In Vietnamese dishes, herbs are usually not simmered or
cooked with other aromatics as they are in Western and even
other Asian cuisines. Instead, dishes are cooked then topped
off with fresh cilantro leaves, mint leaves or minced
lemongrass.
Vegetables play a crucial role. No meal is complete without
a platter of cucumbers, peppers, bean sprouts, bok choy and
other greens. In general, Vietnamese cuisine is
vegetable-heavy, which is why it's a great choice for
healthy lifestyles. In 90 percent of Western dishes, the
aromatic base is a chopped onion and maybe some minced
garlic. In Vietnamese dishes, the base is most often a
combination of lime juice, garlic, banging-hot chiles and
grated palm sugar, a coarse sugar that's like our brown
sugar. Vietnamese food is thus a combo of sweet and spicy.
Fresh herbs, lots of vegetables and seafood, and cooking
techniques of using water or broth instead of oils, these
create some standout qualities of Vietnamese food.
One of the healthiest and most delicious Vietnamese dishes
is Pho (pronounced "fuh"), an aromatic & broth-based
noodle soup full of antioxidant-packed spices. Pho is a
Vietnamese noodle soup consisting of broth, rice noodles,
herbs, and meats. It is one of the popular street food in
Vietnam and the specialty of many restaurants around the
world. Pho is served in a bowl with a specific cut of
white rice noodles in clear beef broth, with slim cuts of
beef (steak, fatty flank, lean flank, brisket...).
