Produce and treats

I have a feeling I will enjoy (and benefit from) going to the produce market on a daily basis, buying the day's fruits, vegetables, and proteins, and then going home to prepare it with simple herbs and eat it over white rice.

I hate to admit it (okay, no I don't - I am proud to admit it, in fact!!) but I love that I am turning into a Vietnamese domestic goddess.

Here is what I had to work with mid-day:

While eggs, yogurt, and leafy greens will be enough for one or two meals before I go absolutely crazy with boredom and repetition, I found out from fellow Fulbrighter, Maria, that tomorrow's National Independence Day would result in the unofficial closing of most stores and restaurants so that store-owners can celebrate with their families for the weekend. While I had been notified that tomorrow was indeed an important holiday, no one had mentioned to me that I would need to stock up on a weekend's worth of food because counting on street-side restaurants and daily produce markets would be a risky move.

Thus, I sprang into action and bought about half a pound of tofu (combined with the 10 eggs in my fridge, this will make some lovely stir-fried rice), a few more vegetables, a ginger rhizome (what is the correct word for one unit of ginger????) and a wheel of Vache Qui Rit (eggs and cheese on toast for breakfast? I think so!!!).

While I hope that I will be pleasantly surprised and that more stores/restaurants will be open tomorrow and/or this weekend than I originally anticipated, I think I am prepared for a weekend of cooking for myself.

Of course, if it is the case that I will be left to my own devices in terms of food for the next three days, I figured that I deserved a treat. I keep reading and hearing about "Cu Do," a famous Vietnamese snack that is produced in Ha Tinh. It is basically a combination of peanut brittle and rice cakes- everything that is good in the world, that is.

I stopped at the cu do store on the corner of my street, which allegedly makes the best cu do in all of Ha Tinh Province (quite the superlative, but I am just reporting what I have heard). I could tell that it was popular by the crowd that was swarming around this lady buying cu do by the case.

I abstained from buying a whole case of cu do, and instead bought a modest two pieces of it for 24,000VND (a little more than $1). 

Biting into the cu do was heavenly. The peanuts were still gooey and warm (it must have been made within the past few hours!) with lovely toffee, but the kicker was that the toffee was infused with ginger and cinnamon. The rice cracker was plain and crunchy and offset the sweetness of the toffee. Overall, this may be my new favorite treat in Vietnam. How can I get Pie in the Sky to capitalize on this deliciousness and start making an equivalent in the US?

Alright, time to begin cooking my dinner. Naturally, I will post pictures of my culinary creation later!