American guests praise Vietnamese food, but are disappointed with Japanese cuisine

Sophie Steiner, an American, came to Asia to visit her boyfriend in Hong Kong in 2009. Since then, she has had a long love affair with this continent, visiting a series of destinations and experiencing cuisine.

She landed at Hong Kong airport with excitement and curiosity. The first meal of dim sum was like enlightenment. Her boyfriend and about 10 friends gathered around a table filled with dumplings, taro cakes, braised meat, dumplings and many other dishes.

“I ate non-stop even though my skills with chopsticks were still limited. When I tried to pick up a hot dumpling, my hand slipped. The cake fell straight into the tea cup, water splashing. Extremely embarrassed, I vowed to myself that I would use chopsticks at every meal until I mastered it,” she said about her first experience.

Seventeen years later, that memory has shaped her as a person and her career as a culinary experimenter. Through her trips, she appreciated the food in Bangkok (Thailand), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Chengdu (China), and was a bit “disappointed” with Japanese cuisine.

Sophie first came to Ho Chi Minh City in 2017 and returned three more times that same year. The city is influenced by the imported culture of many countries such as China, Cambodia, France and America to form its own culinary style, where flavors, cooking methods and ingredients blend.

Street food is the backbone of Ho Chi Minh City, with carts feeding the people. In the afternoon, street corners turn into restaurants with plastic tables and chairs, motorbikes and laughter. She has eaten quite a lot at these places.

“Nguyen Trung Truc Grilled Meat Noodles, a popular restaurant more than 30 years old, is famous for its vermicelli bowls filled with grilled meat, spring rolls, pickles and herbs; Bun Fish Noodles, a late-night restaurant with bowls of hot and sour soup cooked with fried fish, pineapple, tamarind and tomatoes; Siu Mai cup Den Dau, where soft chewy meatballs are served in a fragrant broth, served with crispy bread,” Sophie described. No matter how many times she comes back, Ho Chi Minh City always has many small roadside shops with plastic chairs available.

Along with Ho Chi Minh City, Sophie highly appreciates Bangkok, Thailand, which she calls “The capital of the world’s street food”. From busy roadside stalls to small shops in alleys, Thai cuisine has kept her coming back no less than a dozen times. In addition to the familiar pad thai and mango sticky rice, this place also has a heritage of rich, explosive flavors, very suitable to enjoy with a cool glass of sweet Thai milk tea.

One of her memorable memories was when she accidentally stopped by a small store to take shelter from the rain. Preoccupied with watching the rain, she ignored the pot of boiling broth until she sat down and ordered a bowl of Lung Cheay egg noodles. The restaurant is famous for its dry tom yum dish, served with tender roasted pork and soft-boiled eggs. To her, this is a typical “from cart to success” story of Thai cuisine. The long line in front of the restaurant today is a far cry from the humble beginnings when she ate.

Other dishes that Sophie never misses in Bangkok include spicy seafood at Pa Nee Kung Chae Nam Pla, crispy garlic fried chicken at Polo Fried Chicken, or fried crab at Talad Noi, where carb lovers come to soothe their hangovers at night.

The third culinary city in Asia that Sophie chose was Chengdu, China. Famous for its “super spicy level 11” food, the culinary capital of Sichuan makes her “crazy” and is also a favorite destination when exploring Chinese cuisine. Wontons are everywhere, but only in Chengdu are wontons filled with chili oil. Beautiful little cakes covered in chili oil appear everywhere, each shop has its own recipe, creating a “war” for loyal fans.

Also here, freshwater noodles highlight the famous “weird taste” of Sichuan, creating a blend of spicy, salty, fatty, sour and sweet. The chewy noodles are covered with a sauce made from soy sauce, chili oil, sesame, garlic, crushed peanuts, pepper and brown sugar syrup, creating an enchanting “coat”.

Tokyo, Japan is a place where Sophie often feels more disappointed than satisfied, despite enjoying bowls of ramen noodles at the most famous restaurant. Japan was one of Sophie’s favorite cuisines, from thick bonito flakes sauteed on dry straw, to sizzling pots of oden (bamboo skewered hotpot) on the side of the road, with radishes, tofu and fish cakes submerged in broth, trips around Japan were always fulfilling.

“I realized that not only Tokyo but Japan in general is suffering from the influence of mass tourism and over-hype,” she said. Collecting kawaii items, drinking matcha instead of coffee, and reciting Miyazaki movies are very “fashionable”. She also has a bowl of anime-style ramen noodles tattooed on her hand. Often considered the pinnacle of Japanese cuisine, Tokyo easily makes tourists chase after viral ramen shops on social networks, pancake shops or must-visit markets, with long queuing times and high prices but inadequate quality.

“It’s often difficult for me to distinguish what is truly excellent. This exists in many big cities around the world, but for me, it is most obvious in Tokyo,” she said. However, she always believes that there is still room for a new chapter in her Asian culinary love story.