EDITORIAL NOTE

Ho Chi Minh City is a favorite destination for foreign tourists when traveling to Vietnam, not only because of its beautiful scenery but also because of its diverse cuisine with many delicious dishes.

VietNamNet newspaper introduces a series of articles titled "Westerners Try Vietnamese Food in Ho Chi Minh City" about the experiences of international tourists when enjoying Vietnamese food in this city.

Choi Jongrak is a Korean content creator who has been living in Ho Chi Minh City for more than 5 years. Jongrak, his brother Sungrak and his brother's friend Dongrin created a YouTube channel, regularly sharing about culture and life in Vietnam and Korea.

Their YouTube channel currently has more than 1 million followers and each video posted usually attracts from several tens of thousands to millions of views.

In a recent video, Jongrak took his new friend Sarah (from Barcelona, ​​Spain) to a restaurant on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City).

At the restaurant, they experienced a dish familiar to Vietnamese people but "picky" with foreigners: pig intestines dipped in shrimp paste.

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Jongrak (right) takes Sarah to eat pig intestines with shrimp paste in Ho Chi Minh City

Jongrak revealed that Sarah studied boxing and had a strong personality. Therefore, he wanted to challenge the young girl by tasting special dishes in Vietnam, including shrimp paste.

According to a Korean YouTuber, shrimp paste is a traditional dipping sauce loved by many Vietnamese people but not all foreign tourists dare to enjoy it.

At first hearing the name of the dish, Sarah was a bit surprised and confused. Jongrak reassured her that this was a normal dish, not difficult to eat. However, when she smelled the shrimp paste, the Spanish girl couldn't help but be slightly shocked.

Jongrak instructs his friend how to eat pig intestines with shrimp paste

Jongrak explained that this dipping sauce is fermented from shrimp, “it smells a bit disgusting but it tastes delicious.”

He also carefully instructed the Western guest how to mix shrimp paste like the locals. That is, add lemon juice and sugar and stir well until the shrimp paste bubbles.

Sarah boldly picked up a piece of pig intestine, dipped it in shrimp paste and put it in her mouth to enjoy. After a few seconds of chewing and tasting, she exclaimed in surprise and gave a thumbs up to show her satisfaction.

“It doesn't taste bad,” Sarah commented.

“See, I told you. The shrimp paste is just unpleasant to smell because of its strong smell, but it doesn’t taste bad,” Jongrak replied.

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Western guests were surprised that shrimp paste was not as bad as they thought.

The young female tourist added that, in her personal opinion, she found the shrimp paste to have a strong fishy smell, a bit difficult to enjoy, but the taste was quite good.

“It doesn't taste as bad as it smells,” she said.

Jongrak suggested Sarah try the pork sausage. He was quite surprised to see her boldly try the dish, which she had heard for the first time, even adding shrimp paste.

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Young girl admits shrimp paste "smells a bit gross but tastes really good"

However, the Western guest commented that the sausage dish did not suit his taste and was quite difficult to eat, while the shrimp paste was "not as bad as thought".

“It smells a bit gross but it tastes really good,” Sarah told Jongrak when he asked her about the shrimp paste.

Jongrak was also impressed by the fact that the Spanish female tourist did not hesitate to try the dish considered "difficult" for foreigners in Vietnam.

Photo: HanQuocBros

Western tourists were surprised to eat a variety of delicious dishes in Ho Chi Minh City for only about 100,000 VND . Experiencing eating 3 meals a day in Ho Chi Minh City, 2 Western tourists were surprised to only spend about 100,000 VND/person to taste a variety of delicious dishes such as bread, noodles, spring rolls,...