Dragon Indochine Travel

Many Vietnamese food specialties are becoming popular to international visitors as well as cooks and the connoisseurs find it a unique culinary art, both tasteful and healthy. Gourmet tours can be requested wherein participants can learn how to cook specific Vietnamese dishes. Contact us for any inquiries.

Pho - Noodles
Pho, the most popular food among the Vietnamese, is now a most favorable dish to all foreign visitors to Vietnam and is nearly served in all Vietnamese restaurants the world over. The U.S President Clinton on his official visit to Hochiminh City in 2000 also had Pho at a rsetaurant.
Pho is commonly eaten for breakfast, although many people will also have it for their lunch or dinner instead of rice. Pho is mainly cooked and served with either beef meat or chicken meat and is called Pho Bo or Pho Ga accordingly. Preparations may vary, but when Pho is served, its specific smell and taste is indispensable.

Cha Gio (fried spring roll)

This dish is called Nem Ran by northerners and Cha Gio by southerners. In Hanoi, the introduction of Nem Ran dates back to a time when Cha Ca had not existed. Although it ranks among Vietnam's specialty dishes, Cha Gio is very easy to prepare. Consequently, it has long been a preferred food on special occasions such as Tet and other family festivities.
Ingredients used for Cha Gio comprise of lean minced pork, sea crabs or unshelled shrimps, two kinds of edible mushroom (Nam Huong and Moc Nhi), dried onion, duck eggs, pepper, salt and different kinds of seasoning. All are mixed thoroughly before being wrapped with transparent rice paper into small rolls. These rolls are then fried in boiling oil.

Banh Cuon (Rice Flour Steamed Rolls)
Banh cuon is a favorite choice for breakfast or dinner. Usually, Banh Cuon is served with a dressing comprised of lean meat, shrimps, mushrooms, dried onions, fish sauce, and pepper. All the ingredients are stir-fried and rolled into a banh cuon.
Banh cuon is delicious when it is very thin, white, and sticky. It is even tastier when dipped in a sweet, sour, and spicy sauce.

Bun (rice vermicelli)
Vietnamese vermicelli is a luxurious as well as a popular dish. There are different varieties of vermicelli depending on their shapes: Bun roi or stirred vermicelli, Bun mam or twisted vermicelli, Bun la or vermicelli paper, and Bun dem tram or shreded vermicelli.
Different ingredients can be served with vermicelli: grilled pork meat or beef meat, fried rice cakes, fried eggs, lean meat pie, chicken, crab meat and fish to name a few.
Each region and locality, even each restaurant, has its own vermicelli dishes with their own recipes.

Mien (vermicelli made of cassava)
Mien threads are very long and tough, made from a kind of tuber plant called cassava. When served, the long tiny flour threads are cut into smaller pieces. Like rice vermicelli, this kind of cassava vermicelli is used to make several different dishes, the most popular being Mien Ga (chicken cassava vermicelli), Mien Bo (beef cassava vermicelli), and Mien Luon (eel cassava vermicelli).
Cassava vermicelli is also used for different dishes which are stirred in oil, such as Mien Xao Thit (vermicelli and pork stirred in fat), Mien Xao Long Ga (vermicelli and chicken tripe stirred in fat), and Mien Xao Cua Be (vermicelli and sea crab meat stirred in fat).

Cha Ca (grilled minced fish)
Grilled minced fish has been served in Vietnam for more than 100 years. The Doan family of Cha Ca Street in Hanoi first invented this dish.
A wide variety of fish can be used in this dish including sturgeon and tuna. Tuna is low in fat, has an exquisite flavour, and few bones. The bones are separated from the meat and put into saffron water to be later used in a sauce. The fish is marinated in salt before being grilled.
What is interesting about this dish is that people can add their favourite condiments: coriander, mint, dill, shallots, and more.

Banh Chung (Sticky Rice Cake)

Sticky rice cakes are among the must-have dishes for Tet meals (Tet is Lunar New Year). As a matter of fact, every Vietnamese family use this Vietnamese traditional cakes of sticky rice among the offerings placed on the altar to their ancestors.
According to the legend, under the reign of the Hung Kings, Prince Lang Lieu created sticky rice cakes and presented them to his father. Banh chung won high acclaims from the King who awarded the prince his throne.
Banh chung is made of glutinous rice, pork meat, and green beans paste wrapped in a square of bamboo leaves, giving the rice a green colour after boiling.
Making sticky rice cakes is a very meticulous job. To obtain the best cakes, rice has to soak in water for an entire day. The pork meat must include skin and fat, the green beans must be of the same size, and the bamboo leaves must be fresh. Squaring off and tying cakes with bamboo strings requires skilful hands.
Sticky rice cakes are available at any time of the year, although one is sure to enjoy them with relatives and friends during Tet.

Gio Lua (Lean Pork Pie)
Lean pork pie is available in Vietnam only and has different names in the north and south. Foreigners as well as Vietnamese are fond of lean pork pie.
Gio lua consists of pork meat wrapped in fresh banana leaves. The little bundles are then boiled. The most delicious part of lean pork pie is the top layer since it absorbs the flavour of the banana leaves.

Goi or Nom (salad)
This dish is a combination of a variety of fresh vegetables, usually served as a starting course. To try a mouthful of Goi or Nom is to enjoy a combination of all the tastes life has to offer, including sour, hot, sweet, salty, and fragrant tastes. The dish helps with digestion at meals and parties. It can become an addictive aid to assist the real connoisseur enjoy more food.
The make-up of Goi or Nom, however, is slightly different. The main ingredients include grated pieces of turnip, cabbage, or papaya, and slices of cucumber with grated, boiled, lean pork, shrimps. Other auxiliary ingredients include grated carrot, slices of hot chilly, and roasted ground nuts. These are used to make the dish more colourful. All are mixed thoroughly before being soaked in vinegar, sugar, garlic, hot chilly, and seasoned with salt.
The presentation of the dish is also very meticulous. The mixture of ingredients is put into a dish before being covered with vegetables.

Com Hen (Hue Mussel Rice)
Hot white rice is part of every meal in Vietnam, but only Hue mussel rice is served cool. Hue people, after deciding that no food should be wasted, have designed this dish using leftover rice.
This dish includes Chinese vermicelli, bamboo shoots, lean pork meat, and an assortment of green vegetables (banana leaves, mint, star fruit, etc.).
The broth obtained after boiling the mussels is used to flavour the rice. Ginger, sesame, and chili are also added to the broth. This dish is very spicy and it is not rare to see people with watery eyes and sweaty faces while eating it; nevertheless, everyone congratulates the cook for such a delicious meal.

Bun Bo Hue (Hue Beef Noodle Soup)
Among Hue specialties loved by all Vietnamese as well as foreigners is Bun Bo (Beef Noodle Soup). This recipe mainly consists of shredded meat and rice noodles. Spices that help make the Bun Bo different from other Vienamese noodle soups are the thick chilly sauce and citronella. Without these special spices, a bowl of Bun Bo will lose its unique taste. Hue beef noodle soup is served with sliced banana flowers, mint, basil and different kinds of lettuce.

Hu Tieu (My Tho Noodle Soup)

My Tho seafood noodle soup is different from Chinese noodle soup, nam vang soup, and Hue beef noodle soup, because it contains soy bean, lemon, chili, and soy sauce instead of herbs and lettuce.
Back in the 1960s, a shop in My Tho, 70 km from Ho Chi Minh City, started serving this dish using a secret recipe for the rice noodles. Ever since then, its reputation has grown to become a very well known meal in Vietnam.
It is said that the most delicious noodle soup is made with Co Cat rice, from the most famous rice growing area of My Phong village, a suburb of My Tho.
The sweet aroma of the broth comes from the meat, dried squid, and special condiments.
My Tho noodle soup is a traditional dish specific to the south.

Canh Chua (Fish Sour Soup)
Canh chua originated from the Mekong Region, more specifically from Dong Thap Muoi. Canh chua is a fish sour soup made with fish from the Mekong River and so dua flower. This dish is mostly served when the so dua flower first blossoms at the end of the rainy season. A feast is organized and the fish sour soup is among the delicious meals prepared for this event. Fish sour soup must be eaten very hot. It must also be eaten all at one time since the taste is altered when the soup is reheated.

Chao Tom (Grilled Shrimp Paste)
Foreigners often say that grilled shrimp paste is a very unusual dish made from very simple ingredients. The recipe consists of clean shrimps placed in coconut water. The shrimps are later grilled and ground to obtain shrimp flour. The flour is mixed with fat and sugar to finally obtain shrimp paste. This dish is served with fish sauce.

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