I grew up at a place where I wake up, walk out of my house and there is a crispy pork belly sandwich and chicken sandwich stall across the street. There’s another that sells sticky rice with Vietnamese sausage and pate, chicken and shredded pork or pork skewers, right next to the sandwich stall. Walking 20 feet to my left they have rolled rice pancakes stuffed with pork and black fungus. Walking 30 feet to my right there’s shrimp dumpling, crab soups and many more. Wait, I’ve just mentioned only street food that is a few steps away from my house. There are other decent food stores and restaurants nearby. You will never be out of food choices.

A casual Banh Mi stall

I grew up on Vietnamese food, or Vietnamese street food to be specific. It’s not just food; it’s a culture. You can literally find street food everywhere, at every corner, on every tiny road. Food varies from appetizers, main entrees to dessert and any kinds of drink. Each portion ranges from 25 cents to one or two dollars. Street food is often sold off rolling food carts, bicycles or the bamboo tools.

It still cracks my heart whenever I look at these images because the weight those vendors have to load on their shoulders for bread and butter.

The busy life here barely gives us any time to park and sit and eat at a decent restaurant. We can just stop by a food stall , either sit on the plastic stool prepared by street hawkers or eat walking. Street food takes only one or two minutes to prepare.

From kindergarten to high school, the street hawkers have contributed a big part of our students’ lives. The most enjoyable part of school is rushing out of the school entrance to get ourselves a pancake with fried shrimp and quail eggs or basically just some thin crispy waffles. Food changes through times, but street food always exists in different forms and ingredients.

Crispy waffles are my childhood.

Crispy rice pancake with butter, fried shrimp and quail egg.

Of course everything comes with its pros and cons. To exchange with the cheap price and extreme convenience is the deadly harm we put on our health. Unguaranteed food source and sanitation. Food is cooked from early morning or the night before to be ready for waiting customers in the next day. And throughout the day, it “has to” absorb all the fumes released from motorcycles, cars and dirt from everywhere because the food travels around the city. There are thousand of hidden chances of food poisoning and diarrhea in every dish. In recent years, with the rapid increase of imported cheap ingredients with vague producers, food contains even more danger from toxic chemicals that make a spoiled unqualified food look and taste like the legit ones. Meat isn’t made from meat but some cheap fake materials. Every chewy thing is said to be melted plastic. Leftovers are reused from day to day. Et cetera.

Food is displayed right on the pavements where thousand vehicles passed every day.

It’s scary, but inevitable, or irreplaceable. It’ scary because you never know what you’re putting inside your body. It could affect you two hours later, which results in food poisoning, or decades later, which is worse: cancer and the genetic mutation on your children's generation. It’s inevitable because street vendors have no other choice. They don’t want to be inhumane, but they can not manage higher-priced materials and the lower class can not afford a more expensive dish. They try to save every single cent. Lastly, it’s irreplaceable, because street food possess a gigantic place in our heart. Every single person grew up on that. You can’t find street food in any other places but streets with the attached images of busy crowded streets, rushing street walkers, customers yelling from a distance trying to reach sellers.