Her first real work trip!

if you're going to have cold on a work trip, make it Vietnam

The secret is OUT

I went to Vietnam for my first real work trip last month! If you are familiar with the cinematic universe of The Boss Baby, that’s how I felt for most of this trip. This was quite a whirlwind for my first international assignment. I spent four days in Ho Chi Minh City, three-ish days in the Mekong delta region further south, and three days in Hanoi back up north.

Most days consisted of waking up between 4-5am doing prep work, and conducting interviews from 8am-5pm. Exploring and eating took place between meetings with recs from local consultants. We’ll get to the really excellent food that I ate throughout the trip, but here’s a bit more context on how I got this assignment.

Some thoughts before food

Working in global development consulting is a weird thing. The industry is inherently built for the US to demonstrate soft power by supporting developing countries with the hopes that they will become political and economic allies in the future. On the other hand, the industry can also support businesses in emerging markets that are growing incredibly quickly. 

My company conducts private sector assessments with these businesses in developing economies to understand their challenges and opportunities for growth. These assessments have somewhat of an established formula for interviews. So, they can be conducted by people who know the formula, but don’t have much country context. Enter me.

Needless to say, I am by no means an expert on Vietnam. The only prior knowledge I had were some haphazard high school history lessons and basic staples of the cuisine. I got an all expenses paid trip to a country that I have never visited, and don’t know the language. My team is contracted to ensure the assessment answers the questions of our government clients - with technical guidance from our local consultants - and propose solutions to socio-economic challenges for a country that isn’t my own. 

Most assessments are completed in low income countries where the gaps towards sustainable development are really wide. Vietnam is not one of those countries. It’s rapidly accelerating towards its sustainable development goals. The result: some rural areas and urban fringes living vastly different worlds than others living in the city.

It felt a little odd to enjoy a trip under these circumstances. On some days, I was meeting executives in gleaming, 20-floor luxury office buildings in Hanoi. On other days, I was interviewing small business owners in remote areas in the Mekong, who can’t get their hands on the right food processing equipment to scale. 

Things become more complicated when these socio-economic inequalities and limited transformation stem from years of colonialism, and a senseless intervention by the US that contributed to a war lasting for over 20 years. And yet, everyone we met was incredibly kind, warm, and welcoming.

It’s complicated. I feel conflicted about it every time I think about this trip. So, I want to lay this out there before I gush about all the wonderful things I had the privilege to experience. 

This seems like a good time to add *my opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.*

With this context, I think it’s time that we get into the food. 

Let’s start with soup

After not experiencing a single tummy issue this entire trip, I am convinced that my body is wired for Vietnamese food. Potent Vietnamese iced coffee? No problem. One of many novelty ice cream products? Fine! Slurping soup in 96°F? Oddly healing. 

On that note, let’s start with the soups. I have never consumed so much scalding liquid in my life in such intense temps. The ritual of sweating from every part of your body while hovering over a steaming bowl of soup isn’t novel. Many cultures consume soup during ridiculously hot months as a way to regulate your body temps.

On my second day, our consultant took us to a family-run shop that specializes in Bún bò Huế, a rich beef and pork soup. The dish comes from the central city of Huế, which the family running this spot is from. Huế was Vietnam’s capital before WWII. This version had slices of beef, fish balls, pork, and rice noodles. Between ravenous slurps, the rotating fan hits your face with a pitiful waft of lukewarm air. Running on jetlagged steam and 30+ hours of travel, the hot broth revives you. There’s a reason Bourdain called this “the greatest soup in the world.”

Another incredible soup is bún riêu. The broth is a rendered tomato and crab base. One of my GW friends whose family is from Ho Chi Minh City (shoutout, Anh!) gave an expert rec if you find yourself there, Cô Hương Béo (Address: 19B Đ. Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai). After 15 minutes of trying to translate the menu and desperate outreach to our consultants, an extremely kind and patient, English-speaking manager explained what bits and pieces we may like or not like (i.e. duck egg with a partially developed duck fetus). The broth was fairly clear but packed with so many punchy, acidic, and savory flavors. The puffed fried tofu soaked up all of the broth making a perfect bite. Equally exciting was their fermented apricot soda. Sweet stone fruit with a little effervescence. Couldn’t have gone better with the steaming bowl of fishy broth. 

Lastly, I have to credit our hotel breakfast buffet at Bach Suites Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City, which has a different soup variety for breakfast every morning. Experiencing a brutal cold (likely from pure exhaustion) for the first part of this trip, I couldn’t have been in better hands. My sickly ass would hover over a different bowl of clarified broth with noodles and some sort of meat every morning. One of our consultants unprompted, remarked “chicken soup for the soul” one of these mornings and it completely sent me cackling. 

Find me at the buffet

I have to confess that aside from soup, I love buffets. In retrospect, I realize my love for the endless smorgasbord stems from many lunches with my grandparents in Delaware at the strip mall Chinese buffet, as well as a few Hanukkah brunch buffets at Dover Downs. 

Hotel buffets in Vietnam are next level. They are almost always included in your rate and they are extensive. It was the perfect way to try a ton of traditional dishes before the day really started. Omelets, rice rolls, cold cuts, dim sum, pho bars, pastries, and every fruit juice under the sun. My buffet strategy was the first thing on my mind before I fell asleep and when I woke up (sorry, Will). The options are dizzying. The combinations - endless. Here are some highlights:

plate one: rice rolls, taro dim sum, sticky rice and pork floss, papaya salad, mini banh mi, smoked trout, and summer rolls

plate two: more rice rolls, fried spring rolls, sticky rice, Vietnamese fried donut, pork dim sum, salmon summer roll, apple turnover, dragon fruit, & cantaloupe

yes, that’s a DIY pho bar. 

Dishes that altered my brain chemistry

This isn’t a catch-all category. There were some dishes that I simply can’t categorize. Allow me to explain the best I can. 

Coconut ice cream - Coconut kem with mango jellies, black sticky rice, peanuts, and CORN. Jet lagged and swirling in space and time at 9:00pm on my first night, one bite of this sent me. Sweet and fruity, but also creamy and starchy and nutty? It’s everything a “not too sweet” girly could ask for. Any excuse to eat raw corn is a good one in my eyes.

Coconut + shaved ice - Fresh coconut continued to blow my mind. During an interview with coconut product company, we were presented with coconut candies, coconut syrup sandwiches with chopped peanuts, and this shaved ice treat with coconut water, shavings, syrup, and peanuts. Sweating from every pore in the Mekong delta, this kept me lucid throughout our interview. Everything was made from a coconut tree variety that’s only indigenous to this area. You literally split the coconut open and instead of coconut water, you find a pool of dreamy syrup. 

Squid special - Onto savory. This next one was unexpected. One of the consultants raved about a pizza place that has rapidly expanded to locations all over Hanoi (Pizza 4P’s)? Not really on my bucket list while visiting Vietnam but I went with it. I snagged a table for one in front of their pizza oven counter. The pizza was equivalent to an artisan shop in the suburbs, just alright. HOWEVER their grilled squid special with an avocado and mango salsa was DE-lightful. Chewy and charred squid, fresh avocado, sweet mango piled on a sesame chip. You know what they (literally no one) say: come for the pizza, stay for the squid. 

Soft shell summer rolls - I went to a fairly touristy spot on my last night (Luk Lak). I quickly realized the menu was made for a travelers palette when the “spicy” sauces weren’t quite hitting. Regardless, it was my last night and I was feeling like balling out. And balling out I did. I reassured the server that even though I was a table for one in a shared plates establishment, I could eat. I started with four pieces of hefty soft shell crab summer rolls and was quickly brought a platter of pork belly with black sticky rice. The rolls had every texture possible, and dunked in a tamarind sauce, they were incredible.

Coming back to soup-less reality

Hovered over my final bowl of pho in the airport in Hanoi, I had the cruel realization that I wouldn’t wake up to 5 different soup options back home. There would be no thrill of parting the sea of motorbikes that swerved around me on my morning commute. No ridiculously efficient Vietnamese coffee that would make me wired until 7pm. No ice cream pops for 50 cents. It’s a rude awakening for sure, but I’m so grateful to miss all of these things. 

Now that I’m back and finally moved, I promise I plan to go back to regular scheduled writing! That means there will be a timely newsletter in your inbox the first week of August. Thanks for reading and farewell from the sweetest friend in Hanoi!