Festivities:
Restaurants:
Cooking:
Some of my favorite VN dishes :
Imperial roll – crab meat spring roll (with jicama and bean thread noodle). An excellent appetizer, but difficult to achieve the crispy skin from the authentic rice paper. A substitute is using lumpia skin for wrapping.
Hoi cuon – fresh rice paper roll with prawn, lettuce and fresh herbs, and dip in fish sauce. A very refreshing appetizer, especially in the Summer time.
Bi cuon - fresh rice paper roll with pork and special roast rice favour called tin, lettuce and fresh herbs, dip in fish sauce. It is very refreshing appetizer with a twist.
Thi la Cha ca – a Northern dish with fish marinated in tumeric and other spices, fried with onion and dill, serve with rice paper, thin noodle and fish sauce.
Chao Tom – shrimp paste on suger cane. Shrimp blend to paste with seasoning and wrap onto sugar cane and BBQ. Serve with rice paper and fresh herbs with a special bean sauce.
Bun cha, also called bun tit nuon in the South – BBQ pork marinated and served with thin rice noodle, fresh herbs, lettus and fish sauce.
Thit ga sa – BBQ chicken with lemon grass serve on rice noodle, lettus, fresh herbs and fish sauce.
Bun bo sa – stir fry beef in lemon grass serve with rice noodle, bean sprout, cucumber, herbs, fish sauce and peanut.
Banh cuon – rice flour crepe. A very delicate skin using rice flour to make the skin one at a time and wrap the ground pork and wood ear mushroom filling, serve with cilantro and fish sauce.
Banh xeo – shrimp and pork and bean sprout crispy crepe or omelet, another popular breakfast in VN.
Pho – It is a rich soup base that required a few hours of cooking. The strong spice favour blends very well with the beef.
Canh cu – crab soup with rich tomato and pork/chicken soup base to serve over rice noodle. A hearty soup in the winter time.