The food of Vietnam may have been influenced to some extent by the cooking of China, it would not, however, be mistaken for Chinese food. True Vietnamese food has a character and flavor all its own.

While the Chinese use soy sauce, in Vietnam there is the universal use of fish sauce, Nuoc Mam (Nuoc Cham), which is added during cooking. Nuoc Mam is more pungent than other Southeast Asian fish sauces. If it is not available at your local Asian market, add a little dried shrimp paste to Chinese Fish Sauce for a good substitute.

Nuoc Mam sauce, which is served as an accompaniment with practically everything, is based on Nuoc Mam with the addition of fresh chilies, garlic, sugar, lime, lemon, and vinegar. The flavor is sharper and more pungent than anything the Chinese cuisine has to offer.

The staple starches of the Vietnamese diet are rice and noodles; but, they have also cultivated a taste for French bread over the years and combine it with beef, cooked Vietnamese-style, to make delicious, if somewhat unusual sandwiches.

The typical breakfast in Vietnam is noodle soup. Rather overpowering by Western standards, it is redolent of fresh coriander herb, called Vietnamese parsley, garlic, and Nuoc Mam. Rice, accompanied by dishes of meat, poultry, or fish, is the basis for the other meals.

Baked Ground Pork Casserole
Beef Salad
Bouillon

Cha Ca
Charcoal Grilled Pork Chop
Charcoal Porkchops
Chicken Salad
Chinese Vermicelli and Chicken Soup
Cream of Crab and Asparagus Soup
Cream of Crab and Corn Soup

Mixed Salad
Mixed Vegetables and Meat Soup
Mixed Vegetables Soup

Pork Chops with Five Spices

Rice Noodles and Beef Soup
Rice Noodles and Chicken Soup

Shrimp and Pork Salad
Spicy and Sour Prawn Soup
Sweet and Sour Salad

Vietnamese Pickles
Vietnamese-Style Onion-Shrimp Pancakes