Rice, Rice Noodles, or Rice Paper- The choice you must make at every meal in Viet Nam

Since it’s Thursday and I’m now back in the land of the Big Mac, waffle tacos, and the double down sandwich from KFC, I figured a #throwback to an early post of mine from my time in Vietnam with VIA was necessary. And who doesn’t like a delightfully light read about delicious, beautiful food early (or late) on a Thursday? So here it goes:

“I’ve told you I would provide you with some images and descriptions of the much raved about food in Vietnam and I am happy to report that today I am finally delivering this beautiful blog post. Photos are (almost) all taken by my fellow fellow Christina Bui.

Let’s begin with the biggest staple in the Mekong Delta- Rice.

Cơm thịt nướng- “Rice and grilled pork”

So this seems like a pretty simple and flavorless dish, right? You may think this at first glance, but you are extremely incorrect. I do not know how they grill this pork, but it is dang delicious. They do something magical to it so it tastes smokey and a little sweet and even a bit tangy, all at once. Each day, this dish comes with whatever vegetable was lying around and with a perfectly fried egg. You break open the yolk of the egg, mix everything together, and pour some sweet sauce with peppers over the whole thing and you are in business. This dish almost always comes served with a small bowl of soup with vegetables, or even just a bowl of broth. A meal that is pretty simple, but it fills you up and costs about 60 cents. Not too shabby.

Onto the next largest staple in the region: Rice Noodles

Hủ Tiếu- Noodles!

Another go to bowl of deliciousness around here. These can be white noodles, yellow noodles, thick noodles, or thin noodles. They are doused in a really delicious broth that usually cooks for hours and is rather savory. These bowls of noodles are then topped with slices of beef, liver, intestines, and whatever other parts are lying around (there seems to be a common theme here.. the Vietnamese do not waste any parts of an animal just because it “looks disgusting”. They taste things with their tongues and not their eyes, which I love. Still, I can’t lie- as an American, it can be hard to adjust to sometimes). Then each bowl gets a heap of green onions and whatever condiments are on the table that you want to customize with (for me, usually everything: limes, peppers, soy sauce, fish sauce). It’s a simple meal that hits the spot pretty much every time.

Up next, Rice Paper:

Gỏi Cuốn- “Spring Rolls”

These spring rolls are so simple and even familiar- just shrimp, pork, rice noodles, and some greens. These are on many a menu in the States and have always been a favorite of mine. Like many of the foods here though, just because they are familiar or I have seen them on a menu before does not mean they taste the same. All of these foods that I have tried in the US before have been good, don’t get me wrong, but there’s something to be said about eating in a place where every bowl or plate of food you are served comes from the front room of someone’s house, and the woman or man making the food knows how to make it because her/his mother showed them how and her mother before that. These foods are staples and have the deliciousness of years of perfecting a recipe behind them.

Now let’s move onto the party spread, and the one thing that combines all three at once:

Lẩu- “Hot Pot”

Guys, tons of Americans have been missing out on a ridiculous and delicious kind of cuisine. For those of you who have never heard of hot pot, I think we can all be safe to assume that by the name you can guess just what it is. You start with water or broth in a pot that you place over a small propane grill right in the middle of the table. Into this you dump whatever is sitting on the table on small plastic plates next to the pot. This can include (but is not limited to): veggies, tofu, seafood of any and every kind (shrimp, “fish balls”, octopus, squid, small fish with all the bones, clams..) black chicken, normal chicken, beef, pork, noodles, rice, etc. and it’s all doused in that delicious spicy broth. It is a pot of wonders, I tell you. I don’t really understand how it works, because I’m pretty sure if I just threw all of these ingredients together in my home it would not turn out anywhere near as good. The other beautiful thing about this is that it is always included in any big celebration. If you see a small propane stove lying near by, you can bet the party is going to get pretty wild at some point during the morning or early afternoon. It’s the perfect dish to feed many people all at once, and you can bet that you won’t need to eat anything for days after seeing this on the table.

To finish, I have to mention one exception (and my favorite exception, to be honest) to the rule. Last, but certainly not least, we have:

Bánh xèo- “Vietnamese pancake”

Oh man. This is my absolute favorite. Even though the Vietnamese call this a pancake, it is really nothing like how we think of pancakes in the U.S. If anything, it appears more like a big omelet/crepe than anything else. To make this delicious, heaven-sent dish, you heat up a big skillet with a wood-burning, super hot fire. You then pour the batter into the skillet, let it fry up a bit, then throw in shrimp, green onions, sprouts, and whatever else you please. It’s then served on these big dishes with bowls heaped full of greens- cilantro, big lettuce leaves, and banana leaves. You take a portion of the “pancake” with your chopsticks, wrap it up in some greenery, and then dip it in a spicy/sour sauce with as many peppers as you want to toss in. It is the perfect mix of crispy, hearty, savory and a little spicy.

I have told everyone here I love this dish. It is my go-to answer whenever anyone asks me the very common question of “What is your favorite Vietnamese food?” Since I have started spreading this fact, I have been fed many a bánh xèo and have even been asked to come back into the homes of some of the women who make it to watch them cook. See photo above of a son cooking it in his mothers kitchen. Beyond tasty my friends.

I hate to admit it, but I haven’t even scratched the surface of the kinds of food you can eat here in Vietnam. I will pause here and let you soak in the few foods that I’ve describe above, and let you wonder about what other culinary treats this beautiful country may have.

Stay hungry, my friends. Till next time :)”