Vú Dê Nướng & Lẩu Dê
(BBQ Goat Udder & Goat Meat Hot Pot)
This week I decided it was time to return to California Fitness & Yoga (Saigon’s “premier” health club , better know in the city as “California Wow!)) in order to begin to pay my dues for having stayed away from serious exercise for the past 4 months.
Of course, I had an easy, ready-made excuse for my recent lack of athleticism — rotator cuff surgery, shoulder pain, recovery protocols, sympathy solicitations, and the like.
Is gravity stronger in Saigon?
But the 3 additional kilograms (6.61 pounds) that appeared on my Saigon bathroom scale (and apparently on my body) began to challenge my rationalizations for not returning to the gym. It was particularly unsettling when I used my iPhone Ap to convert from kilograms to pounds to understand more clearly exactly what my scale was trying to tell me. To make the conversion, it didn’t calculate my “Weight” gain. Instead, the Conversion Ap considered my increase in accumulated “Mass” – a far more disturbing concept!
Given that, I’m now committed to getting to the gym at least 4 times each week. I’m still months away from being able to exercise the upper body after my surgery, but there’s still plenty of accumulated mass below the chest/shoulder level that can be addressed. I’ll report in on my progress periodically ;-).
California Fitness & Yoga
I proudly completed my first 30 minutes back on the elliptical trainer at California Wow with little problem (next time I’ll “up” the resistance). Hai completed his 3-class, 3-hours workout! Whatever – we both did our respective parts for the cause.
On our way home, what we wanted was a quick, satisfying bite for dinner. What we ended up with was an amazing and genuinely authentic mid-week Vietnamese feast. Vú dê nướng (bbq goat udder) and lẩu dê (goat meat hotpot).
As I have described in an earlier blog after a meal at Tư Trì along the Saigon River, vú dê nướng (bbq goat udder) is
a texture and flavor ‘bomb’ (as in explosion, not failure)! Squid-like in its chewy texture, but more tenderly meaty. Seared on the outside and moist on the inside.”
Vú Dê Nướng (bbq goat udder)
Grilled Đậu Bắp (okra)
And honestly, it was even more succulent and delicious here at Lẩu Dê on Trương Định Street. Again, we grilled the goat at our table on a small table-top gas grill, and wrapped the seared udder in a sheet of rice paper together with our grilled đậu bắp (okra), a few Vietnamese herb leaves, and thin slices of khế chua (unripened star fruit) and chuối chát (unripened banana – very acrid – don’t bite into it by itself). Then, dipped the entire food assembly into a unique and amazing sauce, chao. Chao is a southern Vietnam specialty – a blended tofu base, quite sweet, but with a fermented tangy bite, and as strong a chili-pepper kick as you care to add. Remarkably delicious!
đậu bắp (okra), a few Vietnamese herb leaves, and thin slices of khế chua (unripened star fruit) and chuối chát (unripened banana)
Chao (sweet, fermented yogurt ~ chili dipping sauce)
That would have been a completely filling and satisfying dinner – especially on a Wednesday night when shedding kilograms was allegedly the main objective of the day. But, we had already placed our order for lẩu dê (goat meat hotpot). What could we do?
Let the feast continue!
An attentive middle-aged woman refilled our glasses of trà đá (iced tea), cleared the BBQ apparatus from our table, and replaced it with the next cooking appliance – a flaming burner supporting a boiling stock-filled clay pot.
Hai grilling Vú Dê Nướng (bbq goat udder) at our table
Our job (actually Hai volunteered to do the cooking, as usual) was to slowly choose from the variety of ingredients that were delivered to our table and drop them into the simmering stock in the order we choose to consume them.
Ingredients for Lẩu Dê
Lẩu Dê (goat meat hotpot)
Goat meat, tofu (both 1-inch cubes of soft tofu and thin chewy sheets of fried tofu), kidney, mì (noodles), wide flat hủ tiếu (noodles), scallions, a bitter green, and okra. Wonderful! First the meat, then the tofu and vegetables, then the noodles. A truly delicious and fun meal. A great way to enjoy the evening with a partner, a lover, friends or family. BUT, an absolutely terrible way to try to shed a kilogram or two from your waist! Oh well, life is short – ENJOY!
A triple YUM YUM YUM on the Eating Saigon Yum Meter!
If you can make it here, try to grab a table at the lower level beside the street. You’ll be a bit more distant from the dozens of hotpot burners and bbq grills concentrated at the center upper tables, and a bit cooler.
The cost of our feast, for both hotpot and BBQ was just under 300,000 vnd (about $15 usd). A little on the expensive side for Saigon “Street Food”. But, actually, either one of those food items would have been a full meal for us for under $8 usd total.
Relatively close to Saigon’s tourist central in District 3, Lẩu Dê closes about 10 pm.
Lẩu Dê
105 Trương Định (on the corner of Ho Xuân Hương & Trương Định Streets)
District 3, HCMC # 09304296
2nd location (I’ve not yet visited this location):
45 Ngo Thoi Nhiem
District 3, HCMC #09302271
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