For the month of September 2011, Ridley's pop-up restaurant served lunch and dinner from an empty corner on Ridley Road Market, Dalston, East London.

Instead of paying with money, diners 'bought' their meal with produce purchased from the market, which the Ridley's chefs would then use to cook the next day's meals.

This film follows two Ridley's diners, who had never been to the market before.

www.ridleys.org

Banana lady.

Passion fruits, I think.

Three varieties of limes.

Chilli powders.

Unknown green vegetable or fruit.

Mushrooms and garlic.

Red shallots.

Coconut lady.

All from a sunny morning in Hue, Vietnam, February 2010.

I've been holding off from writing this post for a while now, keeping my fingers crossed that I'll eat a breakfast that beats this incredible morning feast I ate in Hoi An last week. So far, though, it's not happened, and to be frank, it would take something pretty bloody spectacular to top this one. So, here it is: The Best Breakfast of my Life.

As with all good breakfasts in Vietnam, it started early. Up and out of bed and on the streets by 7, I was rushing to the market when I encountered this: soymilk, Vietnam-style.

For me, this epitomizes all the differences between China and Vietnam's drinking cultures. In the former, soymilk is drunk hot or warm; in the latter, it's given the same treatment as coffee and tea - iced to within an inch of its life, which in China would be seen as a serious threat to one's health. Me, I adore it, and so nicely refreshed and ready for more substantial fare, I headed to the riverfront market, where, right on the edge of the quay, I found this:

The vendor was serving my quang, one of central Vietnam's most famous noodle dishes: springy rice noodles, beansprouts, herbs, shrimp, quail's eggs, chopped peanuts and a dash of lime juice.

Totally delectable, and even better with the beautiful view.

Most people would probably be satisfied by these two offerings, but predictably, not me. Feeling the weight of all Hoi An market's delicious foods on my shoulders, I felt duty bound to keep eating, and so headed next to a stall whose wares I had sampled the day before.

This is banh khaoi, and the stall came with a recommendation that did not disappoint. In the batter of freshly made pancakes nestles a piece of pork and half a shrimp, upon which is piled beansprouts, fresh herbs and green banana slices; the whole lot is then wrapped up in a sheet of rice paper, and dipped in a sweet and tangy sauce.

Though by this point I was pretty full, I figured I had just enough space for one more drink from a sinh to stall I'd spied just a few doors down.

And oh boy, was a glad that I did, for look what I got.

This wasn't your standard, middle of the road type sinh to, but a luxurious sinh to fit for a queen. Not only was it a blend of a number of different fruits (instead of the normal one), it had a topping which took the drink to a whole different level: crunchy, roasted slivers of coconut, a whole dried Chinese date, and juicy, lychee-flavour jelly cubes. Many different textures going on there, and for some perhaps too many, but I couldn't get enough of it - although, as you might imagine, I drank this last part of The Best Breakfast of my Life very, very slowly.

This is the scene that greeted me from the window of my hotel room in Son La, northwest Vietnam.

Nice, right? But of course, being the incurable foodie that I am, I wasn't at all interested in the mountains - it was what was going on down below that got my attention.

The ladies who were trading at this little roadside market were very amused by my taking photographs of their produce, which included this bizarre looking thing.

What on earth is it?! I showed this photo to a Vietnamese women in a village about 4 hours from where this was taken, and she didn't have a clue. Can anyone help me out with identifying this mystery vegetable? Or, for that matter, this one?

Thanks in advance! But asides from all that was different, there were some familiar foodstuffs too - like the foundations of Southeast Asian cooking, ginger, lemongrass and shallots...

...and these luscious-looking mangos.

And in case you're wondering if being directly above such a busy road kept me awake all night, let me assure you that having lodged next to some super-horny teenagers the night before, I slept like a log.

Corner of To Hieu and the public square,
Son La.

Bamboo Paradise, Langzhong market.

I just got back from Langzhong, where I'd hoped to learn about the famous local vinegar. Though I wasn’t entirely satisfied by the trip in this respect (commercialization of vinegar does not an open process make, it turns out), the town’s wonderful market totally charmed me and more than made up for the pitfalls with the vinegar. Here are a few scenes from a cold but sunny morning.

Concentration.

Another famous local specialty, Chuan Bei Liangfen (North Sichuan pea jelly).

I've never seen tofu as yellow as this before.

The fried noodles in the foreground are crumbled over beef gravy, yet another local delicacy.

The ginger and garlic man.