New Cholon (Oahu) - Vietnamese Snacks!

New Cholon is located in Honolulu Chinatown. It is part supermarket and part Vietnamese snack shop! I love all the classic Vietnamese savories and sweets, they're delivered fresh each morning from restaurants around town. A delicious one-stop shop ^_^

Mom and I went to Chinatown for Vietnamese treats today. The plan: buy an assortment of savories and sweets, take it home to share with dad and grandma for lunch.

We went to New Cholon at 169 N. King Street. It is part-grocery store and part-prepared foods shop. There is a big long table right when you entire the store. This is the section with all the goodies!

All the Vietnamese sweets and savories are delivered fresh in the morning from local restaurants that prepare the dishes off-site. There are so many flavors and colors and textures. This is a dream!

I follow my mom's lead because she knows all the good stuff. Each item was about $6-7, except for the salad which was $10.

Savories

We bought 6 savories. All the savories come with a side container of nuoc mam / nuoc cham - this is a Vietnamese dipping sauce made from fish sauce, water, vinegar, sugar, garlic, and chili pepper. It's an essential condiment and one you can easily make at home.

Banh Beo
Single-bite steamed rice cakes made from a mix of rice flour and tapioca starch. This is a classic! It's topped with ground dried shrimp and green onions. Pour nuoc mam over the top and eat! Dainty, delicate, and packed with flavor, all at the same time.

Banh Bot Loc
Translucent and chewy, these dumplings are made with tapioca starch, stuffed with shrimp and green onions. Like Banh Beo, these are also steamed and best enjoyed with nuoc mam over the top (or you can dip it in the nuoc mam). Little beauties!

Banh It Tran + Banh Bot Loc
A mix pack! Banh Bot Loc is the same style as the one in the section above. And it comes with two pieces of Banh It Tran which is like a savory stuffed mochi. It's filled with a mix of mashed yellow mung beans, ground pork, shrimp, and wood ear mushrooms.

Note: the savories sold at New Cholon come from a mix of vendors. The Banh Bot Loc here is made by Pho Minh Tu whereas the Banh Bot Loc in the section above is from Kieu Restaurant.

Banh Uot Tom Kho
Ribbons of fresh rice flour noodles, super tender, almost frilly! Generously topped with ground dried shrimp, green onions, fried shallows, and chopped chill peppers. You know the drill: spoon nuoc mam over the top and devour ^_^

Goi Ngo Sen
A salad to round out our snacks! This has fresh lotus roots, carrots, daikon, shrimp, thinly sliced and pickled pig ears, fried shallots, peanuts. Pour nuoc mam on top, mix, and eat.

Banh U La Tro
This sticky rice cake has everything inside! Tightly wrapped in a pyramid shape (wrapping it this beautifully takes skill...I've tried doing this many times and am still learning) and filled with pork, mung beans, a whole egg, and so much more.

It's meant to be eaten at room temperature. We slice it into several pieces and everyone takes a piece to eat. The banana leaf imparts a really nice flavor, especially after it is steamed.

Sweets

We also got four sweets. I don't know the Vietnamese names for all of them (not all packages are labeled) which is why some are in English.

Sticky Black Rice with Mung Beans, and Fresh Coconut
LOVE this one. My favorite of all the desserts today. A layer of sticky black rice (mochi rice) sits on a paper crepe skin. It's topped with mashed yellow mung beans and fresh grated coconut. Super fresh. The dessert comes with a package of roasted white sesame seeds tossed with sugar and sauce. Open and pour it all over.

There's also a container of coconut cream - a true blend of sweet and savory down to the little pieces of green onions mixed into the cream. This is a filling dessert! And because many Vietnamese sweets are a little savory, it can also double as a light lunch.

Soft Tofu and Ginger Syrup.
We also got the soft tofu with ginger syrup. This was my first time trying it from New Cholon. It tasted more like egg custard, fine but not what I was expecting. I was hoping for the super soft silky type of fresh tofu. The ginger syrup was great though, nice and spicy with bits of fresh ginger.

For the two desserts below: che is a category of Vietnamese desserts. Che usually refers to sweet soups…we make some at home like Che Chuoi (Banana Tapioca) and Che Dau Xanh (a yellow mung bean sweet soup). This local purple sweet potato tapioca is also technically a type of che.

Che Thung
This che is in a coconut milk-based soup (like most che). It has lots of tapioca, seaweed strips, red beans, mung beans, and peanuts. Silky, loose texture. Many ingredients! It's a fun blend of flavors and good at all temperatures. Hot is my favorite.

Che Dau Trang
My mom's favorite! We have to get this every single time we come here. It's a sticky rice pudding (think of it as a Vietnamese cousin to "regular" rice pudding) made with mochi rice and black eyed peas. There's a silky layer of coconut cream poured over the top. Make sure to get both the pudding and coconut cream in each spoonful, so good! We eat it at room temperature first. For any leftovers, some people like it cold, straight from the fridge. I like che warmed till it's hot, hot, hot ^_^

Pro Tip!

There's a market around the corner that also sells Vietnamese savories and sweets. I'm pretty sure the same restaurants that deliver to New Cholon also supply this market. Same dishes and same price. They're on Kekaulike Street and have a stand along the pedestrian walkway. Because this market gets more foot traffic they seem to sell out earlier. Their selection might be a little smaller. Love visiting both! They're literally a minute walk from each other.

New Cholon: Info

• Address: 169 N King Street, Honolulu, HI 96817
• Hours: Monday-Sunday: 7am-3pm.
• Phone: (808) 521-0939