now experiencing the fragrant aroma of saigon
My mother has been putting me to shame, creating her own blog and updating it thirty-seven times in the last five days, while I haven’t done a damn thing here in over a month. Time to start catching up. Terran has been teaching Zoe all sorts of new things like playing with her hands and feet, and she and Trinh finally got a big belly laugh out of Zoe in the Lock Cha Tea House today.
Be Nu taught me a popular Christmas carol last night: “Sing go beo, Sing go beo, Sing go how why, Owen phai, See see why. . .” That’s as far as we got. English is a tough language to remember.
Anh Trieu and I went to the local billiard parlor this afternoon. Bi da carom is still more popular than bi da lổ, and is Trieu’s game of choice. There was a bit of confusion regarding the rules, but nonetheless Trieu won every single game.
We are out of the hospital and back at Di Van’s house. Trinh’s family is very traditional, so she and Zoe must stay in seclusion for a month. Trinh has many dietary restrictions during this time. No fresh fruit or vegetables, and nothing sour. All those are too Yin and she needs Yang. No beef or shellfish, which may provoke allergic skin reactions. Lots of salt and pepper to encourage drinking plenty of water for plenty of breast milk.
An important step in cooking phở is to char the ginger and onions before adding them to the broth. Here, Trinh’s brother in law Cường takes on the task over a charcoal grill outside their phở stand.
Trinh’s been craving Peking Duck, so we took her nephew Bảo and first cousin once removed Nu (along with a dozen or so other family members) out to Tân Hải Vân last night. Besides having the best Peking Duck around, this restaurant also happened to be one of Năm Cam‘s favorite hangouts as well, Vietnam’s most infamous mafioso.
