I like Vietnamese food and eat it often. Thanks to the large Vietnamese community in Prague, there are plenty of Vietnamese restaurants here, and I also like to pop over to Prague’s Sa Pa from time to time.
Typical Vietnamese ingredients
As well as rice itself, Vietnamese cuisine is also based on rice noodles and rice paper, which is used to make various types of spring rolls.
Another essential ingredient in all dishes is fresh herbs. Coriander, mint and Thai basil are used, and they lend the dishes their distinctive aroma and flavour.
Vietnam has an extensive coastline, so fish and seafood also play an important role. However, meat is also used, mainly pork, chicken and beef.
Fermented fish sauce and soya sauce are essential seasonings.
Types of Vietnamese noodles
Vietnamese cuisine uses a wide variety of noodles, which differ in terms of their ingredients, shape and, above all, the dishes in which they are used. Although I might not even notice the difference, some dishes simply cannot be made with other types of noodles. The most popular noodles:
- Bánh phở – probably the best-known Vietnamese noodles: flat, white and made from rice. They are used in phở, a traditional Vietnamese soup.
- Bún – very thin rice noodles, thinner than spaghetti. They are served as a side dish with meals, such as Bún chả; they tend to stick together, but are usually accompanied by a sauce in which they are dipped to add flavour, causing them to break apart and go down more easily. They are also used in salads or spring rolls.
- Mì – flat noodles made from wheat, similar to Chinese noodles. They are used in dishes such as Mì Quảng, usually served with meat and sauces.
- Bánh canh – thick, slightly gelatinous noodles made from tapioca or a mixture of tapioca and rice, used in thick, rich soups.
- Hủ tiếu – Transparent rice noodles, which form the basis of the dish of the same name, Hủ Tiếu, a soup containing meat, seafood and vegetables.
Typical Vietnamese dishes
Vietnamese cuisine is known for its lightness, balance and fresh flavours. It typically consists of vegetable salads, soups, noodle dishes and spring rolls.
Phở
A rich beef broth with rice noodles, herbs and meat (beef = Phở bò). Generally speaking, Vietnamese soups are served as a main course and are also eaten for breakfast.
Bánh mì
A baguette stuffed with all sorts of things, typically meat, vegetables, herbs and some sort of sauce. The best Bánh mì have a crispy baguette, are generously filled and full of flavour. Bánh mì are often sold at street food stalls, where you can clearly see what’s on offer and what might be inside, and you simply tell the vendor what you’d like.
Bún chả
Grilled pork belly and minced pork meatballs served with rice noodles and herbs originate from Hanoi. The meat is marinated in a mixture of fish sauce, sugar, shallots and other ingredients. It smells absolutely lovely; I can often recognise Bún chả from a distance just by its aroma.
It is served with a light, watery sweet-and-sour sauce, into which both the noodles and the meat are dipped.
Vietnamese spring rolls
A must-try dish is spring rolls, which are often served as a starter; sometimes the large spring rolls are already cut into smaller portions, like canapés. They are dipped in nước chấm sauce. There are two basic types – fresh and fried spring rolls – and these in turn come in many variations depending on what they are filled with.
- Gỏi cuốn (fresh spring rolls or summer rolls) – the ingredients are wrapped in soft rice paper; they are usually filled with prawns or pork, thin rice noodles, herbs and lettuce. They are commonly made as vegetarian dishes.
- Chả giò (nem rán, fried rolls, spring rolls) – the ingredients are also wrapped in rice paper, but the whole roll is deep-fried and crispy. They are usually filled with minced meat (chicken or pork), prawns, black mushrooms, finely chopped vegetables (carrots, taro) and glass noodles. They tend to be more spicy and have a more distinctive flavour. As well as the dipping sauce, they are typically served with leaf lettuce (which can be used to wrap them in).
A speciality in Hoi An is the Bánh bao bánh vạc, which are filled like traditional summer spring rolls but arranged on the plate in the shape of flowers (the name is ‘white rose’).
Cao lầu
Thick, slightly yellowish rice noodles served with thinly sliced, marinated and pan-fried pork, vegetables, egg and rice crisps originate from Hội An. Traditionally, Cao lầu noodles must be made using water from specific wells in Hội An. However, it is said that this is no longer the case today.
Bún bò Huế
This spicy beef soup with noodles and herbs originates from the city of Huế (central Vietnam, north of Da Nang), the former imperial capital. It combines sweet, sour, spicy and salty flavours.
Bánh cuốn
Thin, steamed rice rolls filled with minced pork and black mushrooms. They are served with nước chấm sauce, herbs and fried shallots. It is also eaten with chả lụa, slices of meat in a casing resembling meatloaf.
Mì Quảng
Wide, flat rice noodles with a concentrated stock – though there’s only a little of it; it’s not really a soup, more like a sauce. It’s served with roasted peanuts.
Bun Bo Nam Bo
A speciality popular in Hanoi and northern Vietnam. Rice noodles (bun) with marinated and stir-fried beef (bo), served with plenty of fresh vegetables, herbs, roasted peanuts and fried onions, and a sweet-and-sour sauce.
Vietnamese pancake, Bánh Xèo
A crispy fried pancake made from rice flour, water and turmeric, which gives it its characteristic yellow colour. It is filled with various ingredients, which vary depending on the region and recipe, but usually include bean sprouts, vegetables and prawns or slices of pork. It is served with fresh herbs such as coriander and perilla, pickled vegetables and a dipping sauce called nước chấm.
Street food experiences and cooking classes in Vietnam
In high season the small food tours and cooking classes fill up in advance, so better lock in your spot.
- Hanoi street food tour – small-group tasting walk, limited capacity.
Vietnamese coffee
The Vietnamese prepare coffee in a variety of ways; the most popular type of coffee is:
Ca Phe Phin – filtered coffee
The traditional way of making coffee in Vietnam uses a small metal filter called a ‘phin’. The coffee drips through the filter for several minutes into a cup placed beneath it. The coffee is strong and concentrated, so it is usually sweetened with condensed milk. This is typically poured into the cup (or rather, a glass) before the coffee begins to drip, creating a layer of white milk beneath the black coffee. It is then stirred. An iced version, known as Ca Phe Sua Da (milk with filtered coffee poured over ice cubes), is often served. The hot version is called Ca Phe Sua Nong.
Ca Phe Trung – egg coffee
This isn’t a particularly traditional drink; it was first created in Hanoi as late as the 1940s, when milk was hard to come by in Vietnam, so a local café owner devised a recipe in which he replaced the milk with a mixture of egg and condensed milk, creating a rich, creamy foam. It is made by whisking the egg yolk with sugar and condensed milk. The mixture is then poured over hot coffee.
Vietnamese teas
Tea culture in Vietnam is just as diverse and rich as its food and coffee cultures. Some of the most popular teas are:
- Green Tea (Chè Xanh) – the most popular tea in Vietnam, fresh and slightly bitter.
- Lotus Tea (Trà Sen) – a luxury tea, made by using lotus flowers to flavour green tea.
- Artichoke Tea (Trà Atisô) – comes from Da Lat and is known for its health benefits; it is slightly bitter.
Dining in Vietnam
In Vietnam, there is a culture of communal dining. It is normal to order lots of dishes and share them. On the street and in ‘garage restaurants’, it is common to sit on low plastic stools. Meals are eaten with chopsticks, which should ideally be placed on a chopstick rest; they should not be laid across the plate or stuck into the rice. Some dishes are eaten with a spoon and fork, whilst soups are eaten with a Chinese soup spoon (a spoon with a flat bottom).
The History of Vietnamese Cuisine
Vietnam is a traditionally agricultural country, and rice plays a key role as a staple food. With the arrival of Buddhism in Vietnam, there was a greater emphasis on vegetarian food, leading to the development of many vegetable-based dishes; tofu is also a popular food.
French colonial rule brought with it new (European) ingredients, the main ones being the baguette and coffee, both of which have become an integral part of Vietnamese cuisine.
