Vietnamese cuisine is one of the world’s most original, diverse and healthy. Complex blends of textures and flavors characterize its making. Being rice the main ingredient, it shows up in many ways: steamed, fried, in all kinds of pasta, sweet and salty, in elaborating rice wine, etc. It is a main dish itself (even a dessert) or can go accompanying chicken, pork, duck, fish, seafood, squid, an endless list, cooked in any possible manner. An amazing care for and the large number of vegetables used in the kitchen add and complete an impressive gallery of flavors, often aromatic and spicy. In Vietnam, the ubiquitous fresh green herbs make its cuisine unique among other Asian cuisines.

Based on the quality and freshness of the ingredients and a right balanced combination of them, there is a common root for the three main regions, North, Central and South, although local traditions and external influences have given shape to these slightly different tendencies.

Hoi An cuisine deserves mention apart. Its complexity is somewhat in debt with French and Chinese influences and there are a few specialities, such as cao lau or “white rose”, that attract gourmets from all over Vietnam.