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Phan Thiet is the capital of Binh Thuan Province, located in the southeast of Vietnam, about 215km from Ho Chi Minh City. It is home to nearly 250,000 inhabitants spreading across 4 wards and a vibrant city center. Phan Thiet’s cuisine is very diverse, with a range of luxury and popular dishes to satisfy all appetites. Vietnam raw fish salad (Goi Ca Mai) Photo: Bach hoa XANH At Mui Ne – Phan Thiet beach, there is a delicious and mouth-watering seafood dish called Goi Ca Mai (Vietnam raw fish salad). It’s made with fresh deep herring or white sardine (Ca Mai) as the main ingredient. The fish has a sweet taste, no scales, and a less intense aroma than other types of fish. To make a perfect and attractive Goi Ca Mai dish, the white sardines need to be big, juicy, and fresh. When processing, the scales, heads, and tails of the fish are removed. Then, it is put in ice water to make the flesh firmer and sweeter, before being cooked with lemon juice. Other ingredients used in ...

Just a few steps away from the bustling street, Nguyen Thi Hong has been attached to a craft that she has followed from her 20s. For many people, she is one of the few remaining talented artisans in the capital. The quintessence of a past generation of Hanoian women  Nguyen Thi Hong has been spending over 40 years yarning clothes in Hanoi. Photo: Dan Tri Residents of Thanh Mien Alley in Van Mieu Ward in Dong Da District, Hanoi are so familiar with the sight of Nguyen Thi Hong, a small grey-haired woman sitting in front of her tiny house – numbered 2B – and quietly yarning clothes. Since 1979, she has always been there on the old chair, sitting on an old chair next to a toolbox filled with needles, strings of all colors, scissors, point-pens, memo papers, tape measures and other items. Inside the house filled with old scents and antiques, there is a tall wardrobe full of shirts, pants, scarves and socks received from customers for repair. Life has changed a lot. ...

Nguyen Ngoc Ly and Lung Van Nhan, a married couple living in Mo Cay Nam District, Ben Tre Province, earn VND750,000 (US$32) each day from processing 3,000 coconuts. Typically, their work day starts about midnight and finishes up in the early afternoon. “Once we run out of coconuts to process, we start looking for ways to make money the rest of the day,” Ly said. A dangerous job Coconut husks are the fibrous layer between the fruit’s outer skin and hard, inner shell. They sit just above the coconut’s white flesh. Peeling these husks is considered a profitable job in Ben Tre, and Ly and Nhan, though relatively new to the gig, are extremely productive huskers. “My wife is from Vinh Khanh District, Ben Tre and I am from District 8, Ho Chi Minh City,” said Nhan. “We met when she found a seasonal job in Ho Chi Minh City at the same place where I worked.” Together, Ly and Nhan moved to Ben Tre in 2021 in search of better jobs. That is when they discovered coconut husking. “...