What Vietnamese people eat every day?
Working as a local guide over 10 years there are common questions to ask about Vietnamese food includes typical Vietnamese dishes, what do they eat everyday and explain how healthy the food is.
Is Vietnamese food healthy?
Is it safe to eat on the street?
What is a typical meal of a Vietnamese food?
What is Vietnamese specialities ?
This article provides you with everything you need to know about Vietnamese food
1. What do Vietnamese people eat daily – A typical Vietnamese meal?
Rice is served almost every meal, even breakfast, in some rural areas. Because there are tons of rivers across the country, so we also eat fish. There are two types of fish: freshwater and ocean.
On the other hand, we also eat lots of meats such as geese, ducks, chickens, and pork, along with eels and eggs, which provide additional protein. Beef and seafood are only used on special occasions, such as at weddings or festivals.
Nuoc Nam is a dish that won’t be missed in every meal of Vietnamese, a liquid sauce made from fermented fish, which has a strong smell
2. Typical Vietnamese meal
The typical Vietnamese meal consists of a bowl of rice, and vegetables and the main dish is meat or fish.. Vegetables are often grown in the front garden of the house and include soybeans, sweet potatoes, corn, greens of various kinds, onions, and other root crops. Fruit includes bananas, grapefruit, dragon fruits, mangos,and pineapple.
Vietnamese rice noodle soup is a signature dish of Vietnam, either with beef or chicken. Eating in Vietnam is such a big thing to learn about. We applied the theory of Yin Yang balance when cooking food. For example, Balut is considered as a cold food, often served with ginger and knotgrass (hot element); chicken (cold element) is stir fried with red chilly (hot element) and so on.
Vietnamese drink green tea all day long, from the morning until the evening. During the traditional New Year of Vietnam “Tet”, we also serve rice liquor, soft drink, and beer for the guests.
In Vietnam, breakfast isn’t considered as a main meal, so it is short. Big meal is lunch and dinner. Dinner is the most important meal when all family members are back from school and work; enjoy it together.
We eat with chopsticks and sit on a mat on the floor in the old days. But lots of families eat on chairs and tables like Westerner.
But when many guests are coming for a meal without having enough chair, they will sit on a mat. Vietnamese eat loudly, slurping, sucking, and chomping. Such table noises are not considered bad manners; they are evidence that people enjoy their food.
3. Is Vietnamese food healthy?
In my opinion, Vietnamese food is one of the most healthy and tasty ones all in the world. Vietnamese cuisine with its ingredients with lots of vegetables, vitamins, protein, lipids, and so on because there is a variety of food and vegetables in this tropical country, especially in Northern Vietnam, with four distinct season.
4. Some of the typical Vietnamese food
- Pho soup (Pho bo – Rice noodle soup with beef, Pho ga – rice noodle soup with chicken)
- Nem Ran in Northern Vietnam or Cha Gio in Southern Vietnam – Deep fried spring roll with pork
- Bun Cha (Grilled Vietnamese meatballs with fresh herbs and rice noodles)
- Cha Ca (Grilled fish with turmeric and dill )
By reading this article, we hope that you have gained an in-depth understanding of what to eat in Vietnam as a local. On the other hand, you may be interested in Hanoi Home cooking class to experience authentic local foods with Hanoi Eco Tour
