Vietnamese Cuisines

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Regional foods in Vietnam are many and varied.  The south has been influenced by the culinary arts of India, China and France and can be rather spicy.  In the south, the food is always fresh, containing little or no fats and very little is fried. Perhaps the best-known Vietnamese seasoning agent is a fermented fish sauce called Nuoc Man (pronounced nook mon). The concentrated form of this sauce (it needs to be diluted and spiced up before it is served) provides a base for nuoc cham, which is what finally appears in a small dish on your table. It is prepared by adding sugar, limejuice, vinegar, chopped shallots, garlic and carrots. Sliced chili peppers are a staple condiment at most meals.  Spices such as coriander, lemon grass, mint, black pepper and a local basil-like herb called rau ram add a light and subtle flavor.  Fresh vegetables and fruits are characteristic of southern Vietnamese cooking.  The cuisine of the North relies more on thickening agents, with a strong emphasis on sauces and spices.

One of the legacies of French colonization is the bread.  Baguettes are made with rice flour and are always fresh and delicious with fruit preserves and patès.

Cooking is done over a flame, ovens are rare.  The Vietnamese use chopsticks and meals often consist of many dishes - soup, fish, fowl and possibly beef.

Vietnam generally does not have fresh milk or dairy products.  Coffee is served with sweetened condensed milk if ordered 'sua' (with milk).  Coffee is rich, strong and comes from an African bean grown in the highlands of Vietnam. Tea is essential and part of Vietnamese life. No business meeting can proceed, regardless how small without the ritual serving of hot tea (nuoc che).  The tea is often mixed with dried flowers such as jasmine.

Soup is essential to all Vietnamese meals. It is hard to move more than 20 feet on any street in Saigon or Hanoi without coming upon a Pho stand. Pho (pronounced fur) is a hearty vermicelli noodle soup, which has either chicken or beef with fresh greens. It is truly the national dish of Vietnam and served and eaten all times of day and night.

Cha Gio (spring rolls), are lightly fried rice-paper rolls, smaller and crispier and more flavorful than Chinese egg rolls.  They are filled with highly seasoned morsels of crab, shrimp, chopped vegetables, sprouts and cellophane noodles.  In Vietnam they are eaten with the fingers and are wrapped in fresh green mint leaves or other greens.

Southern Vietnam is a paradise for those who love fish - all kinds of fish and seafood; crab, giant shrimp, mussels, oysters, squid are plentiful. A favorite is a large flat fish called elephant ear fish, cooked whole with a delicious crispy coating.  It is brought ceremoniously to the table standing between stalks of decorative celery.

Rice 'com' (pronounced come) is eaten in vast quantities; the quality of the rice is very important as the Vietnamese are very particular about their rice and they cook it in a variety of innovative and delicious ways.  Sticky rice is slightly sweet and very tasty.  On special occasions a mixture of rice and spices is carefully wrapped and tied in grape leaf "parcels" then cooked.  To eat, you must untie the parcels and scoop out the rice.  It is fascinating to watch Vietnamese women prepare this dish with amazing speed and skill.

Che is a sweet snack made of green beans.  It comes in solid and liquid form.  The solid comes in blocks, cut into "sugar cube" size pieces and the liquid is poured into a glass and often served with crushed ice.

Fruit is plentiful especially in the south - wonderful exotic fruits like jackfruit, rambutans, dragon fruit, papayas, mangoes, green grapefruit, delicious miniature bananas etc. the list is endless and all are wonderful.  The only fruit that the Vietnamese love and westerners find hard to eat because of its strong smell is durian - the taste is hard to describe, it is the gorgonzola of Vietnamese fruits!

Mealtime is a very social time for the Vietnamese and often several families will eat together.  In the evening, especially in the south, when it is very warm families will gather together and eat outside.  Most of their cooking is done outside and the still night air comes alive with the most wonderful smell of cooking. The Vietnamese eat many times a day and they eat large quantities of food but it is hard to find an "over-weight" Vietnamese in Vietnam!  

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