For the past several months, I was literally hooked on Vietnam travel vlogs and that got me more curious about its culture and most especially, their food. A country that is almost similar to the Philippines in terms of geography and even history, Vietnam has been in my mind for quite some time now.
While I have to admit that I really love to eat, I’m not the adventurous type and usually settles only for what appeals to my taste bud. That’s why for the longest time that I’ve been in Qatar, I have not really immersed myself to Arabic food – largely because of my seeming animosity with spicy food (which usually causes indigestion as well as stomach problem for me). But as I’m doing my blog lately, I came to understand that I also have to go out of my comfort zone and try foods other than fried chicken or adobo (chicken marinated in vinegar and soy sauce) – in order for me to understand the culture of the people around me.
This week, I’ve decided to try Vietnamese food in order to get myself introduced to their popular Pho (click this link for a video on how the dish is prepared). Coincidentally, I met someone online who is running a Vietnamese food delivery service in Qatar. When she asked if I could try their dishes, I thought the offer was very irresistible as the timing was also perfect. Though I’m not really a food critique, my feature blog posts simply give information to my readers where they can go for such products here in Qatar.
And I came to know Ms. Anh Nguyen who was in the business of introducing Vietnamese food in Qatar for almost 3 years now. Her online delivery business called DAILY HOME KITCHEN has already made for herself a good following and avid customers in many parts of Doha, even up to the Pearl area. As of the moment, her delivery schedules are every Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Order may also be picked-up at their residence in B-Ring Road.
As weekends are usually a reserved date for our family, it was also a good opportunity for us to try something new. We had chicken and beef pho and a portion of spring rolls. Here’s Ms. Anh’s reheating instructions for a more delightful food experience.
As per our exchange of communications, what sets her food apart is its authenticity. The broth is slow cooked from beef bones for at least eight hours the same way they prepare it on their hometown in Saigon (now Ho Chi Min). The soup is balanced with star anise seed, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander seed, ginger and onion. She used fresh basil leaves which are only available in a mega mart in Doha. The pho usually comes with especially made hoisin and chilly sauces to complete the overall taste.
At first, I struggled with the leaves in the pho dish. I decided to take it out first so I can get a good taste of it. The clear broth is definitely good (I can imagine it being slow-cooked for eight hours with all those ingredients), the beef meat nicely cooked, the white noodles are also good, but the crunchy texture of the onions and beans sprouts are very distinct it gives the fresh feel to the dish. The pho is delicious as it is, but my wife said it tastes even better when mixed with hoisin sauce.
The spring rolls, on the other hand, are made up of coriander, mint, lecture, carrot, cucumber, vermicelli noodles and shrimp. What make the rolls special is that the rice paper and rice noodles are directly imported from Vietnam. For Filipinos especially, the dipping sauce is “almost” similar to our familiar Chinese bun (siopao) so the sweetness of the sauce makes it even more palatable.
It was definitely an experience worth sharing. While the food was provided as a compliment, but as always, the observations are my own. And if you also want to have a personal experience on Vietnamese foods, you can contact DAILY HOME KITCHEN at +974 33402830 for orders.
