People in the office of Ho Chi Minh City will sometimes choose to exchange lunch dishes with a rather strange menu: eating processed snails.
In the past, going to work sometimes replaced the main meal of rice soup, and decent vermicelli with light dishes such as cereals, sweet bread, and crab soup … but having lunch with processed snail dishes was never on the menu. yours yet?
Snail-eating culture has been moved to lunch break
Snail dish is a concretized dish for the popular gathering culture of Saigon people. One can judge this as the date of close relatives if they meet at a snail shop. It is because the habit of eating snails in the South is different from the ethereal taste of the North or the Central region – Saigon people love to cook snails with many savory spices, combine many ingredients, and invent many new recipes for those who love to eat. familiar snail face. For example, instead of boiled snails dipping in ginger sauce, or steaming lemongrass, Saigon people will roast tamarind, stir-fried morning glory with garlic, salted egg sauce, steamed with coconut milk, grilled with onion fat or dried island with salt and pepper shrimp… , ie the meal also permeates the smell, so only those who are comfortable, people sit while using their hands to worship and talk with them.
The culture of eating snails is also quite popular in the after-hours appointments of the office. After returning home from work in the afternoon, colleagues often invite each other to spend the evening at the snail shop to relieve their cravings for snacks, and eat and drink cold beers. There was nothing to discuss when the habit of eating snails was moved to the lunch break.
Photo: @andiroitap, @ntnamhair
Eating snails during a break in the middle of work, are office workers afraid of the smell of seafood when they return to the office?
My Han shared: “Every time I step out of the snail shop, my body smells, I hear it better than leaving the restaurant with grilled ribs. So when at noon, when I invite each other over to the snail shop, when I come back, I have to wash it. Hands carefully, also spray perfume to deodorize.
My colleagues and I like to eat snails at noon very much, at noon, if we eat snails instead of rice, in the afternoon, we will not crave for anything salty and snack. Eating snails during a lunch break can satisfy cravings and lose weight quite well (laughs).
Many office workers will sometimes gasp when they know their colleagues fill their lunches with a meal of whole protein instead of starch for energy in the afternoon shift.
“What did everyone eat this afternoon? – We went to eat snails this afternoon. That conversation shocked me on the first day of work. Eating with everyone, is delicious and fun, yes, but it still feels weird. Because of the salty dishes without a main dish like rice, vermicelli or noodles like this, it is not a good substitute for lunch, even though I am a fan of Saigon snails.” – Mr. Hoang Luan.
LOOK FOR MORE THAN 30 MINUTES TO LINE UP FOR AN EASY LUNCH TREATMENT OF ONLY 1 HOUR AND 30 MINUTES
In the office world, the name snail Nhu is the A-list star that everyone knows. People point to a long-standing snail restaurant that serves office workers during lunch breaks, cools down in the house, so if you want to have an interesting lunch date, go eat snails.
Only around 11 o’clock, most of the guests were seated in the house. At the lunch rush hour, office people lined up to fill the alley leading to the snail shop far inside. If you don’t say that there is a row of snails inside, sometimes passersby think there is an event in the office world.
“At noon when we decide to change dishes to avoid boredom when we eat vermicelli and rice all the time, we will go to snail Nhu. This restaurant is the place with the most variety of snail dishes that I know of, probably so. but office people often come here in large groups. The price here is not cheap, but the processing is very good, so it is acceptable to sit crammed together to enjoy.” – Ms. Ngoc Nguyen said.
Mr. Hoang Minh shared that because there are few snail shops open at noon, so if you want to eat snails in this confusing time frame, you have to wait in line: “Usually people will go to eat snails at the end of work in the evening. , I want to eat snails at noon, I have to work hard. Rarely any good snail restaurants open at noon, near the company I work, there is only this snail shop, if you want to have a drink at noon. When I’m stressed, I go to Nhu’s snail shop to have a few drinks and then return to the company.”
Photo: @andiroitap, @ntnhatnamhair
Lunch break is only more than 1 hour, moving both back and forth also takes at least 20 minutes, you have to wait in the middle of the noonday sun. Thus, it is difficult to have enough time to chat and relax. However, for the real office junkies, this race is on time either way.
An office worker eats snails while running the deadline because the lunch break is not enough to wait and eat snails
“Actually, eating snails at noon is not leisurely enough to chat. We went to eat snails at noon, not to borrow a meeting place, but to solve our cravings for snails. If someone doesn’t like to eat well in the afternoon shift, they’ll be annoyed, so they’ll be upset, so they’ll go to the snail like waiting. Waiting time for a seat and processing is about 30 minutes, then take advantage of a quick meal for about 15 minutes, in return. I can eat snails exactly as I want.” – Ms. Mai Thu.
Mr. Cong Trung said: “Actually, I don’t like eating snails very much, but many exchanges and meetings with colleagues at noon have an appointment to eat snails, so I just follow. I mainly go to a simple place to comfortably talk. It’s fine for work, both as bait, and if you want to have a good afternoon beer.”
There are many people who rate here that snails are sometimes not fresh, the service is not attentive, but because of following the crowd, following the wishes of colleagues, … snail Nhu is still busy with “she-vin” groups. enter.
IS A DELICIOUS Dish that costs twice as much as a main meal
Called a snack, but a meal of dew snails costs twice as much, sometimes three times as much as a main meal. On average, each dish of snails such as 50,000 VND, some dishes more than 100,000 VND, depending on the time. Even if you go to a group of about 6 – 10 people, the money will be about 150,000 – 200,000 VND/person. But a plate of rice, a bowl of Hue beef vermicelli or fried vermicelli… only costs about 50,000 VND.
“About 1-2 weeks, our team will eat snails for lunch once, but not very often. Eat to refresh the taste with increased appetite because the snail dishes are deliciously processed but the price is like that. These days, you can’t replace the main meals of the day. Eating snails looks like a small and popular food, but a meal is equal to going to luxury restaurants or restaurants, every day eating freely is better than the price of a buffet ticket.” – Ms. Thanh Tran said.
Mr. Huy Nguyen thinks that a snail lunch is not enough to restore energy in the afternoon shift: “In my opinion, snails should not be used to replace the main meal, firstly, spend money but not enough to stay awake. In the afternoon, around 2-3 o’clock, you will be hungry again. Monday is not good for health. Outside of the restaurant, the processing stage is not hygienic, so one day when you eat, you will have stomach pain and diarrhea. office, often will eat snails – drink beer, protein accumulates in the body, causing many diseases.”
However, Ms. My Han shared: “Usually snail shops will sell bread to fill up the stomach, no different from the main meal, so there is no fear of hunger or lack of energy to return to work. If I choose a snail shop, In situ processing and hygiene, the case of abdominal pain is almost rare.”
Photo: @tebefood, @_kar0608
Eating snails is a unique culinary culture of Saigon people in general and Saigon office workers in particular. If you go in the evening, you can see countless rows of delicious snails with a crowded atmosphere like snail Nhu. But craving snails at noon or wanting to revive the taste, snail Nhu is a suitable suggestion. However, eating snails for lunch, although good for our mood, is bad for our health, we should consider and make reasonable adjustments.