On our Saigon Food Tour by motorbike, We were driven around Saigon on the back of a motorbike, what you can see is motorbike is the main mean of transportation in this crazy city. There was a wide range of motorbikes weaving main roads and back alleys. Although there was sunshine during the day but it was cool under lush green tree. 20km/hour is the ideal speed to see the sights and people.
The local fruit market on Trang Tu street (District 5) was colorful with a wide range of tropical fruits such as plump, longan, lily, papaya, dragon fruit, ambarella, guava… The price was very cheap because this is the wholesale fruit market in Saigon. No need to bargain at this market and it made customer comfortable to buy. Each kind of fruits is arranged in big basket on the street. Buyers on motorbikes stopped on the street to choose and buy their favorite fruits.
Besides, there were also many kinds of imported fruits such as apple, orange, grapefruit…
These smooth purple star apples could make any foodie mouth-watering. Star apple is also called beast milk fruit in Vietnam because when you open it, a kind of liquid similar to milk comes out. The star apple’s meat with milk is creamy, sweet and refreshing. Some foreigners could use knife to cut the fruits into 4 pieces and use spoon to eat. Locals usually rub the apple for a while, then drill a hole at the stem and eat the milk from there.
Hundreds of light red rambutans were arranged carefully and skilfully. Just use the fingers to peel and enjoy the sweet meat, remember to throw out the seed.
And thousands of sweet and sour tamarinds which are favorite of Vietnamese girls.
How about drinking some sugarcane juice and coconut water to refresh and beat the hot. Coconut is usually cut at one end so that drinkers can use a straw to taste its water. Iced sugarcane juice is served in plastic glass with a plastic bag as you can see in the photo. The added some drops of cumquat juice to make the sugarcane juice more delicious and smelling.
It was time to eat because this was a Saigon Food Tour by motorbike. Stopped at an eatery, we enjoyed traditional Banh Xeo and fruits bought at the market. We bought star apples, rambutans, sapodillas, tamarinds, custard apples, cherries and use knife to cut, peel them to have an attractive plate of fruits.
The batter of Banh Xeo is so crispy with flavorful fillings made from shrimp, pork, bean sprouts and mung bean. You just use the rice paper of a big green leaf to roll a piece of Banh Xeo and herbs, then dip into the sweet and sour fish sauce dip before you tuck in. We have enjoyed it so much.
