All About Food In Vietnam

I. What is Vietnamese Food Culture?

Food is an integral component of culture. For generations, Vietnamese culinary culture has been formed, preserved and developed along with the nation's history. Because the country is divided into three regions, Vietnamese cuisine by region: North, Central, and South also creates its own characteristics. Different culinary cultures contribute to the richness and diversity of Vietnamese cuisine. Each region has a different taste expressed through each ingredient, preparation method, name of the dish, etc., to how it is presented and how to eat.

Vietnamese culinary culture is an interesting topic that is always hotly discussed. The culinary culture of the Vietnamese people for many generations not only stops at dishes and recipes of food ingredients, but above all contains a natural culture formed in life. Vietnamese dishes are often harmonious in color and flavor, making the overall dish reasonable, increasing the irresistible attraction.

According to historian Nguyễn Nhã, Vietnam's culinary culture has 9 basic characteristics as follows:

• - Multiculturalism and sociability

Vietnamese people exhibit this quality in their willingness to incorporate the essence and admirable principles of other countries' culinary cultures into their own nation's cuisine. But this is the cautious, selective adoption of just those traits appropriate to the national lifestyle, customs, and habits, making it one's own in the process. Even within a nation, there is learning and integration in the many regional culinary cultures.

• - Less fat

The second element of Vietnamese culinary culture is low fat. In comparison to the foods of Eastern nations such as China, as well as European and American countries, Vietnamese meals employ lower fat and meat. Whatever it is, the main ingredients are vegetables and fruits. In the meal, it always has a bowl of vegetable soup or a plate of boiled vegetables.  Vermicelli and pho are all served with raw veggies. The rolls and salads are a striking representation of the low-fat character of Vietnamese food.

• - Richness of flavor

As previously said, Vietnamese cuisine places a premium on delectability. The foods get richer and more appealing by employing a range of spices. The components are carefully marinated before processing. In Vietnam, there are several dipping sauces. Furthermore, each meal comes with its own dipping sauce to complement the exquisite flavor. Banh Beo with sweet fish sauce, for example, or Banh Loc with salty and spicy fish sauce.

• - The synthesis of many nutrition and flavors

Vietnamese dishes use a variety of foods from meat, shrimp, crab, fish, vegetables, etc. In addition, in each dish there is not only one taste but a combination of many flavors such as sour, spicy, salty, sweet, etc.

• - Tasty and Healthy

It is not natural that delicious and healthy are two words put together. It represents the spirit and principles of Vietnamese food and drink. Vietnamese dishes use a variety of spices, combining many ingredients to create their own characteristics. However, eating well is not enough. The dish must also be healthy, ensuring the balances of nutrition to help promote health. 

• - Using chopsticks

Using chopsticks to pick up is one of the most prominent features in the culinary culture of Vietnam in particular and Asian countries in general. From a young age, children have been taught how to use chopsticks to pick up well and not drop food. Chopsticks appear in every meal of Vietnamese people, becoming an indispensable soul. Unlike the West using many tools, Vietnamese people with just a pair of chopsticks can do many operations such as splitting, skewering, stir-frying, frying, baking, stirring and even seasoning.

• - Community 

Westerners often eat each person a cup of soup and a cup of sauce. However, Vietnamese people always have a small bowl of dipping sauce and a bowl of soup in the middle of the rice tray. In the round rice tray, the dishes are always scooped out into bowls and then presented on the plate. The bowl of dipping sauce is not only a spice that makes the dish rich but also shows the community and cohesion of Vietnamese people. Because it is a shared meal, everyone needs to be thoughtful, sensitive, and able to observe the group so as not to be judged on their cultural level.

• - Hospitality

Vietnamese people are kind and welcoming. This is apparent in culinary culture. Almost every youngster invites an adult to eat first at every meal. When visitors arrive, Vietnamese people always demonstrate affection by inviting them to remain for an intimate lunch with their family.

• - Together eating on a tray

This is not the case with Westerners. Unlike the fact that each person has a serving of food available in a plate, cup or bowl, the Vietnamese always serve a variety of dishes on the tray. Each meal is presented in a huge plate/bowl at the same time. Members are able to pick their own dishes, and at the end of each meal, all dishes are cleaned up at the same time. The West, on the other hand, divides meals into appetizers, main courses, and desserts, and consumes one dish before delivering another.

Related article: Unique Feature in Vietnam Food Culture 

In addition, some eating habits of Vietnamese include:

- Vietnamese has three main meals in a day, including breakfast, lunch and dinner. The major component of almost every meal is Rice. There is no fixed time for each session. Each family can eat at a time that is suitable for their working time, this also varies by region, from urban to rural. 

- For Vietnamese people, a quality meal is not about the quantity of dishes presented or each dish more or less, but the warm reunion of family members. So, daily meals are considered an opportunity for family reunion. As everyone gathers together for dinner to converse and discuss about their everyday lives, conversing is fairly prevalent. It is seen as an excellent opportunity to spend time together and deepen the bonds of affection amongst family members.

II. What are traditional foods in Vietnam?

Vietnamese cuisine is incredibly diverse and distinctive, with meals that are associated with everyday life and national identity. Currently, Vietnamese cuisine is well known, many times Vietnamese dishes are praised by famous worldwide chefs.

Vietnamese cuisine always preserves and promotes the quintessence and uniqueness of the nation. Also because of its delectable flavor and plenty of health benefits, Vietnamese cuisine has been gradually asserting its position in the world cuisine. 

However, a few traditional dishes often appear on Vietnamese rice trays on special occasions, such as: Tet Holiday, Mid-autumn Festival, Anniversary, etc. Here, the following is a list of some well-known Vietnamese cuisine. 

1. Tết Holiday

• - Chung cake

Banh Chung is a Vietnamese traditional food. According to an old legend, banh chung appeared in the reign of King Hung. This type of cake symbolizes the earth expressing gratitude to ancestors and heaven and earth. Besides, it emphasizes the important role of rice plants and nature in wet rice culture. Therefore, banh chung is a must-have on Tet holiday. The main ingredients of banh chung are glutinous rice, pork and green beans wrapped squarely with dong or banana leaves, after boiling, they will have a beautiful green color.

• - Caramelized pork and eggs

Caramelized pork and eggs is a rustic dish that appears in daily meals, typical of Vietnam, but it is also considered one of the traditional dishes during the Lunar New Year. On the occasion of Tet, the pot of caramelized pork and eggs brings warmth and comfort, connecting all family members closer together. The taste of Tet holiday cannot be complete without meat and eggs.

• - Pickles

Most Tet dishes contain a lot of carbohydrate and fat, so it is easy to get bored. To balance the taste of Tet dishes, Vietnamese people often eat them with pickled radish and pickled scallion heads. This dish is made quite sophisticated and through many processing steps, from soaking in lime water, drying, peeling, pickling, etc.

• - Lean Meat Paste

Lean Meat Paste is another popular dish on traditional Tet menus and is often served with steamed rice and pickles. Just like banh chung, Vietnamese Lean Meat Paste are wrapped in banana leaves before being boiled.

2. Mid-autumn Festival

• - Moon Cake

One of the most typical dishes of the Mid-Autumn Festival that probably everyone will think of first is the Moon cake. This cake has long been associated with the concept of the happiness and fullness of life.

On the full moon day of August, people often eat moon cakes together or give others delicious mooncakes. 

Today, moon cakes come in a variety of flavors to appeal to a wider audience, but there are still primarily two types: baked cakes and soft cakes. To fulfill the needs of more customers, mooncake filling has developed over time to become richer and more varied.

• - Chè trôi nước (Rice ball sweet soup)

Chè trôi nước (Rice ball sweet soup) is also familiar with Vietnamese in the Mid-Autumn Festival. This dish has the meaning of connection and reunion. 

Chè trôi nước with chewy rice ball, light sweetness combined with syrup,  fatty coconut cream and spicy ginger symbolized the sweet and warm love of the family. 

• - Taro Soup

According to folk beliefs, taro soup has the effect of warding off and killing evil. Therefore, eating taro soup on Mid-Autumn Festival means dispelling bad luck, wishing for good things to come.

• - Pumpkin — to Have Good Health

People who live south of the Yangtze River adhere to the festival custom of eating pumpkin.

When mooncakes were expensive and available during the Mid-Autumn Festival in the past, poor households choose to eat pumpkin instead. Eating pumpkin during the Mid-Autumn Festival night is a custom that has been passed down, and people believe it would improve their health.

• - Snails - Brighten Your Eyes

For many in Guangzhou, snails are a must-have dish for the Mid-Autumn Festival supper. To mask their foul stench, river snails are typically cooked with therapeutic herbs. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, river snails are said to help brighten the eyes.

See more: Celebration Of Tet Trung Thu: Mid-autumn Festival In Vietnam

3. Đám giỗ or Cúng (Death Anniversary or Worship) 

The death anniversary or worship is one of the beautiful customs of Vietnamese culture. Vietnamese believe that the worship is an opportunity for expressing their respect, showing filial affection to the deceased and remembering their ancestors. 

Not only that, this is a day for descendants and distant relatives to reunite, eat together, and tighten their relationship. 

The food that is dedicated to the alters is prepared as decently as possible. For each region of Vietnam, there will be differences.  

• - The Northern

The dishes on death anniversary in the North are often carefully prepared, it includes:  

+ Chả ram (fried spring rolls)

+ Xoi (steamed sticky rice)

+ Gio cha (Lean Meat Paste)

+ Thịt đông and pickles

+ Chưng cake

• - The Central

Central people are famous for many sophisticated dishes, especially in Hue - a land heavily influenced by Hue royal cuisine through the dynasties. Some of them are: 

+ Gỏi (salad)

+ Boiled chicken, duck or meat.

+ Roast pork 

+ Soup 

+ Seafood

+ Nem cong cha phuong

+ etc.

• - The Southern

People in the South have a much more simple lifestyle compared to others. The death anniversary tray pff them is often simpler, still familiar dishes in daily life. 

Each region in Vietnam has a quite different custom, but in general, there are rules when preparing dishes for worship as following: 

+ Absolutely do not taste the food

+ Do not place raw food or fishy

+ The dishes must be placed separately. Having a set of bowls and chopsticks for worshiping is even better. Avoid using the daily use ones. 

+ Can not use canned food, pre-ordered dishes from the restaurant.

See more: Traditional Food In Vietnam: 10 Dishes You Need To Try

III. What was the origin of Vietnamese cuisine?

Vietnam's cuisine, like that of many other Asian nations, is inspired by what grows naturally there as well as the history of various civilizations who have settled there and left their imprint.

The cuisine of Vietnam has been affected by all the nations that have colonized or conquered it, including China, Japan, France, and the United States. Vietnamese cuisine has included French baguettes and Chinese noodles, but they have also developed their own distinctive recipes using these ingredients.

Vietnamese cuisine is also traditionally prepared using a set of philosophical precepts that emphasizes the balance of five flavors—spicy, sour, bitter, salty, and sweet—as well as five different types of nutrients—powder, water or liquid, mineral elements, protein, and fat—and the idea that food should please all five senses.

White, green, yellow, red, and black are the other five colors that Vietnamese chefs aim to include into their cuisine. The Yin and Yang concepts should also be applied to the food's balance.

Here are some famous dishes of Vietnam that originate from other countries.

1. Hủ tíu Nam Vang (Nam Vang Noodle Soup) 

Hu tiu Nam Vang is a familiar dish with Southern people. It is also the Vietnamese delicious food imported from abroad, that is Cambodia. 

In Vietnam, Hu tiu Nam Vang in each region has a slightly different way of seasoning. The special feature of Hu tiu Nam Vang is the broth. Compared to the North and Central parts of Vietnam, the South frequently cooks broth with a sweeter flavor. Hu tiu Nam Vang can be eaten in two ways: noodle with broth and noodle mixed. The stand Hu tiu Nam Vang must have the balance of ingredients: the chewy noodles, delicious broth, fresh seafood, greasy pork and vegetables. 

Therefore, even though Vietnamese dishes originate from abroad, they still have the unique feature and are famous with many domestic and foreigners.

2. Bánh mì (bread)

Bánh mì has a lengthy history of evolution. Recently, Vietnamese bánh mì is famous all over the world. It is also recognized in the global Oxford dictionary and made its own stamp on the global culinary landscape. Few people are aware that Bánh mì originated in France and was brought to Vietnam in 1859 under the name Bánh mì baguette.

By 2014, food critic David Farley had discovered the appeal of Vietnamese banh mi and the reason it had become a worldwide sensation. In the article titled “Is bread the best sandwich in the world?”According to a post on BBC (USA), bread is the outcome of culinary and cultural combining and has both East and West's subtleties.

Farley said that previous baguettes in France were long, soft, dense, and simply filled with butter and pate. Then, in 1954, the Vietnamese developed their own version of the baguette, making a Vietnamese-style bread by including pork, herbs, and cucumbers in Bánh Mì.

Over time, Vietnamese bread has become a globally famous street food, conquering guests from Asia to Europe.

See more: Discovering The Tasty Vietnamese Street Food

3. Há cảo and mì hoành thánh (dimsum and wonton noodle)

Wonton is a dish originating from Guangdong, China, very popular in many Asian countries. With the shape of small bite-sized pieces, wonton filling is made from minced pork, seafood and vegetables; wrapped in a yellow shell with flour, or rice flour, and then steamed. Wonton can be eaten alone with seasoning sauce, or used with noodles and stewed broth from pork bones, chicken bones. The point that determines whether wonton noodles are delicious or not depends on the clear and sweet broth.

In addition, there are cakes with similar processing methods that are quite popular, which today are commonly referred to as "dimsum". Dimsums are a familiar dish originating from Chaozhou, China. Different from wonton, Dimsum  with tough, soft skin, slightly transparent white color. The crust is made from rice flour, wheat flour mixed with a little tapioca flour. Dimsum filling is quite simple, including: minced or chopped shrimp, minced meat, spices and vegetables of your choice.

4. Bánh bao (Dumplings)

Dumplings are a type of steamed and filled wheat flour cake in Chinese cuisine. Similar to traditional Chinese dumplings, in Vietnam, Dumpling filling is made with meat and vegetables. Dumplings are usually eaten at any meal of the day and are often used as a breakfast dish.

When imported into Vietnam, Vietnamese dumplings are usually smaller than Chinese dumplings. The ingredients are also different, usually ground pork, wood ear, shiitake mushrooms, sausages, quail eggs or salted eggs. Although the ingredients are many and complicated, compared to the traditional Chinese version, there are many spices. and more materials.

5. Bánh Pía (Pía Cake)

Banh Pía is a specialty in the West and today it has traveled all over the country as well as abroad. Pia cake is not a Vietnamese cake, bánh Pía is a Vietnamese dish originating from abroad and a traditional cake of the Teochew people. But to suit the Vietnamese people, they process the cake into various fillings such as green beans, potatoes, salted duck seeds, durian, etc.

IV. Vietnam drink

Vietnam attracts foreigners from food culture to unique drinks. Here are 5 famous drinks of Vietnam. 

1. Ca Phe Sua Da (Iced-milk coffee)

According to CNN's assessment, iced milk coffee has reached the top 10 must-try drinks when traveling to Vietnam. A drink made from coarsely ground coffee beans. With only a small filter to make each drop of coffee into a cup containing condensed milk and ice, it creates an irresistible taste that is "sobering up".

Diners can easily find iced milk coffee in most coffee shops in Vietnam. Enjoying a cup of iced milk coffee mixed with the bustling atmosphere on the sidewalk in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City is also a must-try experience.

2. Ca Phe Trung (egg coffee)

Coffee lovers should visit Vietnam. It exports coffee at a second-place global level (after Brazil). Vietnam's traditional method of serving coffee is hot or cold, with plenty of condensed milk added for sweetness. In the hot season, especially in the southern portion of the nation, the iced form is a wonderfully cooling snack.

In Hanoi, egg yolks and condensed milk are added to make an additional well-liked variation known as "egg coffee" (ca phe trung). These egg coffees from Vietnam have gained popularity recently. They have a somewhat tiramisu-like flavor and are frothy and enjoyable to taste.

With the creamy egg coating that resembles meringue and the deliciously sweet flavor, egg coffee might nearly be referred to as a dessert. However it came about, we're simply happy it happened! According to tradition, the beverage was created because there was a shortage of milk during war time.

3. Nước mía (Sugarcane Juice)

Sugarcane Juice is an organic juice and one of the best summer drinks in Vietnam. It is not hard to find a sugarcane juice shop in the heat of summer. Sugarcane juice tastes better than many other drinks because it is supplemented with fresh kumquats or lemons. With sweet taste from sugarcane and sour taste from kumquat, sugarcane juice can satisfy all visitors. 

You can easily find this beverage all over Vietnam. 

4. Trà đá (iced-tea)

Iced tea is a rustic drink so familiar with the lives of Vietnamese people, it appears everywhere from popular to luxurious restaurants or from small alleys to big streets in Vietnam. Iced tea is a type of beverage made from cold tea with crushed ice. 

Iced tea is frequently offered at no charge in restaurants and cafés, and when it is, it only ever costs more than 5,000 VND per cup.

5. Nước dừa tươi (Fresh Coconut water)

Coconut is grown mostly in the Southwest of Vietnam. Due to its mild sweetness and ability to help you beat the heat on hot days, this fruit is highly well-liked. Along with sugarcane juice, coconut water is also sold on the street. To enjoy this drink, people are usually cut above the left head. Some people like to add a little sugar to taste while others prefer to drink its pure sweetness with a few ice cubes. 

Coconut water can be seen as a traditional condiment. It helps to sweeten your food, so coconut water is often added in many traditional Southwestern dishes. 

In addition, coconut cream is also another condiment for many desserts such as Rice Ball Sweet Soup, Chè, Ice-cream, etc.

To find out more typical drinks only in Vietnam, visit here: Vietnam Drink: Specialties Only In Vietnam

Not only promoting traditional features, Vietnamese cuisine also absorbs the quintessence of world cuisine. Therefore, the cuisine culture of Vietnamese people has become more and more famous, many dishes are ranked high in the list of votes. The above article has clarified the characteristics and customs of Vietnamese cuisine.

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