The Bánh Đa Kê Question

I have a tendency to laziness. It's a character flaw that impedes the process here in these pages.

Here is what happens.

On a jaunt through the streets, I see a woman attired in heavy-duty blue-collar worker-wear dealing something edible from a basket. It looks unfamiliar which automatically makes it manna from heaven. These opportunities do not present very often, now that I've been dining on these streets for almost 10 years and documenting my experiences for six. And therein lies the problem. I've grown unused to these surprises. In some ways, I'll even admit to thinking I know everything about the things people put in their mouths in Hanoi.

Lazy and conceited, that's me.

These days I am not adhering to the basic rules of the food-blogger. I don't always take the camera. I make notes in my mind rather than on paper, then promptly forget them. I'm getting slack with the camera, too, not making sure that I've taken enough of a range of photographs from which to choose for the actual post. In fact, I've got several posts in draft that have may never see the light of day because the pictures are mediocre.  

Another symptom of my laziness is that I speak Vietnamese like an organism lacking any linguistic capacity. Like plankton. I have lessons but they don't seem to be getting me anywhere. I can order beer but I can't say "how do you prepare your noodles?" or "is there a history behind this dish?" If I'm eating without my right hand man, I may still be able to piece together a story but it might have an erroneous translation or a fact I haven't been able to verify.

So, the aforementioned woman and her basket on the footpath is a case in point. A few snaps, a mental note or two about the ingredients and the method and I think I have the wherewithal to write a blog-post on something I've never eaten before. Sure, there may be some aspects of this snack I have knowledge of; I see the giant rice cracker (bánh đa) broken in half and recognise it as something sold by vendors near bia hơi outlets to accompany Hanoi's famous draught beer. I also know the dried mung bean (đậu xanh) powder, commonly sprinkled on some sticky rice dishes in Hanoi. There's sugar, too.

One element of this dish known as bánh đa kê eludes me, however. It is a yellow spread, thick, sticky and almost eggy to my taste buds. The blue-shirted purveyor scrapes this stuff from a plastic basin and smears it across the rice cracker before sprinkling the yellow bean powder and sugar on top. With a resonant crack in half, a rice cracker sandwich of sorts is formed and placed in a scrap of notepaper.

And off I go. I have one hand steering the motorbike, one hand bending this snack into the hole in my face while my mind is regretting not seeking out the information about the sticky yellow paste. Later, in desperation, I utilise the lazy bastards' method of research, googling and tweeting for answers. Seeds eaten by birds are mentioned, the grain millet comes up. But I'm none the wiser about how seed or grain becomes paste or about whether my egg suspicions are warranted.

In short, I'm questioning my own legitimacy as a food-blogger, if I should be persisting, given my inadequacies. A kick up the behind is clearly in order.

But...also...WTF is that gooey yellow stuff on that rice cracker?

Bánh đa Kê
mobile vendor on wheels
Old Quarter
Hanoi

Comments

[Chris]

Kê is millet. the only other ingredients are sugar, mung bean and the Bánh đa. It's a Ha Noi dish. Millet is also used to make chè kê and cháo kê. That last one is eaten with chicken.

[Mzungu]

Sometimes we look without looking, and other times we see without seeing ...... It happens when we get comfortable with some place or even someone ......

[Anne]

Should you keep blogging? Well, I get excited to see an update from you when I'm settling down to have my morning coffee. You still know a lot more than I do and I love learning from your blog. I hope that counts for something!

[Dee Sutton]

I actually think your post was a breath of fresh air. Although the food I love is Khmer, more than Vietnamese, my love for all things Asian makes your blog a highlight.
Maybe you need to use some of the mediocre photos, and "get over it" for want of a better way of putting it. I'm sure like me, the others that read your blog, are happy to have mediocre if they can just glimpse a little more of the culture and food of this great country.

[Tina Pham]

Great blog you have here!

[Tina Pham]

Love your pictures too!

[Christy]

Hey, it's okay to be like that sometimes, and it keeps the fun in blogging :) Sometimes it makes you feel like you're responsible for the info conveyed through your sites and jerks you off into that "what-is-this" when you are traveling or even when you are relaxing, thinking that it's blog worthy :)
Haven't we all been there? It takes the fun out of our mind but into the blogging part, so, chill, you're in the top 50 of the world's best food blogs, isn't that something already? :D

[Sticky]

Chris - thanks for your clarification here and on twitter.

Mzungu - is that another way of saying familiarity breeds contempt? Thankfully I'm nowhere near that stage yet.

Anne - thanks...it gives me pleasure to imagine you getting excited about what I post...the best kind of praise...thank you!

Dee Sutton - I probably won't post those until I get around to taking more photos. I do need to "get over it", sometimes, though ;-)

Tina Pham - thanks

Christy - you're right, especially as I don't consider my blog to be a true food-blog in the strict sense of the concept...being in the top 50 was a long time ago, though!

[Michelle (Healthy Snack) Hompton]

I like this post. This one's unqiue - talking about food and attitude. I also eat street foods. But I don't make it a habit.

[Jonha]

I love that you don't always "adhere" to the food blogging rules all the time, I mean c'mon, you can always try something new and from there you will learn more and appreciate the experience even better.

[Linh Nguyen]

Hi Mark. It's me, Linh from PM1 AE7 :). This is my first time reading your blog and I love this entry because I like bánh đa kê. It is a common sweetmeat of poor children in Hanoi. When I eat bánh đa kê, I usually remember my peaceful childhood. Now I feel so excited because you, a foreigner, know about my bánh đa kê.

[Tia G]

Your food blogging skills are top-notch. I love to read your posts!