#StreetFood
#TravelTheWorld
#FoodTravel
#FoodieTravel
#StreetFoodAdventure
#TravelTheWorld
#FoodTravel
#FoodieTravel
#StreetFoodAdventure
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Spring rolls with shrimp and pork, rotisserie pork hocks, pork belly banh mis and pounded pork chops with broken rice.
00:08How do you survive in a land full of pork when eating pork is forbidden by your fate?
00:14To find out, let's back up.
00:16Vietnam is largely a Buddhist country.
00:18But among Saigon's population of 9 million, there's one alleyway unlike any other.
00:24In this alleyway, you'll find a distinct Cham Muslim community.
00:27Here, Muslim locals have developed a unique diet.
00:30They actually put a little bit of rice inside and then when you pour it out in the sun, it's fermented.
00:35It's Vietnamese food, but it's food that adheres to the Muslim faith.
00:38Today, I'm on a mission to explore how Vietnamese Muslims survive and adapt some of this country's most iconic recipes.
00:45It looks just to say what I'd usually have.
00:47Eating halal food in a country that serves mostly pork is not easy to do.
00:51So today, I'm here to see how it's done.
00:53We're about to find out with our first dish, pho.
00:56A typical beef pho contains beef bone broth, flat rice noodles, and the diner's choice of beef cuts.
01:02This looks amazing!
01:03Sounds simple enough, but here the pho must be adapted to halal standards, meaning it can't contain any trace of pork.
01:10And the slaughtering process must be carried out by a skilled Muslim butcher.
01:14This is Mina.
01:15She makes thousands of halal pho bowls each year.
01:18And now, she's going to show us how it's done.
01:20Cham pho starts with the broth.
01:22For hours, halal beef bones simmer with star anise and cinnamon.
01:26From here, it takes a turn from the typical pho.
01:28With the Minkong Delta's favorite drug, rock sugar.
01:32Blanch the pho noodles with some bean sprouts, giving them just the right amount of crunch.
01:37Now, the protein.
01:38Raw beef, brisket, and slices of beef ball.
01:41Aromatize the bowl with spring onion and sliced onion.
01:44Then drown everything in this permissible pho broth.
01:47This halal pho looks the same as any other, but how do the flavors compare?
01:51What I want to jump into first here is the broth.
01:54It's kind of greasy.
01:55There's like little bubbles of oil.
02:01Oh my god.
02:02Oh, it's really sweet.
02:03Yeah.
02:04But I like it.
02:05It is probably the sweetest pho broth I've ever had, but savory and fatty as well.
02:08How do you say this one?
02:09Thai?
02:10I'm going to try it out.
02:13It's very delicious.
02:14The beef is thin, a bit tender.
02:16And then here we've got a ball.
02:17Where do you get this from?
02:18This one, she actually had to get it from Mekong Delta.
02:22And they specifically do this.
02:24Halal balls?
02:25Yeah, halal balls.
02:26The way you say it.
02:27I'm sorry, it's a ball that's halal, right?
02:29Yeah, yeah.
02:30To me, that would be a halal ball.
02:32Are most of your customers Muslim?
02:34Are they all Muslim?
02:35No, no.
02:36All of them are from the community.
02:37No outsiders?
02:38No outsiders, yes.
02:39Wow.
02:40That's so fascinating to me.
02:41These alleyways form an island, though anyone can pass through at any time.
02:48Among this handful of narrow streets, you'll discover a hidden culture.
02:55Since the 1940s, this place has been inhabited by the Cham Islamic people.
03:00Surrounded by millions of Buddhists, they adhere closely to their Islamic traditions.
03:05From clothing shops catering to Muslim women, to halal food stalls like this.
03:09Here, they've established their own mini economy.
03:12With vendors who specialize in serving the needs of their tight-knit community.
03:16To me, it seems like the biggest conflict, being a Muslim person here, in this community, would be that it's very insular.
03:22On one hand, it's really good that they have a community that they can depend on.
03:25On the other hand, the way that people eat here kind of forces them to stay in that community.
03:30What happens when you travel out of this area?
03:32What do you eat when you can't eat halal food nearby here?
03:35I don't know.
03:36Ah.
03:37Her solution is to only eat vegetarian food.
03:39In Saigon, you can find a lot of vegetarian places, so it's not a big problem.
03:44For me, I think this is a delicious breakfast.
03:46I think even tourists or Vietnamese who are not Muslim, anybody could come here, try it out, and have a little bit different flavor.
03:51Twin, we have a lot more straight food to eat.
03:53Let's keep moving.
03:54Yes, let's go.
03:58Islamic Cham cuisine is a delightful blend of aromatic herbs and spices.
04:03Heavily influenced by the rich culinary traditions of the Mekong Delta.
04:07One icon of Cham cuisine, the goat curry, made with local coconuts and infused with spices.
04:13Soon, we'll join the community at the local mosque to witness this dish in its final form.
04:19But first, a plate of something strangely familiar.
04:22A Cham Paulo rendition of Vietnam's iconic gumtang.
04:26A combination of broken rice, egg, pork skin, and succulent pork chops.
04:30This juicy chunk of protein is heaven to most of this country.
04:34But for Muslim folks, pork is haram, meaning it's completely forbidden.
04:39So, what's this dish doing here?
04:40This looks fantastic.
04:41Could you tell any difference between this and a typical plate of gumtang?
04:44This is not typical.
04:45This is, yeah, it looks just the same as what I usually have.
04:48Well, except for this, it's not a pork chop, it's beef.
04:51Oh, wow.
04:52Okay.
04:53Prepare the beef by tenderizing it.
04:56Then create a tantalizing seasoning blend by combining garlic, lemongrass, oil, and soy sauce.
05:02Marinate the beef and enhance it further with chili sauce, cooking oil, and sweet palm sugar.
05:12Right here is our next street food.
05:15This is a meat for a dish called gumtang.
05:17Definitely not pork.
05:18They have a clever replacement that looks similar, but I'm sure it's going to taste completely different.
05:22Essentially, here we have a beef filet.
05:24It looks delicious.
05:25It smells even better.
05:26I can't wait to try it out.
05:27With the meat expertly cooked, it's time to plate up.
05:30Start with a foundation of gumtang, or broken rice.
05:33Top it with beef from the grill, egg loaf, a fried egg, fried scallions, pickled vegetables, and cucumber.
05:39This looks absolutely stunning.
05:41I want to try this first.
05:42This is the egg dish called...
05:44Gatung?
05:45Gatung?
05:46Gatung.
05:47Okay.
05:48Joining us, gumtang chef and halal grill master, Asa.
05:51She's been at the helm of this street food cart for over 20 years.
05:55Eggs are lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, then combined with glass noodles, scallions, and wood ear mushroom.
06:03Add salted egg yolks, then steam.
06:06Oh, it's layered with flavor.
06:08It's like an egg lasagna.
06:11Mmm.
06:12Mmm.
06:13The texture reminds me of a fluffy Japanese omelet.
06:15The wood ear mushroom inside has a delicious flavor.
06:17It gives it a little bit of bounce.
06:18The salted egg is a little dry, but very delicious.
06:20I forgot to bring water.
06:21I'll just drink fish sauce.
06:24Not recommended.
06:25Ah, washes it right down.
06:27Let's get into this.
06:28So I'm gonna hit my rice with a little bit of fish sauce.
06:30I got my meat right here, and I'm just gonna toss it back.
06:36Mmm.
06:37The fish sauce soaks into the rice beautifully.
06:38So immediately you're hit with that delicious, sharp flavor of that savory, sweet fish sauce.
06:42It just has so much depth to it.
06:44But then the meat itself is a little bit dry, but it's nice and smoky at the same time.
06:47So when that mixed with the fish sauce, it's very nice.
06:50Where do you source all beef from?
06:53She would source it from the community.
06:55And she'd say it used to be very rare before, but now it's getting more and more popular.
07:01Are you from the Mekong Delta originally?
07:04Yeah, yeah, from Mekong Delta.
07:06Is there a big Muslim population?
07:07Huge community.
07:08The Cham people are one of Vietnam's 54 ethnic minority groups.
07:14In the 2nd century, the Champa Kingdom emerged as a formidable force in southern Vietnam.
07:20While Hinduism was the main religion of the Champa, they gradually embraced Islam since trading with Arab merchants around the 9th century.
07:27Presently, 600,000 Cham people reside in Cambodia and 180,000 are found in Vietnam.
07:33In the Mekong Delta region of Anyang, where Asa's parents are from, there's a community of around 17,000 Cham people who still uphold the traditions of Islam.
07:43As I roam around the streets, constantly I smell sun, little pork chops grilling.
07:47When you smell pork, when you see pork, do you have any reaction to that?
07:51No, she has no reaction whatsoever because she's not eating that.
07:55So if other people eating that is fine.
07:57It's a great point.
07:58It's like I don't go past a vegetarian restaurant and start protesting.
08:01Exactly!
08:02I just have no idea what they do in there with all the vegetables.
08:04When you were younger, what was not available that is available now?
08:07That would be sausage.
08:08Before, they used to have to send it on the way from Mekong Delta to Saigon.
08:12But now she said she can buy it from here.
08:14What are the biggest challenges for Muslim people living in Saigon?
08:19She was born into a family with the religion and she just being raised like that.
08:23So yeah, there's not a lot of challenges.
08:25Ma'am, thank you so much. This was incredible. Look, I ate everything.
08:27Yay!
08:28Just down the alley, hidden inside the entryway of a local home, you'll find stacks of colorful, fresh ingredients that, when combined, make up this neighborhood's most mouth-watering meal.
08:40A blend of Cham and Mekong cuisine living in harmony inside one bowl.
08:44The heat index in Saigon right now is 107, but I don't care. Doesn't bother me.
08:51How are you alive right now?
08:53She has fish that are dyed yellow from turmeric, fresh boon vermicelli noodles, piles and piles of fresh veggies, a big old thing here of chilies.
09:01Typically, this dish is going to come with roasted pork. Obviously, here, they're not going to have that.
09:05The simple solution, remove it. There are so many delicious items that are inside this soup, it's not going to be missed.
09:10First, boil snakehead fish. After the fish is removed, spice up this fragrant broth with turmeric powder, minced shallots, rock sugar, lemongrass, minced banana heart, spring onion and garlic.
09:21Now for the assembly. Add vermicelli noodles to a bowl.
09:24Layer in bean sprouts, snakehead fish, shredded water spinach, banana blossoms, Egyptian river hemp flowers and Vietnamese coriander.
09:32Then douse the bowl with a hot steaming fish broth.
09:39Wow!
09:40It looks good, right?
09:41Yeah.
09:42Dining with us, Asa, a local halal cooking expert, here to give us some insight.
09:46This is fish broth, but what makes it really special is they put fermented fish paste in it.
09:55Oh, it's spicy straight away. It has a nice deep flavor to it. Savory, sweet.
09:59The star of the dish really seems to be this fish right here, and you can mix some of the vegetables with some of the noodles, the chili.
10:08Oh, I love that. It's a great bite. I don't actually like fish, but this one, it doesn't taste fishy because of the turmeric, and it's very sweet.
10:16Yeah, it's a very flaky fish. It's a really tantalizing bowl of noodles. It kind of hits you with every different angle.
10:21Oh, I love that.
10:22Oh, I love that.
10:23Now, fish are interesting because I don't think fish have to be prepared any special way for you to eat them.
10:28So, is there any seafood that you cannot eat as a Muslim person?
10:33Any kind of seafood that if they alive underwater and still alive when you take them out, then you cannot eat it.
10:41No frogs, no reptiles, no lizards, but squid, octopus, shark.
10:48Oh, she said shark can also eat humans, so she cannot eat that.
10:51Really? This is fascinating. What's interesting to me about Halal is I find that the rules kind of change depending on the country that you're in.
10:57Because when I went to Oman in the Middle East, we ate shark there.
11:00Aside from the noodles, we have this right here. This is a big plate of sausages.
11:04I've seen similar sausages in the past, but with pork, these are, I'm assuming, 100% beef.
11:09Combine beef with beef fat and leftover rice, then season with salt, sugar, MSG, and pepper, and stuff it in an intestinal beef casing.
11:18Once it sits in the sun for three days, it's ready to plunge into hot oil.
11:25Oh god, they're like sticky and glazed on the outside. They're literally shining like a diamond.
11:29Oh my god, it smells really good.
11:31Mmm.
11:34Mmm.
11:37Oh, that's good.
11:38Oh, wow.
11:39Wow, so it's very coarse. I can actually see the peppercorns and pieces of fat.
11:42It is a little chewy, so it's not like a juicy sausage like pork where it explodes, but it's still plenty fatty.
11:48I think it's one of the best sausages.
11:49It's very sweet.
11:50People here, they like it sweet like that. And she said it's a little bit sour, right?
11:54A little bit.
11:55They actually put a little bit of rice inside, and then when you pour it out in the sun, it crements.
11:59I love this. This is really, really good.
12:02When you travel outside of this area, do you have any difficulty finding food to eat?
12:07She would need to pack her own food if she travel, or she will go to a vegetarian place, and they have to sell vegetarian always.
12:14If they sell meat and then vegetarian, then she cannot eat there.
12:17This is delicious. The sausages I'm absolutely addicted to.
12:20It reminds me a little bit of a Chinese sausage, but not quite as sweet, but it has some of the fermented quality to it.
12:25Very good.
12:26And I think it's the way you fried it up.
12:28Jamul Anwar Mosque is the centerpiece of this community. A sacred place for spiritual nourishment, Islamic teachings, and prayers, which take place five times every day, starting at 4.30 in the morning.
12:40We have just entered the mosque kitchen. I'm with my man Yusso right here, and he's performing the very important task of mixing up the goat meat.
12:47Now, this is going to be our main protein for today's goat curry.
12:51A big meal that's going to be celebrated and feasted upon by many people in the community. I can't wait.
12:57A goat curry takes time and attention. It starts with a large pot and goat meat, seasoned with lemongrass, ginger, turmeric powder, and salt.
13:06This is a process I've not really seen before. As you may know, in order for food to be halal, it cannot have any blood in it.
13:11That's why they always drain the blood from the animal when they kill it. Here, he's literally cooking the blood out of the goat meat.
13:17I don't even think it's blood at this point. I think it's myoglobin, but they're not taking any chances.
13:22Meanwhile, outside, freshwater Mekong fish hit the grill. These snakehead fish are first doused in vinegar to remove the slime.
13:30Once cleaned and gutted, they're stuffed with lemongrass, seasoned with a generous portion of salt, and grill over smoky charcoal.
13:52Gentlemen, this looks amazing.
13:59The community comes together to celebrate and feast on special occasions like weddings and Ramadan.
14:04But today, they come together solely to indulge in the joy of communal dining.
14:10Joining our table, Duso, the goat curry master.
14:13And Mr. Haiji Gozuli, an ambassador for this neighborhood, who for the past five years has been this mosque's imam.
14:20Right here, we have the fish. It looks tasty. I love the presentation.
14:23And then we have the goat curry right here. I mean, it is like oily, fatty. I can see big chunks of bone.
14:29Can we start with the fish? This white, kind of mushy fish here.
14:32So he gets some leaves, then you put the fish on top of that.
14:35Give it a little bit of a dip in this sweet and spicy tamarind sauce. Let's throw it back.
14:41Oh my god. It's delicious. It's delicious. It's delicious.
14:45Super fresh herbs. The fish texture is just mushy. It makes it just feel more like robust.
14:50But the flavors are in the herbs and then in the sauce. Really spicy, sweet, tart tamarind sauce. That's awesome.
14:56Very, very good.
14:57Have you seen this kind of recipe elsewhere in Vietnam?
15:00Not really. Like, I'm from the center and I haven't seen this at all.
15:03So this one, very popular in Mekong Delta.
15:07That seems to be kind of a theme for the day. So much of the food here is food that comes from the Mekong Delta.
15:12Why did some people come to Saigon?
15:14They actually moved here to find work.
15:17That makes sense. Just looking for opportunities, getting away from the countryside, going to the insane hustle and bustle of the city.
15:23You know, of this place specifically, it's very crowded, busy, and lots of action.
15:29Let's talk about this right here. This looks fantastic.
15:33Now, back to the curry. Once the meat has browned, they prepare a flavor bomb.
15:37Hot oil is infused with curry leaves, cinnamon, star anise, cumin powder, cardamom, and cloves.
15:43More flavor is added with minced purple shallots, garlic, chilies.
15:50Then finally, the goat meat is welcomed back in.
15:53To transform it into a curry, pour in thick coconut milk, coconut cream, curry powder, sugar, and salt.
16:00Let it simmer for hours until the flavors permeate the now tenderized meat.
16:06Oh, these have been braised beautifully.
16:09It's like this thick oil.
16:11And then Isa's take some banh mi.
16:13Banh mi.
16:14Rip it off.
16:16I got a bite right here. I don't have mine in bread. I just want to try the meat to begin with.
16:19Mmm.
16:22How is it?
16:23It's like soft, it's tender, meaty.
16:26The sauce is so good.
16:27It's like fresh coconut, but it's oily and full of spices at the same time.
16:31This is some goat skin and fat.
16:35Wow. That's good.
16:36That's gotta be one of my favorite things all day.
16:37Is this similar to any Vietnamese dish you've tried?
16:39Not really.
16:40Not really for me either.
16:41It reminds me of Malaysian food.
16:44How long has this mosque been here?
16:47It has been here since 1960.
16:49That's a long time.
16:51They actually make another floor because the community is growing quite fast.
16:56Wow. In Vietnam, you really stand out a lot, especially if you wear your traditional garb.
17:00Do you ever have people outside of the community look at you or stare at you or ask questions?
17:05Are people in Vietnam curious about you, your religion or your lifestyle?
17:10Vietnamese is actually very welcoming and they don't actually ask a lot of questions
17:15because they just look at him and they respect the culture and the religion.
17:19Do non-Muslims in Vietnam look at the Muslim population any differently?
17:30Is there any kind of discrimination or misunderstandings or anything like that?
17:38No. People are very civil to each other.
17:40There's a lot of other non-religious people here and they just live among each other nicely.
17:45It would really help our story if she could just say that she's really oppressed.
17:48No, we don't say that.
17:50It would just make it a lot more like a vice documentary.
17:53Could you just say you're oppressed, please?
17:54I'm not going to translate that.
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18:06Oh no, I started to make it into a ball like it was African Ugali.
18:10When you're here, everything's okay.
18:14The noodles are delicious.
18:15Absolutely heartwarming.
18:16It's just like makes me feel complete and good and like my parents love me and were proud of me the whole time.
18:21Not just part of the time.
18:22Yeah, it's pho, but it's not just any pho.
18:24This is halal pho.
18:26Wow.
18:29Great reaction. We're off to a good start.
18:30Are you satisfied by the vegetarian food?
18:33She feels most comfortable eating the food around here.
18:37Vegetarian, it can only do short term.
18:39I'm with you on that one.
18:40And then we have giant bag of bread.
18:42This is like in every movie when somebody has a bag of groceries, there's one of these sticking out.
18:46More than almost any country I've been to, Vietnamese folks don't know how to get along unless they're driving.
18:51What is it about Vietnamese people that makes them crave hot broth like this even though it's so hot outside?
18:56It doesn't matter because this tastes very, very good and you don't feel like it's gonna heat you up with this.
19:01Interesting. So if it was a really cold day, would you eat ice cream?
19:05Yeah, she said if you like.
19:08You're doing great, bro. Here.
19:12Good?
19:13Yeah.
19:14Boom, guys, that is the end of the video.
19:15I did not pee my pants.
19:16Stop asking and stop commenting that in the comments down below.
19:19I want to say a huge thank you here to Duin.
19:21Yay.
19:24You can find her on Instagram.
19:25Here's her Instagram name.
19:26This is where you can follow her.
19:27Guys, don't ask for feed pics, but you can send feed pics if you want.
19:30She told me that.
19:31True?
19:32No.
19:33Otherwise, guys, that is it for this one.
19:35I hope you learned a lot.
19:36Timmy, this was a fascinating video, an interesting glimpse into the subculture of Saigon.
19:40I hope you enjoyed it.
19:41Thank you so much for watching.
19:42I will see you next time.
19:43Peace.
19:44Alright, let's get out of here.
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