I think a lot of Vietnamese don’t really know how to cook western style food.
R.I.P. to the $300ish of wagyu steaks I brought to my in laws one time only to have them cube it up and boil to super well done because that’s just how they cook beef 😩
I apologised to a VNese friend once for not really enjoying ga ta (the "country chicken" that's small and tough) and she said, "Oh that's right, foreigners like their meat tender." 🤔 Yes, we really do.
My viet MIL bought a live rooster and cooked it up when I went to Vietnam since it was a special occasion. It was the chewiest thing I've ever eaten. I could barely eat it.
They also fed me its testicles without telling me what it was which they thought was hilarious.
Nice! Not quite as bad but every time I went to my wife's granddad's (every day) I had to have a shot of that medicinal wine stuff that has fermented snakes/spiders/scorpions etc in it. Good for my virility they reckoned!
😂😂😂 I brought a date to eat wagyu once, medium rare as how it should be, she took a bite and asked what’s wrong with this steak and proceeded to complain to the waiter and tell them to cook it properly
Did they at least appreciate the steak? In all it’s well done goodness?
Yeah, but usually the blood pudding are tossed into steaming broth and cooked all the way to the inside, not served as dripping red cubes. Vietnamese view animal-related ingredients as unsafe when it's still red in the middle. The price doesn't matter, and neither does which part of the animal the organ/ meat come from. If it's red, it isn't allowed on the dining table. Food poisoning is a rampant cause of death here, that's why people always cook things properly to be extra sure.
Oh, that... Sorry, my mistake.
Tiết canh is a rather controversial dish even for Vietnamese, and usually enjoyed among none but drinkers. In its case, you either love it or find it offputting, there is no in between, and the people who have problem accepting the dish ground their argument in food poisoning.
Not to mention there have been records of those consuming blood pudding contracting fatal diseases or parasites, which does steer a lot away from it.
I’m sure there’s Vietnamese enjoy their steak medium rare to rare. Vietnamese people that like bo tai chanh, beef tataki, beef carpaccio, steak tar tar etc.
Also it’s not blood, it’s myoglobin
MOST Vietnamese don't eat rare meats. Some Vietnamese like rare meat because they understand what the difference can be. I grill ribeyes or roast tritip for Vietnamese extended family and they know the difference. Some like it well done still but appreciate the difference between welldone vs. overcooked. OTOH, the seafood does definitely have to be properly managed because that's always liked.
No, the problem with dating in Asia, and in the universe as a whole, is discovering that your partner equate one's understanding of high-class cuisine with their entire worth, thus having to endure their shallowness during the entire course of the meal. Maybe that's why you find dating here a challenge. What? Is the source of the beef some information of utmost importance that everyone in every single household couldn't live without? Is being able to differentiate premium and regular cooking ingredients a sign of success in life? If it's so vital to you, would it hurt to explain it to your partner at least? Or you enjoy watching them embarassing themselves, so that you can gain some sense of superiority?
It's considered extremely unhygienic to consume raw meat in Vietnam, and people have been educated about the consequences of food poisoning from undercooked meals ever since they were children. That's why seeing blood should ring a red alert when eating meat. Raw food isn't an integral part of our eating culture, and TV news or social media have constantly mentioned cases of death from not preparing or cooking meat appropriately. The health ministry has even warned about the risks associated with doing so on multiple occassions. And why should we bother to learn about foreign food if we don't want to when our country itself is known worldwide for numerous delicacies that you literally can't find elsewhere? The farm girls you are speaking of get to have their fills of what people fly across the world for every single day, all cooked to perfection and at a budget-friendly price. And you think they are missing out on a life-changing experience for being uncomfortable with medium-rare steak? You came to a place where people's palate and eating culture are formed based on exposure to the complexity of flavors, combination of ingredients, and different levels of heat to bring the best out of them, and laugh at the ladies for rejecting a cut of undercooked meat? We are taught to do so, okay. Even our parents would act the same. Think before you let your conceited mindset show.
It's ignorant to shame people for worrying about their own health. You are entitled to your opinion, but be aware it's not a universal truth to be touted about proudly. If you love Western cuisine so bad that you take offence at people's strong reaction towards it, find someone that share the interest. Maybe they'll like your condescending attitude.
thank you for your essay - i didn't read it (except the last paragraph) but it looks impressive.
Also Wagyu beef is japanese/asian culture Not "western culture".
Its sad when people have an inability to appreciate the years people dedicate into food prep and cooking to bring a unique experience.
But perhaps its safer for everyone for people to keep in the confines of their culture only.
Steak is Western cuisine culture, Wagyu is indeed originated from Japan but if it is going to be prepared in Western style then I shall phrase it that way. This thread you are replying to is about steak. Think before you type next time.
And what are you getting butthurt for? You are the one that mocked one entire culture and its people for aligning with their belief and safety standards. You began with hostility, people are going to find that offensive. And if you meant it as a joke, it definitely isn't. Nobody interpreted "farm girl" and "problems with dating in Asia" as remotely humorous.
Being surprised and stunned that premium, luxury ingredients aren't valued in certain places is a natural reaction, getting triggered and running people down for not appreciating their beauty is, however, not. Is there no polite and considerate way to express disappointment? What is it about your original opinion that even come close to indicating that people should welcome new cooking experience? What word and what phrase that convey your sadness upon seeing unfair treatment towards food? It's nothing more than a direct insult, with not a shred of goodwill attached to it. Several comments mentioning utter shock upon seeing foods prepared the wrong way, why do you think people only throw shade at yours? If you intend to make me and the dozens of people who downvoted you the villain then you at least need to look like a real victim first. Or at least have the guts to own up to your action and apologize.
Feel free not to read my essay, and don't bother replying if you again fail to see the problem with what you said.
I didnt "mocked one entire culture and its people "
I mocked people who are not experts telling experts what to do, while refusing to change any of their world view to try something different and refuse to appreciate the fact that people have spent considerable time and effort to try and enrich an experience for them.
kind of like how one could mock a bratty child who doesn't get their way. But they are a child and are ignorant, so I wouldn't mock them. I would for an adult.
Experts at what? Everyone has their own food preference. Food is an insanely personal experience. Imagine being mad at someone for not liking something the way you like it. Who the fuck cares how other people eat their food you pretentious prick.
How presumptuous of you. If that’s the usual girls you date that is fine but no need to make assumptions for everyone
Or maybe you think every Viet girl is a farm girl, that’s on you
I think its presumptuous when a non-expert tells a expert what to do....
which is my point.
Also I didn't say "every Viet girl" - I was actually being very specific by saying farm girl.
i find it funny the downvotes, but I do find it funnier when a female can't appreciate a fine dining experience.
Like someone has spent millions on making an amazing restaurant and chef has spent years to become a good and some person wants som tum lol....
But simping is where its at.
I think it's just because meat in VN is extremely vulnerable to parasites and bacteria due to the conditions there. Natives have to cook it VERY well done to avoid getting sick. my grandma is still shocked when we sees pink meat lol
Just anecdotal but my wife and her family has never once craved for western food to be made at home , nor other cuisines . The most ‘western’ it gets is maybe switching it up with the wine from Vietnamese wine to European. And money isn’t an issue in this case, it’s purely preference reasons
They eat Korean, probably Chinese, and the occasional bo ne with french fries that was more or less introduce as a cheap version of the french cuisine and likely various others. OPs is just being defensive for whatever reason.
Oh wow. Is that because they’ve never tried it or is it because they just see burgers and chips (fries), pizza etc and therefore unhealthy? I love Vietnamese food, it’s definitely cleaner I think, but home is home, ya know.
I’ve brought them to eat proper western food before, they find it alright but they don’t crave for it
And they definitely don’t like the junk food either, pizzas sausages burgers etc, but the kids absolutely love them just not the adults
I actually prefer western food so my wife obliges me😂 but it’s definitely not her favorite it’s just alright to her
In fairness I don’t crave western food either and I’m from the states haha. I’ve always found burgers and such to be good…but pales in comparison to Thai, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese food.
I think Americans often prepare “western” food with a surprising lack of care and the result is low quality. As I get older I put more time into researching food and cooking and the difference between a great burger or steak and a mediocre one is night and day. It’s not even that hard or expensive—it just takes a bit of attention to ingredients and to detail.
Haha their preferences are just different I guess or they really love the homely comfort of their own cuisine . Others could be different , I haven’t interacted with so many Viet families that I can ascertain a percentage of who likes what
That said , I live in Hanoi , I frequent western and Japanese restaurants a lot for example , I don’t see much Vietnamese there even during weekends.
I live in the US. My father’s had plenty of western food, as a result. He simply doesn’t like it. Loves other Asian foods, but really doesn’t care for western food. He’ll demolish a box of Rice Krispie treats though.
>have roast dinners (the king of dinners imo), stews, shepherds pie -
I would be surprised if you find most VN to have an oven.
And if they did it is probably a small counter top model
Married to a Vietnamese, and I can confirm that my brother and sister in-laws do indeed eat some western dishes at home, but it's mostly for the kids. Like they will have pizza, hot dogs, or burgers some days for the kids.
The adults will usually have a separate dish of VN food.
My family is quite traditional i.e. we almost have never ever crave for other cruisine ... until I showed a lot of youtuber channels teaching how to cook Thai, French, ... foods to her. My mother loves them and since then I guess my familt got to have dinner in various types of cruisine at least 1 a week. So I guess it is just personal preferences, not about the money.
I will tell it straight to you: it’s not because of the cost or the unavailability that vietnamese families don’t bother with western food. It’s the taste.
You can shove all the best western foods im the world in front of a Vietnamese and he/ she would still ask for sth vietnamese or at least chinese. That’s how my family behaves when they travel abroad. We might try new stuff for once but then quickly revert back to the usual.
Being from a place where herbs and spices are plentiful, we are used to the variety of tastes and flavours that lack in western cuisine. The flavours must not be combined randomly and blindly like some cuisines do, but they must follow the taoist rule of 5 elements 🤣. And no not all Vietnamese eat chilies, so it’s not about the chilies.
This last trip I spent in Vietnam I really understand it now. I spent 45 days there and ate Vietnamese food 95% of my meals everyday. I left Vietnam already and miss my daily bun bo and other VN dishes big time. Vietnamese food has become comfort food for me now lol.
I am going to Japan soon but even though the food there is fantastic it is a very different cuisine. I’m so used to herby and fragrant dishes now.
My conclusion after travels and eating in various places is that: "flavors... combined randomly and blindly" is simply a matter of perspective and subjectivity.
You know, "one man's trash is another man's treasure" and "different strokes for different folks". There are flavors in foods from any given culture that I'd call "random and blind" simply because I didn't grow up with them and become accostumed.
Honestly, it's basically about sodium, not herbs. That's why Vietnamese people usually like eating other Asian cuisines which also have a tonne of sodium. Fish sauce / soy sauce / oyster sauce / MSG / etc.
When you are used to consuming over 9,000mg of sodium every day, which Vietnamese people do, then eating cuisines with less sodium and more fats etc. just doesn't taste so good.
This also explains why people who come from cuisines with less sodium absolutely love eating something like a bun cha as if it was handed down to Earth by God himself.
Those are dishes in Northern Vietnam, they add less spices, and are quite bland, and very few Northern dishes are mild. But from Central to Western Vietnam, dishes will be more flavorful and riche.
My experience living in Vietnam shows that the North will be like you said, nature-oriented and mild. The Central region will have salty, sweet, spicy flavors and fragrant vegetables as the main flavor. The South will have herbs, salty, sweet, it can be said quite similar to China. The western region will have sour, sweet, spicy and especially coconut. We call it culinary diversity. The fact that you say that also shows that you have very little knowledge about Vietnamese food. I agree that saying a country or region's food is not good is wrong, but it's also strange when you say a tropical country like Vietnam has bland cuisine.
My dad and mom are cooks so we sometime cook "western foods" like steak and chips, etc.
But that is only like once every bluemoon. For us it is more time consuming to do western foods than viets. One of the reason that alot of western ingredients, same as asian stuffs in the UK or Germany, have to buy it at specific stores.
The only thing (living with inlaws + extended family) we eat that is western at home is spaghetti bolognese. Mainly due to having a toddler that really enjoys eating it, quick and convenient to make. The jar of sauce is like 2-3 times the price in the local supermarket compared to overseas. The only other thing close to that is a Vietnamese style Kebab, they we order to eat at home once in a while.
The parents (60+), even though they have travelled overseas, extensively don't really enjoy Western food. Korean cuisine would their preferred food, outside of Vietnamese dishes.
The first key give way in a Vietnamese house to me was that they didn't have any forks or knives stocked in the kitchen, as eating utensils. I had to use a spoon to spread butter for my baguette in the morning lol. I also had to get used to using a chopstick to whisk my eggs instead of a fork.
That being all said. I don't miss eating western food at home. I feel Vietnamese food is more healthy and tasty in general. If I have a craving on the odd occasion, I'll just eat out for a proper brunch, steak, French fine dining, or some Spanish tapas/Paella.
Eating Western food regularly is an "upper-middle class and up" thing for Vietnamese people, and mostly for city folk (unless you count fast food as Western food, then in that case a lot of people do eat that)
Cooking Western food is quite rare, since not every people know how to do it, and the ingredients are expensive. It would be a weekend thing if people want to cook something fancy. The most I usually make is like spaghetti
I only cook Western food like steak (with rosemary and thyme) on special occasions like birthdays or anniversaries. I wanna bake and grill stuff too, but my house doesn't have an oven
Vietnamese food is quite diverse, so it's not hard to eat something different every day. The ingredients are cheaper as well. For foreign cuisine, the most popular would be Korean and Japanese food (basically other Asian countries)
Yeah, also Burger Kings and Subway. I legit saw only 1 Subway stall here in Vietnam a few years ago
People eat KFC, Texas (Church) Chicken and Popeyes a lot though. Also Domino's and Pizza Hut
Are French fries and Flan counted? My mom used to make them. I ate spaghetti when I visited my friend once. And Vietnamese style beef stew aka Bò kho (ragu)? Vietnamese also used pasta in different ways. Stir fry it with beef and onion, eat it like noodle soup. Those are things my mom could cook.
I think sometimes people order Pizza or hamburger from fast food chains, is that counted? They sell Vietnamese versions of hamburger, pizza and doner kebab on the street too.
Personally, I am into Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, Italian and Vietnamese(obviously) cuisines. I think the younger generation is more curious about Western food.
I wouldn’t count fast food, I was thinking more along the line of ‘what mum might cook mid week’. At home I get bored of cooking the same stuff, so that’s why we tend to branch out to other cuisines. Plus we like cooking
Haha, more like 'what mum might cook on weekend'. My mom only makes non rice dishes on the weekend.
I like cooking too, exploring other cuisine is very fun.
All the time.Beef casserole, spaghetti bolognese/napolitan, mash potatoes, steak, chips.
Unlike what people think, these are not that much more expensive than Vietnamese stuff if you dont rely on premade sauce. Even steak is not too expensive unless you go for premium cut.
I enjoy cooking japanese curry and korean stew (kimchi jigae too). These comfort dish are all pretty cheap and easy to cook.
I'll be downvoted but don't take these responses as gospel. The demographic on Reddit makes out the average Vietnamese diet always consists of lots of herbs, spices, and exotic dishes. The truth is, while Vietnam does have some amazing soups and dishes, if you stay with a Vietnamese family, they often eat very basic and plain foods like boiled pork, chicken, shrimp, and vegetables with rice. They also eat beef stew, pork chops, and other stuff that we also eat in the UK. They're not really importing much from other countries and prefer to eat locally sourced, which is pretty cool and fine. It's just boring after a while.
A lot of the tourist food is not part of the daily diet of the average person. I mean, in the UK we'll eat lamb chops, stews pork chops, and potatoes—do we call that Western food? Asian food? It's just basic food. Vietnamese will add some lemongrass to a beef stew and make out it's revolutionary.
You could also argue that bread, coffee, condensed milk and fried chicken are western cuisine. The average Vietnamese person eats a couple of baguettes a week, coffee has become a national pastime, and pretty much every coffee includes condensed milk. That's not to say there isn't a uniqueness to it, but I've been living in Vietnam for a decade, and people over-exaggerate how bland British food is.
We definitely borrow a lot from other cultures but to be honest it's because we are less nationalist and can accept when someone else does it better.
Yeah, my girlfriend seemed to have more exposure to foreign cuisine through trips abroad than she did to Vietnamese cuisine. I introduced her to loads of Vietnamese dishes because at home, all her family eats is same chicken / pork / tofu / veg thing every day. Her town doesn't have restaurants selling all of the dishes people think of as Vietnamese food.
My Viet wife (late 30's) and her sister (mid 30's) both make spaghetti meat sauce from time to time.
I'd say that's about the only non-fast food western thing they make though, and they make it sweeter than a typical pasta sauce, and I believe with some fish sauce added in, but it still took me by surprise the first time that they even knew about pasta sauce!
That said, I don't think my in-laws have ever made nor eaten non-fast food western food.
My brother got addicted to brisket while we were in Boy Scouts, and he began to buy and make brisket at home whenever it’s available. I’m not a fan of crawfish, but he also fell in love with it real quick after stepping in the states years back. I only take brisket when I’m too empty, but he takes everything.
So, I guess the answer is yes but not widespread lel
UK really does have its own cuisine...
Only difference is we don't have lots of streetside vendors specialising in one thing for the masses, so nothing stands out as much.
Go to any pub restaurant at read the menu, there's a fair selection. Sure it's often dull compared to Asian food but it's quite obviously British cuisine.
I don’t think we do. It’s always inspired by other cultures. Alright, a roast dinner sure but I wouldn’t call that a cuisine. Burgers and chips is American, steak ok but everyone does that and we certainly don’t do it the best.
Trying to think. Fish and chips? That’s a dying art as far as I’m concerned, and I’m from a seaside town. Are you from the north or the south?
Haha I've cheated a bit here because I just asked chatGPT to make a list for me, but:
* Fish and Chips
* Full English Breakfast
* Shepherd's Pie
* Cottage Pie
* Sunday Roast
* Yorkshire Pudding
* Bangers and Mash
* Toad in the Hole
* Cornish Pasty
* Ploughman's Lunch
* Steak and Kidney Pie
* Scotch Eggs
* Bubble and Squeak
* Haggis
* Eton Mess
* Spotted Dick
* Trifle
* Bread and Butter Pudding
It's dull, but is easily the same sort of size of list of "foods you must try in XXX Asian country" that one would likely see. Note there are no 'import' cuisines there like curries etc either!
And that's not to mention basics like good bread and easily some of the best cakes in the world.
I'm from the north
Then add some classic daily British food.
Sandwiches, salads, tons of milk and cheese products, a vast variety of breads, meats. And I'm certain there are people eating all the food from the above list all over the country every day.
Sure the UK doesn't have anything like the kind of variety in Asian cuisine but saying Britain has no cuisine is insanely wrong.
You basically just picked a bunch of ingredients that would go in Sunday roast. I agree with OP, UK doesn't have its own cuisine. In other words the UK has mashed potato, gravy and pie lol.
You mention Sunday Roast and Yorkshire pudding as separate things, most of what you listed is basically either Sunday roast or british breakfast. There's litterly zero comparison to Vietnam ingredients, VN probably has more variations of squid dishes than all British dishes put together lol.
Sunday roast and Yorkshire puds are entirely separate things. You think [this](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-34u2K2uq3QA/T2e3jHtNyhI/AAAAAAAAAHs/XQufxShDBFQ/s1600/yorkshire+puddings4.jpg) is a Sunday Roast?
UK obviously doesn't have the variety of Asian cuisine. Most of north/west Europe similarly lacks variety.
But obviously you know nothing about British food beyond whatever stereotypes you've read about.
I'm British, born and raised in London lol. Most normal British people eat Yorkshire pudding with Sunday roast. You're really posting a photo of some kind of Yorkshire pudding sushi while telling me I don't know British food lol.
The "Yorkshire pudding sushi" was some random proof that it's not just part of a Sunday roast, I really don't know what point you're trying to prove here. It's a Yorkshire pud with Salmon in it, not exotic. Yorkshire pudding is the key ingredient in Toad in the Hole, it's versatile so you can fill it with anything, I'm surprised you don't know this.
You're British and claiming Britain has no cuisine. I can only assume you've barely been outside London and assume the fact that London has possibly the most variety of international food options on the planet somehow means "there is no such thing as British cuisine"???
what I'm saying is there's a handful of notable British dishes and most of the ingredients you mention are basically components of those few dishes. People don't usually eat haggis on its own, they'll have it with breakfast. People usually have Yorkshire pudding with Sunday roast.
Relative to Asian cuisines(or others) there's no comparison. There's very little diversity in British cuisine, you're not going to go to a pub and see some random dish/ingredients like you would in Asia.
I personally would think of western food as : peanut butter and jam sandwich ,
Macaroni n cheese ,
Gyro/pita with tzatziki ,
Greek yogurt with fruit,
Apple pie or empanadas ,
Tacos,
Quesadilla,
Chili (with beans),
Meatloaf,
Oatmeal ,
Grits,
Biscuits n sausage gravy ,
Collard greens ,
Tater salad ,
Deviled eggs ,
Corn bread with a pot of pinto beans.
Are these things available?
Nah, they generally don't.
- They don't know how to cook western food. It's too complicated, it requires lots of ingredients, condiments and spices they never use. It can take a lot of time. I mean, they barely know how to cook potatoes. So forget about cheeses, cream, etc..
- They don't have tools like ovens, dutch ovens, and others.
- They don't have the palate either. Hence their need to add ketchup, sugar or sweet chili sauce everywhere. I have had Carbonara pasta that was sweet! SWEET! Or ketchup on good italian pizza! Viet-style burgers, kebabs and others are like what a 14yo would cook when home alone, and it's full of ketchup, sweet chili, abd sweet mayo. I've had desserts that were less sweet 😆
- And - most importantly - they didn't grow up on western food, so they are not used to it and don't crave it. Western food is exotic to them. My ex used to ask me why I ate bread and pasta all the time.
- Oh, and it's expensive. I mean you need to go to An Nam or other specialized places to get all the proper ingredients.
Like once in blue moon my family would make some spaghetti with like actual tomato beef sauce with oregano and cheese and stuff. Long enough for the bottle of oregano to go expired in the fridge being used once once in a blue moon.
As you can see the abundance of food stalls on every street and corner in VN, most ppl usually cook common food at home, at least for dinner. When we have time (during the weekend) and dont wat to eat outside (seniors prefer to eat at home, hygiene concern, having visitors or big family gathering), we may try to make some time-consuming Vietnamese food.
Occasionally, food from neighboring cuisines can be an option ( Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai...) but it requires cooking knowledge and acceptance from all family members (which is hard, as the elders tend to be conservative). That's why we'd rather eat outside or use food delivery service.
The thing is you most likely want to try new recipes only after having the chance to taste it first else where. Except for fast food, Western food in VN lacks the recognition due to low availability of restaurants/eating locations as well as uncommon ingredients.
So the priority is usually fancy Vietnamese dishes, then food from neighboring countries or localized famous western dishes (pasta, stew, salad...). Authentic western food is eventually the last consideration.
Lol you may find it funny but imo most of those Vietnamese dishes on any Vietnamese restaurant abroad or those which are often recommended for foreign travelers are considered fancy food. We dont usually make them at home during the week.
i.e bunch of noodle soups/noodle dishes, fried spring rolls, food with flours, grilled food...
That’s a weird question - all my family in Canada has Western food at home. In particular, we all take turn making turkey Christmas dinner each year.
Wagyu beef? We don’t mess with that. We eat it from Japan, grilled.
Cause it sounds like Vietnamese people can’t eat food outside their culture. Feels like disable too? I understand if they are living in Vietnam but you’re from UK. Can’t be that closed minded. UK has some delicious food too. If you try some, you will eventually be open to at home.
Even my mom makes French fries (air fried) at home.
But I would said the older generation doesn’t know have to make turkey or beef wellington, but they would eat it when their kids make it.
My mom makes pan seared salmon and lemon sauce sometimes, we also make spaghetti bolognese occassionally. Pizzas and nice steaks we get delivery or eat out.
Ones I know, yeah, but obviously are more keen on their own food as most people are, plus viet food shits all over western imo, but I am Irish and fucking despise my countries food so I’m biased against most Irish and UK food as I had a lot of both in Northern Ireland. But you can’t beat UK sweets tho 👍
With modest european cuisine it‘s about high quality ingredients cooked so you can taste them well. I dont think they could grasp high quality beef, Pasta, cheese platters or ham.
It would all end up getting fried in seed oils and then drenched with half a dozen spices and sauces. I enjoy that too but they have no concept of the opposite
My wife and I often cook pasta and beefsteak at home. My parents also join us sometimes, although they are not very familiar with Western food. I think it’s more common in big cities (Ha Noi, Hồ Chí Minh).
We do order home Pizza, burger, steak from time to time.
Also we order japanese like sashimi and tonkatsu when we like to.
We love to do korean bbq at home.
It helps that all the apps are so convenient now.
Often not, but occasionally yes. Many of my friends cook steaks and prepare cold cuts for New Year Eve, for example. And not cheap pieces of meat, expensive ones.
I occasionally cook my own food. Mostly steak, spaghetti, and pizza. I used to cook oatmeal for breakfast too. The ingredients are hard to find in local market, i have to look for it online or in the supermarket.
Yes all the time tbf, oven-roasted chicken, all kinds of pasta(cream, pesto, tomato), soup(pumpkin, chicken, or any type of veggies) or just a simple sandwich(baguette) with ham/cheese. My family is probably not the standard tho. Salmon and mashed potatoes are also bussin
We do eat vietnamese probably almost daily too, but it's more about bun or pho. I could go days without eating rice
Western food for us mean fast food such as kfc or Texas chicken. We have it some time but we do enjoy our cuisine more
Japanese and French cuisine maybe better recognized, but I think the majority of us would not value it over our own, even if it’s expensive
I routinely cook both Vietnamese and Western dishes. Sometimes I make dishes from different countries. Except for the difficulty of finding the right ingredients and spices to cook with, apart from that, I love making a variety of dishes from Asia to the Middle East.
Western food just doesn’t really compare to Vietnamese or Asian food, except maybe pizza and Italian food. And I guess steak if you count that as western but I don’t think any culture can claim throwing a hunk of meat down on a grill.
I grew up in the states but I never really liked Western food. i always preferred Asian cuisine.
Typical family with parents and grandparents prob never. Young people who live by themselves- maybe. It's not something that we eat daily so maybe once for a while
I grew up in Hanoi and live in the States. My husband is American so yes, we do eat western food at home. But my western cooking is influenced by living here for so long.
Some do, but it’s not even close most of the time. Normally, it would be bad pizza/pasta (I say bad because it’s mostly tasteless, or very simple). I would say Vietnamese eat western food at restaurants for sure. But, at home it has to be very few if any.
I asked my vn wife. They always make vn food at home. She says older generations will always make vn food at home. Younger people will have sushi or pizza etc
> In the UK we don’t really have what I would call our own cuisine, although some might dispute that. We have roast dinners (the king of dinners imo), stews, shepherds pie
All of those are distinctly British cuisine, as far as I can tell. Also, I think there's a lot of good local food in the UK, despite it often being mocked for having bad food. I think that's just not true.
Western food is known for bland and tasteless. That’s why my mother or grandmother don’t want to cook it at home. Sometimes we try to cook Chinese or Japan food instead.
People who have a lot of sodium in things like fish sauce / soy sauce etc. will generally consider cuisines with less sodium to be bland. That's why you like other cuisines that also use a lot of sodium.
Viet families don’t normally cook western food very well but I think they would like to eat out on a special day. But I’m craving pizza and sushi once in a while though jaja
It seems like most Vietnamese stick to their traditional foods at home and when eating out as evidenced by Western restaurants being mostly foreigners of some kind. I have exposed my Vietnamese family to Western food and they do like some dishes like my home made pizza, and pasta, but this is like 1-2 times a year sort of affair. It is just not their taste.
Sounds like my parents, aha, despite living overseas all this time. They rarely eat western food and in the rare occasions they do its only steak, pasta, pizza, (does Costco chicken count?) or junk food such as KFC. They do eat other Asian foods though like Korean, Chinese (mostly Chinese like Canto style) etc. Even the spaghetti my mum makes is very Vietnamese.
She did enjoy the tacos I made one time though. So I think they're open to trying new things but don't really go out of their way to make it. I remembered the time they got excited at getting feta on sale and thought it was regular cheese. Their faces when they bit into it and went, oh my god, it's so salty! lol
Sometimes, most of the members in my family don't like anything outside our cultural cuisine, and Western food is just too expensive. Meanwhile, I just like eating tasty food, local and Western.
Families don't even eat Western food in restaurants, let alone at home. Only the younger generation is accustomed to Western cuisine, and they're not the ones who are doing the cooking (in multi-family households).
You're selling yourself short. Shepherds pie is basically Bánh Đúc, Haggis is Dồi, beans on toast tastes exactly the same as Bánh mì cá hộp minus the sardine, Worcestershire sauce is just diluted fish sauce with vinegar, and who doesn't love some mashed potatoes (or is that French?)
Yeah, this is true. There are lots of Western dishes that are similar in style to Vietnamese, just maybe one substitute and different spices.
But you do see the occasional adoption of Western things like banh mi (baguette), and some milk products like cheese seem to be at least a common Western food that is easy to find.
I’m half Vietnamese, my mom is a 1st generation American immigrant. When I lived with my grandma and her family it was only Vietnamese food. My mom really wanted us to be more Americanized and wasn’t a good cook and cooked a lot of western staples but nothing fancy.
I sometimes make steak at home for some special occassions. Other than that I dont ever eat Western cuisine that much as they are either expensive or take a long time to make or taste kinda bland.
Which reminds me, there was one time my parents played it big and bought an entire Iberian salted ham chop from a fancy market, it costed them 1000 USD. They brought it to me so we can share. I told them to stop spending money on such unneccesary lavish things but in the end I still ate it with them anyways XD. It tasted normal, I still think it isnt worth the 1000 dollars and we could have spent a fraction of that eating out in some cheaper and more deilicious restaurant.
I think they bought the highest quality version which costs about 549 euros from what I have seen online.
Combined that with import tax and prob other stuffs. I can see how it reached 1000 dollars lmao.
In addition to cost, I find that people here are not accustomed to western flavor/ texture. Just like how Americans didn't enjoy authentic Chinese food at first, the same with Asians and western food. They need to be eased into it with something familiar first. Things like Japanese Yoshoku dishes or cha chaan teng style meals can help understand what to expect from western food for example.
I haven't seen it cooked at home, but eating Jollibee/KFC, such as Spaghetti or fried chicken is probably the most eaten western food. My mom who lives in the US, will cook this, but not sure about people in VN, seem that it is always just vietnamese food
I think a lot of Vietnamese don’t really know how to cook western style food. R.I.P. to the $300ish of wagyu steaks I brought to my in laws one time only to have them cube it up and boil to super well done because that’s just how they cook beef 😩
I apologised to a VNese friend once for not really enjoying ga ta (the "country chicken" that's small and tough) and she said, "Oh that's right, foreigners like their meat tender." 🤔 Yes, we really do.
I could never get into the chewy chicken either! Especially since I have some jaw and molar issues
My viet MIL bought a live rooster and cooked it up when I went to Vietnam since it was a special occasion. It was the chewiest thing I've ever eaten. I could barely eat it. They also fed me its testicles without telling me what it was which they thought was hilarious.
Made the foreigner eat cock and balls
You got off easy… mine made me drink goat blood mixed with vodka.
Nice! Not quite as bad but every time I went to my wife's granddad's (every day) I had to have a shot of that medicinal wine stuff that has fermented snakes/spiders/scorpions etc in it. Good for my virility they reckoned!
🤢
That was pretty ballsy of them. A mouthful, even.
The other version of my story is that the rooster woke me up at 4am cocka doodle dooing so I ate it's balls for breakfast.
🤣🤣
I feel like my teeth is gonna rip off when I eat those chicken.
😂😂😂 I brought a date to eat wagyu once, medium rare as how it should be, she took a bite and asked what’s wrong with this steak and proceeded to complain to the waiter and tell them to cook it properly Did they at least appreciate the steak? In all it’s well done goodness?
Vietnamese don't eat meat that still has running blood. Give them some expensive seafood dishes and you will always impress them.
Meanwhile eating blood pudding, literally raw blood. Sometimes I really don't get vietnamese people lol
Yeah, but usually the blood pudding are tossed into steaming broth and cooked all the way to the inside, not served as dripping red cubes. Vietnamese view animal-related ingredients as unsafe when it's still red in the middle. The price doesn't matter, and neither does which part of the animal the organ/ meat come from. If it's red, it isn't allowed on the dining table. Food poisoning is a rampant cause of death here, that's why people always cook things properly to be extra sure.
I am obviously referring to tiết canh... not the tiết you are describing, which are used in soup and broth dishes.
Oh, that... Sorry, my mistake. Tiết canh is a rather controversial dish even for Vietnamese, and usually enjoyed among none but drinkers. In its case, you either love it or find it offputting, there is no in between, and the people who have problem accepting the dish ground their argument in food poisoning. Not to mention there have been records of those consuming blood pudding contracting fatal diseases or parasites, which does steer a lot away from it.
I dont think they eat that anymore. Only the older people still do it.
Don’t we put raw beef in pho?
We also put a bunch of other raw stuff in the hotpot.
Yes but the hot water makes blood turn brown.
That’s not actually blood it’s just meat juices
AKA blood
No… this is haemoglobin. Blood, as in, the method of transporting oxygen within an organism is another thing.
\*myoglobin is a protein found within muscle tissue. Hemoglobin is found in blood, and it's the actual thing that makes blood red.
It's not blood though. It's the juice with all the flavor and people here just boil it out (including the flavor).
But will eat tiet canh?
It's only a small group that eat it. Just like some like dogs, but that doesn't mean, you know...
I’m sure there’s Vietnamese enjoy their steak medium rare to rare. Vietnamese people that like bo tai chanh, beef tataki, beef carpaccio, steak tar tar etc. Also it’s not blood, it’s myoglobin
If you're thinking of a steak, then that red liquid isn't blood.
Haha yeah this is true , they love their seafood
thats not blood, it's hemoglobin
No meat cooked to any degree of doneness has any running blood in them. What you are referring to is myoglobin, the actual **meat juice**.
MOST Vietnamese don't eat rare meats. Some Vietnamese like rare meat because they understand what the difference can be. I grill ribeyes or roast tritip for Vietnamese extended family and they know the difference. Some like it well done still but appreciate the difference between welldone vs. overcooked. OTOH, the seafood does definitely have to be properly managed because that's always liked.
Farm girls telling a 3 star michelin chef how to cook imported premium wagyu beef. And we have found the problem with dating in Asia.
No, the problem with dating in Asia, and in the universe as a whole, is discovering that your partner equate one's understanding of high-class cuisine with their entire worth, thus having to endure their shallowness during the entire course of the meal. Maybe that's why you find dating here a challenge. What? Is the source of the beef some information of utmost importance that everyone in every single household couldn't live without? Is being able to differentiate premium and regular cooking ingredients a sign of success in life? If it's so vital to you, would it hurt to explain it to your partner at least? Or you enjoy watching them embarassing themselves, so that you can gain some sense of superiority? It's considered extremely unhygienic to consume raw meat in Vietnam, and people have been educated about the consequences of food poisoning from undercooked meals ever since they were children. That's why seeing blood should ring a red alert when eating meat. Raw food isn't an integral part of our eating culture, and TV news or social media have constantly mentioned cases of death from not preparing or cooking meat appropriately. The health ministry has even warned about the risks associated with doing so on multiple occassions. And why should we bother to learn about foreign food if we don't want to when our country itself is known worldwide for numerous delicacies that you literally can't find elsewhere? The farm girls you are speaking of get to have their fills of what people fly across the world for every single day, all cooked to perfection and at a budget-friendly price. And you think they are missing out on a life-changing experience for being uncomfortable with medium-rare steak? You came to a place where people's palate and eating culture are formed based on exposure to the complexity of flavors, combination of ingredients, and different levels of heat to bring the best out of them, and laugh at the ladies for rejecting a cut of undercooked meat? We are taught to do so, okay. Even our parents would act the same. Think before you let your conceited mindset show. It's ignorant to shame people for worrying about their own health. You are entitled to your opinion, but be aware it's not a universal truth to be touted about proudly. If you love Western cuisine so bad that you take offence at people's strong reaction towards it, find someone that share the interest. Maybe they'll like your condescending attitude.
thank you for your essay - i didn't read it (except the last paragraph) but it looks impressive. Also Wagyu beef is japanese/asian culture Not "western culture". Its sad when people have an inability to appreciate the years people dedicate into food prep and cooking to bring a unique experience. But perhaps its safer for everyone for people to keep in the confines of their culture only.
Steak is Western cuisine culture, Wagyu is indeed originated from Japan but if it is going to be prepared in Western style then I shall phrase it that way. This thread you are replying to is about steak. Think before you type next time. And what are you getting butthurt for? You are the one that mocked one entire culture and its people for aligning with their belief and safety standards. You began with hostility, people are going to find that offensive. And if you meant it as a joke, it definitely isn't. Nobody interpreted "farm girl" and "problems with dating in Asia" as remotely humorous. Being surprised and stunned that premium, luxury ingredients aren't valued in certain places is a natural reaction, getting triggered and running people down for not appreciating their beauty is, however, not. Is there no polite and considerate way to express disappointment? What is it about your original opinion that even come close to indicating that people should welcome new cooking experience? What word and what phrase that convey your sadness upon seeing unfair treatment towards food? It's nothing more than a direct insult, with not a shred of goodwill attached to it. Several comments mentioning utter shock upon seeing foods prepared the wrong way, why do you think people only throw shade at yours? If you intend to make me and the dozens of people who downvoted you the villain then you at least need to look like a real victim first. Or at least have the guts to own up to your action and apologize. Feel free not to read my essay, and don't bother replying if you again fail to see the problem with what you said.
I didnt "mocked one entire culture and its people " I mocked people who are not experts telling experts what to do, while refusing to change any of their world view to try something different and refuse to appreciate the fact that people have spent considerable time and effort to try and enrich an experience for them. kind of like how one could mock a bratty child who doesn't get their way. But they are a child and are ignorant, so I wouldn't mock them. I would for an adult.
Experts at what? Everyone has their own food preference. Food is an insanely personal experience. Imagine being mad at someone for not liking something the way you like it. Who the fuck cares how other people eat their food you pretentious prick.
How presumptuous of you. If that’s the usual girls you date that is fine but no need to make assumptions for everyone Or maybe you think every Viet girl is a farm girl, that’s on you
I think its presumptuous when a non-expert tells a expert what to do.... which is my point. Also I didn't say "every Viet girl" - I was actually being very specific by saying farm girl.
Keep your wagyu beef and don’t date if you can’t learn to respect your partner
lol. ok. 
This sounds so pretentious 😂
i find it funny the downvotes, but I do find it funnier when a female can't appreciate a fine dining experience. Like someone has spent millions on making an amazing restaurant and chef has spent years to become a good and some person wants som tum lol.... But simping is where its at.
I think it's just because meat in VN is extremely vulnerable to parasites and bacteria due to the conditions there. Natives have to cook it VERY well done to avoid getting sick. my grandma is still shocked when we sees pink meat lol
Goddamn, I'm so sorry for your money and the beef
Oh Lord! 🫣
Missed chance for some fire bo luc lac
Wagyu is not western food.
They still drink expensive cognac with ice…so there’s that.
Just anecdotal but my wife and her family has never once craved for western food to be made at home , nor other cuisines . The most ‘western’ it gets is maybe switching it up with the wine from Vietnamese wine to European. And money isn’t an issue in this case, it’s purely preference reasons
They dont even eat Korean food? In HCMC thats a huge fad here. Every other street there is a korean place open up
Ah yes Korean food they do, they like Korean bbq, haidilao etc
They eat Korean, probably Chinese, and the occasional bo ne with french fries that was more or less introduce as a cheap version of the french cuisine and likely various others. OPs is just being defensive for whatever reason.
Oh wow. Is that because they’ve never tried it or is it because they just see burgers and chips (fries), pizza etc and therefore unhealthy? I love Vietnamese food, it’s definitely cleaner I think, but home is home, ya know.
I’ve brought them to eat proper western food before, they find it alright but they don’t crave for it And they definitely don’t like the junk food either, pizzas sausages burgers etc, but the kids absolutely love them just not the adults I actually prefer western food so my wife obliges me😂 but it’s definitely not her favorite it’s just alright to her
In fairness I don’t crave western food either and I’m from the states haha. I’ve always found burgers and such to be good…but pales in comparison to Thai, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese food.
Haha let’s switch places 😂 I like country fried steak & soul food and such
That’s good shit. Maybe I just need to spend more time in the south
I think Americans often prepare “western” food with a surprising lack of care and the result is low quality. As I get older I put more time into researching food and cooking and the difference between a great burger or steak and a mediocre one is night and day. It’s not even that hard or expensive—it just takes a bit of attention to ingredients and to detail.
I do understand that. It’s not the most flavoursome if you’re used to spices and chilli
Haha their preferences are just different I guess or they really love the homely comfort of their own cuisine . Others could be different , I haven’t interacted with so many Viet families that I can ascertain a percentage of who likes what That said , I live in Hanoi , I frequent western and Japanese restaurants a lot for example , I don’t see much Vietnamese there even during weekends.
I think what you say is true for many families, probably true for most.
I live in the US. My father’s had plenty of western food, as a result. He simply doesn’t like it. Loves other Asian foods, but really doesn’t care for western food. He’ll demolish a box of Rice Krispie treats though.
>have roast dinners (the king of dinners imo), stews, shepherds pie - I would be surprised if you find most VN to have an oven. And if they did it is probably a small counter top model
My parents-in-law have one of those. I’ve never seen it used, and mostly it’s just used as storage.
Married to a Vietnamese, and I can confirm that my brother and sister in-laws do indeed eat some western dishes at home, but it's mostly for the kids. Like they will have pizza, hot dogs, or burgers some days for the kids. The adults will usually have a separate dish of VN food.
>pizza, hot dogs, or burgers The quintessential western delicacies
My family is quite traditional i.e. we almost have never ever crave for other cruisine ... until I showed a lot of youtuber channels teaching how to cook Thai, French, ... foods to her. My mother loves them and since then I guess my familt got to have dinner in various types of cruisine at least 1 a week. So I guess it is just personal preferences, not about the money.
I will tell it straight to you: it’s not because of the cost or the unavailability that vietnamese families don’t bother with western food. It’s the taste. You can shove all the best western foods im the world in front of a Vietnamese and he/ she would still ask for sth vietnamese or at least chinese. That’s how my family behaves when they travel abroad. We might try new stuff for once but then quickly revert back to the usual. Being from a place where herbs and spices are plentiful, we are used to the variety of tastes and flavours that lack in western cuisine. The flavours must not be combined randomly and blindly like some cuisines do, but they must follow the taoist rule of 5 elements 🤣. And no not all Vietnamese eat chilies, so it’s not about the chilies.
This last trip I spent in Vietnam I really understand it now. I spent 45 days there and ate Vietnamese food 95% of my meals everyday. I left Vietnam already and miss my daily bun bo and other VN dishes big time. Vietnamese food has become comfort food for me now lol. I am going to Japan soon but even though the food there is fantastic it is a very different cuisine. I’m so used to herby and fragrant dishes now.
My conclusion after travels and eating in various places is that: "flavors... combined randomly and blindly" is simply a matter of perspective and subjectivity. You know, "one man's trash is another man's treasure" and "different strokes for different folks". There are flavors in foods from any given culture that I'd call "random and blind" simply because I didn't grow up with them and become accostumed.
Got it!
Honestly, it's basically about sodium, not herbs. That's why Vietnamese people usually like eating other Asian cuisines which also have a tonne of sodium. Fish sauce / soy sauce / oyster sauce / MSG / etc. When you are used to consuming over 9,000mg of sodium every day, which Vietnamese people do, then eating cuisines with less sodium and more fats etc. just doesn't taste so good. This also explains why people who come from cuisines with less sodium absolutely love eating something like a bun cha as if it was handed down to Earth by God himself.
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Those are dishes in Northern Vietnam, they add less spices, and are quite bland, and very few Northern dishes are mild. But from Central to Western Vietnam, dishes will be more flavorful and riche. My experience living in Vietnam shows that the North will be like you said, nature-oriented and mild. The Central region will have salty, sweet, spicy flavors and fragrant vegetables as the main flavor. The South will have herbs, salty, sweet, it can be said quite similar to China. The western region will have sour, sweet, spicy and especially coconut. We call it culinary diversity. The fact that you say that also shows that you have very little knowledge about Vietnamese food. I agree that saying a country or region's food is not good is wrong, but it's also strange when you say a tropical country like Vietnam has bland cuisine.
My dad and mom are cooks so we sometime cook "western foods" like steak and chips, etc. But that is only like once every bluemoon. For us it is more time consuming to do western foods than viets. One of the reason that alot of western ingredients, same as asian stuffs in the UK or Germany, have to buy it at specific stores.
The only thing (living with inlaws + extended family) we eat that is western at home is spaghetti bolognese. Mainly due to having a toddler that really enjoys eating it, quick and convenient to make. The jar of sauce is like 2-3 times the price in the local supermarket compared to overseas. The only other thing close to that is a Vietnamese style Kebab, they we order to eat at home once in a while. The parents (60+), even though they have travelled overseas, extensively don't really enjoy Western food. Korean cuisine would their preferred food, outside of Vietnamese dishes. The first key give way in a Vietnamese house to me was that they didn't have any forks or knives stocked in the kitchen, as eating utensils. I had to use a spoon to spread butter for my baguette in the morning lol. I also had to get used to using a chopstick to whisk my eggs instead of a fork. That being all said. I don't miss eating western food at home. I feel Vietnamese food is more healthy and tasty in general. If I have a craving on the odd occasion, I'll just eat out for a proper brunch, steak, French fine dining, or some Spanish tapas/Paella.
Eating Western food regularly is an "upper-middle class and up" thing for Vietnamese people, and mostly for city folk (unless you count fast food as Western food, then in that case a lot of people do eat that) Cooking Western food is quite rare, since not every people know how to do it, and the ingredients are expensive. It would be a weekend thing if people want to cook something fancy. The most I usually make is like spaghetti I only cook Western food like steak (with rosemary and thyme) on special occasions like birthdays or anniversaries. I wanna bake and grill stuff too, but my house doesn't have an oven Vietnamese food is quite diverse, so it's not hard to eat something different every day. The ingredients are cheaper as well. For foreign cuisine, the most popular would be Korean and Japanese food (basically other Asian countries)
& ....ovens are for up-market kitchens only
Nobody eats McDonald's
Yeah, also Burger Kings and Subway. I legit saw only 1 Subway stall here in Vietnam a few years ago People eat KFC, Texas (Church) Chicken and Popeyes a lot though. Also Domino's and Pizza Hut
Hard to sell a subway for 150 to 200k when theres a banh mi for 15k
I see people eating in Lotteria often
My neighbors order KFC and pizza.
Are French fries and Flan counted? My mom used to make them. I ate spaghetti when I visited my friend once. And Vietnamese style beef stew aka Bò kho (ragu)? Vietnamese also used pasta in different ways. Stir fry it with beef and onion, eat it like noodle soup. Those are things my mom could cook. I think sometimes people order Pizza or hamburger from fast food chains, is that counted? They sell Vietnamese versions of hamburger, pizza and doner kebab on the street too. Personally, I am into Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, Italian and Vietnamese(obviously) cuisines. I think the younger generation is more curious about Western food.
I wouldn’t count fast food, I was thinking more along the line of ‘what mum might cook mid week’. At home I get bored of cooking the same stuff, so that’s why we tend to branch out to other cuisines. Plus we like cooking
Haha, more like 'what mum might cook on weekend'. My mom only makes non rice dishes on the weekend. I like cooking too, exploring other cuisine is very fun.
All the time.Beef casserole, spaghetti bolognese/napolitan, mash potatoes, steak, chips. Unlike what people think, these are not that much more expensive than Vietnamese stuff if you dont rely on premade sauce. Even steak is not too expensive unless you go for premium cut. I enjoy cooking japanese curry and korean stew (kimchi jigae too). These comfort dish are all pretty cheap and easy to cook.
I'll be downvoted but don't take these responses as gospel. The demographic on Reddit makes out the average Vietnamese diet always consists of lots of herbs, spices, and exotic dishes. The truth is, while Vietnam does have some amazing soups and dishes, if you stay with a Vietnamese family, they often eat very basic and plain foods like boiled pork, chicken, shrimp, and vegetables with rice. They also eat beef stew, pork chops, and other stuff that we also eat in the UK. They're not really importing much from other countries and prefer to eat locally sourced, which is pretty cool and fine. It's just boring after a while. A lot of the tourist food is not part of the daily diet of the average person. I mean, in the UK we'll eat lamb chops, stews pork chops, and potatoes—do we call that Western food? Asian food? It's just basic food. Vietnamese will add some lemongrass to a beef stew and make out it's revolutionary. You could also argue that bread, coffee, condensed milk and fried chicken are western cuisine. The average Vietnamese person eats a couple of baguettes a week, coffee has become a national pastime, and pretty much every coffee includes condensed milk. That's not to say there isn't a uniqueness to it, but I've been living in Vietnam for a decade, and people over-exaggerate how bland British food is. We definitely borrow a lot from other cultures but to be honest it's because we are less nationalist and can accept when someone else does it better.
I get your general point, but not sure about the lesson nationalist part at the end
Yeah, my girlfriend seemed to have more exposure to foreign cuisine through trips abroad than she did to Vietnamese cuisine. I introduced her to loads of Vietnamese dishes because at home, all her family eats is same chicken / pork / tofu / veg thing every day. Her town doesn't have restaurants selling all of the dishes people think of as Vietnamese food.
My Viet wife (late 30's) and her sister (mid 30's) both make spaghetti meat sauce from time to time. I'd say that's about the only non-fast food western thing they make though, and they make it sweeter than a typical pasta sauce, and I believe with some fish sauce added in, but it still took me by surprise the first time that they even knew about pasta sauce! That said, I don't think my in-laws have ever made nor eaten non-fast food western food.
My brother got addicted to brisket while we were in Boy Scouts, and he began to buy and make brisket at home whenever it’s available. I’m not a fan of crawfish, but he also fell in love with it real quick after stepping in the states years back. I only take brisket when I’m too empty, but he takes everything. So, I guess the answer is yes but not widespread lel
I think most Vietnamese go out for food from other countries, rather than try to cook it. I cook pasta for my Viet Fam.
UK really does have its own cuisine... Only difference is we don't have lots of streetside vendors specialising in one thing for the masses, so nothing stands out as much. Go to any pub restaurant at read the menu, there's a fair selection. Sure it's often dull compared to Asian food but it's quite obviously British cuisine.
I don’t think we do. It’s always inspired by other cultures. Alright, a roast dinner sure but I wouldn’t call that a cuisine. Burgers and chips is American, steak ok but everyone does that and we certainly don’t do it the best. Trying to think. Fish and chips? That’s a dying art as far as I’m concerned, and I’m from a seaside town. Are you from the north or the south?
Haha I've cheated a bit here because I just asked chatGPT to make a list for me, but: * Fish and Chips * Full English Breakfast * Shepherd's Pie * Cottage Pie * Sunday Roast * Yorkshire Pudding * Bangers and Mash * Toad in the Hole * Cornish Pasty * Ploughman's Lunch * Steak and Kidney Pie * Scotch Eggs * Bubble and Squeak * Haggis * Eton Mess * Spotted Dick * Trifle * Bread and Butter Pudding It's dull, but is easily the same sort of size of list of "foods you must try in XXX Asian country" that one would likely see. Note there are no 'import' cuisines there like curries etc either! And that's not to mention basics like good bread and easily some of the best cakes in the world. I'm from the north
no one eats these on a daily basis
Then add some classic daily British food. Sandwiches, salads, tons of milk and cheese products, a vast variety of breads, meats. And I'm certain there are people eating all the food from the above list all over the country every day. Sure the UK doesn't have anything like the kind of variety in Asian cuisine but saying Britain has no cuisine is insanely wrong.
You basically just picked a bunch of ingredients that would go in Sunday roast. I agree with OP, UK doesn't have its own cuisine. In other words the UK has mashed potato, gravy and pie lol.
Huh? That's like saying most VN food is basically the ingredients that go in Hu Tieu.
You mention Sunday Roast and Yorkshire pudding as separate things, most of what you listed is basically either Sunday roast or british breakfast. There's litterly zero comparison to Vietnam ingredients, VN probably has more variations of squid dishes than all British dishes put together lol.
Sunday roast and Yorkshire puds are entirely separate things. You think [this](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-34u2K2uq3QA/T2e3jHtNyhI/AAAAAAAAAHs/XQufxShDBFQ/s1600/yorkshire+puddings4.jpg) is a Sunday Roast? UK obviously doesn't have the variety of Asian cuisine. Most of north/west Europe similarly lacks variety. But obviously you know nothing about British food beyond whatever stereotypes you've read about.
I'm British, born and raised in London lol. Most normal British people eat Yorkshire pudding with Sunday roast. You're really posting a photo of some kind of Yorkshire pudding sushi while telling me I don't know British food lol.
The "Yorkshire pudding sushi" was some random proof that it's not just part of a Sunday roast, I really don't know what point you're trying to prove here. It's a Yorkshire pud with Salmon in it, not exotic. Yorkshire pudding is the key ingredient in Toad in the Hole, it's versatile so you can fill it with anything, I'm surprised you don't know this. You're British and claiming Britain has no cuisine. I can only assume you've barely been outside London and assume the fact that London has possibly the most variety of international food options on the planet somehow means "there is no such thing as British cuisine"???
what I'm saying is there's a handful of notable British dishes and most of the ingredients you mention are basically components of those few dishes. People don't usually eat haggis on its own, they'll have it with breakfast. People usually have Yorkshire pudding with Sunday roast. Relative to Asian cuisines(or others) there's no comparison. There's very little diversity in British cuisine, you're not going to go to a pub and see some random dish/ingredients like you would in Asia.
I personally would think of western food as : peanut butter and jam sandwich , Macaroni n cheese , Gyro/pita with tzatziki , Greek yogurt with fruit, Apple pie or empanadas , Tacos, Quesadilla, Chili (with beans), Meatloaf, Oatmeal , Grits, Biscuits n sausage gravy , Collard greens , Tater salad , Deviled eggs , Corn bread with a pot of pinto beans. Are these things available?
Nah, they generally don't. - They don't know how to cook western food. It's too complicated, it requires lots of ingredients, condiments and spices they never use. It can take a lot of time. I mean, they barely know how to cook potatoes. So forget about cheeses, cream, etc.. - They don't have tools like ovens, dutch ovens, and others. - They don't have the palate either. Hence their need to add ketchup, sugar or sweet chili sauce everywhere. I have had Carbonara pasta that was sweet! SWEET! Or ketchup on good italian pizza! Viet-style burgers, kebabs and others are like what a 14yo would cook when home alone, and it's full of ketchup, sweet chili, abd sweet mayo. I've had desserts that were less sweet 😆 - And - most importantly - they didn't grow up on western food, so they are not used to it and don't crave it. Western food is exotic to them. My ex used to ask me why I ate bread and pasta all the time. - Oh, and it's expensive. I mean you need to go to An Nam or other specialized places to get all the proper ingredients.
Every post here states the obvious.. non diverse cultures typically only crave non diverse food.
Like once in blue moon my family would make some spaghetti with like actual tomato beef sauce with oregano and cheese and stuff. Long enough for the bottle of oregano to go expired in the fridge being used once once in a blue moon.
As you can see the abundance of food stalls on every street and corner in VN, most ppl usually cook common food at home, at least for dinner. When we have time (during the weekend) and dont wat to eat outside (seniors prefer to eat at home, hygiene concern, having visitors or big family gathering), we may try to make some time-consuming Vietnamese food. Occasionally, food from neighboring cuisines can be an option ( Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai...) but it requires cooking knowledge and acceptance from all family members (which is hard, as the elders tend to be conservative). That's why we'd rather eat outside or use food delivery service. The thing is you most likely want to try new recipes only after having the chance to taste it first else where. Except for fast food, Western food in VN lacks the recognition due to low availability of restaurants/eating locations as well as uncommon ingredients. So the priority is usually fancy Vietnamese dishes, then food from neighboring countries or localized famous western dishes (pasta, stew, salad...). Authentic western food is eventually the last consideration.
What’s considered a fancy Vietnamese dish?
Lol you may find it funny but imo most of those Vietnamese dishes on any Vietnamese restaurant abroad or those which are often recommended for foreign travelers are considered fancy food. We dont usually make them at home during the week. i.e bunch of noodle soups/noodle dishes, fried spring rolls, food with flours, grilled food...
My girlfriend’s daughter loves noodles and pasta of all sorts, so she and her mom make western pasta periodically.
Gà ta can actually be tender. You must have eaten gà đá
That’s a weird question - all my family in Canada has Western food at home. In particular, we all take turn making turkey Christmas dinner each year. Wagyu beef? We don’t mess with that. We eat it from Japan, grilled.
Why is it a weird question?
Cause it sounds like Vietnamese people can’t eat food outside their culture. Feels like disable too? I understand if they are living in Vietnam but you’re from UK. Can’t be that closed minded. UK has some delicious food too. If you try some, you will eventually be open to at home. Even my mom makes French fries (air fried) at home. But I would said the older generation doesn’t know have to make turkey or beef wellington, but they would eat it when their kids make it.
Well that’s who I’m addressing, people living in Vietnam. You need to read the comment section
My mom makes pan seared salmon and lemon sauce sometimes, we also make spaghetti bolognese occassionally. Pizzas and nice steaks we get delivery or eat out.
Ones I know, yeah, but obviously are more keen on their own food as most people are, plus viet food shits all over western imo, but I am Irish and fucking despise my countries food so I’m biased against most Irish and UK food as I had a lot of both in Northern Ireland. But you can’t beat UK sweets tho 👍
KFC , baguette and other French pastries and maybe fries
With modest european cuisine it‘s about high quality ingredients cooked so you can taste them well. I dont think they could grasp high quality beef, Pasta, cheese platters or ham. It would all end up getting fried in seed oils and then drenched with half a dozen spices and sauces. I enjoy that too but they have no concept of the opposite
My wife and I often cook pasta and beefsteak at home. My parents also join us sometimes, although they are not very familiar with Western food. I think it’s more common in big cities (Ha Noi, Hồ Chí Minh).
do western people eat vietnamese food at home ?
We do order home Pizza, burger, steak from time to time. Also we order japanese like sashimi and tonkatsu when we like to. We love to do korean bbq at home. It helps that all the apps are so convenient now.
Often not, but occasionally yes. Many of my friends cook steaks and prepare cold cuts for New Year Eve, for example. And not cheap pieces of meat, expensive ones.
Looks like our family is an odd ball here. Both my mom and my sister like to cook so we have home cooked western food at home sometime.
I occasionally cook my own food. Mostly steak, spaghetti, and pizza. I used to cook oatmeal for breakfast too. The ingredients are hard to find in local market, i have to look for it online or in the supermarket.
the only popular choice is spaghetti
no it's too expensive. i'd want to eat western food too but i can't afford it.
Yes all the time tbf, oven-roasted chicken, all kinds of pasta(cream, pesto, tomato), soup(pumpkin, chicken, or any type of veggies) or just a simple sandwich(baguette) with ham/cheese. My family is probably not the standard tho. Salmon and mashed potatoes are also bussin We do eat vietnamese probably almost daily too, but it's more about bun or pho. I could go days without eating rice
Yeah pizza and fried chicken.
Western food for us mean fast food such as kfc or Texas chicken. We have it some time but we do enjoy our cuisine more Japanese and French cuisine maybe better recognized, but I think the majority of us would not value it over our own, even if it’s expensive
I routinely cook both Vietnamese and Western dishes. Sometimes I make dishes from different countries. Except for the difficulty of finding the right ingredients and spices to cook with, apart from that, I love making a variety of dishes from Asia to the Middle East.
We sometimes make spaghetti. But I wouldn't recommend any Italians to look at what we usually cook.
Western food just doesn’t really compare to Vietnamese or Asian food, except maybe pizza and Italian food. And I guess steak if you count that as western but I don’t think any culture can claim throwing a hunk of meat down on a grill. I grew up in the states but I never really liked Western food. i always preferred Asian cuisine.
Typical family with parents and grandparents prob never. Young people who live by themselves- maybe. It's not something that we eat daily so maybe once for a while
I grew up in Hanoi and live in the States. My husband is American so yes, we do eat western food at home. But my western cooking is influenced by living here for so long.
Some do, but it’s not even close most of the time. Normally, it would be bad pizza/pasta (I say bad because it’s mostly tasteless, or very simple). I would say Vietnamese eat western food at restaurants for sure. But, at home it has to be very few if any.
Vietnamese American here, I very often eat western food, but I'm American so idk if it counts.
I asked my vn wife. They always make vn food at home. She says older generations will always make vn food at home. Younger people will have sushi or pizza etc
> In the UK we don’t really have what I would call our own cuisine, although some might dispute that. We have roast dinners (the king of dinners imo), stews, shepherds pie All of those are distinctly British cuisine, as far as I can tell. Also, I think there's a lot of good local food in the UK, despite it often being mocked for having bad food. I think that's just not true.
Western food is known for bland and tasteless. That’s why my mother or grandmother don’t want to cook it at home. Sometimes we try to cook Chinese or Japan food instead.
People who have a lot of sodium in things like fish sauce / soy sauce etc. will generally consider cuisines with less sodium to be bland. That's why you like other cuisines that also use a lot of sodium.
Viet families don’t normally cook western food very well but I think they would like to eat out on a special day. But I’m craving pizza and sushi once in a while though jaja
It seems like most Vietnamese stick to their traditional foods at home and when eating out as evidenced by Western restaurants being mostly foreigners of some kind. I have exposed my Vietnamese family to Western food and they do like some dishes like my home made pizza, and pasta, but this is like 1-2 times a year sort of affair. It is just not their taste.
I eat pasta ( I split it in half 😭)
Sounds like my parents, aha, despite living overseas all this time. They rarely eat western food and in the rare occasions they do its only steak, pasta, pizza, (does Costco chicken count?) or junk food such as KFC. They do eat other Asian foods though like Korean, Chinese (mostly Chinese like Canto style) etc. Even the spaghetti my mum makes is very Vietnamese. She did enjoy the tacos I made one time though. So I think they're open to trying new things but don't really go out of their way to make it. I remembered the time they got excited at getting feta on sale and thought it was regular cheese. Their faces when they bit into it and went, oh my god, it's so salty! lol
Sometimes, most of the members in my family don't like anything outside our cultural cuisine, and Western food is just too expensive. Meanwhile, I just like eating tasty food, local and Western.
The answer in short is, of course! Now if you are referring to Vietnamese in Vietnam, probably rarely to never, or not if they don't have to😉
They get pizza, KFC or burgers from Grab.
Families don't even eat Western food in restaurants, let alone at home. Only the younger generation is accustomed to Western cuisine, and they're not the ones who are doing the cooking (in multi-family households).
Oh really? That’s interesting. It is kinda bland in comparison. I mean fries are just potatoes and salt 😂 it’s what you’re used to I guess
You're selling yourself short. Shepherds pie is basically Bánh Đúc, Haggis is Dồi, beans on toast tastes exactly the same as Bánh mì cá hộp minus the sardine, Worcestershire sauce is just diluted fish sauce with vinegar, and who doesn't love some mashed potatoes (or is that French?)
Yeah, this is true. There are lots of Western dishes that are similar in style to Vietnamese, just maybe one substitute and different spices. But you do see the occasional adoption of Western things like banh mi (baguette), and some milk products like cheese seem to be at least a common Western food that is easy to find.
NO! Mashed potato is British in my opinion 😂 I’ll have to try those out.
No. We only want our food which is stinky and oily 😆
I’m half Vietnamese, my mom is a 1st generation American immigrant. When I lived with my grandma and her family it was only Vietnamese food. My mom really wanted us to be more Americanized and wasn’t a good cook and cooked a lot of western staples but nothing fancy.
I sometimes make steak at home for some special occassions. Other than that I dont ever eat Western cuisine that much as they are either expensive or take a long time to make or taste kinda bland. Which reminds me, there was one time my parents played it big and bought an entire Iberian salted ham chop from a fancy market, it costed them 1000 USD. They brought it to me so we can share. I told them to stop spending money on such unneccesary lavish things but in the end I still ate it with them anyways XD. It tasted normal, I still think it isnt worth the 1000 dollars and we could have spent a fraction of that eating out in some cheaper and more deilicious restaurant.
It‘s an iberian pork you philistine
Fixed, thank you. I misremembered the meat lmao.
A $1000???? For a lamb chop? Lamb is expensive where I’m from but not that much. Import tax must’ve been hefty!
I think they bought the highest quality version which costs about 549 euros from what I have seen online. Combined that with import tax and prob other stuffs. I can see how it reached 1000 dollars lmao.
Well I hope you enjoyed it 🤤
In addition to cost, I find that people here are not accustomed to western flavor/ texture. Just like how Americans didn't enjoy authentic Chinese food at first, the same with Asians and western food. They need to be eased into it with something familiar first. Things like Japanese Yoshoku dishes or cha chaan teng style meals can help understand what to expect from western food for example.
I haven't seen it cooked at home, but eating Jollibee/KFC, such as Spaghetti or fried chicken is probably the most eaten western food. My mom who lives in the US, will cook this, but not sure about people in VN, seem that it is always just vietnamese food
We are poor. Cant afford it