Did you know that…
1. About 97% of Vietnam’s coffee comes from Robusta and Vietnam is the 2nd on the world’s most important coffee producing countries with shocking 1,650,000 metric tons (3,637,627,000 pounds). Only Brazil produces more.
2. Beer is hugely popular in Vietnam. In summer, it is served with a glass of ice. At the time of writing this article in Hanoi (first week of June), it is 36 degrees outside if you wonder why. If you will visit, you will see many yellow/red places called Bia Hoi. Bia Hoi is a small bar or a beer corner. When in the North, drink “Bia Hoi” (draft beer) or “Bia Hà Nội” (Hanoi beer). In the Center, try Huda (Hue+Danang wordplay) beer, and in the South, Saigon beer.
3. Snake or rice wine is very popular too. If you see a group of men ordering a hot pot to share, you shall soon hear: Một – Hai – Ba – dzô which translates as 1 – 2 – 3 – drink! You can even drink the snake blood, bile and eat the heart!
4. And not to forget previously mentioned hot pot (lau)! This highly sociable meal comes in many versions (crab, seafood, fish, frog, beef, goat…) but the core is to meet your friends or family, share stories and food and laugh at how bad is someone from the group with chopsticks. The journey starts when your waiter brings a pan with nothing but stock inside and puts it on the stove. You will keep the stock simmering throughout the meal and keep adding ingredients, starting with eating vegetables, meat and finishing with stock with noodles. Awesome DIY bonding dish, isn’t it?
5. “The Vietnamese plant rice, the Cambodians watch the Vietnamese planting rice, the Lao listen to the rice grow”. This saying means Vietnamese people rush more than Cambodian or Lao. They need to, rice is a staple of Vietnamese cuisine and some of the must-eat Vietnamese dishes. And guess what, Vietnam ranks again as the third biggest exporter in the world!
6. Not for the faint-hearted – Yes, you can find unusual dishes or meat in Vietnam. In some places, cats and dogs are still on the menu. Chicken feet, animal intestines, brain, blood mixed into dishes, worms, crickets, snails, frogs or snakes are fairly popular. And you have probably already heard about Balut, a fetal duck egg consumed in the Philippines. “Hot vit lon” is the Vietnamese version. Try if you dare.
7. Salt, black pepper and chilli and calamansi (key lime) accompanies many dishes, from a hot pot, chicken to pho so do not be surprised when it automatically lends on your table with your order. Squeeze the lime, mix it and enjoy your meal. You can also be offered a chilli salt mix with fruits. Dip a piece in, it is refreshing.
8. Tea is a part of the culture for over 3000 years. Green, lotus, and jasmine are the most popular. It is part of conversations, celebrations come for free when you order a coffee. Drinking rituals differ in every ethnicity and family.
9. You can say that Vietnamese people eat animals from nose to tail. Blood, organs, toes, tongue, you can find it all. Chef Andrew Zimmern, famous for a culinary show Bizarre Foods, loves it here. To quote him: “I remind people that children are not genetically predisposed to only like chicken fingers. In fact quite the opposite — when babies are born they actually want to try everything.” We recommend his Hanoi and Saigon episodes. Maybe you will squint like a baby, maybe you will get curious like one and stuff your mouth with it.
10. You can find Vietnamese cuisine abroad too since after Saigon fell in 1975 and hard-working Vietnamese started to look overseas for a place that has greener grass, Vietnamese restaurants started to pop up all over the globe. According to the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs report from December 2018, there are more than 4.5 million first-generation Vietnamese overseas. Largest communities overseas live in the U.S., France, and Australia.
Bonus:
11. Visit Vietnam and find out 11th interesting fact on your own 🙂
