Vietnamese Food - Keelung

Here are some shots from my favorite vietnamese place in Keelung. It's just a stand, at the end of the textile section of the market, with uncomfortable stools and a cd stand next door that keeps the same taiwanese song on repeat for the entire night, and has had that same song on repeat for going on a year, and my god, it drives me crazy, though I think it may be teaching me taiwanese. But I go there because the food is delicious and the old vietnamese lady who runs it with her husband is nice and usually understands my poor mandarin. Anyway, I get pretty basic stuff there. You can see the spring roll above, a rice flour skin with bbq pork, rice vermicelli noodles, basil leaves, and green onion inside. My favorite part is the sauce, which is a sweet brown bean sauce with peanuts, chili, and this sour-sweet pickled carrot radish concoction. You can also see it on my huh fen on the left. Those are fat rice noodles (I'm particularly fond of the) that you find in thai rahd nahr. This dish is served cool, with the noodles, slices of imitation turkey, actual pork preserved in it's own skin with black peppercorns and flavors I can only describe as french, peanuts, chili, more of the sweet-sour pickled radish-carrot concoction, chopped mint and basil, fried shallots, bean sprouts, and a sauce that is a mixture of lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar. On a hot day, this "cold" dish really hits the spot. I tried to create it at home, but, no.