When it comes to vegetables, Vietnam takes pole position over Asian cuisine, nowhere are fresh vegetables so visible and revered - and bean sprouts are a part of the culinary wizardry of Vietnam. It is one of the most popular vegetables, providing the “sound of eating’.
Vietnamese cuisine is renowned for being diverse, healthy, and delicious, with the perfect harmony of vegetables and spices; the cuisine is renowned for the use of only fresh ingredients (no dried herbs and chili flakes here) for the nutritious value of the meals, maintaining a healthy approach towards wholesome food.
Vietnamese bean sprout salad - dua gia - is a joy to eat - combining springy carrot shreds and crunchy bean sprouts with a light dressing of savoury sauce mixed with fish sauce, vinegar, rice wine, sugar.
Bean sprouts add the crunch to Pho - taking its rightful place among the sliced onion, scallion, Thai basil, cilantro, chilli, Sorrel Rau Chua (sourish French Sorrel), etc. - the mix of fresh greens is like a salad. Wonderful complement.
Just like banh mi , Bánh xèo (literally "sizzling pancake"), has a bit of French influence. It’s a crepe and oyster omelette fold into one crispy savoury snack. Choose your ingredients of shrimp, pork belly and onions, then throw in a handful of lightly blanched bean sprouts - would you leave out the music?