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Vietnamese Venom |
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Story and Illustration : Ben Hopkins |
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Having recently set out on a cycle tour that has so far led me from the hill tribes of North West Thailand, across the remote mountains of northern Laos and into Hanoi, the fuel I’ve consumed so far makes for a reading list that would rumble the guts of Genghis Khan and send the squeamish running for the hills. In Chiang Mai deep fried crickets, cockroaches and bugs made for pleasant beer snacks. In the tribal regions of Laos, a few hundred kilometres to the east I settled down for an evening in a village built on sticks to feast on king cobra boiled in a sauce so strong the hairs of my nostrils were singed when I breathed out. In a notorious back alley of Hanoi they’ll kill a venomous snake before your eyes, cut out its still beating heart, feed it to you with a cup of the serpents blood to wash it down and tell you it increases your potency. This is one epicurean treat I’ve yet to drum up the courage to try but across the street from the snake pit, squeezed between a terrace of French colonial town houses stands a house of spirits that deserves a mention of its own in Divine Delights. Highway 4 is a dimly lit drinking den swimming in the mystical, medicinal and intoxicating qualities of Vietnamese rice wine, known to locals as xeo. Xeo is the wine that was drunk by the ancient emperors of Vietnam and many of the bars 25 different recipes come served with anecdotes relating to ancient Vietnamese rulers. Enter with caution and your first sight will be rows of huge glass pots filled with various shades of pale amber liquid and crammed with the type of creatures that normally appear in nightmares; giant scorpions, insects as large as a fist and strange herbs. There’s one glass pot voluminous enough to encapsulate a child within which is coiled a snake large enough to consume an adult. The alcohol used for these blends comes from the local hospital, meaning it’s pure and strong enough to kill off any stomach bugs that may be lingering. Try not to catch the eyes of the cobra as you walk past and up a narrow rickety staircase to the rooftop bar where the serious business of drinking begins. Curiosity killed the cat but not before he got drunk so I settle down, cross-legged at a six-inch high wooden table and follow my fingertip down the drinks list. Among the several blends there’s a few that catch my eye. Ong Den; made from the rare black bee recommended for its earthy honey taste. Rang Nga Xa; blended with venomous snake powerful and sprightly as it coils a passage around your taste buds. Tam is made from the rare yellow silkworm so bitter it could make Jaegermeister taste like syrup. But don’t be put off if you have a sweet tooth there’s plenty of fruity and liquor type blends. For those seeking an aphrodisiac Minh Mangh is named after a Vietnamese emperor of the same name who ruled from 1820 to 1840. Notorious for his uncountable concubines, legend has it that he fathered over 100 children. Having died at the age of 20 the mind boggles at this guys work rate. I soon find the answer in the menu. Ndang, the most potent of rice whiskies, drink enough of this and the claim is you’ll do it five times in one night and produce four children. The difficult part of this equation could be persuading five women to go home with you. But in Highway 4 anything is possible.
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One of the most fascinating aspects of travelling through distant lands is the discovery of foods we never knew existed and when it comes to epicurean diversity South East Asia has it all. From the hunters blade in the forests of northeast Vietnam to the mahogany table tops of the Raffles Hotel in Singapore the search for new food in this cultural mixing pot of a continent is never ending.|
Tropical Living: September 2007, Volume 7 Issue 4 |
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