Charcoal cooking

The street restaurants around Hanoi usually have charcoal stoves for cooking the food.
The charcoal blocks (or moulded coal dust?) are sold by men or women cycling around town on bikes modified to carry their cargo.
After use, the spent blocks are simply discarded into the road with all the other rubbish...

The Tofu Lady

I sometimes have lunch on the street from the "tofu lady". A common sight around Hanoi. She arrives in the morning carrying everything with her in the two baskets carried on her shoulder. Stove, little plastic stools, plates, chopsticks, napkins, toothpicks...

The tofu and spring rolls are deep-fried and the cut up with scissors, and served with blocks of cold noodles (also chopped up with scissors) and salad herbs, and a bowl of dipping sauce with fresh chilli.
15,000 VND (About 50p)