Vietnamese foods have a distinct taste and are really unforgettable. Indigenous spices and local ingredients are used to make the dishes so tasty and lively. You can easily find five tastes in all the varieties and these are sweet, salty, sour, bitter and hot. Vietnamese soups are really mouthwatering. The dishes are usually cooked in stir-fries. In Vietnam, you can see dishes are perfectly laced with lemongrass and limes where pungent tasted fish sauce will be present. Lettuce leaves with fresh herbs are used for wraps. Neighboring Southeast Asian countries share the same indigenous with Vietnamese food. But it should be mentioned that Vietnamese cuisine has some specialty or uniqueness that no one can compete with that.
You can also have French flavor in Vietnamese food. European-style sauces are used along with pates and meats. Sometimes French rolls made softer by a slight fusion of wheat flours and rice. If you have a plan to take Vietnamese cold roast pork sandwiches for your lunch let me tell you these are a Hanoi lunch staple that too stuffed with raw vegetables and fresh herbs into Vietnamese-style baguettes. French introduced some ingredient such as potatoes and asparagus in Vietnam and this is the way Vietnamese dishes combine indigenous flavorings with these ingredients to give birth to new fusion food.
In South Vietnam you can experience some different food taste. The fragrant and hot curry dishes influenced by Indian style are very famous. In North Vietnam you can see the optimum use of sesame and black pepper. Vietnamese use oil-rich frying techniques with the southern region specialized in a lighter mix. Water based cooking and grilling is more used than oil frying. Vegetables and herbs are usually served raw. You can also enjoy the taste of limes, vinegars, chilies, coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar cane and also nuoc mam.
I am always attracted to Vietnamese food because of its delicate, sophisticated, fresh, exotic, complex and light nature. You can always feel light after having Vietnamese food as these are less oily and contains less carbo-hydrate. Vietnamese foods are easy to cook. You can easily prepare it for evening snacks and also for dinner. It is good if you have a well-equipped kitchen and also some handy appliances. The indigenous ingredients to prepare Vietnamese food are easily available in all the supermarkets. Chilies and lemongrass are most important. Now a day coconut milk is also available in supermarkets.
A typical Vietnamese meal includes a soup, steamed rice, a fish or meat dish and a vegetarian dish. Food is placed in the middle and each of the members carries a small bowl and chopsticks. They take food from the table as and when required. Vietnamese cakes and noodles are very famous. Most of these are made from rice. Some of the names can be mentioned as crab noodle or bun rieu, beef soup noodles or pho, sticky rice cake or chung cake and spring rolls or nem. Cakes are usually served as wrapped in coconut or banana leaf. Elders are generally asked to eat first while eating with younger Vietnamese.
Annapurna Deshmukh loves to write articles on how to book economical and low-priced hotels in your favourite destination spots and how to find resonable hotels in Vietnam that will soothe your senses and give you peace of mind.
Vietnamese cuisine is not so much one cuisine but three. It can be conveniently categorized in distinct areas: northern, southern and central.
But no matter where in Vietnam , it is nearly impossible to imagine Vietnamese cuisine without its key ingredient – nuoc mam, fish sauce. This essential condiment is fermented from anchovies but does not really have a fishy taste. It is used in a similar way to soy sauce in Chinese cooking. Along with herbs such as lemongrass, mint, Vietnamese mint, coriander and Thai basil, fish sauce gives Vietnamese cooking its distinctive taste.
Similarly, it is impossible to think of Vietnam without thinking of noodles. The Vietnamese love noodles and will eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner and may have a bowl of noodles in-between as a snack to keep them going! Each area has its own special type of noodles and each is absolutely sure that theirs is the best.
North Vietnam is considered to be the cradle of the Vietnamese culture and the preserver of the tradition and it is from here that many of the classic Vietnamese dishes derive. Perhaps the most famous Vietnamese dish, Pho originated here. Basically rice noodles in soup with meat (beef is the most common, but chicken is also popular), Pho is available all over Vietnam but should be enjoyed at its best in one of the many snack shops of Saigon. Don’t forget the extra ingredients such as basil, lime, bean sprouts and peppers which you are expected to add yourself. Northern food tends to be less spicy than elsewhere and where heat is desired, black pepper rather than chilli is used.
Another northern specialty is banh cuon which literally means ‘rolled cake’. This is like a savoury pancake made from rice flour and filed with minced pork and wood ear fungus. This is served with a dipping sauce made from the ubiquitous fish sauce mixed with lemon or lime juice and sugar.
Southern Vietnam’s cuisine has been more influenced by the outside. The Mekong Delta is Vietnam’s food basket and supplier of much of the country’s fruit. Some of this finds its way into its cuisine and so, food here tends to be a little sweeter in taste. However, spiciness is also valued and here chillies are used for heat. South Vietnam has been more influenced by outsiders than other area and one can find traces of India in the Southern Vietnamese curries, traces of the French colonists in their baked goods and pâtés and there are many similarities with Cambodian food.
Central Vietnam has a distinct cuisine. In the past this was the home of the Vietnamese Emperors and the area still favours Imperial style cooking even in humble homes and restaurants. This means that instead of one or two dishes being served for a meal, a number of small dishes will be offered. These will consists of lavish spreads in the meals of the wealthy, but even the poorer peasant families will have a range of small vegetable dishes for a meal. But again, don’t forget to sample the local noodles such as quang noodles from Da Nang area.
Whenever and wherever you are in Vietnam you are assured of a gastronomic adventure with a difference. You can visit Indochina Odyssey Tours to get more information about Vietnam.
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