One of the delightful things about travelling is enjoying the local food. Food tells you a lot about the local culture and their history. What the locals eat comes from the availability of local ingredients and other influences.
In Vietnam, there is an abundance of vegetables and rice so you see a lot of food derived from rice on the dinner table. Vegetables, cooked or raw, are very common as well. Raw vegetables are not common in Asian cuisine but they are in Vietnam. This influence probably came from the French, who also introduced baguettes to the locals.
Most people, myself included, assumed that Vietnamese food is very much like Chinese food because of the Chinese historical influence. Instead I find it quite different. Chinese food uses a lot of stir-fry, which uses a lot of oil. Vietnamese food, in general, is not greasy. Rice paper are common at dinner tables. You wrap a lot of vegetables and a few pieces of meat with the rice paper and dip it in a fish sauce-based sauce.
Soup is also common at lunch or dinner tables. Usually a big bowl is shared by everyone at the table. Most of the meals are eaten family-style.
Don't expect ice-cream or cake for dessert. It's usually some kind of fruit. I was once served sugar-cane for dessert. The sugar-cane had been peeled and cut into small chunks. You chew on the sugar-cane and spit out the pulp. Water-melon, pomeloes, pineapples, papayas, are fruits that are commonly served for dessert.
There are some regional differences in Vietnamese food. Those from the north tend to be a little bland. Food from the south tend to have stronger flavors, perhaps because of the warmer climate. In the central regional, where Danang and Hue are located, food tend to have a strong flavor and spicy as well.
How much do I typically pay for lunch or dinner? I've spent as little as US$1 for lunch. But when I go with my friends as a group, we typically spend around US$4 to $5. For dinner, I spend anywhere from US$3 to $6. If I go with my friends and they order a ton of food, my share is usually less than US$10.
The best part about Vietnamese food is it's healthy. There is very little greasy stuff and almost no sweet dishes (what we'd call dessert). Families buy their ingredients in the morning at the local market and cook them the same day. After I was in Vietnam for only 3 months, I noticed a visible change in my weight. My pants were so loose that I could have gone back to a size smaller.
I hardly saw any fat Vietnamese when I was there. Some bulky ones yes but absolutely no obese Vietnamese. Sadly, I am starting to see some overweight kids. Probably too much KFC and Pizza Hut. Luckily, they don't have MacDonald's in Vietnam.
Below are some pictures I took of Vietnamese food that I was able to enjoy while in Vietnam.
Note: I noticed the captions on the slideshows sometimes appear in large fonts. I don't understand the reason why but if you hit the refresh button on your browser, it should go back to its regular font.
