Culture & Cuisine
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
- 4,834
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
- 4,799
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
- 4,968
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
- 4,948
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
- 4,841
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
- 5,121
How to make cha gio that stays crisp, with an evenly cooked filling and no split wrappers
Culture & Cuisine - Cooking guides - A proper cha gio has an evenly golden wrapper that is crisp and dry, with a filling that holds together and is completely cooked without weeping liquid. A split wrapper is usually not the rice paper ..
- 05/10/2026
- 4,922
What is it about a Vietnamese rainy-season meal that people far from home never forget?
Culture & Cuisine - Regional specialties - The sound of rain makes a kitchen feel smaller, and the smell of a braise or a hot soup seems to stand out more. A rainy-season meal is remembered not for a lavish menu but for the feeling of being ..
- 04/10/2026
- 5,016
Banh cay from Thai Binh: from toasted sticky rice and malt syrup to a sweet beside the teacup
Culture & Cuisine - Regional specialties - Banh cay is a well-known gift sweet from Thai Binh, memorable for a slice woven together from toasted sticky rice, sesame, peanuts, candied fruit and a binding layer of malt syrup. The piece is smal ..
- 03/10/2026
- 5,129
How to make fresh spring rolls with prawn and pork: neat, firm and without tearing
Culture & Cuisine - Cooking guides - Fresh spring rolls work because of the balance between soft, chewy rice paper, prawns and pork cooked just right, well-drained noodles and crisp vegetables. Roll them too tightly and they tear, too ..
- 02/10/2026
- 5,124
Why do Mekong Delta kitchens so often combine sweet, sour and hot in one dish?
Culture & Cuisine - Regional specialties - Sweet, sour and hot in a Mekong Delta kitchen are not three separate straight lines. They are adjusted so as to lift the fish, the vegetables, the fruit and the broth, reflecting what the region pro ..
- 01/10/2026
- 4,697
Central Vietnamese breakfasts: small servings that still carry enough energy
Culture & Cuisine - Regional specialties - A central Vietnamese breakfast may be just a bowl of noodles, a bowl of banh canh or a plate of small cakes, yet the structure usually carries enough starch, protein, vegetables and broth to start a ..
- 28/09/2026
- 5,061
The northern Vietnamese Tet table: from the pot of banh chung to the first family meal of the year
Culture & Cuisine - Regional culture - The northern Vietnamese Tet table is not recognised by banh chung, boiled chicken or pickled onion alone. Behind the dishes lies a schedule of preparation stretching over days, memories of gathering ..
- 28/09/2026
- 5,146
How to cook mi Quang with chicken: deep flavour, noodles that hold and just enough broth
Culture & Cuisine - Cooking guides - Mi Quang is not a noodle dish swimming in broth. A proper bowl has chewy noodles, chicken infused with turmeric and shallot, and just enough strongly flavoured broth to come halfway up the noodles, ..
- 27/09/2026
- 5,136
Banh da cua of Hai Phong: red noodles and a bowl of crab broth with the port city's character
Culture & Cuisine - Regional specialties - Banh da cua from Hai Phong is recognisable at once by its reddish-brown noodles, its field-crab broth and the green of the vegetables and wild betel leaf. A bowl may be plain or have fritters, prawn ..
- 25/09/2026
- 4,925
How to make Hanoi bun cha: deeply fragrant, tender meat and a balanced dipping sauce
Culture & Cuisine - Cooking guides - Good bun cha needs two kinds of pork: belly slices with fragrant charred edges that are not dry, and soft, juicy patties, sitting in a bowl of warm dipping sauce with crisp green papaya. This recipe ..
- 24/09/2026
- 4,884
How do home meals differ across Vietnam's three regions in what is chosen and how it is seasoned?
Culture & Cuisine - Regional specialties - Saying that the north is delicate, the centre bold and the south sweet is only a very rough generalisation. Real meals change with the province, the season, the household and its means; the more int ..
- 24/09/2026
- 4,744
How to make southern banh xeo: thin, crisp for longer and not greasy
Culture & Cuisine - Cooking guides - A good southern banh xeo has a thin shell with a crisp, lacy edge and a middle firm enough to hold the prawns, pork and bean sprouts without being as thick as a pancake. The yellow comes from turmer ..
- 22/09/2026
- 4,885
Following a Saigon breakfast: from banh mi to cloth-filter coffee
Culture & Cuisine - Regional specialties - Breakfast in Saigon happens fast but is not careless: a banh mi finished in a few minutes, a cup of cloth-filter coffee dripping from years of practised rhythm, and a low stool that is enough for a ..
- 21/09/2026
- 5,064
