Vietnam… a foodie’s paradise?

My favourite type of adventure is a gustatory one – and touring Vietnam certainly allowed this.

You may be familiar with pho, or rice paper rolls – you may have even heard of banh mi… but do you truly know the extent of Vietnam’s delicious food scene?

WHAT IS VIETNAMESE CUISINE?

Vietnamese cooking reflects the Vietnamese lifestyle – while the ingredients tend to be inexpensive, the cooking methods used reap rich and exotic results.

Asian dishes incorporate five fundamental flavours:

• Spicy (ginger, chilli, pepper, cinnamon)

• Sweet (sugar, oyster sauce, honey, red peppers)

• Salty (soy sauce, salt)

• Sour (vinegar, lemon, lime)

• Bitter (star anise, raw garlic, mustard seed)

There is no doubt that the Vietnamese food scene is inventive – sometimes, there is nothing quite like good old British chip-shop chips, but with regards to unique flavour combinations… Vietnam are flying ahead.

BANH MI

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French and Vietnamese cuisine combined – this intercontinental flavour fusion is like no other.

Lemongrass and peanut paired with the French-born baguette is an exotic taste explosion.

Each bite is an unbeatable burst of perfectly baked bread, layers of succulent meat (or tofu in my case), crunchy vegetables, and a sumptuous sticky sauce.

BANH XEO (or ‘sizzling pancake’)

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Although these beauties look like omelettes, there is no egg in sight (the key ingredient is rice flour).

These savoury Vietnamese pancakes are my deep-fried dream.

Fried, folded and filled with delights – mung beans, bean sprouts, and your chosen protein.

Directions: wrap in salad leaves and dip into the spicy sauce to treat your tastebuds.

FAMILY DINNERS

I’m slightly cheating here since ‘Family Dinners’ isn’t really a type of food – however, it is something that’s common throughout Vietnam and the concept is brilliant.

Essentially, an array of dishes is served to the table (or floor in some cases) – home-cooked, practically unlimited and absolutely exquisite (if you don’t mind the odd fly in your food).

The dishes may include spring rolls, fresh fish, omelette, stir-fried vegetables (morning glory is a personal favourite of mine), various meat dishes, potatoes, sautéed cabbage, and an endless supply of rice.

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The best part has to be the free rice wine which you drink at the beginning of the meal with a traditional Vietnamese ‘cheers’ (or ‘Mot Hai Ba Yo’ : 1, 2, 3, cheers!)

The chant goes a little like this…

It tends to be home stays and hostels which offer these and I don’t know why more people don’t do it.

Vietnamese food is some of the best I have ever tried, and I can’t wait to return for that reason alone.

If you can’t quite cover the costs of flying to Vietnam to try out these delights for yourself, you are sure to find somewhere a little closer to you… here are London’s best Vietnamese restaurants.