Vietnam Culinary Tours that Reveal the Spirit of the Country
Vietnam culinary tours focus on connecting travellers with the culture and people of Vietnam. The popular Vietnam culinary tours include stops at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hoi An and the former imperial capital of Hue. Not just tasting the diverse menus but if interested, you can participate in cooking classes, market tours with chefs and events like the royal dinners in a colonial mansion or in a garden house.Vietnam culinary tours has always been an attractive tourism product. The country has taken many steps and is working to develop the scopes of culinary tourism which beguiles tourists from various parts of the globe. The Vice President of the Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA) had spoken about this last year, highlighting how the tourism sector is developing numerous unique products to lure visitors, with the special gastronomical delicacies that underline Vietnam’s cultural identity.
Many Vietnamese dishes have become globally recommended, confirming that Vietnamese food can become a unique tourism product in itself.
In fact, the Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Ethnology and Anthropology suggested a new strategy with a vision 2030, where the authorities prepare for a new policy that involves developing Vietnam Culinary Tours. Developing the traditional cuisine, which can be a part of the master plan of Vietnam tourism development.
Before getting into the details of the Vietnam Culinary Tours, the VITA recently established the Vietnam Chef Association (VICA) to connect, provide training and support Vietnamese chefs. This will be all about contributing to building a trademark for Vietnamese food. The authority has made a criteria for ranking Vietnamese chefs as per the global recognition and is all set to promote standards and norms for Vietnamese dishes.
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Many Vietnamese dishes such as Pho (rice noodle with beef or chicken soup), Bun cha (grilled pork with rice vermicelli) and Nem (fried spring roll) have made their name worldwide. Nem ran (fried spring rolls) was listed amongst top ten dishes in the world by the US Cable News Network (CNN) in 2015.
Vietnam Cuisine Culture Association conducted a study showing there are more than 3,000 dishes all over the country. With about 15,000 – 20,000 Vietnamese restaurants abroad, you can find approximately 30,000 restaurants and culinary zones nationwide.
World Travelers Association revealed how more than 25% of tourists are motivated by food to visit Vietnam. The second Global Report on Food Tourism registered that 87% of inspected organisations distinguish food tourism among their fundamental factors for tourism development, while 82% said food tourism is a notable motivation for tourism development and local economic improvement.
Top attractions of a typical culinary tour include:
• Visiting a rural area
• Enrolling in cooking classes
• Participating in fun street food tours
• Overnight trip to Ha long bay (or a specified region)
• Visiting the hidden gem in the local restaurants
• Exploring the rice wine and rice paper workshops
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Of Unity and Diversity
Each region- North, Central and South has something to boast about. If there is anything to infer about Vietnamese food, it can simply be the unpredictable heterogeneity. It is hard to define and compare the specific traits of cuisines from each region as there is more than a capital of cuisine in Vietnam. The influence of French and Chinese culture during the colonial era adds more to the pulsing scenes of gastronomy. While Ho Chi Minh City is proud that it is the most inclusive region when it comes to dining, Hanoi offers some genuine and indigenous food experience. Again, Hue boasts about its dominant trait in the dining choices. You will have to explore it yourself and decide which one you like the most!Breakfasts in Vietnam come in an assortment of dishes, which can be unconventional from the toast-butter-jam-cereal culture, noodle to rice to baguette. While you can begin your horizon of food knowledge, start with the famous and typical dish is Pho. Do not miss out on banh cuon, xoixeo and chaosu. People have rice with a vegetable broth for the main course in lunch and dinner. It can be anything like tofu, pork, beef, chicken, or potatoes! If you are looking for the regional difference in the food variety, this is where you can find it. The variation in the types of processing and addition of spice brings a change in the taste.
Besides the local dish, you are expected to run into many international cuisine scenes in big cities. In Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City,you can find Korean, Spanish, Indian, Japanese, Greek and Chinese food, especially along with the touristic areas. Pizza and pasta are readily available, just like any other major metropolitan cities. Interestingly, fast-food chains are scantier than most other countries in the world. Nonetheless, what is the point of coming halfway through the planet to have a bite of burger?
Food of Typical Wet Rice Country
Most visitors coming to Vietnam are amazed at the dominance of rice and rice-related courses. Rice is an object for praying in many temples of the country. So, when talking about the Vietnamese and their tradition, there has to be a special mention of this paddy cereal.
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Many main dishes and snacks in Vietnam are made from rice: boiled rice in daily meal, steamed rice, rice porridge, well-known Banh Chung (square cake), glutinous rice cake and more.
Even the universal Pho that you will hear about so many times when talking of Vietnamese cuisine, is made from rice as well.
Snack Paradise
Sweet potato is considered the most popular nosh in the countryside. Boiled sweet potato, cassava and peanuts are the most typically Vietnamese snack, minus any salt or sugar! When venturing beyond the standard ones, you can try the noodle, bean sweet soups, made-of-rice cakes - all of which are available along the sidewalks of the streets.
See More: Authentic Vietnam Street Food
Every Plate Has One Thing in Common - Fish Sauce Bowl
In the centre of the food tray, goes the renowned fish sauce bowl which is the signature to Vietnamese cuisine. Many believe the common fish sauce bowl represents Vietnamese solidarity.People mainly live on vegetable and aquatic options such as fish, shrimp, and snail. As a result, boiled dishes are the most popular, and fish sauce is a particular demand.
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