The Vietnamese cuisine has started to take the world by storm and has started doing so from an unlikely location, Prague. Yes, news reports say that Czechs have become big fans of Vietnamese cuisine and you cannot walk more than a block in most Prague neighborhoods, without coming across a Chinese bistro. All of these are actually being run by immigrant Vietnamese, who are, slowly but steadily, putting up their own dishes on the menu, apart from the staple sweet-and-sour chicken.

Now seems to be the right time to talk about the 10 very interesting things to know about Vietnamese cuisine, so that if you happen to come across such a restaurant, you know your way around:-

1) Fresh

Traditional Vietnamese cooking is all about fresh ingredients, be it meat, vegetables, or spices. Even the stock used to cook various dishes has to be fresh. As a result, preserves such as corn starch is not used much.

2) Wraps

In Vietnamese cuisine, cakes are wrapped inside banana or coconut leaves.

3) Meat

Vietnamese are mad about meat. Therefore, beef, pork, chicken, fish, and a variety of seafood are used in most of their dishes.

4) Sweet Dessert Soup

They also use beans or sago to make a sweet dessert soup, which is served with chopped fresh fruits. We bet, you never thought of this one!

5) Herbs

Herbs are the keyword in Vietnamese cuisine and they use a lot of it, right from Thai basil and long coriander to mint, Vietnamese mint, and lemongrass. In fact, mint leaf is also used to cleanse palate in between different courses.

6) Spring Rolls

Chinese spring rolls may be dripping with oil but Vietnamese spring rolls are very light on your palate, especially because they are made with rice flour.

7) Four Flavors

Vietnamese cuisine is all about four distinct flavors, which are fish sauce, lime or rice, vinegar, salt, and sugar.

8) Summer/Winter

Vietnamese use different ingredients to cook different dishes during different months of the year. For example, during winter, more of pork or beef is used and during summer, the food is kept lighter, with the use of vegetables.

9) Beverages

Besides Lotus Tea, rice wine, in red, black, and yellow colors accompanies almost every meal in Vietnam.

10) Lotus

Vietnamese cooks use lotus, every part of it, to cook something or the other in their cuisine.

So, that was the lowdown on Vietnamese cuisine and its 10 unknown facts. In case you feel inspired enough, here are some Vietnamese recipes for you to try your hand at.

Image Courtesy: prlog.org