Bến Thành Market

Ben Thanh Market was established by French colonial powers in the middle of the 19th Century. Originally called Les Halles Centrales, it started as a wet market at the hands of vendors who would gather to sell their daily catch reeled in from the nearby Saigon River. A fire damaged a good deal of the market in 1870, but the grounds were quickly rebuilt. In 1912, the market moved to its current location, took on the Ben Thanh moniker, and became one of the most bustling areas in Saigon's District 1. One hundred years later, there is no indication of a centennial, simply hundreds of vendors, merchants, and food stalls going about their daily business.

Along the north side of the market is this beautfiul, open-air row of vendors, collectively offering an impressive spread of Vietnamese produce and ingredients.

One of many colorful stretches. Perilla (shiso), mint, basil, and fish herb, which gets it name from its "fishy" flavor, line the bottom of many stalls. The combination of greens accompanies most meals and contributes to the "freshness" that defines Vietnamese cuisine.

Whole banana flower in the midst of jackfruit, lotus root, and daikon.

Shredded banana flower, commonly used in salads.

Whole and chopped lotus root, also common in salads, where it is usually paired with shrimp and cilantro.

A vendor lines soft shell crabs on a tray. Apparently, if you align them one behind the other, eyes up, their claws retract into themselves and the crabs are left motionless.

Animals are slaughtered around 3am and the primal cuts (large pieces of meat initially separated from the carcass) are then delivered to the market. Once the meat has arrived, vendors break down the primals into smaller cuts for retail. Get there early, the meat goes quick.

The ol' tongue and tail routine. Warning: the next picture might make you think.

No part of the animal is wasted. Pig brains were on offer alongside intestines, ears, stomachs, and pretty much everything else.

Inside the market, wide aisles separate vendors lining the perimeter from the tangled web of food stalls and retail nooks at the market's center. Walking through Ben Thanh can be a physical experience, as the selling tactics here might best be summed up as wrist-grabbing and stomach-slapping. But hey, a little enthusiasm never hurt anybody.

Coffee, tea, candy, and other dry goods make up the majority of what's sold along the market's perimeter. This is a common spread at candy stands. A lot of the candy resembles taffy, with coconut, banana, and tamarind accountable for most of the flavors.

Walkways are incredibly narrow, but the abundance of stalls creates a wide array of options from which you can shop.

Food stalls are grouped together and, for the most part, resigned to one corner of the market. We stopped and had a snack at the one that was most crowded.

We were served the one thing being made: an amalgum of glutinous rice (some of which was stuffed with dried shrimp), fish cake, croutons, cilantro, fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, and sugar.

Sharing the same space as the place we got our food from was a nước mía vendor. It was our introduction to the fresh, sugar water drink popular in Vietnam and throughout Southeast Asia and became our first of many. Nuoc mia ("sugar water") is made from running fresh sugar cane through a rather medieval looking crank that crushes the cane and extracts its sweet nectar. It's not as sweet as you'd expect and might be the perfect accompaniment to the hot, Vietnamese climate. Drank throughout the trip with different foods, the subtle richness and sweetness of nuoc mia paired surprisingly well with many Vietnamese foods.