WinMart Ho Chi Minh: Artichoke Tea & Grocery Guide

Hey everyone, it's Lauren! I've been living in Ho Chi Minh City for about six months now, navigating the daily adventures of expat life.

When moving here for our one-year stay, luggage space was tight. My husband and I could only bring one suitcase each, which meant sacrificing a lot of my favorite home ingredients.

Luckily, my mom packed a few essentials for us: traditional fermented soybean paste (doenjang), local plum syrup, hand-cleaned anchovies for broth, and some pink Himalayan salt. Our friend also gifted us a massive batch of homemade scorched rice (nurungji).

With all these treasures, I decided it was finally time to whip up a comforting bowl of beef brisket soybean paste stew (Chadol Doenjang-jjigae) for the very first time in Vietnam!

First, I headed to the WinMart inside Vincom Mega Mall in Thao Dien to grab a fresh zucchini.

I managed to find one for 17,900 VND (which is only about $1!).

This is the local zucchini I picked up.

Right below it was another vegetable that looked very similar but is actually a much softer variety of local squash. Since it was tucked away on a high shelf, I couldn't find it at first. I had to look up the Vietnamese translation for zucchini on my phone and show it to a helpful WinMart staff member, who pointed me in the right direction!

Next, I went over to the meat section looking for beef brisket. I found some pre-cut beef scraps that looked very similar to thinly sliced brisket or short plate.

A 200g pack was only 82,000 VND (about $3).

It turned out to be the perfect cut for a rich, bubbling stew!

Ever since arriving in Vietnam, I've been searching for a good stainless steel tea infuser to brew loose-leaf tea. My husband surprised me with one as a sweet little gift—thank you, babe!

With so many amazing local teas in Ho Chi Minh City's supermarkets, I decided to try Artichoke Tea (locally known as Atiso), which is famous for its immune-boosting and liver-detoxifying benefits.

There were three different varieties of artichoke tea on the shelf. I stood there trying to decide which one to choose. Since it was my first time trying it, I was leaning toward the pretty red box because it looked nice, even though it was a bit pricier per gram.

Just then, a friendly fellow shopper passed by and recommended the one in the clear plastic bag, explaining that it's actually a much higher-quality, more authentic local tea. I gladly took his advice and put it in my cart!

I also spotted Nutriboost, a popular protein yogurt drink, on sale. My husband used to drink this all the time during his business trips here. We tried the large strawberry flavor during a night walk recently—it's delicious and packed with protein, though definitely on the sweeter side!

I also noticed Sapporo beer was on sale here too. I had just bought four cans at K-Market the day before for about 19,000 VND each (around $1), but it seems like there's a city-wide promotion going on right now!

Back home, I got to cooking! I used two and a half large spoonfuls of my mom's homemade doenjang, a spoonful of gochujang, 200g of beef, two blocks of tofu, enoki mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, and our fresh WinMart zucchini.

Because I loaded it with so much tofu, it was incredibly filling—almost like having tofu instead of rice! While trying local Vietnamese dishes is amazing, nothing beats the comfort of a homemade meal from back home.

Our very first homemade beef brisket stew was an absolute success! The only minor tweak for next time: my husband found the flavor of the king oyster mushrooms a bit too strong for the broth, so we'll stick to just enoki mushrooms next time.

I saved the leftover broth and zucchini in the fridge, and the next day I had a delicious solo lunch by adding some frozen crab meat. It was the perfect comfort food combo!