Looking for peanut butter

Peanut butter is around 90,000 to 100,000 for a 500g jar. You might find a tiny jar for less but I haven't seen one yet. Finding it is hit and miss. Some small independent grocery stores might have it. I have never seen it in COOP Mart. Lotte Mart and Big C probably have it.

The brand you''l get in VN is not pumped up with icing sugar like Jiffy crap. But peanut butter typically has sugar and salt. These two ingredients plus the protein are
healthy in moderation. The sugar enables the salt to penetrate cell walls for hydration. You shouldn't notice the sugar in normal PB.

Orersol is a cheap hydrating powder you add to water. It has a few salts and sugars. But it doesn't have the protein, energy or fun value of peanut butter.   

I am eating a couple teaspoons of it as I type! MMMMMMMMM. That is so good.

I've given up on finding natural PB in Saigon.  My preferred brand, which was tested and rated to be the healthiest choice, is Smucker's Natural Creamy.  It doesn't have *added* sugar, salt, or oil.  There is only one ingredient in the jar: peanuts.

I have seen it at Co-op under the American Brand name.
I don't like it because it hs HFCS or Glucose in it.

There is one brand at Lotte without HFCS, but as I discovered yesterday, not all Lotte stores have that "USA section".

Wxx3 wrote:

I have seen it at Co-op under the American Brand name.
I don't like it because it hs HFCS or Glucose in it.

Again, Smucker's NATURAL doesn't have added glucose, HFCS, sugar, or oil.  It only has peanuts in the jar, and because it's natural, it needs to be stirred before use or stored upside down between use.

You might have seen a different version of Smucker's, but definitely not Smucker's Natural.  This is what you should see on the back of the jar (I don't know how to post a pic of my own jar, so I'm copying the info from other images on the Internet):

Ingredients:  PEANUTS, CONTAINS 1% OR LESS OF SALT.

Product Information:
8g protein per serving
Gluten free
Natural
Kosher Pareve
Non-GMO Certified by NSF
Allergens
Contains peanuts

Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size 2 Tbsp (32g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 200
Calories from Fat 140
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 16g    25% Daily Value
Saturated Fat 2.5g    12% Daily Value
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg    0% Daily Value
Sodium 105mg    4% Daily Value
Total Carbohydrate 6g    2% Daily Value
Dietary Fiber 2g    9% Daily Value
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 8g    8% Daily Value   
Calcium 0mg    0% Daily Value
Iron 0.36mg    2% Daily Value
Vitamin A 0 IU    0% Daily Value
Vitamin C 0mg    0% Daily Value

This is the description on the company's website: "Smucker’s® Creamy Natural Peanut Butter is 100% natural and made with two simple ingredients: fresh-roasted peanuts and a dash of salt."

I wonder if the relatively low price of peanuts in Vietnam wouldn't let someone make their own peanut butter.  You could be modern and use a food processor or you could be traditional and use what my wife calls a chày but in English is a pestle.  If you were going to use it right away, you could even skip the salt.

It would be best to make our own PB.  I made almond butter once in the States to supplement our homemade protein powder, but it was a messy work even with a powerful food processor.  After that, I just bought it ready made from Trader Joe's.

I also made pesto often with chày cối when we lived in Italy and when I still held the mistaken belief that it would have tasted better than using a machine.  It didn't.

BTW, instead of saying mortar and pestle, we say pestle (and) mortar in Vietnamese, thus chày is in front of cối.  Chày cối also means obstinate (in a derogatory way) when used to describe a person's action or characteristic.

ETA: Sorry for going off topic into Vietnamese vocabulary.  My mind wandered, and my typing fingers simply followed.

The only two brands I have seen are: "American Brands" and "Golden Farm"
I buy the American Brand since it doens't have sugar substitues, though it does have some oils I don't like.

I have not seen Smucker's anyplace.  Where did you find it?  I would buy that.

I haven't been able to find it here, Wxx.  That's what we've been talking about, the complete absence of *natural* PB.  I brought two jars with me from the States and have to ration myself.

OMG it is available in so many places. Surprised you can not find it. Big C caries it both in chuncky and creamy. The international store near the sailing tower (both stores) carry it. Metro use to carry it. And then there is the best, the kind you make yourself and peanuts are plentiful here.

Regular PB, yes, but I haven't seen the natural one anywhere.

I have...... but I make my own. To tell you the truth I did not read the entire thread before I opens my yap!! My bad. I go away now.

Yes, might as well make my own, but when my GF sees the price of a blender, I may never live to see another peanut.
That's why she's so good for me.
I've always bought to much stuff that I use twice and never again.
I'll bring it from US too.

I get an order of that kind of stuff from Amazon about every two weeks. Now that they have Whole Foods the lineup is even better. But I can find everything I want and just have it shipped. I have the best food processor I have ever owned. It is a Breville. They make the best appliances. That thing can crush rocks and never bog down

Vin mart has golden brand and one other but I can't remember the name and they have in very small to big jars

Hey guys thanks for all your replies - sorry I wasn't getting notifications for them.

I found some that is probably the nearest I'm going to get for cheap and natural, which is some stuff called 'Bo Dau Phong' (sorry I don't have the Vietnamese letters so it's missing the accents) 250g from Big C.  I think it has salt in it, which isn't ideal, but it is 'khong duong' (without sugar), and it's only around 35k.

Considering making my own, yes, but sounds time-consuming and messy haha!

What is this whole foods amazon you speak of?? Is delivery not extortionate?

Whole Foods is the largest chain of health food grocery stores in the States.  Amazon acquired Whole Food a few months back. 

VN is not on Amazon's list of shipping destinations.  This is the info on their website:

"We DO NOT ship to Indonesia, Nigeria, Vietnam, Philippines and countries that we deemed unsuitable for international delivery."

The reply I received: 

"Please take note that not all items shipped and sold by Amazon.com can be sent to Vietnam, neither to all countries listed in the Amazon Global country list."

The only way to order from Amazon when you live in VN is to use a forwarding service shipping company.  Diazo probably does that.

Yeh I thought that Amazon didn't deliver to Vietnam...

*cries again*

I think they make an exception for books, perhaps because there is no duty.