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Vietnam Food
Vietnam impressions - as with Thailand, Vietnamese food is prepared with fresh vegetables and ingredients; these can easily be found in the markets in each city. A plate of fresh shrimp, hot rice, spring rolls, and a cold beer was a welcomed greeting after a long day.
Vietnam is the number two producer of rice in the world (behind Thailand) and this is obvious in its cuisine. Almost every dish is accompanied by steamed rice. Rice plays a key role in many of the lives of the Vietnamese: as we traveled from the Mekong Delta to Hanoi, the country side is dominated by people tending the rice patties; the traditional dance we saw in Hoi An focused on the rice harvest; and the water puppets in Hanoi depicted rice preparation.
Listed below are several of the dishes that we particularly enjoyed:
Cao Lau - this is an interesting dish we discovered in Hoi An; it consists of flat noodles (linguini size) cooked in a beef broth with bean sprouts and coriander. The mixture is topped with croutons and thin pork slices. Immediately before eating, crispy rice paper is crumbled into the bowl. One version we tried had some hot red peppers included. This is an outstanding appetizer or an afternoon snack and goes well with a cold beer . . . lots of things seem to go well with a cold beer.
Sticky rice in banana leaves - on our return trip from My Son our guide had these tasty treats for the boat ride. Again very simple, but it tasted great. It seemed that a mixture of crushed peanuts, sugar, and sticky rice was placed inside of a folded banana leaf and steamed; the steaming forms the mixture into a compact cake. I think sesame seeds could easily be added (they are included in many Vietnamese sauces and dishes), as well as, nutmeg.