Food culture in Vietnam is diverse and vibrant and it is home to some of the most flavorful dishes in the world. The country’s cuisine also has a plethora of food items that will delight the adventurous souls. Read on to know about some of them.

The coconut beetle-larva

Coconut beetle-larva | Image Credit - Forest and Kim Starr, Starr, CC BY 2.0 Via Wikimedia Commons
Coconut beetle-larva | Image Credit – Forest and Kim Starr,  CC BY 2.0 Via Wikimedia Commons

Fret not! This is a popular and totally safe dish to try in Vietnam and it is even being served in many luxury hotels and resorts across the country. Coconut beetle-larvae usually lives in the stems of coconut trees and they grow as big as the thumb of an adult. The beetles are served alive with fish sauce and are told to be delicious.

Blood pudding

Tiết canh | Image Credit - Petr & Bara Ruzicka CC BY 2.0 Via Wikimedia Commons
Tiết canh | Image Credit – Petr & Bara Ruzicka CC BY 2.0 Via Wikimedia Commons

Known by the locals as Tiet Canh, this is a dish made from animal blood. It is made by adding Fish sauce or diluted salt water to the blood to avoid premature coagulation, along with copped innards. The dish is then served with toasted peanuts, and herbs such as mint, lemon etc.

Nem Chua (Vietnamese Fermented Pork Roll)

Nem Chua | Image Credit - Rungbachduong at Vietnamese Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0 Via Wikimedia Commons
Nem Chua | Image Credit – Rungbachduong at Vietnamese Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0 Via Wikimedia Commons

Nem Chua is a Vietnamese food that is loved by many. It is made of fresh pork or beef with a kind of Vietnamese spice called thính, garlic and thinly chopped chillies. The mix is then allowed to ferment for three days and served with chilli or fish sauce.

Fermented Shrimp Paste

This is a signature ingredient rather than a dish. This is basically a paste made of fermented shrimp meat and salt. During the fermenting process, a particular enzyme in the meat brings in a distinctive flavour for this paste. Having an important role in Vietnam cuisine, you can see it being added to food items at many eateries. If you wish to know more about this and many other ingredients you can pay a visit to spice spoons kitchens at a property in Vietnam belonging to Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas where they will even teach you how to cook some of the signature dishes in Vietnam.

Roland Lefevre is a travel writer who specializes in creating features on leisure as well as business travel destinations across the globe.

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