Vietnamese Recipes

From
Thom's Recipe File

Vietnamese cooking draws from a number of cultures including French. Vietnamese food in the north of this long, skinny country is heavily influenced by Chinese cooking and often features stir-fries and noodle-based soups. The south is tropical and has many rice paddies and coconut groves. The food here tends to be spicier. And all that coastline means fish and seafood are prominently featured at the Vietnamese table. The predominant flavors are mint, coriander, lemongrass, shrimp, nuoc nam and nuoc cham fish sauces, star anise, ginger, black pepper, garlic, basic and rice wine. Popular Vietnamese dishes include Pho, a beef noodle soup, sticky rice and a spring roll called nem ran.

Vietnamese food appears to be similar to Chinese, but there are subtle differences. Vietnamese foods tend to be spiced differently with fresh vegetables and herbs enhancing the flavor. With plentiful seafood to be found, such as lobster, crabs, shrimp and fish, it's no surprise that nuoc mam (a fish sauce) is a staple in Vietnamese food, whereas soy sauce is liberally used in other Asian countries.

Usually a bowl of soup (pho) is consumed in the morning, but is also eaten at lunch and dinner time. A meal usually consists of several courses served concurrently: meat or seafood, rice, noodles, egg dishes, vegetables, etc. Green tea is the beverage of choice and is available pretty much all the time.