Everything in Vietnam has a corresponding sauce.
Each and every variety of fresh salad roll, fried spring roll, fried rice cake – anything you can hold in your hand has a dipping sauce. If you can’t hold it in your hand or with a set of chopsticks – like noodle soups or rice dishes – then it has yet a different set of sauces and condiments to add to it.
No matter what you may be eating, there’s probably a set of fresh herbs that go with it too. Mint, basil, morning glory and a few others we can’t identify fill plates. Some leaves go in the food, others go on top or in between bites.
The order isn’t important – at least not to us. It’s the flavor combinations and the sheer freshness that’s so impressive.
There’s so much more variety here than in the typical pho shops back home. Of course, the pho is better too.
Instead of combinations and portions designed to meet the American expectation of an entree or main meal, Vietnamese food – at least in Saigon – is all about having a little of this and a little of that. It takes at least four different dishes to comprise a meal for the two of us. Whether or not we like it – and we do – Emily and I have no choice but to sample the broad array of options.
As a result, this is the first and probably only time on our trip where I willingly share food. I’m very much a “this is my order, and that’s yours” kind of guy. If I wanted what someone else has, I would have ordered it. Meanwhile, Emily is more of a “let’s all taste each other’s food and try everything!” kind of girl. My stonewall anti-sharing policies have been difficult for her.
However, unlike historical scenarios, Vietnam has forced a sort of detente in which I have begun to willingly cooperate for the general betterment of our meals. It’s a new age of peace and cooperation in Vietnam.
The results have been very positive. For an average of $15 a sit-down meal, we have about five different items, drinks including an occasional beer for Emily and dessert. We eat in nice places and have begun seeking out places with WiFi for lunch.
Saigon has no shortage of restaurants from back alley food stalls to elegant five-star French restaurants. Of course, we have very little interest in stars. Emily and I want it real, flavorful and authentic.
That means pho (noodle soup) with aromatic spices including nutmeg in the broth, incredibly fresh salad rolls with all kinds of different fillings, mango salads, papaya salads, lotus root salads, lemongrass chicken, steamy bao, dumplings of various sorts, crisped broken rice with meats and veggies and a variety of fried rice cakes with different toppings. Emily’s new favorite: fried broken rice cake topped with unidentified meat and a cube of glutinous rice – all deep fried together. I only taste “fried,” but she proclaims it one of the best things she’s ever had.
The key to the Vietnamese diet seems to be an enchanting mix of cooked and fresh. Everything has some of each. Raw veggies are part of every meal. Fresh fruit is a favorite snack on the street – particularly cut-up unripened mango.
Anything heavy needs some lightness.
Desserts too. To our great surprise, there are numerous desserts made of sugar soaked beans and seeds – mung beans, lotus seeds, water chestnuts, red beans – on piles of ice in glasses. Emily loves the light, refreshing feel of these kinda’ natural treats in the urban tropical heat.
Me – I’m over at the patisseries.
Again, that’s the amazing thing about Vietnam – the variety. There’s something for everyone if you look around.
Gone are the heavy ethnic foods of Singapore and Malaysia. No more curried sauces and not even a lot of fried noodles or fried rice. However, spicy has gone away too. Flavors here are milder and like French cuisine, push you to enjoy the combination of flavors within the food itself. The veggies and the meat, with just the right amount of a light, fragrant sauce make each item a delicacy.
Much like Thai and Balinese cuisine, this is not the food of people trying to make a morsel of food last for days. Vietnamese food is a celebration of bounty – the kind of cuisine that can only develop in places where water, and therefore vegetables are plentiful and affordable to the common man. These are not people who deep fry food and cover it in thick curries to both preserve it and mask how long their food has been sitting out. The Vietnamese are people who buy food daily and make it fresh.
Not surprising for a nation whose entire eastern side is lined by ocean and whose interior pulses with flowing rivers, Vietnam has plenty of seafood. Nowhere else on Earth – except maybe Thailand or Singapore – would I be more afraid to be a prawn or a crab.
Meat too seems relatively plentiful – especially beef, pork and chicken. So far, no dog – though we’re told it’s out there, especially in the countrysides.
Much like with Thai food, nothing at home really prepares you for the cuisine of the country itself. In my year living in Thailand, I still tried new things regularly. We only have a month in Vietnam, so we really have to make the most of each meal. Luckily, we’ll be in the north, south and central coast – so a good sampling will be possible. We’re excited.
Still, we don’t really have to go any further. Vietnam had me at lemongrass chicken salad rolls.
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