Ngoc Le
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Food without borders: Fried rice and fried chicken were on offer at the hugely popular Palestinian stall at the World Food Festival in Vung Tau. — VNS Photo Ngoc Le |
BA RIA-VUNG TAU — If you're fond of pho (Vietnamese traditional noodle), then don't miss visiting Ha Noi, the cradle of one of Viet Nam's most famous dishes. If com lam (sticky rice cooked in bamboo tube) is more to your tastes, then head for the Central Highlands.
An exploration of Vietnamese cuisine will take you on a journey that will shed light on the country itself. With more than 50 ethnic groups and abundant natural resources, the culinary tradition of the country is as diverse as its culture.
Pho, nem (fried spring rolls) and goi cuon (fresh spring rolls) are widely seen as the ambassadors of Vietnamese food, but they reflect only a small culinary component of what is an essentially agricultural country.
At the seaside resort city of Vung Tau, about 100km from HCM City, guests this week have sampled a culinary cornucopia at the five-day World Food Festival, that was held for the first time in Viet Nam and runs until tomorrow.
Stalls have been set up along a 3km stretch along Thuy Van Avenue next to the beach.
More than 30 Vietnamese provinces and an equal number of countries have brought their best recipes to whet the appetite of food enthusiasts who can gorge themselves until they drop.
Beginning at 11am and ending in the late evening, the festival has attracted huge crowds that are both hungry and eager to sample both exotic and familiar foods.
Irresistible
Some dishes at the stalls are familiar, like pho, nem or banh xeo (sizzling pancake), while others titillate both imagination and taste buds, like ca chep hap tam hoa (steamed carp with three kinds of flowers) and ga om toi nuong sot ruou (braised chicken with garlic and white wine sauce) at Vinh Phuc Province's stall.
The smells are so enticing that many passers-by cannot resist stopping at the stalls for a look and a taste.
"The good smell comes from mixed vegetables found in the back gardens or in the fields, so it's the aroma of nature," explained Chu Xuan Bach, souschef of the northern province of Vinh Phuc's Tam Dao Belvedere Resort.
The tropical flowers served with the carp dish are enhanced by a dark soya sauce that makes it hard for guests to turn down.
"Carp are caught in the Lo River and most of the ingredients are transported here by air," Bach added, noting that Vinh Phuc, which is half mountainous, is rich in fresh-water fish and noted for its fish delicacies.
The chicken dish, a mixture of sweet chicken stock, white wine and garlic, is an adventure for the taste-buds.
"With all of the chicken bones removed, it is quite popular with foreign guests," Bach said, adding that he had sold out of the dish.
"These are typical delicacies of Vinh Phuc that can be found in the daily meals of the locals," he said.
On the other hand, the central province of Thanh Hoa cannot claim sole ownership of bun rieu cua (rice vermicelli in stock of fresh-water crab paste), given that the dish is also popular in other parts of the country.
The two main ingredients, rice vermicelli and rice-field crabs, are found everywhere, and the smell reminds visitors of rice fields, which are dear to the Vietnamese heart.
Nguyen Xuan Thang, chef at Thanh Hoa's Da Lan Restaurant, said that his province's own bun rieu cua was a little different from other versions.
"We use only me (fermented rice), not vinegar like elsewhere, to make the soup sour," he said. "And crabs are caught in the fields, not farmed like in Ha Noi, where there are limited paddy fields."
The opaque soup is pleasantly sour and the crab-paste melts easily on the palate, and customers can easily smell and taste the muddy fields.
Last but not least, do not forget to visit the Ha Noi stall to relish the cha ca La Vong (grilled fish), one of the capital's best-known delicacies.
Good eats
At the stall of the Palestinian delegation, Niveen Al-Qaisi admitted that her country's cuisine still had a low profile in the world.
"I'm really proud and happy to be here to introduce our food and culture to Vietnamese and international guests and to learn about food of the world," she said.
Many embassies have also presented their gastronomical traditions to local residents, who are keen for new experiences and are seeking more international tourists.
The Palestinian stall has been quite popular with its fried rice and fried chicken, and all of its food containers quickly emptied just minutes after they were filled.
"Both Palestinian and Vietnamese people eat lot of rice in their daily lives, and that has attracted people," she said.
She noted that the cuisine involved the use of many spices blended in reasonable quantities to make the food less spicy.
The Koreans and Thais have been successful, too, with customers clustering in front of their stalls.
"They have cute shapes and smell just like butter," noticed Dang Bach Thu Quynh, 13, who was touring the festival with her parents, when asked why she bought a Korean dish of tteokbokki, a kind of broiled seasoned rice cake.
"It tastes strange and pungent, but yummy," she added.
Nearby was the stall of the Republic of Korea, where guests could compare their dishes and those of their southern neighbour.
The Vietnamese food was a hit with many visitors as well. "Vietnamese food is fresh and healthy," observed Australian Rebecca Ley, who was on holiday with her husband and 20-month-old daughter.
"It's spicy, but we love spicy food," she added, noting that she had been eating local food every day.
She and her husband tried bun mam, a traditional southern dish made of salted fish which few Westerners eat, partly because they can't stand the smell.
"We liked it," she said. "We'll definitely explore the other sections of Vietnamese food here." — VNS