From Rice to Richness: A Pho-midable Cuisine Rises to New Global Heights
Lemongrass Pork Chop, a reimagination of Saigon's iconic Cơm Tấm dish courtesy of Anan Saigon
Rice - the Ancient Heart of Vietnamese Food
Overcoming a history fraught with invasion, Vietnam has emerged with an identity that is strong, unique, and enduring – much like its cuisine. Vietnam’s destiny is one fuelled by rice, its civilisation was born along the banks of the Red River Delta, one of the world’s earliest cradles of wet rice cultivation. In the present day, Vietnam is the fourth largest exporter of rice in the world.
Rice is the basic building block of Vietnamese cuisine. Meals have long been built around the steaming heaps of white rice as well as rice products to achieve a balance of the am and duong (yin and yang). The rice represents the ‘cooling’ am properties, while the accompanying small plates of dishes bring the duong. Unlike many other cuisines, there is also a focus on balance of textures. The engagement on the touch sensation revolves around crunchy, crackly, chewy, soft, and silky. Rice in its many forms and the concept of balance in a meal has made its way through the centuries into the modern reimagined Vietnamese cuisine that is blooming today.
Melting Pot: Colonial Past and Food
Vietnamese cuisine comes from battling and dancing with historic foreign oppression. The effects of the sporadic Chinese occupation followed by the French induction of Vietnam into Indochina can be seen on Vietnamese menus everywhere - pho and banh mi. Noodles, a cornerstone of Vietnamese cuisine, was likely first invented in China, where the oldest evidence of noodles has been traced to 4,000 years ago. Whereas, banh mi is clearly a mini baguette, adopted from the French.
How the colonials influenced food is not that simple, it is linked to cultural tension and resilience. The long formal Chinese occupation (111 BCE to 938 AD) brought technologies of wet rice cultivation and the concept of chopsticks. The Vietnamese dynasties themselves used these tools of control and conquest as Vietnam colonised land further south, trying to replace local eating practices. During the French colonial era, the French mostly stayed away from local food as they wanted to avoid being seen as ‘going native’. Ironically, they were in turn disdained by the locals for not being ‘civilised’ (i.e. the French did not know how to use chopsticks). Yet many Vietnamese were also pragmatic about having their children adopt French eating habits to aid in their advancement in the colonial administration. This saw the introduction of dairy to the Vietnamese diet, the usage of knives and forks, and the notion of chewing silently. The Vietnamese have understood food as a source of culture, necessity, and social-signalling.
Street Food and Doi Moi
The fortunes of street food have always been subjected to the political philosophy and economic policy of the day. Along with Communism, petty trade was first made illegal and led to a decrease in street food vendors. Due to urban overpopulation, many different families had to live in a single home, women cooking family meals on the streets became a familiar sight.
Then came Doi Moi, economic liberalisation, in the mid-1980s. State-owned enterprises laid off millions of people resulting in an influx of rural migrants to cities. With more movement and mouths to feed, street vendors again proliferated, especially due to enterprising women who were already cooking on the streets. However, till today, street vendors still have to contend with existing within a legal grey area.
Overseas Vietnamese: Pho and Banh Mi
As Vietnam rebuilt after the Second Indochina Conflict/Vietnam War (1955 to 1975), some Vietnamese also left as ‘boat people’ or refugees hopeful for better prospects abroad. Out of self-preservation, cultural pride and nostalgia, and structural discrimination, many migrants turned to opening restaurants.
This is where the popular global imagination of Vietnamese cuisine defined as pho and banh mi started to take root. The wide appeal of banh mi is attributed to it being a sandwich – a concept easy for non-Vietnamese to grasp and digest. Pho also became a mainstay; while every family has their own pho recipe, it is a dish that easily incorporates ingredients available in the adopted countries and can be tweaked to local tastes.
A Welcome Back
Starting in the early 2000s, the official Vietnamese government discourse towards Overseas Vietnamese (or Viet Kieu i.e. people of Vietnamese descent that are of another nationality, usually born overseas.) became one of welcome, centred around the them ‘homeland’. This saw as many as 500,000 Viet Kieus returning annually to contribute to the rapid growth of Vietnam’s economy. Together with the Doi Moi generation, Viet Kieus, are evolving what it means to be young, hungry, and Vietnamese.
The Growing F&B Scene
Nascent, explorative, defiant – this is Vietnam’s F&B moment.
Bringing the industry into the 21st century is the sense of belonging, multifaceted identities, and globalised taste of the Viet Kieus and the Doi Moi kids. This is complemented by a burgeoning middle class and a strong worldwide interest in Vietnam. Economic liberalisation also meant that foreign F&B chains have entered Vietnam, such as Starbucks in 2013 and McDonald’s in 2014.
Moreover, niche spaces are being carved out by experts who have cut their teeth across the world. Quince Saigon helmed by Julien Perraduin needs no introduction for their modern mediterranean dining experience. Robin Monquet is making waves for his top-class French pastries. Pizza 4P’s founders Yosuke and Sanae Masuko have created a much-loved Japanese-Italian restaurant, now with over 25 locations. Not to forget, there is also a growing population of foreign-owned smaller F&B home-style enterprises, particularly from nearby countries like Korea, Japan, and Singapore. This combination is changing the Vietnamese reception to new dishes and concepts.
Much-deserved tribute is being paid to street food in modernised kitchens across the country. Of course, genuine street food still very much has its place in the cities and in the hearts of residents and tourists alike. The custodians of this bedrock of food culture have to remain steadfast and wily in the face of government regulation, new competition, and changing tastes. Those that have managed to adapt still see customers continue to pack their pavements. Everywhere, there is space for innovation.
The time is now to redefine what Vietnamese food means on a global level. Viet Kieu pioneers, local talents, and foreign chefs are changing the gastronomy scene.
“The time is now to redefine what Vietnamese food means on a global level. Viet Kieu pioneers, local talents, and foreign chefs are changing the gastronomy scene.”
Vietnamese Taking the Reins
Look no further than Viet Kieu F&B legends, Peter Cuong Franklin and Luke Nguyen, American-Vietnamese and Australian-Vietnamese chefs respectively, who have led the charge. Peter’s restaurant ănăn marries the old with the new and invents delectable delights like his banh xeo (rice flour) taco. Anăn has reached global acclaim and is the winner of The Best Restaurant in Vietnam Award as part of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2021.
Recognised for his talents, Luke has made multiple appearances as a guest chef on MasterChef Australia. His most recent TV series, ‘Railway Vietnam’, where he brings the audience on a sweeping 2,000km culinary journey across Vietnam by train, won the Best Lifestyle Programme at the 25th Asian Television Awards, 2020. Joining the ranks are younger folks like chef Bao La (Vietnamese-Australian), known for his creative vegetarian supper clubs, and Anh-Hao Qiu (Vietnamese-Chinese-German), co-founder of DeSpirit, an elevated modernised rice wine created via European distillation techniques.
Shaking things up are also local Vietnamese who grew up during the economic liberalisation era. A shining example, Hue-born chef Francis Thuan is bringing to the table flavours from all over the country. One of the signature dishes at his Saigon restaurant ESTA is a Hmong-style pork jowl. Similarly, at Gia Hanoi, executive chef Sam Tran not only draws from regional Vietnamese food traditions to create an ever changing tasting menu, but her restaurant focuses on telling the stories behind their inspirations. Her fine dining concept uses modern cooking techniques starring seasonal local ingredients - a past menu featured a typical Hanoian dish, cha ca or snakehead, grilled as per tradition then fried at the table to perfection. Le Quoc Vinh is another homegrown success, who has revamped his family’s seafood restaurant, Ngoc Suong Seafood and Bar, an established household brand in Ho Chi Minh City. Quoc Vinh brought the six-decades old name into the frontlines of cool by creating a sub-brand. In this sister restaurant, he reimagined the ambience of the dining space and injected western culinary touches into the traditional Vietnamese seafood flavours.
Fish offal with fish mint chimi churri sauce, a reinterpretation of the classic Hanoian dish Chả Cá at Gia Hanoi
Going Global by Coming Home
This generation of young Vietnamese innovators is opening global tastebuds to a whole wide range of beverages and dishes rooted in Vietnamese traditions and infused with modern sensibilities.
Walk into ănăn, ESTA, Gia, etc., you will see that the basic building blocks of Vietnamese cuisines are still very much respected. Rice and rice products remain a key focus, the table is often filled with a variety of small dishes, and from which a balance of textures is achieved. Yet these are continuously redefined and reimagined - imported ingredients are infused, techniques from other culinary schools of thought are included, modern machines and methods are incorporated. ‘Old’ Vietnamese cuisine had to adapt to Chinese and French oppression, Overseas Vietnamese restaurateurs had to abide by their adopted countries’ palate, but today’s ‘new’ Vietnamese F&B accesses influences from across the world – by choice.
This frontier of new delight knows no bounds, it looks and tastes different from chef to chef, from cellar to cellar. The cradle of rice has grown to fill the table with richness. Refusing to be defined by pho and banh mi alone, exciting, ingenious Vietnamese gastronomy is just at its beginning and we shall have to journey with it to see where it will go.
Sources:
http://viethocjournal.com/2018/11/rice-through-history-of-the-country/
https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/making-sense-of-vietnamese-cuisine/
http://www.foodbycountry.com/Spain-to-Zimbabwe-Cumulative-Index/Vietnam.html
https://luxtraveldmc.com/blog/vietnamese-cuisine.html
https://www.citypassguide.com/travel/vietnam/blog/blog/all-you-need-to-know-about-vietnamese-noodles
https://ehg.com.vn/news-and-events/travel-news/the-ultimate-meals-on-wheels
http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:857684/FULLTEXT01.pdf
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