#StreetFood
#TravelTheWorld
#FoodTravel
#FoodieTravel
#StreetFoodAdventure
#TravelTheWorld
#FoodTravel
#FoodieTravel
#StreetFoodAdventure
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Welcome to the series where I attempt to survive in a random city around the world on only $20 a day.
00:05Today, we're in Saigon, also known as Ho Chi Minh City.
00:10This city of 9 million is known to be affordable, but how affordable is it?
00:15Today, I will attempt to pay for breakfast, lunch, dinner, local transportation, and lodging all for under $20.
00:21Can I do it? Let's find out.
00:22Behind me, a breakfast location serving something known as Cam Tam Pan Mi.
00:26Now, these are two different iconic Vietnamese foods that evidently are fusing together at this location.
00:31Cam Tam is broken rice. On the side, it usually has a pork chop.
00:34It has eggs, fish sauce, pickled daikon, and carrots.
00:37But here, they say they are serving that inside a sandwich.
00:40This is something I have never heard of before.
00:42Right here, you can see they're making some delicious bee patties over charcoal.
00:46It's hot. It's sizzling. It smells delicious.
00:48Soon, that'll be going into our banh mi.
00:49Right here, we have our mean banh mi maker. Let's do it.
00:52It all starts with the banh mi cut in half.
00:54The first thing she puts in there is pickled daikon and carrot and then cucumber.
00:58Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
01:00Ah, homuleo. Homuleo. Thank you.
01:02Then she puts in some cilantro.
01:04From here, she puts in pork skin and a bit of pork meat,
01:07something that you would find usually on a gum tam plate.
01:09From here, we have a beef patty.
01:11This right here is called shumai.
01:13It's a meatball with a salted egg inside of it.
01:15And then we have some scallion oil going on last.
01:18From here, she hits it with some hot chilies, and that is ready to go.
01:21Breakfast is served.
01:27A dollar, 50 cents total for this right here.
01:30It looks glorious.
01:31Many of these are ingredients that you would see in a traditional plate of gum tam,
01:35except for the pork chop.
01:36For some reason, they replaced that protein with beef.
01:39I'm going to start with this, actually.
01:40That's just fried pork skin.
01:42This is one of the best things you could eat.
01:44I mean, not for your heart, but oh my God, for your soul.
01:48That's good.
01:48Now I will attempt to close the banh mi.
01:52It is a very crispy banh mi.
01:56All I taste is beef, sugar, and fish sauce.
01:59Incredible.
02:01As you go deeper into the banh mi, it's like getting deeper into a relationship.
02:04The banh mi is revealing more of itself to me.
02:06And no, it's not a lot of childhood trauma.
02:08It's pickled daikon and carrot, offering a little bit of sourness.
02:11It's super spicy chilies.
02:12And it's this pork skin, which has a little bit more crunchy, tough texture.
02:16Right here, coming up on the shumai.
02:17Oh, what?
02:18I thought it was a whole salted egg yolk.
02:20Very deceiving visually.
02:24Hmm?
02:25Hmm.
02:26That yolk, it is a little bit chalky, but it does have that nice, unique flavor
02:30that you can really only find with a salted egg yolk.
02:32Meanwhile, the pork makes up for any dryness because it is so juicy, fatty, and also full
02:36of fish sauce flavor.
02:38So far, we are 7.5% into our total budget for the day.
02:41We have a lot more to see and a lot more to do.
02:43From here, we are going to head to a market.
02:45Let's move now and see what we find.
02:46Welcome to the market.
02:47Behind me, Cho Ba Chu.
02:48Cho means market.
02:49Ba Chu is Grandma Chu.
02:51Thank you, Grandma.
02:52Sweet market.
02:53I always say going to a market is one of the best ways to get to know a new country.
02:56You can see the spices, the seasonings, the types of meat, the ingredients of iconic
03:01recipes, all of it in its raw form, waiting to be made into something delicious.
03:04Let's go take a look and see what we can find.
03:06Okay, listen.
03:06There was a time in my life where I could have really used this for the back support.
03:09Should I shop for my wife here?
03:11Talking about Victoria's Secret.
03:12This is, uh, wins.
03:14Well, it's definitely not a secret.
03:17Immediately as you enter, you can see a vast variety of tropical fruits.
03:21If you are a fruit lover, Vietnam is a fruit paradise.
03:24Also, motorbikes are allowed inside of here.
03:26Okay, a couple more things right here.
03:27Fresh tamarit still inside the husk.
03:29Tamarit is often used for delicious sauces here in Vietnam.
03:33Look, a dog.
03:34What the?
03:35What was that?
03:36So many of the dogs in Vietnam are so short.
03:38That was such a strange mix of breeds.
03:40Right here, we have loads of local Vietnamese snacks.
03:44Skip 7-Eleven, skip Family Mart, go to a place like this to get real local snacks.
03:48I'm talking so local, there's probably no FDA looking over what they're doing.
03:52First of all, when it comes to rice paper, nobody does rice paper better than Vietnam.
03:55They have it in bags, cut up portions of rice paper with different seasonings on top.
03:59Right here, little rice paper rolls.
04:02It looks like some delicious little joints.
04:04But in fact, instead of anything mind-altering on the inside, it looks like dry shrimp.
04:08Flavorful.
04:09Meanwhile, we have different types of rice paper.
04:11This is a rice paper that's been dyed orange through the use of shrimp.
04:14This is a rice paper that's been dyed yellow through the use of cassava and salted egg yolk.
04:19Or maybe just eggs.
04:19We don't know for sure.
04:20Moving on.
04:23Xin chà o jay.
04:25Xin chà o jay.
04:27All right, folks, we have stumbled upon some jackfruit right here.
04:29This is one of my favorite fruits in Southeast Asia.
04:32These delicious pods are extracted from this right here.
04:35This is a giant jackfruit.
04:36And honestly, they can get up to, I would say, about two times bigger than this.
04:39You have to be very careful taking the jackfruit out because this thing is also full of disgusting, sticky latex.
04:45So the people who take it out, like this lady right here, an absolute pro.
04:51We've come to the ready-to-eat food section of the market.
04:54Here, tons of grilled meats.
04:55We've got pork.
04:56We've got spring rolls.
04:57It looks so delicious and it smells even better.
05:00The problem is that today I have to be disciplined with my money.
05:03Soon we're going to be having an amazing, affordable lunch.
05:05But for now, more market tour.
05:07Right here, I've spotted some interesting ready-to-eat food that I've never seen before in Vietnam.
05:10I got my guy here.
05:11Xin chà o em.
05:14How are you doing?
05:15Take a look.
05:15This right here, as I'm told, is sticky rice with green rice flakes.
05:18And then right here, we have sticky rice but coated with mung bean.
05:22They're put into these tiny bags and evidently it's kind of a bit of a snack.
05:25You can walk around and eat it at the same time.
05:27I was going to order it except for it doesn't fit within my budget.
05:30Are we enjoying this so far?
05:31The food show where Sonny looks at the food, wishes he could eat it, and doesn't eat it.
05:35Right here, you can see motorbikes pulling up to a food spot, grabbing lunch on the go,
05:39and then heading out to eat it on their own.
05:41Right here, they're selling two things.
05:42One, banh khat, and two, panseo.
05:44The panseo is a sizzling pancake.
05:46It's huge, and it's absolutely delicious.
05:48I ate breakfast just a moment ago, and I'm already ready for more.
05:51But not this.
05:52So we have walked our way to the meat section of this market.
05:59There's so much energy out here, and there's so much food that you know is absolutely fresh
06:03because all of these animals were most likely alive this morning.
06:06First of all, boom, chicken feet.
06:07Oh, next to it, a little bit of brains.
06:09Probably two pig brains or a really f***ing smart chicken.
06:14Oh my god, she's taking apart a foot right now.
06:17These pig feet are used for delicious soups in Vietnam.
06:19They get braised for days until they're soft and delicious.
06:22So there's all kinds of different pork cuts here.
06:24And then they have all the organs separated and organized into different containers.
06:28Then as you go down yonder, these are silkworm pupa.
06:31Given enough time, that silkworm pupa would become a silk moth.
06:34But instead, they are ripped from their cocoon, put there, and cooked into a meal.
06:38Is that blood cubes?
06:39Those would most likely be cut up into more manageable chunks
06:42and put into some kind of a soup, something like a bun bau hui.
06:44Delicious.
06:45My wife hates it.
06:46She always gives her blood cubes to me.
06:48It's a great, that's why our relationship works.
06:51Mainly that.
06:51So that is the market.
06:52There is a load to see here.
06:54I wish I could show you more, but we have to get to our next food destination.
06:57Coming up, lunch.
06:59All right, so to get a very good but still very affordable lunch,
07:01you gotta walk through a little bit of construction.
07:03Boom, here it is.
07:04Mi alphan.
07:05So, mi is noodle, but alphan is a clam that's about this big.
07:10It's one of the smallest clams that you will find in Vietnam.
07:12Aside from being a very delicious and unique lunch, it's also very affordable.
07:15Let's go see how it's made, and then I'll tell you how much it costs.
07:18Right now, we're in the kitchen, and this place is a hive of activity.
07:21It's about 12.30 right now.
07:23Lunch is in full swing.
07:24They have a load of different special ingredients laid out, a lot of them seafood-oriented.
07:28It all starts over here with a Vietnamese instant noodle.
07:31Boom, he puts that in hot water to get it nice and soft, and then that heads into the bowl.
07:35We have Vietnamese coriander and morning glory going in, and then a load of those clams.
07:40From here, tiny little octopuses.
07:41Then right here, we have a load of razor clams.
07:44Shrimpies going in next.
07:46And then from here, we've got a delicious red broth.
07:49Finally, a little bit of fried garlic.
07:51On the side, a little bit of tamarind sauce.
07:53And that is our lunch.
07:55All right, folks, we have our second meal of the day.
07:57I want to start with the shrimp right here, but first let's talk about the price.
07:59This entire bowl right here is only $1.85.
08:02So far, we've had breakfast and lunch, and we've spent only just a little bit over $3.
08:06Incredible.
08:07Regarding the shrimp, the shrimp does take a little bit of technique.
08:09Let's try it out.
08:11Oh, yeah.
08:12That's good.
08:12Classic, bouncy shrimp.
08:14It's been warmed up because of this broth.
08:15The broth made of chicken stock, margarine, garlic, and cashew oil.
08:19Let's give that broth a little bit of a taste.
08:21Ooh, let's get some clams in there, too.
08:25It is a very sweet broth.
08:27Savory.
08:27You can taste the garlic, but that cashew oil has a certain delicious, sweet, savory flavor to it.
08:32It's really a flavor unique to Vietnamese seafood.
08:35Speaking of seafood, right here, we have a razor clam.
08:38We're going to wrap that around with some of these noodles.
08:44Oh, my boy, it's so good.
08:46These noodles are indestructible.
08:47This bowl has been sitting here for like six, seven minutes.
08:49They're not bloated like me on a Saturday morning.
08:52And they're just absolutely coated with that delicious flavor that's inside that broth.
08:55The razor clams have such a lovely texture.
08:58It's amazing that for this price, you don't just get some of those tiny clams,
09:01but you're getting a variety of seafood.
09:02Like this.
09:03Tiny baby octopus.
09:04Let's drown him in some tamarind.
09:09What the fuck am I doing?
09:10Throw it back.
09:13Crunchy, chewy at the same time.
09:15The tamarind sauce is a wonderful pairing.
09:17It's a thick, syrupy, sweet sauce.
09:19A little bit tart.
09:21Amazing.
09:22Cleanse the palate with a little bit of broth.
09:26Did you fall?
09:28This is what this place is really named after, is these tiny little clams.
09:35Undeniable.
09:36If you check my wallet, so far you can see that we've not spent that much money today.
09:39But later, we're going to be heading to our lodging.
09:41That is the hotel where I'm going to be sleeping tonight.
09:43Right now, we're heading in that direction, and I'm about to jump on some local transportation.
09:47Let's move.
09:48You see, in the USA, we have Uber.
09:50But in Vietnam, they have Grab.
09:51Not only can you rent a car, but here, you can also rent a bike.
09:55I think this is him right here.
09:56My chariot awaits.
09:57There's a law in Vietnam that you have to wear a helmet, so they always have an extra one.
10:00Pop it on.
10:01Helmet is secure.
10:02Nothing to do but grab this stranger around the waist and take off to our next location.
10:06All right, we are off.
10:06Now, here's the thing.
10:07Our next location is about a five-minute drive.
10:10It's very short, and the price is only about 55 cents.
10:13It is insanely affordable, and there's no better way to see the streets of Vietnam
10:17than on the back of a motorbike in traffic like this.
10:19Wild.
10:20I love it.
10:21Oh, wow.
10:21There's some congestion here.
10:22I feel kind of bad for this guy.
10:24I weigh about 215 pounds.
10:26I can feel him struggling to navigate a little bit, but he'll survive.
10:30Right?
10:31All right.
10:32Oh, wow.
10:32Somehow, we have to get over to there.
10:35Okay?
10:36Okay.
10:37We have reached our destination.
10:39Thank you, sir.
10:39Come on up.
10:40Bye-bye.
10:41Oh, God.
10:41I almost took the helmet.
10:43There you go.
10:43Come on up.
10:44Lunch was amazing, but I could use a little bit extra.
10:46We're going to stop right now for a snack across the street.
10:49Oh, my God.
10:50Is that a minion motorbike?
10:51It almost took my life.
10:52And we're crossing now.
10:55Boom.
10:56Right here, we have shrimp toast.
10:59It starts with a batter.
11:02Probably, it's some kind of a wheat flour.
11:04Inside this batter already, she has a load of shrimp.
11:06She adds some water, and she mixes the shrimpies about in that thick batter.
11:10From here, we have a load of bread.
11:12The bread gets completely submerged within that batter.
11:16She pulls it out, and then she gently applies about four.
11:19Oh, my God.
11:20That's a lot of shrimp.
11:21She fries it on one side for a couple of minutes, then she gives it a little bit of a flip,
11:24and then it's finished.
11:25Each one only about 37 cents.
11:2839 cents.
11:33Wow, inflation happening in real time.
11:34What's peculiar about this food is that the shrimp still have their tail, their body,
11:39their exoskeleton, their head.
11:41All of that is still on the shrimp.
11:43You eat everything.
11:44I'm going to buy exactly one, because that is what fits our budget, and try it out.
11:48All right, folks, we're going to try out our little bit of a snack here.
11:50It looks like the shrimp have been fossilized.
11:52It looks like this was dug up by an archaeologist.
11:55Let's give it a shot.
11:58Oh, that's lovely.
12:00I love it.
12:00Very heavy, super greasy.
12:02Oh, man.
12:02But that batter has some seasoning on the inside.
12:05It's salty.
12:05It's savory.
12:06Then you get the flavor of that shrimp, a little seafoody, and a little toasty, too.
12:10Look at this.
12:11You just pull off a whole shrimp body, giant head, but it's crispy.
12:15I love it.
12:16Who knew?
12:17So that is a fun little snack after lunch.
12:19But from here, we are headed to our lodge for the night.
12:21I'm going to be staying at a hotel that costs about $10.
12:24What do you get for $10 in Vietnam?
12:25Let's go find out.
12:26I'm on my way to the hotel right now.
12:28And behind me, I see on the corner, a bunch of old Vietnamese guys drinking beer, listening
12:32to traditional Vietnamese music.
12:33It looks amazing.
12:34But alas, we have no budget for such things.
12:36I could drink beer and sleep on the street, but let's go check out the hotel first.
12:43Ah, this smells like the type of hotel where you can also pay by the hour.
12:50Tia, have you ever stayed in a hotel like this?
12:52My camera guy is lying.
12:56Fun lie.
12:58All right, let's head in.
12:59All right, we are going to the fourth floor.
13:02Four floors.
13:02All right, we're basically in the penthouse.
13:03Here's what this place is.
13:04It's basically like a love hotel, but it's also still a very affordable hotel.
13:09A normal person who is not doing anything with any other person can still come here to sleep.
13:14So let's take a look.
13:15Although you might be hearing some pounding from the other room next to you.
13:21All right, here it is.
13:224-0-1.
13:24So we got to pop this in to turn on the electricity.
13:27This is what you get for 10 bucks in Vietnam.
13:29Not bad.
13:30Room with a view.
13:31Oh, even a balcony?
13:35Look at that.
13:36A place where you can come, think about lights, smoke cigarettes, and ponder the mistake you
13:39made with whoever you brought to this room.
13:41I love it.
13:41All right, let's see what's inside.
13:42Let's talk amenities.
13:43There's no gym, there's no breakfast, there's no food.
13:46There might be some soda and water downstairs that you could buy.
13:48Right here, footwear with the toes cut off.
13:51Very cool.
13:51Right here, the bathroom.
13:52It's got a hot shower.
13:53It's got plenty of soap.
13:54What else do you need?
13:55Inside, we have a wardrobe here.
13:57There's actually a refrigerator.
13:59That's nice.
13:59And it actually works.
14:00The bed.
14:02Not the softest bed.
14:04It is just a straight foam mattress, but it will do.
14:06Right here, entertainment.
14:08A fan, air conditioning.
14:09A little bit of art for inspiration.
14:11And then you have this.
14:12A little spot to sit down, drink.
14:16What else would you do here?
14:17Just drink.
14:18Here's what I like about this place.
14:19It is safe.
14:20It's clean.
14:21It smells good.
14:21For me, good enough.
14:22So this is my home for the night.
14:24I'm going to stay here, get settled in, and in a few hours, we're going to head out for
14:27the final meal of the day.
14:28Dinner.
14:28After getting this hotel room, we only have a little bit of budget left, so I'm going
14:32to have to use my money wisely.
14:35All right, folks.
14:35There is one thing left to do today with our remaining money.
14:38We've got about $5, and that is going to buy us a pretty sweet dinner.
14:41Behind me, street food known as panseo.
14:50Let's go see how they make it.
14:51This is awesome.
14:51We have four cast iron skillets right here.
14:54This is where they're making the panseo, the sizzling pancake.
14:56Right here, you can see a big bucket of batter.
14:59That bucket is full of rice flour batter.
15:01There's a little bit of turmeric in there, too, to turn everything kind of yellowy.
15:04And then she puts in some pork, she puts in some shrimp, and she puts in some bean sprouts,
15:08plus tons and tons of oil.
15:09That is what makes it really crunchy.
15:11After kind of sizzling and frying in there for about five minutes, she turns it over and
15:15takes it out.
15:16That is the main thing that we're after today, but they also have a food known as bolalot.
15:20The bolalot is beef wrapped in a lalot leaf.
15:23Right here, you can see the version before it's been cooked.
15:26Then they bring it here to the grill, and when it's finally done, it looks like a green cigar.
15:30So I'm going to order up my food, and if I have some money left over, I'm going to get a drink, too.
15:34All right, folks, dinner has been served.
15:37This is truly a substantial meal for not that much money.
15:41First of all, these pancakes, 31 cents each, and I got five.
15:45They look crunchy.
15:46They look delicious.
15:47I cannot wait to dive into them.
15:48Next are bolalot.
15:49Here they give you six pieces for $3.15.
15:52A little bit more expensive, but not bad.
15:54Then there is the beer, exactly $1.
15:57And then all this other stuff is free.
15:59It's all meant to go with these two things right here.
16:01We have herbs and greens right here.
16:04We have rice paper.
16:05We have rice vermicelli here.
16:06And then here we have some slices of star fruit, cucumber, and banana.
16:10A couple of sauces as well.
16:12Let's get into the food.
16:13First of all, these rolls, they are magnificent.
16:15To go with that, they have a sauce.
16:17It has some pineapple juice, but it also has some Vietnamese fermented fish sauce in there, too.
16:25It's juicy.
16:26It tastes like the meat has been marinated with fish sauce, but then there's also the leaf around it.
16:30It's very herbaceous and very fresh.
16:3210 out of 10, delicious.
16:34Next, let's get into this.
16:35This could be considered one of the best tacos in the world, and it's not even technically a taco.
16:39Imagine putting some chorizo in there, some cheese, some sour cream, and guac.
16:48It's so good.
16:49It's insanely crunchy.
16:52Inside, you can see the remnants of half a shrimp.
16:54There's some fresh bean sprouts, which also offer a different type of crispy texture.
17:00Unbelievable.
17:01That's how I eat it when my wife orders it.
17:03But here's how you're supposed to eat it.
17:04Start with rice paper.
17:05Then you take some lettuce.
17:06Then you throw on some of the panseo.
17:08And then you roll it.
17:09You close it.
17:09The moisture from the lettuce and from the oil should soften up that rice paper a bit.
17:14This is a fish sauce blend.
17:16It's going to be sweet, and that's also going to help soften up that rice paper.
17:20Cheers.
17:23I forgot herbs.
17:25It is so satisfying.
17:27Wash it down.
17:29I would say eating this alone, it's toasty, it's crunchy, it's good, but it doesn't have a ton of flavor.
17:34But when you add all these different elements, it makes it really feel like a meal and not just a snack.
17:38It's so satisfying.
17:38So right now I'm going to add up everything I spent today and find out if I did indeed survive Ho Chi Minh City on only $20.
17:48In this video, I set out to spend under $20 while doing a whole day of traveling here in Ho Chi Minh City.
17:53Was I successful, actually?
17:54Yes.
17:55Yes, I was.
17:55For everything today, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, transportation, and lodging, it costs only $19.99.
18:01I want to do this video to tell folks like you who are thinking about traveling that it's actually a lot more affordable than you think.
18:07In countries like Vietnam, your money can go a long way, especially when it comes to food.
18:11I want to say a shout out to Monkey Abroad.
18:13He did this concept like five years ago, and then he stopped.
18:15I don't know why he stopped.
18:16It's a great idea.
18:17And so now I will carry the torch for him without his permission.
18:19Thanks.
18:20So now I want to know from you, if you like this concept, what city should we go to next?
18:24We'll probably start out in Southeast Asia, but I'd be willing to take on some more difficult cities as well.
18:28Don't say London.
18:29Maybe New York.
18:29I could share a tent with someone.
18:30Otherwise, that is it for this video, guys.
18:32Thank you so much for watching.
18:33I will see you next time.
18:34Peace.
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