Saigon ostrich noodle soup
As pho is the dish of Vietnam’s “national soul”, the creation of a new taste may not be welcomed. However, one Cham gentleman braved the challenge when he opened an ostrich noodle restaurant in Saigon.
Thien Tri used to be an interpreter of Japanese. A couple of years ago, he read an article which stated that an African government had presented the Ministry of Agriculture with several ostrich eggs. He travelled to Ba Vi, a mountainous district in Ha Tay province, to ask for some from the 20 ostrich farm. Ostriches eat only corn and grass but they grow and reproduce very rapidly. The only problem was that their meat failed to sell because it is so unfamiliar to the locals.
Tri thought of taking his ostrich meat to markets, restaurants and supermarkets. However, a two-year-old ostrich weighs more than 150kg; its skin is reserved for tanning and its meat weighs about 40kg – but he didn’t know how to deal with the remainder, so he gave the tendons, bones, heads, necks and legs to the poor people in his neighbourhood.
Then he had the idea of making ostrich noodle soup. First he tried it on his family and friends; the more they ate, the more they liked it. So he went to Saigon to open an eating house serving the dish.
Directing me to the restaurant, the xe om remarked to his friend: “Look, people come from all over to eat ostrich noodles – we are right here but have never even tasted it!” Like these two, other locals had also heard about it but were put off by the price. At VND27,000 – VND37,000, it costs half the price of a bowl of Japanese noodle soup in the city centre, and twice the price of Tau Bay noodle soup in Cho Ca-Ly Thai To, a popular address in Saigon.
Anyone who appreciates noodle soup but has never tasted this style may well ask: “What does it taste like? Surely it’s nothing like either beef or chicken”.
All they can do is go to Thien Lam 7 restaurant to try it. Like any noodle soup, a bowl of it on the table looks very attractive. Containing well-cooked ostrich fillet and tendon, it suits the Saigonese palate since it also includes fresh bean sprouts, mint and red and black bean paste.
Above all, it’s very low in fat. The broth is always clear, making it suitable for the elderly and others who have a dread of the fat invariably seen in a bowl of beef or chicken pho.
Trying to persuade the choosy Vietnamese people to try something as outlandish as this is not easy. However, if that was always true no one would ever dare to introduce a new dish – so everyone would just eat traditional noodle soup forever. Now Saigon has ostrich noodle soup, so try it!
Thien Lam 7: 54 Truong Dinh St., D.1, HCMC
Tel: (08) 822-5121
