tub of water repeatedly until they get a green mass. The mass is left in the sun or the shade for a while so that it becomes semi-solid. The food is ready now. Suong sam is usually eaten with sugar and ice.

Suong sao: The leaves of a species of annual weed whose scientific name is Mesona chinensis are used for this food. This weed originates from China and is now grown in Vietnam. People make suong sao by cooking the leaves in order to have a black mass. The mass is left aside until it is cool and becomes a black jelly. This food is accompanied with sugar, ice and some drops of banana oil.

Sweet soups

Sweet soup with agar and “pomegranate” seeds: Agar, a seaweed product, is cooked in water until a dense mass appears. After the mass becomes cool, it is cut into threads. These threads are eaten with a mix of sugar and water. It is more enjoyable if some jasmine flavoring is used.

“Pomegranate” seeds are made of tapioca. They are in the form of red-dyed cubes that look like the real seeds of pomegrenates. Processed agar and “pomegranate” seeds are eaten with green bean paste, a mix of sugar and water, the juice of coconut flesh, and ice pieces.

Green bean sweet soup-banh lot: Green beans are soaked in the water. After removing their husks, people cook the grains. Tapioca is mixed with some water to become a mass. This mass is cut into threads and they are cooked in the water. These threads are called banh lot. Processed green beans, tapioca threads, the juice of coconut flesh, a mix of sugar and water, and ice pieces make a refreshing, nutritious food. It is possible to add some white or red beans to make the food more colorful.

Sam bo luong: The main ingredients of this food are lotus seeds, the flesh of longans, jujubes and Job’s-tears. All are cooked. Added to the mixture are threads of pho tai (Chinese seaweed) and pieces of snow mushrooms (Chinese white mushroom) to make a complete dish. This food is eaten with sugar and water, and ice.

Fruits

Nipa palm and palmyra fruits: Cut a Nipa palm fruit into two sections to remove its flesh with the size of an adult’s finger tip. It is whitish, soft and stiff if the fruit is not yet old, and is fragrant. The flesh of Nipa palm fruits are eaten with sugar and ice. The palmyra fruit is used to prepare a similar food.

Fruit cocktail: This is a favorite of high school students. Its main ingredients are the flesh of several tropical fruits such as jackfruits, mangoes and pineapples, which is cooked with sugar, some gooseberry jam and some pieces of lemon jam.

All these refreshing foods and drinks can be easily found in Saigon. They are sold together with refreshment drinks at shops, markets and handcarts. Some shops at Ben Thanh Market sell them, a great way to stay cool while visiting that interesting market for those special gifts.

TOURISM NEWS

Preparing for Tet festival 2008

With the aim of being well prepared for the Tet festival next year, HCM City is making a start on its three main programs, Nguyen Hue Flower Street, Banh Tet Festival and Altruism Fireworks. On May 9, Saigontourist Holding Company held a meeting at Van Thanh Tourism Village to seek advice. Those at the meeting were architects, researchers, artists, and the like, who gave their opinion on the last three festivals. The meeting was aimed to help Saigontourist improve its skill in organizing the festival. The organizers want it to be more attractive and with a fresh and modern look in order to better allow locals and tourists to enjoy the occasion, hoping to improve it to an international stature.

From: The Saigon Times Weekly