{"id":194,"date":"2021-04-05T18:59:16","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T18:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/?p=194"},"modified":"2021-04-11T19:12:54","modified_gmt":"2021-04-11T19:12:54","slug":"basic-ingredients-in-vietnamese-cuisine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/basic-ingredients-in-vietnamese-cuisine\/","title":{"rendered":"Basic Ingredients in Vietnamese Cuisine"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_195\" style=\"width: 725px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-195\" class=\" wp-image-195\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/04\/rice-noodles-855077_1920-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"715\" height=\"470\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-195\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image by mhywin from Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Vietnamese food is considered one of the healthiest cuisines in the world in my opinion.\u00a0 Maybe I&#8217;m biased, since I am Vietnamese, but with a lot of fresh ingredients; herbs, and vegetables in every traditional dish, this diet is pretty low in calories but very flavorful and tasty.<\/p>\n<p>If you have to pick what basic ingredients to use daily in the basic dishes, you can&#8217;t go wrong with these essential ingredients:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>N\u01b0\u1edbc m\u1eafm <\/em>(fish sauce)<\/li>\n<li><em>Ti\u00eau<\/em> (pepper)<\/li>\n<li><em>T\u1ecfi<\/em> (garlic)<\/li>\n<li><em>H\u00e0nh<\/em><em> l\u00e1<\/em> (green onion)<\/li>\n<li><em>Ng\u00f2<\/em> (cilandro)<\/li>\n<li><em>\u1edat<\/em> (chili pepper)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em><u>N\u01b0\u1edbc m\u1eafm <\/u><\/em><\/strong><strong><u>(fish sauce<\/u><\/strong><u>)<\/u><\/p>\n<p><em>N\u01b0\u1edbc m\u1eafm <\/em>is the soul of Vietnamese cuisine.\u00a0 <em>Nuoc mam<\/em> is a very salty liquid condiment made from small fish that have been layered with salt in a <em>chum<\/em> (large jar) and fermented for an average of one year.\u00a0 You will find at least a bottle, if not a gallon, in every Vietnamese household&#8217;s kitchen.\u00a0 Besides its use as a staple seasoning in food, it&#8217;s also commonly served as a <em>n\u01b0\u1edbc ch\u1ea5m<\/em> (dipping sauce). Indeed, you would find a small bowl of <em>n<\/em><em>\u01b0\u1edbc m\u1eafm<\/em> on the table with every Vietnamese main meal.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>Gia<\/u><\/em><\/strong><strong><em><u> v\u1ecb<\/u><\/em><\/strong><strong><u> (spice\/seasoning)<\/u><\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the Vietnamese use different spices in different dishes, but the most common one is always <em>ti\u00eau tr\u1eafng<\/em> (white pepper).\u00a0 A pinch of ground pepper is often added when marinating seafood or meats.\u00a0 A pinch of ground pepper can be added at the end to enhance the flavor in soup, stir fry vegetables, etc.\u00a0 Other popular spices include <em>qu\u1ebf<\/em> (cinnamon) and <em>h\u1ed3i<\/em> (star anise).<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><u>Rau<\/u><\/em><\/strong><strong><em><u> th\u01a1m<\/u><\/em> <\/strong><strong><u>(fragrant herbs<\/u><\/strong><strong><u>)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Rau<\/em><em> th\u01a1m<\/em> is essential in every dish and differentiate Vietnamese food from other world cuisines.\u00a0 Most importantly, Vietnamese use them fresh, not dried. \u00a0I can&#8217;t recall if there are any meals without the presence of fresh herbs.\u00a0 It doesn&#8217;t matter whether it&#8217;s a dish or salad, fried rice, porridge, or noodles, they are all garnished with at least one fresh herb such as cilantro.\u00a0 Green onion is also present in all noodle dishes.\u00a0 Soup broths often call for ginger, lemongrass, onion, and other herbs and vegetables.\u00a0 <em>H\u00fang qu\u1ebf<\/em> (basil) is a must to add to the bowl of <em>ph\u1edf<\/em> (traditional rice noodle soup) when served to bring up its flavor.<\/p>\n<p>There is a popular folk poem that teaches what herb goes well with which dish:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Con g\u00e0 c\u1ee5c t\u00e1c l\u00e1 chanh<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Con l\u1ee3n \u1ee7n \u1ec9n mua h\u00e0nh cho t\u00f4i<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Con ch\u00f3 kh\u00f3c \u0111\u1ee9ng kh\u00f3c ng\u1ed3i<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>M\u1eb9 \u01a1i \u0111i ch\u1ee3 mua t\u00f4i \u0111\u1ed3ng ri\u1ec1ng.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Translation:<\/p>\n<p>The chicken clucks, get me a lime leaf.<br \/>\nThe pig oinks, buy me an onion.<br \/>\nThe dog is crying begging, said<br \/>\nMother please, buy me a piece of galangal.<\/p>\n<p>So, lime leaf goes well with the steamed chicken dish (<em>g\u00e0 h\u1ea5p<\/em>). Onion or scallion is a must in any pork dish.\u00a0 Galangal is required in dog meat dishes (<em>ch\u1ea3 c\u1ea7y<\/em>). I know you&#8217;re probably raising your eyebrows hearing the word &#8220;dog meat&#8221;.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it&#8217;s still legal to consume as a delicacy street dish, mostly favored by men, and served as a side dish while drinking <em>r\u01b0\u1ee3u<\/em><em> \u0111\u1ebf <\/em>(rice wine).\u00a0 Fortunately, there is an invention of <em>gi\u1ea3 c\u1ea7y<\/em>, an imitation, vegetarian dog meat dish that is more widely popular with the general population.<\/p>\n<p>Growing up having fresh herbs everyday in my diet, I\u2019m so used to the smell of them. Even with my closed eyes, I could tell what herb is that from its scent. I love fresh herbs and believe they are the secret ingredients in our cuisine that make it different from others in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"233\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/04\/rice-noodles-855077_1920-350x233.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/04\/rice-noodles-855077_1920-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/04\/rice-noodles-855077_1920-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/04\/rice-noodles-855077_1920-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/04\/rice-noodles-855077_1920-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/04\/rice-noodles-855077_1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>Vietnamese food is considered one of the healthiest cuisines in the world in my opinion.\u00a0 Maybe I&#8217;m biased, since I am Vietnamese, but with a lot of fresh ingredients; herbs, and vegetables in every traditional dish, this diet is pretty low in calories but very flavorful and tasty. If you have to pick what basic&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/basic-ingredients-in-vietnamese-cuisine\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":174,"featured_media":195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,376348,13],"tags":[444959,503903,462599,550830],"class_list":["post-194","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-foods","category-vocabulary","tag-herbs","tag-ingredients","tag-spices","tag-vietnamese-cuisine"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/174"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194\/revisions\/208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}