Squeezed between culinary powerhouses like China, Thailand, and Japan, Vietnamese cuisine has always punched above its weight. Scintillating phở and irresistible bánh mì are just some of the tastes and aromas that have left a deep impression on foreign palates, surprising travellers with flavours and textures they didn’t even know they craved. Hanoi’s bright lights and buzzing streets may already include a spectrum of Vietnamese cuisine, but venture beyond the city’s limits, and you’ll stumble upon a humble village home to a cultural icon and a dark tourist rite-of-passage. It’s a corner of Vietnam where culture, courage, and curiosity collide; a place that asks one simple question of every visitor…