Over 30 years old, Christian Weizenegger left his logistics and e-commerce management job in Germany to move to Ho Chi Minh City in March of this year and start a TikTok channel about food. In just two months, the channel attracted over 30,000 followers, with many comments expressing their impression of the German expat's understanding of Vietnamese cuisine. Chris regularly posts videos of himself eating at street food stalls near the center of Ho Chi Minh City, enjoying dishes less common with foreign visitors, such as fried dough cakes, steamed baguettes, fried oysters with eggs, goat noodle soup, fermented fish noodle soup, and steamed rice rolls.

Chris squeezes lime into a bowl of crab noodle soup at a stall near his home. Photo: NVCC

Chris squeezes lime into a bowl of crab noodle soup at a stall near his home. Photo: NVCC

Chris says he often spontaneously drives around the city and chooses to stop at crowded eateries. Friends also recommend good places to eat that only locals know. Vietnamese cuisine, in his opinion, is diverse not only in ingredients and flavors but also in cooking methods. He's impressed that with just baguettes, Vietnamese people can create many ways to eat them beyond the traditional meat-filled version, such as baguettes with pan-fried beef, beef stew baguettes, or steamed baguettes.

"Steamed baguettes eaten with minced meat, scallions, fried onions, and sweet and sour fish sauce are really delicious and unique," Chris says, adding that Vietnam has many dishes even better than the famous banh mi. He also enjoys beef stew baguettes so much that he learned to cook them at home.

Passionate about discovering new things, the German TikToker has tried almost all the Vietnamese dishes that foreign diners often find "difficult to swallow," such as durian or dishes with fermented fish sauce. Chris also says that at first, he was shocked and scared when eating balut (fertilized duck egg), but after a while, he got used to it and found it quite tasty and rich.

The German expat once ate dog meat, mistaking it for beef. "The meat dipped in shrimp paste had a strong and unforgettable taste, but I won't eat it again, and next time I'll ask clearly what kind of meat it is before eating," Chris says.

Most comments from Vietnamese people express surprise at how skillfully the German diner uses chopsticks, eats chili peppers, squeezes lime or adds fresh herbs into hot noodle soup, adds pickled onions and garlic before eating, mixes fish sauce with chili for dipping meat, and mixes shrimp paste with sugar and kumquat juice until it foams before eating.

Thuy, the owner of a steamed baguette shop, says that the German customer is quite a "gourmet," often thanking her when receiving food and when leaving. "Chris knows how to wrap the baguette neatly, lining the bottom with greens, placing the steamed baguette and meat in the middle, and then rolling it up," the owner says, praising him for using fish sauce "very carefully and thoughtfully," not splashing it around like many others.

"Having dated a Vietnamese girl for 8 years, I learned so much about the local food culture that I feel like I belong to this S-shaped land," Chris says, comparing himself to a balut, white on the outside but with a Vietnamese "red blood, yellow skin" food-loving soul inside. Some of his followers online also commented that the expat looks like "German interface but Vietnamese operating system."

Chris eats beef stew, fried dough cakes, and durian at roadside stalls. Video: PhornaticDuc/TikTok

Most of the eateries Chris visits are over a decade old, popular with local customers but quite difficult to find if you're not a resident of the area, such as the steamed baguette shop on Co Giang street, the banh uot (Vietnamese savory crepe) shop Bay Hien in Tan Binh district, the fried dough cakes at 187 Nguyen Kim, and the grilled pork vermicelli at 339 To Hien Thanh. The expat even knows how to order braised pork with eggs and rice for lunch through the GrabFood app.

"Braised pork belly with eggs, coated in a thick, rich sauce with a salty-sweet taste," Chris says, suggesting that foreign visitors should try a set meal to fully experience the local food culture, as the popular dish harmoniously combines many ingredients and spices, reflecting the warmth and closeness of Vietnamese families.

Chris says Vietnamese cuisine attracts customers not only with famous dishes in restaurants like pho, Hue beef noodle soup, spring rolls, or bun cha, but also with the small eateries hidden in alleys, night markets, or street food stalls.

"The deeper you explore, sitting on small stools and listening to motorbikes passing by, the more you'll feel that each dish tells a story about the people, the land, and the local culture," Chris says, affirming that Vietnam is his favorite "food paradise."