Vietnamese cuisine is characterized by the neutrality of mixing ingredients not too spicy, too sweet or too fat. The auxiliary materials (spices) for processing Vietnamese food are extremely rich, including:
Many herbs such as basil, perilla, marjoram, onion, dill, China ...
Plant spices like chili, pepper, lemongrass, chives, garlic, ginger, lemon or young leaves ...
Fermented spices such as batches, shrimp sauce, unexpected wine, vinegar or bitter candy, coconut milk ...
When enjoying the dishes, the combination of ingredients in the way mentioned above becomes even more obvious: Vietnamese people rarely eat any specific food, enjoy each dish, but one meal. Eating is usually a combination of dishes from start to finish. Another special feature of Vietnamese cuisine that other countries, especially Western countries do not have is fish sauce. Fish sauce is used frequently in most Vietnamese dishes. There are also sauces like soy sauce, soy sauce (made from soy). A bowl of fish sauce is used together on a plate of rice, from past to present, to make the palate more flavorful, the dish has a more specific flavor and represents the cohesive community of Vietnamese people.
Vietnamese cuisine follows two principles, Yin and Yang, and the Five Elements of Mutual Generation. Yin and Yang development The typical spices of the above mentioned tropical Southeast Asian peoples are used in a harmonious way together, such as the dish that easily causes cold (welding) must have hot spicy (heat). comes and vice versa. Hot (warm) ingredients must be cooked with cold (cool) ingredients to balance the dish. The incompatible dishes cannot be combined in one dish or not eaten at the same time because they are not delicious, or potentially harmful to health, have been summarized into many experiences handed down from generation to generation. For example:
Duck meat "cold", suitable to eat in the summer with ginger fish sauce, "hot" properties. On the other hand, chicken and pork calculated "warm" is appropriate to eat in the winter (previously it was only when New Year to make pork, chicken). Aquatic products from "cool" to "cold" are suitable for use with ginger, lemongrass, garlic ("warm"). Spicy foods ("hot") are often balanced with a sour taste, which is considered to be ("cool"). Flipped duck eggs ("cold"), must combine with laksa leaves ("hot"). Patients with influenza and colds must drink ginger juice, emit lemongrass leaves, grapefruit leaves ("hot").