Vietnam -

Vietnam

Vietnamese cookery is a style of cuisine using fish sauce, soy sauce, rice, fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables. Vietnamese recipes utilize an extremely diverse range of herbs, including lemongrass, mint, Vietnamese mint, long coriander and Thai basil leaves. Traditional Vietnamese cooking is greatly liked because of the freshness of the ingredients and for the healthy eating style.

The most common meats used in Vietnamese cuisine are pork, chicken, fish and various kinds of seafood. The Vietnamese even have a strong vegetarian tradition inspired by Buddhist values.

A typical meal for the typical Vietnamese family would include:

• Individual bowls of rice

• Meat, fish or seafood (grilled, boiled, steamed, stewed or stir fried with vegetables)

• Stir-fried, raw, pickled or steamed vegetables

• Canh (a clear broth with vegetables and sometimes meat or seafood) or other Vietnamese-style soup

• Prepared fish sauce and/or soy sauce for dipping, to which garlic, chilli, ginger or lime juice are sometimes added according to taste.

All dishes aside from the individual bowls of rice are communal and to be shared.

Outside of its country of origin, Vietnamese food is widely available in countries with strong Vietnamese immigrant communities, such as Australia, the United States, Canada and France. Its cuisine is also popular in Japan, Korea, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland and Russia, also in areas with dense Asian populations.

In recent years Vietnamese cuisine has become popular in other Southeast Asian countries such as Laos and Thailand.