Culture & Cuisine
Bamboo-tube rice, grilled chicken and the fires of the Central Highlands: from the tube to the shared tray
Culture & Cuisine - Regional culture - Bamboo-tube rice and grilled chicken are the famous pair from the Central Highlands, but they should not be made to stand for the whole diversity of the region. Placed properly within Jrai, Bahnar a ..
- 31/10/2026
- 5,001
How to make banh cuon with pork filling: a thin, soft sheet that does not stick
Culture & Cuisine - Cooking guides - A good banh cuon has a thin sheet that is soft but chewy enough to roll, a dry pork and wood ear filling and a gentle dipping sauce. This recipe serves five or six and covers mixing the batter, rest ..
- 30/10/2026
- 5,020
Cao Bang cured sausage: mountain sun, spices and a kitchen in the cold season
Culture & Cuisine - Regional specialties - Cao Bang cured sausage appeals through its deeply savoury meat, its measured amount of translucent fat and the smell of smoke or sun that belongs to the mountain climate. Behind each sausage lies a ..
- 28/10/2026
- 4,866
How to cook mung bean and aloe sweet soup: refreshing, with crisp aloe and no bitterness
Culture & Cuisine - Cooking guides - A good mung bean and aloe sweet soup has beans that are cooked to a nutty softness but still hold their shape, a clean sweetness, and pieces of aloe that are translucent and crisp, with no slime or ..
- 27/10/2026
- 5,081
How to cook xoi gac: a beautiful red, chewy separate grains and never claggy
Culture & Cuisine - Cooking guides - A good xoi gac has a natural orange-red colour, chewy but separate grains, a light sheen and no wet layer at the bottom. This recipe for 8-10 portions explains everything from choosing the gac, soak ..
- 23/10/2026
- 4,839
Mi Quang and the kitchens of Quang Nam: a bowl with little broth and a great deal of memory
Culture & Cuisine - Regional culture - Mi Quang is easy to recognise by its wide noodles, its rich topping, the raw herbs, the peanuts and the rice cracker, but its most important characteristic is that only just enough broth is used. Th ..
- 22/10/2026
- 4,762
Bo Dau banh chung: the green square cake at the crossroads into Thai Nguyen
Culture & Cuisine - Regional specialties - Bo Dau banh chung belongs to the Phu Luong area of Thai Nguyen, where these green squares are made all year round and become a gift for anyone passing through the gateway to the tea country. Glutino ..
- 21/10/2026
- 4,888
How to cook ca loc nuong trui: evenly done, juicy flesh and no taste of ash
Culture & Cuisine - Cooking guides - Ca loc nuong trui is appealing because the charred skin protects the white, juicy flesh inside, with a light smoky smell and the habit of eating it wrapped in leaves. Doing it at home means paying a ..
- 20/10/2026
- 5,143
How to make Hoi An chicken rice: fluffy grains, juicy chicken and a crisp onion salad
Culture & Cuisine - Cooking guides - A good Hoi An chicken rice has lightly golden rice with separate grains that smell of the poaching liquid, juicy chicken torn into decent pieces, and a gently tart dressing of onion and Vietnamese c ..
- 16/10/2026
- 4,839
Me xung from Hue: chewy malt, toasted sesame and the slow rhythm of tea
Culture & Cuisine - Regional specialties - Me xung evokes Hue through the chew of its malt syrup, the nuttiness of the peanuts and the coating of fragrant toasted sesame. The piece is small, but to get the pull just right — not running, not ..
- 15/10/2026
- 5,089
The food of Hue: where the royal kitchen, everyday dishes and small street stalls meet
Culture & Cuisine - Regional culture - The food of Hue is usually introduced with the word “royal”, but the flavours of the old capital also grew out of markets, riverside villages, the lagoon and small street vendors. Its refinement lie ..
- 14/10/2026
- 4,827
Hue vegetarian food: why is something so plain still so layered in flavour?
Culture & Cuisine - Regional specialties - Hue vegetarian food is not simply a meat dish with the meat taken out. Vegetables, mushrooms, beans, seeds and the way things are seasoned are arranged so the meal has its own colour, texture and rh ..
- 13/10/2026
- 4,797
How to cook hu tieu Nam Vang: a clear broth, sweet from the bones, with noodles that hold
Culture & Cuisine - Cooking guides - A good hu tieu Nam Vang has a clear broth, sweet from the bones and the daikon, chewy noodles, and every topping cooked to its own point. This recipe for six bowls keeps the broth, the pork, the pra ..
- 13/10/2026
- 4,893
How to cook bun rieu cua: fragrant, with the crab curd in soft clouds and a clear broth
Culture & Cuisine - Cooking guides - A good bun rieu cua has a light broth with a gentle sourness from tomato, crab curd that sets into soft, airy clouds rather than crumbs, fried tofu that keeps its skin, and noodles that do not cloud ..
- 11/10/2026
- 4,942
Fish sauce on the table across the three regions: from how it is mixed to what it is eaten with
Culture & Cuisine - Regional specialties - Fish sauce is both a seasoning in the kitchen and a dipping bowl on the table, but the proportions, the additions and the dishes it goes with change by region, by season and by household. The dippin ..
- 10/10/2026
- 4,934
Cao Bang banh cuon: a thin rice sheet eaten with a bowl of hot broth on the frontier
Culture & Cuisine - Regional specialties - Cao Bang banh cuon surprises anyone used to dipping it in fish sauce: here it is eaten with a bowl of hot bone broth, which may hold pork roll, minced pork and herbs. The thin, soft sheet meeting th ..
- 09/10/2026
- 5,087
How to cook Vietnamese chicken curry: gently rich, tender meat and potatoes that hold together
Culture & Cuisine - Cooking guides - Vietnamese chicken curry has a golden sauce of moderate body, a gently rich coconut taste and the aroma of lemongrass and spice without being heavy. The chicken should be tender with its skin intact ..
- 08/10/2026
- 5,055
The coastal kitchen of central Vietnam: grilled fish, fermented sauce and getting through the storm season
Culture & Cuisine - Regional culture - The central coast has produced a kitchen that is at once fresh and well prepared. Fish that has just landed can be grilled or cooked straight away; the rest of the catch is dried, salted and ferment ..
- 07/10/2026
- 4,968
Bánh cuốn across the three regions: the same thin sheet, a different way of eating it
Culture & Cuisine - Regional specialties - Rice batter, steam and a skilled pair of hands make the thin sheet, but the filling, the accompaniments and the dipping sauce give banh cuon a different voice in every locality. The sheet is the par ..
- 06/10/2026
- 5,205
