Culinary Heaven is Right Here – Food of Vietnam
Mustamakkara: The Black Sausage Controversy
August 20, 2012
The RSS: Runaway Subscription Saturday of This Week
August 25, 2012Culinary Heaven is Right Here – Food of Vietnam
“Vietnam is a country of food, a country of skinny people obsessed with eating.”
– From ‘Catfish and Mandala’ by Andrew X. Pham
You’re right Andrew, they really are.
One thing I didn’t worry in Vietnam was; what to eat. There are food carts, street vendors, hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and food vendors who carry their food on their shoulders. Noodles, spring rolls, coffee, tea, fruit, snack… it was a matter of choice whenever we’re hungry. What an amazing place.
The variety is beyond amazing; every part of the animal you’ll see in the market, and you wouldn’t really want to know what actually that is. However, whatever they cook from whatever kind of meat; it will be delicious.
The food in north and south are different; and some cities have quite unique features, like Hue. However, no matter where you go, you’ll see plenty of food and the passion for eating. Yet, people are so small and skinny. Now that’s a mystery.
Noodles
The variety of noodles are absolutely fantastic. It’s popular mostly for breakfast and lunch, and you can order whatever you want to put in the bowl.
Bun Cha Hanoi
Breakfast Pho with fishballs
Breakfast Pho with deep fried fish
Pho Bo - Beef noodles
Bun bo Hue - beef and pork noodles
Cao lầu - Noodles
Bun bo nam bo
Various others
I was thinking how to categorize other dishes, and I’ve decided that I can’t. So here are many varieties of food, other than noodles.
Sailing the sea of spring rolls
Steamed fish from Mekong Delta
Banh khoai - Vietnamese Pancake
Michael with Banh xeo - Vietnamese Pancake
Banh Beo - Vietnamese rice cake with shrimp
Nem lui - fried pork on lemongrass
White Rose - Hue
Barbecued meat in Chau Doc
Oc Hut - spicy snails
Com Ga - Chicken Rice in Hoi An
Fried Wonton
Deep fried tofu
Deep fried springrolls at the market in Vinh Long
Fresh springrolls at the market in Vinh Long
Barbecued meat with noodles
Grilled chicken leg at the chicken street in Hanoi Vietnam
Little Extra
Lime, chili and fresh herbs are little extra something that always on the table. Add it as you wish.
Limes and Chili Peppers
Garlic and Chili pepper
20 Comments
Wow you ate a lot of different stuff in your short time in this country! Well done! I think most travellers stick to Pho, but there’s so much more. Good job discovering it! You’re making me hungry!
Thanks Jenny! We tried to eat different food every day. I guess we kind of succeed! But Hue was really hard to find something to eat. They are just known for their ‘little’ food, and it never fulfilled our appetite!
Oh my! This all looks so good 🙂 I love those little figures – so cute.
Vietnamese cuisine is really amazing. So different from each part of the world.
Those photos have made me so hungry. I’m still trying to master a homemade pho but nothing tastes like it does in Vietnam.
I love that top picture of you, Juno!
One thing I worry about when I do get the opportunity to travel is the food. Is Vietnam vegetarian friendly?
Favourites here: the pork and lemongrass; the wontons; the chicken leg; and OHMYGOD that pho with deep fried fish looks amazing!
Now for my confession, Juno…I’ve NEVER eaten Vietnamese food. Time to hunt down somewhere in Seoul next time I go, methinks!
pork on LEMONGRASS sticks!? *dies* what am I doing in America!?
haha I was surprised too! Who would’ve thought? They are geniuses…
Oh wow! The food here in Japan has been AMAZING, but Vietnamese food will always be one of my first loves! I can’t wait for us to get to Vietnam so I can try all of these wonderful dishes for myself!
Japanese food is amazing. I have to visit Japan for the foodie trip! They know how to make great food for sure. But yes, Vietnamese had more of a rough-charm. Not a fine art like Japanese, but the homey feeling I liked.
I NEED all of this right now, my mouth is watering! When I was in Vietnam I didn’t see that deep fried fish pho, that looks fantastic!
Mmm… it was great. Anything deep fried is great, and combine with a meat broth… it’s just fantastic.
Oh my ! this is too much for me. It’s gonna hard for me to fall asleep now because I’m thinking about those yummy food *drools*
Sorry about that! 🙂 I want to eat noodle soup for breakfast… thinking about that a lot. 🙂
Great photos! Making me nostalgic.
Thanks! It makes me hungry.
Awesome blog update. Having just come back from Vietnam and sampled so much amazing food there, I can say that you’ve really captured a good cross section of what’s available in that country. Such tasty, fresh, amazing food.
[…] Tampa restaurant. And after seeing some amazing dishes such as fried pork on lemongrass stick on Runaway Juno’s travel blog, I must go there […]
[…] all the sweating from the tropical heat, I think I put on some weight during a month in Vietnam. There’s no better place to eat, eat and eat than Vietnam. “Vietnam is a country of food, a country of skinny people obsessed with eating.” according […]