Vietnamese Cuisine 101

Key to the cuisine

Although freshness is the key to any kitchen, it's importance in Vietnamese cooking is great because several Vietnamese dishes are made of raw fish and raw meat. In fact, raw herbs and vegetables form the basis of its tastes, smells and textures, providing a high dose of vitamins.

Essential ingredients

Fish sauce, fresh local herbs, rice and rice noodles, fermented shrimp paste, lemon grass, bird's eye chilli, soya sauce, ginger and garlic are the foundations of Vietnamese cooking.

Why it's not like Chinese and Thai

The Vietnamese love their food, but their cuisine is influenced by its invaders, conquerors and settlers—Chinese, Japanese, Indian, French, American. Though fish sauce, used in 90 per cent of their dishes, reflects its similarity to Chinese and Thai cuisine, their cooking method is completely different. There's minimal use of oil. They may have a few fried inclusions, but it's not the norm; there's no sautéing or pan-frying. Most meats and fish are poached and steamed with raw herbs for flavouring boiled broth. For sauces, fresh ingredients are preferred to oyster, tomato or cream-based ones. And the higher spice levels in the central region are a result of the influence of Indians who settled there centuries ago. Additives or artificial food tasters are never used.

Chopsticks, post-meal naps and other Vietnamese rituals

Eating by hand (or even the use of fork or knives) is rare. Though at small eateries, locals skin or de-shell crabs and fish with their hands, this isn't the case at fine-dining restaurants. The Vietnamese are all about chopsticks, and even use them for cooking. Whether it's a weekday or weekend locals here take a nap post lunch, even during office hours (and wake up to a portion of fresh fruit) and eating-out is the way of life here. Its perceived as a measure of bonding and strengthening relationships. This is true of rural as well as urban areas. As most Vietnamese dishes are light, they eat almost five times a day. And thanks to a big expat community, cities have several Vietnamese fusion restaurants to cater to different tastes.

Popular dishes

Banh Mi
Like Mumbai's vada pav, this sandwich—enclosing pork liver pate, cheese, cold cuts, pickled veggies and lots of fresh herbs—in a little French baguette, is a common Vietnamese staple. Inexpensive and sold on hand-carts at the side by the road, banh mi is a favourite on-the-go snack.

Banh Beo
Banh beo are thin, steamed, rice pancakes topped with a steamed prawn (a big chopped one or full small squids) and a sauce of roasted peanuts, fish sauce, lemon juice, chillies, onions and finely chopped, crunchy roasted garlic.

Pho and Bun Bo Hue
Pho is a bowlful of flavoursome broth (chicken or beef, sometimes even seafood) and rice noodles. It is served with salt, pepper, fresh or ground red chillies. Equivalent to India's dal-rice, it's served at small, local eateries. The noodle-soup bun bo hue, with beef saute and local leafy veggies, belonging to Hue in Central Vietnam, is similar to pho, but spicier than the usual Vietnamese fare.

Banh Cuon
These fresh spring rolls stuffed with rice vermicelli, minced pork meat and tiny prawns marinated in lemon juice, chilli, fresh herbs, salt and pepper, are rolled in rice paper and generally eaten for breakfast.

Faiyaz Sojitrawala and Madhu Tamaskar's IVY Saigon in HCMC was a wine lounge and modern take on Vietnamese food. Their new venture, One ° at Little Vagator, Goa, serves European, Asian and Mediterranean cuisine

Bun Cha Recipe
Ingredients:
10 gm grated palm sugar
20 gm fish sauce
2 garlic cloves (chopped)
2 chopped lemon grass stems
20 gm shallots (chopped)
500 gm minced pork
200 gm dried rice stick noodles
10 ml refined oil
100 gm bean sprouts
Basil sprigs
Iceberg lettuce

Dipping sauce: 180ml fish sauce, 125ml fresh lime juice, 20gm grated palm sugar, 2 red chillies finely chopped

Method:
- Boil palm sugar and fish sauce on low heat for few minutes until the sugar dissolves completely. Keep it aside for cooling. Next, make a paste of garlic, lemon grass and shallots. Mix the two mixtures with minced pork in a bowl. Keep it in the refrigerator to marinate.

- For the dipping sauce, whisk the fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar and chilli in a bowl till it appears consistent.

- Make small patties of the marinated pork mince. Chargrill the patties on medium heat till they get a brown crust.

- Place the noodles in a bowl of boiling water. Set aside for 5-10 minutes until tender and drain.
- Top the noodles with patties, bean sprouts, basil, lettuce and dipping sauce.

—Sandip Narang, Executive Chef, The Taj West End, Bangalore
Taj West End's Blue Ginger is India's first Vietnamese restaurant