# Vietnamese food **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 29, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511 "2011-08-29T16:56:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/21 "2011-08-30T00:17:54Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > According to Wikipedia, [the Vietnamese version is based on the Chinese version](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_noodle_roll). > > (I’ve had the Chinese one many times, and it’s not my favourite dim sum item.) Ugh for me. I know that one. Way too doughy/glutinous for me, though the filling’s usually tasty. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/22 "2011-08-30T18:16:38Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Hey, I can’t use all those special characters, so bear with me. It’s bánh cuốn. I know a chef that specializes in bánh cuốn, and in fact made them for Bill Clinton when he was in Viet Nam. I think even Huerta would love them the way she made them … not doughy at all. I partnered with her in a restaurant … which failed. ☹ She opened a smaller version with other partners though, so if you know anyone headed to Viet Nam, please recommend it! [http://chinghia.com](http://chinghia.com) ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/23 "2011-08-30T18:42:31Z")
Pho tai gan (raw steak with tendon). Mmmmmmmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/24 "2011-08-30T20:06:53Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > It’s bánh cuốn. I know a chef that specializes in bánh cuốn, and in fact made them for Bill Clinton when he was in Viet Nam. I think even Huerta would love them the way she made them … not doughy at all. . . . Yeh, the Vietnamese version is fare more delicate and thin than the Chinese kind. Weirdly, I just had the Chinese version for lunch an hour ago. I find the glutinous, slippery texture appealing. The one I had was filled with sauteed pea sprouts and shredded dried scallop. Yum! ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/25 "2011-08-31T00:03:23Z")
no one likes their steamed rice dish con-tai-kan? it’s rice cooked with chicken, pork, mushrooms and vegies. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/26 "2011-08-31T00:12:51Z")
I mentioned cơm tay cầm in the OP. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/27 "2011-08-31T00:18:22Z")
oh, yeah. one line devoted to it. if you’re handy with rice you can try making your own version. it’s a lot like paella. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/28 "2011-08-31T00:23:36Z")
Never made paella. And I don’t have any clay pots. But I might look for a recipe, since it seems to be unavailable up here. (I want to try a new Vietnamese restaurant in town, if I can drag the roomie there. They might have it. Or not.) But where to get quail’s eggs? ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/29 "2011-08-31T00:30:58Z")
using a clay pot distributes heat from the stove evenly. the same effect can be had by using a thick metal guage “paellera.” better to use the cast iron type. quail eggs? tough. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/30 "2011-08-31T00:34:53Z")
Cast iron, I have! In plenitude! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/31 "2011-08-31T00:45:51Z")
remember, the main difference between paella and comtaycam is you use ginger and mint in the latter. also, it’s cooked covered. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/32 "2011-08-31T14:09:00Z")
Soup #5 bwahahahahahahaha… Come home, dude… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/33 "2011-08-31T14:45:16Z")
Bollocks to _that!_ ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/34 "2011-09-01T17:45:54Z")
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen quail eggs in the Korean and other Asian groceries around here. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/35 "2011-09-06T01:11:44Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Hey, I can’t use all those special characters, so bear with me. > > My latest favorite Vietnamese food is banh cuon, which are called “rice rolls” on the menu. They steam rice flour batter on a cloth stretched tautly over a boiling pot so that it forms a tender, glutinous sheet. Then they roll or fold it loosely around a filling, and the best filling is seasoned ground pork and shredded cloud ear mushrooms. The rolls have a pleasingly glutinous quality that’s hard to describe. A plateful of these garnished with slices of Vietnamese pate sausage and whole tempura’d shrimp and sweet potato shreds is the breakfast of champions. > > [Banh cuon](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kiCG6YlLF-0/Ta1Gv5z7ygI/AAAAAAAAABY/lzlWXNMMfTw/s1600/banhcuon.jpg) By sheer coincidence, my wife ordered some of these this weekend. They were much better than the gooey, bland Chinese dim sum version; they were more like Chiu Chow dumplings, IMO. They were fairly tasty, and they were topped with crispy fried onions (which was a nice touch). I’d still rather eat my favourite soup, though. ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/36 "2011-11-28T20:59:15Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > I did see that Esprix is still an active member here, which is cool. I’m going to have to look him up. Still here, although not currently in SoCal (hoping to change that soon). _waves at **JohnnyLA** _ Esprix ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/37 "2011-11-28T21:27:27Z")
Eh, I just keep it simple with shrimp fresh rolls and vermicelli with chicken and spring rolls. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/38 "2011-11-29T01:06:49Z")
> [@Esprix](#): > > Still here, although not currently in SoCal (hoping to change that soon). Hey man, I hope you do make it back. There’s a San Diego dopefest shaping up over [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=631530) for next July. I missed the last one (in 2003?) because I moved to Viet Nam, but I’m back now. (See how I worked that back into being almost on topic?) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/39 "2011-11-29T03:03:05Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Nope, Greg Charles from day 1. At the time I didn’t understand the concept of a handle, and in the ensuing dozen years, I’ve been too lazy to change it. I think it was my first Dopefest when I met **Cowboy Greg**. Turned out we’d worked together for a couple of years. > [@Esprix](#): > > _waves at **JohnnyLA** _ Hi **Esprix**! My coworker’s birthday was Thanksgiving. We’re taking her to lunch Wednesday. She wants to try a Vietnamese place I like. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511/40 "2011-11-29T04:13:28Z")
Pho with all the fixings is my favorite. The thin slices of tripe in pho are sliced perfectly, whereas menudo tripe is much too big and chewy for my taste. Do they make banh mi without swine? I still haven’t ever had one, but I don’t want to order something with pig in it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnamese-food/594511.md?page=3)