And for dessert... little green worms!

One of the very first things I ate in Vietnam was a dessert that looked like little green worms!

We were walking in the market and suddenly came upon a street food stall with bowls and bowls of colorful jellylike desserts. I was immediately attracted to the green squiggles. Compared to the rest of the dessert bowls, these were especially bright, odd, and unlike anything I’d ever seen before. Needless to say, I was intrigued. I had to try it.

Of course, I had to have a bowl. First, you select your jelly flavors, and then the owner pours coconut milk and ice chips on top. The result is a dessert that’s chewy from the jelly bits, creamy and rich from the coconut milk, and accented by crunchy, refreshing ice chips. I was hooked.

The lady encouraged me to get as many flavors as possible but, rather than try 10 flavors all mixed together, I went for four so I could really taste them. I got coffee squares, hibiscus strands, apple spheres, and the green squiggles, which I later learned were pandan flavored.

Apparently, the green strands are meant to look like pandan leaves. Cool, right? 🌱

The taste was unfamiliar, sweet, and not at all like grass. Though I didn’t know it yet, pandan would become a leaf I’d know and love as I traveled through Vietnam and Thailand. And not just in jelly soup, but in all sorts of desserts.

I found this dessert totally fascinating. It was like I’d been shown a new palette of colors and shapes I didn’t even know existed. This was only the beginning of my trip, and I already felt that Vietnam would be a whole new world that could open up a fresh range of flavors and textures for me to play with.