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Together with rice, soup is a basic item in
a Vietnamese meal. Sometimes the meal is only a soup - but a soup with the
addition of a number of substantial ingredients. Like the Burmese with
their national soup dish, moh hin gha, the Vietnamese will stop at
any time of day or night to partake of a bowl of pho (pronounced 'far'), a
delicate beef soup that Westerners will enjoy. The long simmering gives a
strong, nourishing stock and is served together with cooked noodles and
raw vegetables, and your choice of raw or slightly cooked slices of beef.
Thousands of Vietnamese enjoy it every day. There are sellers of pho on
streets and in small food shops, but particularly in the market place.
Rice is cooked by the absorption method,
without salt. It is meant to be firm and separate, the grains having just
enough cling so they can be picked up easily with chopsticks. Pot-roasted
rice, a simple variation, has a flavor all its own and is considered a
delicacy. It is easy to prepare and this method of cooking rice results in
a drier and fluffier consistency. Rice of a fluffy consistency is
considered desirable in Vietnamese cooking.
Chicken, fish, poultry and beef are all used
in Vietnam, but mutton is not used. Beef too is something of a luxury, for
cattle are working animals. Pork is the commonest meat. Chickens and ducks
are reared and considered good investments because they produce eggs and
provide meat. Fish and shellfish are common and cheap, for they are found
in great abundance, and even in the flooded rice paddies. They are used in
many ways, but the most important use for them is in the making of nuoc
mam or fish sauce, for which a tiny fish called 'rice fish' is used.
They are so small that they are likened to grains of rice.
Salads are popular in Vietnam. Simple
combinations such as cooked chicken and shredded cabbage are given an
exotic touch by the addition of chopped mint and fresh coriander leaves
and the inevitable nuoc mam sauce (nuoc cham), used as a
dressing.
Vietnamese food includes a lot of fresh,
uncooked vegetables and fruit, and food is cooked in water rather than oil
- two reasons why a Vietnamese meal does not bring on a feeling of
surfeit. Bowls and chopsticks are used to set the table and all the food
is served at one time.
Desserts are not served at the end of a
Vietnamese meal, but sweets and cakes are served as between meal snacks,
and offered to guests. Vietnamese people are adept at preserving fruits
and make a deliciously crisp preserve of winter melon, a recipe that takes
three days to prepare.
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