Looking for a quick lunch of soup, salad or a sandwich? Maybe you ought to think Vietnamese. Perhaps an exquisite vegetarian meal? Well, then, why not think Vietnamese? Or is tonight time for multiple dishes, contrasting flavors, varied textures and exotic ingredients? Once again, it’s a good time to think Vietnamese. Or perhaps something healthy and “lite?” Guess what: think Vietnamese.
Vietnamese chefs like to refer to their cooking as “the nouvelle cuisine of Asia.” And indeed, with the heavy reliance on rice, wheat and legumes, abundance of fresh herbs and vegetables, minimal use of oil, and treatment of meat as a condiment rather than a main course, Vietnamese food has to be among the healthiest on the planet.
Cuisine in this country of 70,000,000 people differs strikingly between the north, south and central regions, but two key features stand out. First, rice plays an essential role in the nation’s diet as it does throughout southeast Asia. But this is also a noodle-crazy population, regularly downing them for breakfast, lunch and dinner, in homes, restaurants and at roadside stands. Noodles are eaten wet and dry, in soup or beside soup, and are made in different shapes and thicknesses of wheat, rice and mung beans. Secondly, no meal is complete without fresh vegetables and herbs. A key portion of every meal, north, south and central, is a platter containing cucumbers, bean threads, slices of hot pepper, and sprigs of basil, coriander, mint and a number of related herbs found principally in southeast Asian markets.