I am getting excited about seeing Hanoi and experiencing culture through some of the delicious Viet food. I was browsing online to discover some of the fine soups so that I can try and order some in Vietnamese. This one was interesting: a soup called 'bún thang' from Northern Vietnam. The dish traditionally includes rice noodles, thinly sliced egg crepe, pork cold cuts, and other various additions in a chicken/dry squid broth. A final addition you make to your bowl of soup right before eating is a few drops of cà cuống: extract of male pheromone from the beetle, actual Beetle Juice! In Vietnamese cuisine it’s common to add this extract to dishes like bún thang, and its powerful stuff, a tiny drop of it on the tip of a toothpick flavors the whole bowl of soup. I wonder if, after eating, the diner is made irresistible to female of the Lethocerus indicus species?

Image shows a bowl of whole cà cuống which are also on the menu in some restaurants.

Welcome to the Vietnam Field School blog!

Welcome to the UQ Museum Studies Field School blog page. This blog is to post thought-pieces and ideas relating to our field school in Ha Noi and Da Nang from 3-13 January 2017.

Anyone who can improve the layout and header of this blog page is welcome to have a go.