From preparation to how the food is served on the table, Vietnamese cuisine is reflective of its people’s lifestyle. While sharing some key features, Vietnamese culinary tradition differs from every region. However, one general observation on the country’s cuisine is the resourcefulness – being able to create unique and wonderful meals from inexpensive ingredients, or oftentimes, from simple scraps.

Though much of the bold flavors can be attributed to the chef’s creativity and skills, the country’s culinary practice is a product of its history. After centuries of occupation, civil war and other conflicts the Vietnamese have had to overcome insurmountable odds to subsist. This resulted to the population to become extremely resourceful and thrifty by necessity. Such have largely influenced Vietnamese cooking where the ingredients used in cooking are often very inexpensive but nonetheless, the way they are cooked together to create a yin-yang balance make the food simple in look but rich in flavor.

In food preparation, entire usage of every product is observed, and nothing goes to waste. Every part of the pig, cow, chicken or fish is used, from the tasty meat to the insides like the heart, kidney, liver, intestines and blood. The same goes for vegetables like scallions where the leafy part is diced into small bits which are used to add flavor to the food while the crunchy stock and roots are re-planted.

Let us get acquainted to the different innovative Vietnamese dishes which prove that a diner does not have to spend a lot to delight his taste buds:

Com Tam - made from grains of rice that have broken during processing and transport (called by locals “broken rice) usually utilized as chicken feed. It is now sold throughout the south as a cheap meal for everyone, cooked with a fried pork chop and a sunny side up egg, then garnished with do chua, or pickled vegetables. It is one of the city's most popular late-night foods.

Gio Thu – is pork pie made of pig head meat and moc nhi (black mushroom), long lon (boiled pig intestines stuffed with pig blood, fried nuts and spring onion), canh chua dau ca (sour soup made from fish head and sour fruits), chao tim (pig heart porridge) andtiet canh (blood pudding). People use the meat from the pig’s head, which is less fatty, together with pig ears and nose (which is crunchy) to make gio thu.

Nom hoa chuoi - banana flower salad, considered a countryside dish made with unconventional ingredients and have now become popular in the cities.

Oc nau chuoi dau – is a snail soup with green banana and fried tofu. Thinly-sliced green banana is soaked and washed water to release its bitter taste then boiled. The snail is washed and boiled and separated from the shell. The boiled banana fruits and boiled snail will be cooked with water and a bit of salt for a short time and are garnished with fried tofu and thin sliced tia to (red parilla) leaves before serving.

Chao long - a hearty dish made of rice, innards and water. A bowl of Chao long would only cost around VND10,000 to VND 15,000.