Hotpots (Steamboats) in Vietnam and Miscellaneous foods
Hotpots or Steamboats are a hot favourite here in Vietnam. In Singapore, this is served as a complete meal, however, in Vietnam, this is a soup dish that complements rice or noodles. The hotpot contains seafood, vegetables and a few slices of meat in a variety of soup stocks (Thai Tom Yum, Chicken, etc.) Almost every street corner, you can see these hotpots stalls and restaurants.
Safety have been of little concern whenever we eat them in Singapore, until this incident struck during one of my hotpot meals in Vietnam. We were only about 3 tables away from this fire which took 3 big bottles of fire extinguishers to extinguish. In most cases, these fire hazards are due to the re-using of gas tanks by pumping in gas into the finished tanks. Over time, they get worn out and explosions like these occurs. In this case, it could be due to the oily drips from the food which came into contact with the big flames of the fire and with water and wind the fire spread very fast across the table.
Here are some of the foods that we tried in Vietnam.
Left: Squid Salad, Right: Roasted Mouse Meat
Squid Salad: Steamed squid mixed with onion, pineapples, sliced chilli, parsley and lemon juice.
Roasted Mouse Meat: Lots of bones, very little meat. Tastes like chicken breast meat.
