Vietnamese sticky pork meatball & coconut noodle bowls – lemongrass, lime & coriander meatballs served with herbs, pickled carrots and coconut dressing.  Jump to Recipe 

It was 630am, squinting into the bright morning sun and sky so blue it was difficult to imagine the afternoon rains ever arriving. Sweat was already starting to bead in my hairline, skin damp in the humidity with freckles standing out from days of sun. The empty streets of the Old Town of Hoi An felt deserted – the vividly coloured shopfronts shut, and just the odd bicycle cruised by as I walked. But while the tourists were asleep or tucked away in hotels, the mornings of the Vietnamese people had very much started. The main road was a highway of motorbikes packed with students heading to school and women visiting the morning market, a clamor of furiously beeping horns and dogs barking from the dusty sidewalk. The markets were just as busy – streets lined with stalls of vibrant tropical fruit, the wet market with rows and rows of fresh fish, and an array of herbs and fresh green vegetables bigger than any I’d seen.

The air was full – full of the voices of women shouting and conversing, in arguments or good-natured ribbing, or just to be heard above the crowd – I couldn’t tell. Full of the rumble of motorbike engines as people pulled up to buy food, haggling down prices and briskly checking quality. Full of smells – steaming bowls of pho, mi quang, and the famous cao lao noodles of the town, a hint of the ocean and fish, though all the meat was so fresh it hardly smelt at all. I longed for a kitchen, so I could stock up on the multitude of new herbs and flavours and experiment. It was a completely different town, an entirely different market place, to what it would be in a few hours time.

By 10am, we arrived back at that very same market for a cooking class – run by the Morning Glory cooking school (and we coincidentally ended up with the very same teacher as I had there 7 years ago). It was quieter, with less bustle and traffic, and those local faces had been replaced by groups of tourists, pointing and staring. Often decked out in tour-group matching t-shirts, or wearing the same conical hat, it was like a game of follow the leader watching each group race around to keep up with their guide. Many of the sellers no longer wanted photos – where they had offered a smile that morning, or a nod as if to say ‘go ahead’, other tourists were now being asked for $1 for a photo – a price for a memory, like a museum exhibit.

In the afternoon, yet more busloads of sight-seers arrived, lining up in a row of fifty cyclos to be taken on a tour of the tiny Old Town, blocking up the narrow streets that are much easier explored on foot. Selfie sticks were everywhere, and the same streets that were so vacant that morning were overflowing with a traffic jam of humanity. The riverfront was lit by hundreds of lanterns, with Vietnamese children selling little lantern boats for visitors to buy and lower gently into the river below. The multitude colourful tea-lights within lit up the water, but more often than not got trapped around the bridge in piles of weeds and other boats.The next morning I watched as workers cleaned out the remnants, along with discarded rubbish – soggy, ripped bits of paper and plastic bottles.

I don’t know what the answer is – tourism is now a necessary part of the Vietnamese economy, and the Old Town of Hoi An is probably one of the most resort-like areas. I’m just glad I woke early enough to see the other reality of the town and those who live there. Later we visited Hanoi, the ancient capital of Vietnam – the later photos below are images captured there.

These Vietnamese Sticky Pork Meatball & Coconut Noodle Bowls combine some of my favourite flavours from the trip. The meatballs are full of the scent of lemongrass, lime and coriander, and coated in a sticky fish sauce glaze near the end of cooking. They’re piled up on a bed of fresh herbs and rice noodles, then topped with briny pickled carrots and daikon, the crunch of crispy fried shallots, nutty roasted peanuts and toasted sesame seeds. The dressing is a simple nuoc mam, with the finely balanced profile of sweet, sour lime juice, and fish sauce, with extra garlic and chilli. A drizzle of coconut milk tones down the fire of fresh chilli – a touch of Cambodian influence from the first half of our travels.

For other Vietnamese recipes try:

• This pork meatball banh mi
• Vietnamese grilled chicken burgers with mango slaw
• Cha ca thang long – vietnamese turmeric fish with dill
• Green mango salad with barbecue chicken & lime leaf

I also want to say a huge thank you to everyone for your comments and support on last week’s post – it meant so much to me and I have read every single one, even if I haven’t got around to replying yet! Voting is still open for the Saveur awards – click here to vote for your favourite food blogs. A little write up on the finalists for Best New Voice is also available here.

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