Trying New Things: The Vietnamese Dessert

After being lucky enough to make my first trip outside the country this summer it left me wanting to try new foods in a way I never would have expected. As a girl who grew up with her Mexican Nana slipping giblets and menudo into dishes without notice, only to become horrified at what I’d eaten later, I became someone that didn’t want to eat something unless I could identify every ingredient (visible or not). Somewhere along my travels in France I realized that I actually like giblets and would eat just about anything on the menu… yes, even the snails. (Although I think their goodness is a credit mostly to that delicious garlic butter they’re baked in)

So all this left me itching to apply my new found nerve straight to my favorite Vietnamese deli, Saigon Sandwich, where I cannot identify 90% of the goods sold.

After several attempts (on multiple days) at deciphering the name of this dessert that the women behind the counter tried to help me identify in vein, I said ‘what the hell, I love all desserts, and if I knew what it was maybe I wouldn’t be so excited’. So I buckled up and pulled one from the fridge, hoping no one else would ask, “OH, What’s that!?”, leaving me to tell the line-full of people I had no idea what I was about to consume.

Verdict? YUM. This coconut milk dessert is GOOD. But I still don’t know what the hell the rest of it is. Anyone that knows, enlighten me!