In Southeast Asia, Europeans go for warm weather and exoticism. Even a long tiring flight does not discourage tourists from visiting a country with ancient Buddhist temples, delightful nature and excellent beaches.
In Vietnam, you can try a large number of tropical fruits. Some of them get to the shelves of stores in neighboring countries, but the taste and smell in their homeland is completely different, tourists know about other fruits from posts in social networks, and some have not heard at all. And this is a whole gastronomic journey.
An even more exciting gastronomic tour is the tasting of Vietnamese cuisine. Tourists who have been there note that Vietnamese food, although unusual, is simple and understandable, so very tasty. However, sometimes excessive exoticism does not allow you to enjoy food.
Vietnamese soups are not only pho
Vietnamese cuisine is popular all over the world, small Vietnamese cafes have opened on all continents. The food is usually light, an interesting taste is achieved by using fish sauces (including meat), coconut milk, lime. The most popular meat is pork, but beef and chicken are also cooked. A lot of seafood dishes, in Vietnam they are fresh and inexpensive.
The most popular Vietnamese soups:
- Fo (Fo Bo with beef, Fo Ga with chicken)
- Boon Bo Hue
- Boon Cha
- Mi Kwang
- Boon Rieu.
The most famous soup pho,which, according to researchers, arose not so long ago, in the early XX century, when Vietnam was part of the French colony. The French instilled in the Vietnamese a love of beef and French baguettes, which are still sold there. Before the French, the cow in Vietnam was working cattle, their meat was not eaten. Fo bo cook for several hours, using beef bones and tail for broth, fill the broth with fried onions, fresh ginger and spices. This is noodle soup, the word "fo" itself means a certain kind of flat noodles. Serve it, sprinkled with fresh herbs, with thin slices of meat, in the south of Vietnam add pieces of lime.
Bun Bo Hue is a soup from Hue Province. This is also a noodle soup from beef or other meat, including pork. Boone is a round variety of rice noodles (as opposed to pho). This soup is more spicy, the pieces of meat in it are larger. The soup is seasoned with shrimp paste and lemongrass.
Bun cha is a fish soup, maybe made from fish meatballs. Fish sauce, garlic and red pepper are added to it. However, in some provinces, bun cha is made from roast pork.
Mi kwang can be both a soup and a second course. This is also noodles, traditionally pork, with boiled egg and shrimp, peanuts. Served decorated with rice crackers.
In Vietnamese cuisine, seafood with meat is often found in one dish, also seasoned with fish sauce. Magically, they manage not to interfere with each other.
Bun rieu is bun noodles cooked in a broth of crab meatballs, a delicious Vietnamese dish.
Noodle soup is the main dish on the Vietnamese table. Vietnamese can eat it several times a day, and for breakfast - necessarily.
Spring rolls – rolls in a shell of rice paper
A light and very tasty snack - Vietnamese spring rolls, goi cuon. Ingredients - rice bun noodles, shrimp, vegetables (celery, carrots, cucumber), sometimes added to this pork. The filling is seasoned with peanut sauce and wrapped in rice paper, through which you can see everything that is wrapped there.
A more calorie-high-calorie, winter spring roll is a wound. The filling consists of minced pork and chopped greens. Wrapped in rice paper, the roll is fried in oil over high heat until a ruddy crust is formed.
Second courses of Vietnamese cuisine: again noodles or rice, meat, fish, seafood
Fresh seafood is served in different versions: boiled, grilled, fried in oil.
Squid is often served in batter, fried whole or rings. Fresh squid is incredibly delicious in a fried crispy form.
Very popular among the Vietnamese snails,cooked with different sauces and herbs. This dish is for long unhurried conversations, an appetizer for beer. It takes time to get the contents of each snail.
Very popular fried fish,in oil or on the grill. Ka ho to is a som stewed in soy sauce, oil and garlic.
You can find more exotic food - fried frogs or grilled crocodile meat. A dish of frogs is prepared from whole carcasses or separately fried paws. Carcasses taste better. The meat of frogs resembles a delicate chicken.
And the very brave can order a cobra for lunch! And whatever the tourist orders, it will be with rice or noodles (and greens). And be sure to serve a few sauces.
A traditional rice dish, which is boiled rice, roast pork and some raw vegetables.
The French trace in the culinary history of Vietnam is baths,French rolls. They also taught the Vietnamese to make sandwiches based on a baguette. Ban mi is a hearty snack: baguette stuffed with ham, chicken liver, vegetables (carrots, cucumber, cabbage), greens and onions. Fill the filling with sesame oil, fish sauce, brown sugar, orange juice.
Banh Kheo – Vietnamese stuffed pancakes. Pancake dough is made from rice flour with the addition of turmeric, so they are bright yellow in color. Ban is dough, and khe is the sound that makes dough on a hot frying pan. Filling for pancakes are again shrimp or meat with greens, sometimes legumes.
Light spring food - salads
Roasted Vietnamese spinach rau muong in garlic sauce looks very bright and appetizing. Tourists report that this dish is able to reconcile with vegetables even those who do not like vegetables.
Salad nom of meat, cabbage, papaya and greens dressed with vinegar and chili peppers. There are also more exotic ingredients - lotus stems, for example.
What is served for sweets in Vietnam?
Baked banana in rice with coconut milk is the most popular Vietnamese dessert among tourists. Adults and children like it. Sweet balls of a mixture of fruits, nuts, rice and spices replace the Vietnamese candy.
The sweet dish che is both dessert and sweet soup. It can be made of beans, sesame, fruits drenched in coconut cream.
