al fresco to go

I had to work late last night because of a deadline. A coworker/friend got on instant messenger after putting her son to bed, and asked me if I had eaten yet. In the relatively short time, she has gotten to know that I eat late (NYC habits). Since I'm still in temporary housing, my kitchen is not fully equipped for late night mac & cheese or ramen noodle excursions. I lost track of time and had not gone out to forage for food. She asked me if I wanted pizza. While I've eaten Japanese, Malaysian, French, Chinese, and even Indian since I've been here, pizza, especially one that delivered, was not something I thought was readily available. Of course, I wasn't sure if this was going to be Italian (or even American) pizza or a local version with soy sauce and tofu. Cheese is usually pricey here as milk products are not usually plentiful, which explains the high percentage of lactose-intolerant Asians.

While Domino's maintain its 30-minute guarantee (even on a scooter), it's last delivery order is at 9:30pm. So my friend called a number of establishments (turns out her Canadian husband has a number of them on speed dial) and placed an order for me - a 'shrooms thick crust pizza. The delivery man handed me the following...

Yes, that is 6 packets of ketchup. My excitement quickly turned into a stomach-churning fear that I was about to eat bread with ketchup. I don't know if it was the prospect of food at 11pm or the loads of garlic that was in the sauce, but it sure was yummy! I did solve the mystery of the ketchup packets. Supposedly, people in the South like things sweet, the Northerners (Hanoi) like them salty, and those in the middle are all about spicy. So the ketchup was to add some sweetness. Clearly, I'm in the right place given my vice for sugar (after all, I put 6 sugar packets in a cup of Lipton tea), or perhaps that explains my propensity since I was born here.

Good thing my kitchen is equipped with an oven (third time's the charm) because I've never been a fan of nuked pizza. Although I know some who enjoy cold pizza for breakfast, it's never been my cup of tea, but I may have to try ketchup on it tonight. When in Rome...