Dining Out: Vietnamese Cuisine
Characteristics:

Dishes are a mixture of Far East and French flavors, with subtle flavors with fresh—but not overpowering—spiciness. These are not usually very heavy meals.
Common Ingredients:

Rice, seafood, lemongrass, pork, chicken, beef and lots of herbs and spices are accompanied by dipping sauces, bean sprouts, mint and garlic.
Hidden Dangers:
  • Clay-pot dishes are often high in fat and sodium, and the meat is often fried.
  • Both Ga Chien (crispy chicken and plum sauce) and Cuu Xao Lan (curried lamb and veggies in coconut milk) pack 900 calories and 40 grams of fat.
  • Prawn fritters
  • Deep-fried spring rolls
  • Creamy coconut curries
Healthy Finds:
  • Pho (beef or chicken soup with rice noodles) is flavorful and filling.
  • Add sauces and seasonings to Bun (grilled pork, shrimp or beef over rice noodles, topped with nuts).
  • Grilled Lemongrass Chicken includess rice papers, vegetables and herbs with a flavorful choice of dipping sauces.
  • Meat that is sautéed in broth instead of oil
  • Thit Heo Goi Baup Cai (spicy pork cabbage rolls): 200 calories and 7g fat
  • Canh Chay (veggie and tofu soup): 80 calories and 3g fat

The Big Tip:

In Vietnamese cuisine, chopsticks are called “doi dua”. Saying the English word is considered crude.
Substitution Ideas:

 Try This Skip That
Fresh rice paper Spring rolls Deep-fried Spring rolls
Fruit in light syrup Coconut flan
Spicy & sour shrimp soup Fried shrimp toast
Ca Hap
(steamed fish)		 Vit Quay
(roast duck)
Bo Xa Lui Nuong
(grilled beef with lemongrass)		 Ca-ri ga
(curry chicken)

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Member Comments

GEORGE815
Thanks Report
LESSOFMOORE
I have never had Vietnamese food. Report
LOSER05
thanks Report
FISHGUT3
thanks Report
1CRAZYDOG
Pho is so high in sodium! Report
DJ4HEALTH
yum Report
BABY_GIRL69
I wanna be able to get try these tasty meals. Report
YMWONG22
Good article. Report
MUSICNUT
Thanks for the great information! :) Report
JESSBLUE22
I love Vietnamese food! Good to know that one cuisine on the list is actually healthier than I supposed (ie usu cooked in broth versus oil comment in the article). Foodlovermary- it sounds like the fruit you are describing might be a 'pomelo', which is sometimes called a Chinese grapefruit and sometimes goes by any number of other names. Does the peel burn your lips like fire? They are available in (at least the eastern) United States. Report
FOODLOVERMARY
I lived for 18 months in Vietnam and lost weight without thinking about it. Phu is great and it is soup. I have been home in US for 3 months and my weight is going up. Many finds in Vietnam are very healthy. Spring Rolls taste great but are fried and often greasy. The fresh spring roll is much healthier. All the food is full of fresh vegtables and their is lots of great fruit available all year long. My favorite is a grapefruit like fruit that is bigger and dryer and somewhat sweeter than here. But with Gert I must be careful what I eat. So come to Vietnam and loose weight!!! Report

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