Authentic Vietnamese food comes eager to please, warm, spirited, and packed with herbs and health. On your daily quest for sustenance, there’s a lot of reasons to consider a bowl of pho or some other favourite from the catalogue of Vietnamese cuisine.

Widely considered to be one of the world’s healthiest ethnic cuisines, you will find a variety of meals easily customizable to any diet ranging from carnivore and meat-eater to keto diet, vegetarian, low-carb, or vegan. Here are some fun facts about Vietnamese food you may be surprised to learn.

1 – Fish is a major ingredient in a lot of Vietnamese foods

Being coastal, a lot of what is created in Vietnamese cooking derives from fish. The most popularized use of fish in Vietnamese cooking is fish sauce. Fish is a major source of protein, applied in soups like pho, wraps, rice dishes, and other customary foods.

Read more: 11 Fun Facts About Vietnamese Food You May Be Surprised to Learn

In a lot of Asian cuisine, like Thai, spices are frequently used. To Canadian eaters, they may not necessarily be prepared for Asian spices and the way a lot of these dishes are prepared. Understandable, spices are a part of the culture in cuisines like Chinese, Thai, Japanese, and others. The result is beautifully delicious, spicy dishes that can mirror the spiciest of dishes from almost any other cuisine worldwide, despite the fact that Asian cooking isn’t singularly known for spiciness.

Read more: Is Vietnamese Food Spicy – see here!

Eating as a vegan, it’s not always easy going to different restaurants and seeing what’s on the menu. Especially in Asian cuisine and restaurant culture, a lot of the establishments use a lazy approach. The type of vegan faux meat or vegan dishes are generally light on the nutrition and all-around weak.

Vegan eating in Vietnamese cuisine is a little different. In fact, it’s a lot different. Vietnamese cooking puts an emphasis on fresh, healthy vegetables, herbs, spices, and balanced meals. Vietnamese meals do not focus on the meat or non-vegan foods. Instead, method of preparation’s a major focus and being a vegan – either at a restaurant or at home – is incredibly easy when you eat like this.

Is Vietnamese cuisine vegan?

Vietnamese cuisine, to a certain degree, is vegetarian although not vegan. This cooking uses a lot of fish and fish-related products. You can use a lot of other meat products but it’s not necessarily. A great example of this is vegan Vietnamese pho which can be customized according to what you like. Any meat – pork, beef, or otherwise – does not need to be included in pho. It can be made entirely vegan without any intervention. If you’re concerned about Vietnamese vegan eating, pho is a great dish to rely on among many others.

Read more: How to Eat Vegan with Vietnamese Cuisine, Cooking, and Authentic Dishes

As one of Toronto’s top Vietnamese restaurants, we love learning about our patrons and their preferences. The average Vietnamese-Canadian’s food habits are increasingly hybridized alongside typical Canadian foods. It’s interesting to see how so many cultures including ours continue to blend in this country, creating some truly unique dining experiences.

Across Canada, there are over 240,000 Vietnamese-Canadians mainly spread across British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec. Though this demographic isn’t as often discussed as others in Canadian newspapers or media, Vietnamese-Canadians have a strong history in cooking, cuisine, and culture.

3 waves of Vietnamese immigration

Before we delve into the lifestyles and diets of the average Vietnamese-Canadian family, it’s important to understand where they’re from and how they came to arrive here. Vietnamese families began arriving in large numbers in Canada stating in the mid-1970s. They came in boats as refugees following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Prior to this, only a few thousand Vietnamese were living in Canada and primarily in Quebec.

Read more: What Are the Food Habits and Preferences of the Average Vietnamese-Canadian – see here!

Coriander, a herb in Vietnamese cooking, is common to a number of dishes. Coriander’s taste is notoriously tart, almost like a lemon or lime. It’s not only a key to a large amount of Vietnamese dishes but it also has medicinal properties. In fact, the chemical composition of the herb demonstrates properties that range from antimicrobial to antioxidant, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, anxiolytic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-convulsant, and even anti-cancer.

A rising interest in herbal medicine

Traditional medicines, using herbs and natural ingredients as opposed to those created in a laboratory, continue to gain attention. There exists a number of medicinal plants grown in countries like Vietnam, one of which is coriander. This herb is not only cultivated in Vietnam but across North Africa, Central Europe, and the Mediterranean area as well.

How coriander is made

How do we make coriander in Vietnamese cuisine – it all starts with the seeds which are ground up. Once ground, they are used in condiments or as a spice, as an ingredient in curry powder, and/or to flavor foods like fish, meat, bakery items, and confectionery products. Subsequently, while making coriander, the leaves of the same plant can be made into cilantro or ‘Chinese parsley’. The entirety of the plant from which coriander comes from is edible, and all are very important in Vietnamese cooking as well as in the cuisines of Thai and Chinese.

Read more: Did You Know Coriander in Vietnamese Cooking has Medicinal Properties – see the science

Nuoc cham is a type of Vietnamese dipping sauce, commonly made from a mix of fish and complementary ingredients. It is used in many, many cultural dishes native to the region. It works well as a freshly made sauce to dip veggies and other foods into, or can be served from the refrigerator premade for meals throughout the week. How to create a basic Vietnamese fish sauce starts with knowing what it is or rather, what it’s supposed to be.

What is nuoc cham?

Nuoc cham isn’t just a fish sauce. It can refer to any number of dipping sauces, usually made similar to how we use condiments in North America. Sometimes, they are sweet or sour, while other recipes will make them savoury, salty, or spicy. It’s all in what you want it to be and how it suits the type of foods you’re serving.

Nuoc mam pha is your fish sauce!

When we discuss nuoc cham as a fish sauce, what we’re talking about is nuoc mam pha. This is the most well-known fish sauce in Vietnamese cuisine. The simplest recipe uses a combination of lime juice and is one part fish sauce, one part sugar, and two parts water. In vegetarian eating, you can substitute Maggi seasoning sauce for fish sauce and it comes off surprisingly similar. Adding to this further, one can put in minced uncooked garlic, chopped or minced bird’s eye chilis, and/or shredded pickled carrot and green papaya.

Read more: How to Create a Basic Vietnamese Fish Sauce with this Nuoc Cham Recipe