The following is a list of some of the most typical snack foods that have become a part of winter in Hanoi.
1. Grilled corn

Cold winds of a winter nights come along with the scent of grilled corn, which brings out about a bit of warmth inside many Hanoians. Grilled corn stalls can be found almost anywhere on the sidewalk of Hanoi during the night.
2. Fried bread sticks

Fried bread sticks, another common food has also become popular for this time of year. Often it is served with a papaya dipping-sauce in winter, it is a favourite among students. There are several fried bread stick stalls in Hanoi, but some of the most well-known are those on Hang Bong, Duong Thanh and Hang Dau streets.
3. Boiled snails

Hanoi may not be able to compete with HCMC or Nha Trang in terms of the variety of snail dishes. However, bowls of boiled snails are best experienced on a cold winter night. The snails are eaten with a mixture of fish sauce, lime, chili, sugar and lemongrass.

Lately, Hang Bac Street is well-known for its bowls of boiled snails, even though their prices are a bit higher than other places.
4. Grilled Vietnamese sausages

The flavour of grilled sausages is a bit sweet, a bit sour and slightly spicy, especially with chili sauce. It is one of those dishes favoured by young people. It is often served with unripe mango and a small dish of pepper and salt.

In Vietnam, “Banh Phu The” (conjugal cake) is a special cake, which symbolises the loyalty of a husband and wife…
The conjugal cake is normally served at Vietnamese weddings and used as a wedding invitation or taken by the man’s family to the woman’s family on engagement day.

The stickiness of the cake is said to signify the stickiness of the marriage ties. Traditionally, a guy would offer these to the girl he wants to marry. Now these cakes are still an essential part of a wedding banquet, or the gift packages that the groom’s family send over to the bride’s.

“Banh Phu The”  is a Vietnamese sweet with a jelly-like texture made of tapioca flour, pandan, mung bean paste, sugar, sesame seeds and coconut milk. It is very unique with a leaf covering that looks like a tiny square box, made from coconut leaves. The reason it is called Banh “Phu The” is because of how it is wrapped: a box on the top fits perfectly with the box on the bottom.

“Banh phu the” is more interesting in texture and flavor. In the real one, the cake has it green color and flavor by being steamed inside its box…

Source: Hanoitimes

Western culture considers that eating a dog is not good, but there will be no problem with other sorts of animals, as long as they are not called pets. However, for the vast majority of people on Earth, cultural values are very different. Some strange foods are considered a delicacy in some Asian cultures including China, Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar. Indeed, these food are very tasty and protein rich. May be you should try them some day if you are not vegetarian.

Dog meat is consumed in Vietnam to varying degrees of acceptability, though it predominantly exists in the North. It’s a winter food which believed to keep you extraordinarily warm on cold nights.  Dog meat is eaten in a variety of ways, from grilled, stuffed in spring rolls, stir fried, to added to soups. There are multiple dishes featuring dog meat, and they often include the head, feet as well as internal organs. Dog meat restaurants can be found throughout the country. If you are in Hanoi and you are eager to try this dish, please come to a restaurant on Nhat Tan Street – Tay Ho District. Typically, a chef will choose one of seven ways to cook dog, collectively known as “cầy tơ 7 món”. You can choose steamed dog meat, dog sausage, steamed dog in shrimp paste, ginger and rice vinegar, grilled dog meat, bamboo shoots and dog bone marrow or fried dog in lemon grass and chili. Here, you can see groups of customers who seated on mats spending their evenings on sharing plates of dog meat and drinking alcohol.

Dog meat is supposed to raise the libido and sometimes considered unsuitable for women. In other words, eating dog meat can serve as a male bonding exercise. Nevertheless, it is not uncommon for women to eat dog meat. The consumption of dog meat can be part of a ritual life which usually occurring in the end of the lunar month for reasons of astrology and luck. Restaurants which mainly exist to serve dog meat may only open for the last half of the lunar month.
Snakes are a common novelty and relished food. You can drink the wine as well as eat the flesh on several occasions. When I visit one of my Vietnamese friends, he caught a cobra outside his front door and shared it with me on evening. Actually, there is very little meat on a cobra, so the skin is eaten as well. In the village of Le Mat, which famous for its snake restaurants, I tried snake meat in a number of ways, including in soup (both the taste and texture was like crab meat) and spring rolls (tastes like chicken). Furthermore, snake blood is supposed to be healthy with many benefits as well as a natural form of Viagra. So what is its taste like? I was surprised that tasting a fried meat actually a bit like custard. There is no fat and extremely lean and tender. After trying snake, you will surely be back for more.

Lizards and frogs (best grilled) are standard fare in Phan Thiet. Some of my friend said that he had never tried frog until he came to Vietnam, but now he like it a lot. If you ever order a frog dish in Vietnam, pay attention to the bones! During rainy season, Vietnamese people catch toads and boil them up. They merely cut out the stomach organ and eat the rest-skin, guts and all.
I watched my friends eating trung vit lon for many months before trying it myself. These fertilized duck eggs are allowed to partially develop and then, they are hard-boiled. Crack the top off, suck out the juice and then spoon out the colorful morsels with pinches of pickled carrots, garlic, radish, turnip, some mint leaves, and a dash of salt and pepper.

Experience had taught me that in Vietnam, food nearly always tastes better than it looks. When traveling, you always want to experience the culinary delights that you never see at home. Eating different and unusual food is a big part of what makes your holiday memorable…

This simple dish sold in country markets has become a favorite breakfast of many Hanoians. People can find this dish in small stands o­n any street in Hanoi. The stands are always crowed with diners. Hanoians can enjoy this dish at any time, at breakfast, lunch or post-lunch.

Although pyramidal rice dumpling is simple, it is very good and healthy, especially its appealing fragrance. This white and smooth dumpling is wrapped in green banana leaf, which is regarded as the quintessence of heaven and earth.

The pyramidal rice dumpling is made from a few ingredients including plain rice flour, minced lean meat, cat’s ear, onion and mushroom. The process of stirring and kneading flour is the most important, which decides the deliciousness of the dumpling. Processing the dumpling flour is a secret handed from generation to generation. Some famous makers of pyramidal rice dumpling said that they bought flour in Ha Dong District but still kept secret what kind of flour was. Therefore, it is not easy to make delicious rice dumplings.

After soaking in water, flour is dried, which is similar to the kind of “banh te” (rice cake). This flour is continously dissolved in water when being cooked. After 45 minutes, the flour turns pure white and viscid, which means it is well-cooked. Then the flour is placed o­n phrynium leaf and wrapped with meat. These rice dumplings are then put into the boiling water for 20 minutes. After that, pyramidal rice dumplings are picked up. People can feel the fragrance of the filling, rice flour and the special smell of phrynium or banana leaf. It is so great to serve this dish with sour vegetable pickles, which makes good taste; therefore, some people can eat two or three dumplings at a time.

Sitting in crowded stands, feeling hungry and enjoying this dish, you will find it a pleasure in life…

“Ô mai” is produced for traditional method, since chosing material, the company also send staff to gardens in Hung Yen, Hai Hung, Hoa Binh, Lai Chau in order to gather all crop of kinds of sour fresh fruit like plum, apricot, dracontomelum, star, tamarind, kumquat, pineaple, canari, lemon. That is the secret of Hang Duong experts, they plus sugar, ginger, add chilli, stir liquorice to have smooth yellow food with sweet-smelling.

This product is for instant all year and you can enjoy with a pot of tea and a few friends to chat. This is also valuable present from Ha Noi people giving to their friends.

How to make dried apricot?

If you would like to make dried apricot, you can use the following recipe and you can make the perfect nosh. First, you soak the apricots in water to cover overnight. Then, place them to cook in the same water. Cook until tender. Mash them or chop in blender. After that, peel, core, and cut the pineapple into small pieces. Cover with water and cook until tender. Measure the fruits and juices. Last, place equal amounts of sugar with the measured fruits into a heavy kettle and cook slowly until thick and clear.

In Vietnamese New Year party, beside traditional dishes, no family can forget to make a tray of “Mut Tet”, a cup of tea, betel and areca ready to entertain their visitors.

“Mut Tet” refers to fruits or vegetables that have been prepared and canned for long term storage. The preparation of preserved fruit traditionally involves the use of pectin as a gelling agent, although sugar or honey may be used as well. There are various types of fruit preserves made in Vietnam, and they can be made from sweet or savory ingredients.

“Mut” is made from all sorts of fruit, including mandarin oranges, apples, banana, coconuts, persimmons and breadfruit. Vegetables like patatoes, carrots and squash are also turned into “Mut”, as certain types of blossoms.

The most famous variety of “Mut” is made from rose petals or peach blossoms. The raw materials are cleaned and peeled, then soaked in sugar and cooked until dry. Other types of “Mut” have the sticky consistency of jam. Some varieties, like “cu lac” (peanut jam) are covered with a thick layer of sugar, but most have thin layer of sugar.

The colors are often quite intense and people serve different types of “Mứt” together, arranged in a colorful display.

In Hanoi, Hang Dieu or Hang Duong Streets in Old Quarter are famous for shops that sell “Mut”. Preserved fruits are masterpieces in these shops. They make all kinds of preserved fruit such as ginger, waxy pumpkin, apple, orange, lemon and carrot in various shapes and colours.

To welcome Tet is to welcome the spring. However, in January, which is spring time, the weather in Vietnam is still cold. It is a good idea to warm up with a cup of hot tea and a slice of preserved ginger with golden yellow colour and a special flavour…

On the Tet traditional tray of food according to Vietnamese culture, with traditional dishes such as Chung cake, chicken meat, spring rolls and so on, “giò” is one of the dainty morsels. Today, when “giò” almost become daily food and there are more various and attractive dishes on the tray, delicious dish of “giò” cannot be missed…
There are many types of “giò” such as: giò lụa (pork-pie), giò bò (beep dumpling), giò bì (pork and skin paste), giò mỡ (lean and fat pork paste), giò xào (fried pie), etc. Each type has a particular taste but the most important thing to make “giò” dish really attractive is that the fragrance of banana leaves and fish sauce combined in the piece of “giò”.

Giò xào (fried pie)

In all kinds of “giò”, fried pie is the easiest one to prepare, so families often make it themselves when Tet is coming. The main materials are parts of pork such as: ear, nose tongue, pork cheeks and “mộc nhĩ” (cat’s ear). The materials must be subjected to premilitary treatment, boiled through hot water, sliced, mixed with spices, pepper and fried.

After wrapping the fried pie, keep it in the refrigerator so that all the materials link together. The pie that is delicious must be wrapped carefully, raw materials must not be too dry and the dish will stir fragrance of the spices.
Giò bò (beep dumpling)
Also processed as fried pie, beep dumpling is often added for more fat so that it is not too dry. When cutting a piece of beep dumpling, it is slightly pink as the color of the beef. Especially, pungency and fragrance of pepper feature the typical characteristic of beep dumpling.

Giò lụa (pork-pie)

Pork is chosen to make pork-pie must be lean, delicious and fresh meat. It is continuously ground until the meat is fine. These days, the meat is ground by machine, which makes the process more quickly and helps to save the maker’s strength.
However, the pork-pie is make in the traditional way remains the delicious flavor that is different from the one ground by Pork-pie machine, since the makers must use more strength so they take proper care of their product. Fish sauce for making pork-pie must also be tasty and fragrant. When being cut, the pie must has the color of ivory-white and the surface has some small holes, surely that the pie is so delicious!

Giò bì (pork and skin paste)

Pork and skin paste is a local specialty of Pho Xuoi (Hung Yen Province). It is also made from uncooked pork-pie and pork skin that are sliced, then wrapped into small ones like fingers. Pork and skin paste is delicious, it means that pieces of pork skin must be white, clean, boiled, cut into small ones and mixed with uncooked pork-pie. The piece of pork and skin paste is so crispy and crunchy.

In Vietnam, once try to taste these kinds of “giò”, it is certaintly that you cannot forget the tasty flavor and fragrance of the dainty morsels…

When we say that Vietnam is warming with reds these days, we aren’t making a political statement, of course. We’re talking about wine. With the easing of government restrictions, both commercial and cultural, the past ten years have seen a welcome increase in wine importing and awareness. You can now find a good quality Bordeaux in most upscale and many mid-range restaurants or chic wine bars and shops in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Nevertheless, while international wines are making headway, the most interesting vintner we find on the market are local contenders.

Rice alcohol. Alcohol has been called spirit because it symbolizes for men willingness in the old time. Besides tea, plain rice alcohol is also offered respectfully on the ancestor altar in rituals or ceremonies to show deep gratitude such as wedding parties, ground – breaking, Tet holiday… Vietnamese also drink alcohol to celebrate joy to reduce sadness or wish for blessings.

However, the way Vietnamese drink alcohol is worth mentioning. Unlike Western countries where bigger cups or glasses are frequently used, buffalo – eyed cup is more preferred to serve in Vietnam.

How can rice become wine?

Yes, Vietnamese alcohol is made from rice so it is called rice alcohol. Firstly, rice is steamed, and then fermented for a couple of days before being distilled. With several traditional methods and materials, you will have many kinds of rice alcohol; however, their flavors are totally different from each other. In some cases, herbs or snakes are pickled in alcohol jar to use as medicine.
Can wine. The name can wine comes from the reason that Vietnamese call a stem – a small bamboo straw- to consume wine from the jar. This kind of wine is the most special one in Vietnam even it belongs to minority groups in highland and some other places in Vietnam.

Can wine is special for the way it is made and served.
Firstly, simple available local materials such as cassava, tapioca, sweet potato are altogether fermented by wild herb in a pottery jar for days. Of course, its taste is total different from rice alcohol or any kind of wine – can wine is so bitter or strong that may lead you dizziness. Its sweet taste would make you drunk – a sweet and slow drunk – without any predictable consciousness.

The way can wine is served clearly shows the community unity and hospitality of highlanders. Now, let’s see how Vietnamese drink ruou can to serve dear guests, special celebrations or ceremonies. At these moments, the spirit container would be fixedly placed in the middle of the yard, house or even communal long house (called nha rong – in central highland). Then, both host and guest take seats around while fresh water from a buffalo horn will be slowly leaked out through a small holed. Now, it should be time for the village master to try through one of stems dipped into the jar. In some cases, he can offer it to honorable guests. After that, turns will come to the rest whenever they want. Every body will try to offer stems to each other to show their willingness and respect. The container would never be dry, it always requires fully filled with water by ladies. Besides, there would be gong performance, which is usually accompanied by dancing during the time.

Snake Wine. It is an alcoholic beverage that can be found at Snake Village near Hanoi, any major city of Vietnam as well as other countries across South East Asia. The snakes are immersed in 100% rice wine in special glass bottles and then, they are sealed and stored in a cellar for five years. The wines which contain substances necessary for the human body are high quality tonics. Regularly drinking appropriate quantities of the wines can moisturize your skin, improve your appetite, as well as strengthen your bones, tendons and muscles. They are used to treat general fatigue, hair loss, migraine headaches, rheumatism and neurasthenia. Surprisingly, the tonic wines do not cause dryness syndrome, such as constipation, thirst, dryness of the throat and nose. People of all ages and both sexes, including pregnant women can drink them in four seasons.

Vang Da Lat. As with most other Asian countries, wine is not the first commodity that comes to mind when thinking about Vietnam. However, Dalat, with its cool central highland climate and strong French heritage, is an anomaly that producing artichokes, asparagus, strawberries and most recently- wine.

Unlike its more sophisticated brethren in France, Northern California and South Africa, Vang Dalat uses table grapes from nearby Phan Rang – a Vietnam’s main grape-growing region. Nguyen Van Viet who has been with his wine company since 1999 explains that Vietnam has a limited history with wine. The French introduced an elite wine culture pre-1954, and during the past decade, due to the improvement in living standards, more people fond of traveling overseas and being exposed to foreign wines.

With this in mind, Nguyen considered how Vang Dalat could produce a European-style wine similar to traditional Vietnamese wines that any family could afford. Today, his company produces 1.5 million liters of wine a year, including a Superior Red (all grape, 11% alcohol), Strong Red (grape/mulberry blend, 16% alcohol) and even a sparkling white…

In the meantime, Vang Dalat is just one more good reason to visit Vietnam. If you make it to Dalat, we recommend dinner at Maison Long Hoa, a genteel establishment run by a Vietnamese Francophile. Classical rather than tinny pop plays over the stereo, hearty Vietnamese food offers comfort against the chill outside, and—along with the strawberry wine made by the owner’s wife—Vang Dalat vintages top the wine list.

There are so much things attraction in Hanoi, you could access to this page for more information, Hanoi Attraction.

The owner skillfully lifts the cap of the tea cozy, takes out the tea pot, and then pours the hot tea into a small cup. The owner then hands the cup of steaming tea to the customer. Unlike northerners, who prefer hot steamy tea, people in the south would like to add ice cubes to their tea cups/glasses due to weather difference.

Tea drinking – an indispensable habit.

Vietnamese people have a nice habit of drinking tea. They drink it everywhere and at any time: at home, at workplaces, even in tea shops on their way to work, or at formal meetings, weddings or funerals. They also place it on altars as an offering to their ancestors on worshipping occasions. Whenever the locals feel thirsty, they are likely to look for this drink, in both summer and winter. A cup of iced tea in a hot day in summer not only refreshes your mind but also detoxicate your body. On the contrary, in winter, a sip of hot tea makes you feel warm inside and better able to cope with the outside cold temperatures.

Yet, tea drinking is not a recent trend in Viet Nam but attached to an ancient history as follows;

Tea drinking – from history to daily life…

Viet Nam is one of the largest and oldest tea-producing countries in the world. The Vietnamese have been growing tea for over 2,000 years. As early as in the 11th century, tea was used as a symbol to convey the essence of Buddhism. During the period of the Tran Dynasty from the 13th to early 15th century, tea assumed a philosophical value for the Vietnamese. In the 15th century, the Vietnamese polymath Nguyen Trai (1380-1442) lived as a hermit, renouncing the outside world for a life of “tea, poetry and the moon”.

While tea has a special philosophical value for scholars and a long tradition in Vietnamese history, it has its own place today in the life of ordinary people living both in the cities and in the countryside. In the past, peasants could not afford expensive tea, so they grew tea on their own. Nowadays, tea is used to bind people together, for example, the peasant often invites his neighbor around for a chat over a cup of tea. They drink tea initially to thank the host for his hospitality, then throughout several tea sips, they open heart more, to share their feelings, to speak about the family, the company and finally to feel the nature savor of the cup of tea.

Besides a normal thirst-quenching beverage, tea is also considered a delicate and meaningful one. In the past, it used to be the leverage for poets’ inspiration. Up to now, the habit of leisure tea-drinking has helped refresh and polish the drinkers’ minds. Moreover, a person’s character can be assessed by his or her tea drinking ways. Vietnamese people consider those who drink concentrated tea to be finely-mannered; and those who can pour tea into bowls arranged in a circle using a coconut scoop without spilling a drop will certainly enjoy the admiration of their tea-drinking peers.

Kinds of tea

Viet Nam has grown many and various types of tea such as che Tuyet, che Moc cau, che man, che chi … Each one is combined with a particular kind of flower: che man with chrysanthemum; che bup with hoa soi flowers; high quality che man and che bup with lotus, narcissus or jasmine. Some connoisseurs go so far as to row out to the middle of a pond to place small amounts of tea inside lotus buds in order to perfume it. An example is cum tea, grown by the Tay ethnic minority. Cum tea plants are allowed to grow until the buds are mature, then they are picked, and roasted in a pan until they are dry and the buds begin to curl up. The tea is then wrapped up in palm leaves to keep it fragrant.

The Vietnamese like to mix tea with flowers to make it more aromatic. Tea with lotus is very precious for Vietnamese people. This kind of tea was formerly reserved to the Kings. According to the predecessors, when the lotus blossoms in the afternoon, they put a sachet of tea in the pistil and then, they tighten it with the sheets of lotus. In the next morning, they take dew remained on the sheets and in mixture with the sachet of tea in the pistil. After having poured into the cup, the soft and fresh odor of lotus dominates the whole room.

The tea culture has sticked to the life and the heart of Vietnamese people for generations. And when they drink tea at a small mouthful, the tea savor makes them more off-hand and closer to one another. This has formed the culture of the vicinity and the affection between neighbors.

In Hanoi, you can find the simplest corner bar on Earth with tiny plastic stools on the sidewalk, small tables on the ground, laden with glasses of beer. Come to Vietnam to try Vietnamese beer and see how men drink beer with favorite refrain such as “tram phan tram” (100 percent), “drain your glass of every drop”…
Bia hoi (draught beer) is one of things you should not be missed when you come to Hanoi. There are plenty of local as well as imported beer brands in Hanoi such as 333, Carlsberg, Hanoi, Tiger, Saigon, LaRue, San Miguel and Heineken. However, bia hoi is the most popular beverage throughout the country and the cheapest beer in the world (2,000 VND for a glass only). It accounts for more than 30% of total beer consumption in the country. Of course, it is an unpasteurized beer with low alcohol content (approx. 3%) that is sold in mugs in simple street restaurants. Bia hoi is an integral part of the North Vietnamese beer culture. Typically, most male beer consumers drink it at least 4-5 times a week during peak season.

As a developing nation, Vietnam’s per capita beer consumption remains relatively low at roughly 12 liters a year, especially compared with such giants of the suds-swilling world as Germany, which consumes more than 120 liters per person per year. Nevertheless, Vietnamese tend to drink beer in large quantities. Yes, that is true! It is not uncommon to see a group of four or five men with 24 empty bottles on their table at lunchtime. Humorously speaking, as well as their drinking capacity increase, their business prospects seem to be bright.

That the reason why Vietnam’s bottled-beer market has been enjoying double-digit growth for several years. Upscale brew pubs are also starting to crop up with more than a dozen opening in Hanoi in the last year. “This is a very interesting industry – a rapidly growing industry” said Van Dinh who opened a brew pub in a Hanoi discotheque last year.

When opening Red Beer brand (or Bia Do) in Hanoi a year ago, Truong Viet Binh expected to sell about 200 liters a day. Now, he’s selling 300 to 400 daily and planning to open a new Bia Do in Ho Chi Minh City where at least four brew pubs already have been opened

Despite all the changes in Vietnam’s beer industry, the most popular drinking establishment remains the traditional bia hoi. These ubiquitous establishments are always on the sidewalk where customers sometimes will raise their voices over the din of motorbike traffic or the clouds of diesel belch over the plastic tables from a passing bus. The customers have no need for the sleek furniture and fancy entertainment that they might find in a brew pub.

Nobody minds if the tables are dirty and the sidewalk is littered with paper napkins. This is simply the place where everyone comes to unwind – from truck drivers returning from a stressful shift to college professors who use bia hoi as a sort of street-side salon. “We come here twice a day” said Le Vinh, 67 years old, sitting at a bia hoi in the shadow of the central Hanoi train station. As a retired doctor, Vinh’s drinking pals include a retired soccer star, a film maker, an engineer and finally, a newspaper photographer. They gather for an hour or two at lunch and, of course, reconvene at the end of the day. “We share our ups and downs” said Nguyen Trinh Thai, a painter.

At Bia hoi Viet Ha – a humble stall just down the Lang Ha Street, five friends are gathering after a hard day at a Hanoi print shop. They have come to this place four times a week for six years now. They suck down eight glasses right after sitting, but claim they are sober. “If we come home drunk, our wives will be furious” as one of them explained.  “If we have less than eight glasses, we are fine,” said Pham Tien Anh, 55 year olds, while picking at a plate of fried tofu with his chopsticks. “Chuc suc khoe!” they cheered and ordered another toast “Here’s to your health!”

Vietnam has a unique beer culture, said Nguyen Hong Linh director of planning for Hanoi Beer, which has recently doubled its production capacity. “When people go to a bia hoi, it will promise a special atmosphere,” Linh said. “Everybody is very happy. That’s all!

Now, wondering on a certain street in Ha Noi, you can accidentally hear the sentence “Bottoms up!” and question yourself “what is the only thing that will make these men forget their wives and their homes?” The answer is “beer only”!

Sugar-cane juice is a type of drink commonly found in Vietnam as a refreshing drink during the hot Vietnamese climate.
In the hot weather like Vietnam, people know sugar-cane juice as a natural beverage that is delicious and cheap. Therefore, sugar-cane juice is so popular in Vietnam and is available at most small street stalls, often sold alongside other popular beverages. The juice is served from distinctive metal carts with a crank-powered sugar cane stalk crushers that release the juice.

There used to be a vendor that would make freshly squeezed sugar-cane juice. Previously, sugar-cane juice was sold in small plastic bags filled with ice and tied at the open end with an elastic band around a straw. Buyers could then suck the drink out through the straw. There has been movement to selling sugar cane-juice in white foam cups and it’s got a slight lime taste to it as commonly seen in Vietnam today.

Moreover, at the present, there is a system of 20 high quality sugar-cane juice stores named Fruit Shake has  been occurred in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. After March 2007, There appears a lot of super-clear sugar-cane juice stores  with price from 7000VND-8000VND (about 0.5 USD). Sugar-cane juice in Fruit Shake with many flavors becomes a high-class beverage in Vietnam.

Now, you can feel free to enjoy a glass of sugar-cane juice (considered the second best drink in the world after the orange juice) and you do not have to worry whether it meet the standard of food safety or not.

Whoever coming to Vietnam and most Southeast Asian countries (such as Thailand, Laos, Cambodia) is much fond of a special condiment – Fish sauce (or nuoc mam in Vietnamese). It is a staple ingredient of numerous food like curry and sauces, and is derived from fish that is allowed to ferment.

The origin of fish sauce in Vietnam dates back to ancient times as a primary source of protein. Early fishing boats were unable to venture into the deep ocean to catch larger fish for more fish meat. Instead, they mostly stayed close to the shore and net small fish. Later on, it was found that they could produce a richer protein sauce by layering these small fish in barrels with salt. Since then, there appeared such a delicious sauce!

Ingredients and production process: Only the fresh small fish makes good-quality fish sauce, which is found in clear color and good smell. In Vietnam, fish sauce is very popular and can be any of various mixtures based on the liquid of salted, fermented fish. First, small fish and salt are put in wooden boxes to ferment. Then, it is slowly pressed so as to yield the salty, fishy liquid.

This extremely pungent, strong-flavored and salty liquid can range in color. For the pure fish sauce, fresh anchovy fish sauce is selected and mixed with salt by applying the unique Vietnamese traditional process. Fermentation is started once a year, during the fishing season. After about 3 months in the barrel, the liquid drips from an open spigot, to be poured back into the top of the barrel. Six months under the sunlight will make the fish sauce of much better smell.

The unique characteristic of fish sauce is salty flavor and fishy smell. An interesting characteristic of fish sauce is that it loses its fishy odor once mixed with other ingredients. It is commonly used for cooking and dipping seafood and many other Vietnamese foods as well. In Vietnam, it is generally called nước mắm (well known by these brand names: nước mắm Phu Quoc or Phu Quoc fish sauce, and nước mắm Phan Thiet or Phan Thiet fish sauce).

The best rice noodles have only two ingredients: rice or rice flour, and water. Rice vermicelli are thin, translucent noodles that are similar to cellophane noodles, with which they are often confused (rice vermicelli are made from rice; cellophane noodles are made from bean starch). There are different varieties of vermicelli depending on their shape: bun roi (stirred vermicelli), bun mam (twisted vermicelli), bun la (vermicelli paper), and bun dem tram (shreded vermicelli).
Rice vermicelli noodles are delicious and easy to prepare. Let’s see how rice vermicelli dishes are prepared step by step!

Before cooking, simply soak rice vermicelli in warm (not hot) water for just two minutes. Then, in order to have a delicious bowl of rice, you should add different kinds of ingredients and vegetables. You can choose one of various ingredients that can be served with vermicelli such as: grilled pork meat, fried rice cakes, snails, fried eggs, lean meat pie, chicken, and crab soup, etc.
Do not be so surprised if you see that each region and locality, even each restaurant, has its own vermicelli dishes with their own recipes. There are a variety of ways to enjoy rice vermicelli, each dish having its own unique taste, for example: “Bun Cha” (vermicelli and grilled chopped meat), “Bun Rieu” (vermicelli and sour crab soup), “Bun Bo” (vermicelli and beef ), “Bun Oc” (vermicelli and snails) and so on.

Let’s try the very delicious taste of Bun Cha and Bun Oc! Bun Cha (Vermicelli and grilled chopped meat) includes rice vermicelli, grilled pork and spicy, raw vegetables and well mixed fish sauce. For a dish of Bun Cha, you take a dish of rice vermicelli, a dish full of vegetables and a bowl of fish sauce combined with vinegar, sugar, hot chilly, garlic and pepper. The sauce will then contain all the essential tastes, sour, hot, salty and sweet. Grilles of well cooked pork would be opened and the contents dropped into the bowl of fish sauce.There are two kinds of Cha (grilled pork) used, depending upon the cut of the meat. If the pork is cut into small pieces, it is called Cha Mieng (piece of grilled pork). If it is minced prior to being shaped into small cubes, it is named Cha Bam (minced grilled pork). Bun Oc (Rice vermicelli with fresh water snail) has fresh water snails as main ingredient. These snails will have been kept in clean fresh water for about ten hours before being boiled for the dish, to allow sufficient time for the snails to release any organic matter they may have in their shells. The boiled snails after being taken out of their shells would be cleaned. The soup for the dish is made from the water in which snails have been boiled in. To the soup is added tomatoes and several kinds of flavour and vinegar.

Rice vermicelli are a part of different Vietnamese cuisines.Walking along some streets and stopping at one rice vermicelli vendor in Hanoi or Sai Gon, you will have chances for tasting various dishes of rice vermicelli with unforgettable flavor!

The cake is a rice ball made of glutinous rice mixed with cudweed (khuc)-most important ingredient and filled with green bean paste, pork, and spices.

Cudweed grows during lunar January and February, when the drizzling rain lasts all day, and it can be found along the edges of rice fields. There are two kinds: “nep” and “te”. The latter is more flexible and fragrant and is preferred for making the cake.

First, the cudweed is washed, ground and then mixed with husked glutinous rice. Green beans, that are flayed and turned into paste after being cooked, are then added to the mixture. Finally, the cakes are sprinkled with grains of glutinous steamed rice.
As time goes by it is increasingly difficult to find cudweed as fields are eaten up by development. For now, you still can find “banh khuc” in Hanoi. However, some bakers may not be using cudweed and may substitute it with cabbage or water morning glory.
Wishing to have the chance to satisfy your hunger for “banh khuc”, you can visit cake stall at 69 Nguyen Cong Tru Street, that has been churning out “banh khuc” for years. Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan, the seller, has to hire locals in rural areas in Hanoi or in neighbouring provinces to seek out the elusive cudweed. In winter, it grows in abundance so enough has to be collected to last the summer. The surplus will be dried and stored.

If you are in the Old quarter of Hanoi, you might hear someone cry “Ai banh khuc nong day?” (who wants hot “banh khuc”?). You can stop them and ask if the “banh khuc” is from Ngoai Hoang village in Ha Noi, a place that is famous for having the most delicious and tasty “banh khuc”. Then, you can buy one for tasting. The cake should be served hot and dipped into a mixture of roasted and crushed sesame seeds and salt…

Any Vietnamese person is pleasantly surprised to find the word nem in the French dictionary Grand Larousse, which gives it the following definition: “pâté imperial de petite taille” (small-sized imperial patty), with this additional information: “specialité vietnamiene” (a Vietnamese specialty)
This indication is, however, contradicted by another item in the same book: the word “paté imperial” goes together with the mention “cuisine chinoise” (Chinese cuisine).
At any rate, nem is Vietnamese and is fast becoming internationally known and appreciated. Throughout the world, one now finds about two million Vietnamese immigrants – “boat people” and others. From San Francisco to Paris, from Tokyo to Sydney, one can enjoy nem in any Vietnamese restaurant or food stall.

I have been told that in France a French-Lao couple has a thriving business turning out nem on a production line. Fast-food nem is also sold.

When I was child, my parents used the term “nem Sài Gòn” (Saigonese nem) to distinguish it from nem chua (sour nem), and item less known to foreigners. Nem chua is made in the following way: raw pork is finely minced, kneaded with roast-rice flour, and tightly wrapped in green leaves, then left to undergo fermentation. It may be served in “spring rolls” (cuốn) made of a piece of rice wafer softened with lukewarm water and stuffed with chopped nem, soya sprouts, lettuce, mint and coriander.

The commonly enjoyed nem (pâté imperial, nem Sài Gòn, or chả giò, its southern name) is prepared in the following way. One begins by making the stuffing by mixing chopped pork, crab meat, soya sprouts, mushrooms, vermicelli, shallots and egg yolk.
This is wrapped in rice wafers softened with lukewarm water. The rolls thus obtained are fried in deep fat or vegetable oil. Nem is served hot, together with rice vermicelli, lettuce, mint and a sweet-sour sauce made of nước nắm (fish brine) flavored with vinegar, a but of sugar and red pepper. It can also be accompanied by thin slices of green papaw, onion and garlic steeped in vinegar. The rolls may be cut into adequate mouthfuls with a pair of scissors.