Six years ago, when she followed her husband to the US to settle down, Han Nguyen's family sent her all kinds of food to take away. Now, if she wants to eat "country food" from her hometown, she goes to the market in the US and buys everything she needs to prepare it.
Supermarkets full of Vietnamese goods
Indeed, in the Asian Pacific Market in Seattle, Washington, there are items that make us from Vietnam feel excited when preparing ingredients for dishes we plan to make for family gatherings.
Vu Dai braised fish - Ha Nam specialty in Asian Pacific Market
Dried coconut tubers from Ben Tre are exported, just need to be soaked and boiled for 10 minutes to make salad. When cooking vermicelli with fish sauce, there is no shortage of linh fish sauce, sac fish sauce from Chau Doc; then lotus flowers, banana flowers as side vegetables. Han Nguyen bought kumquats to mix shrimp paste to the standard of vermicelli with shrimp paste. Dried rice vermicelli only needs to be steamed for 5-10 minutes to eat with roasted meat. Bay Dong shrimp paste - Phu Quoc stir-fried with meat, lemongrass, chili and cucumber is really "good" with rice...
The processed food counter in Asian Pacific Market has a lot of canned food for those who want to eat Vietnamese food without spending time cooking, such as: braised straw mushrooms, stir-fried crab vermicelli, fried rice with salted fish, tapioca dumplings, Hue-style banh nam, etc. There is also a pot of Vu Dai braised fish, authentically from Ha Nam, exported to other countries. If you like snacks, Han Nguyen can buy things like Tan Tan fish skin peanuts, dried grapefruit - a specialty of Tan Trieu, sweet and sour canarium fruit, pickled mango, pickled green plum, pia cake from Bac Lieu, Soc Trang , etc. at Asian Pacific Market.
The shelves in Asian Pacific Market are filled with brands such as Vinamilk condensed milk, Vinasoy soy milk, Cholimex chili sauce, Hao Hao instant noodles, Khanh Hoa bird's nest...; noodles, green-skin pomelos, Cat mangoes, dragon fruits... clearly labeled as being of Vietnamese origin.
City Farmers Market - also known as Hong Kong Market - in Atlanta, Georgia displays G7 coffee, Trung Nguyen coffee, Tay Do fresh vermicelli, Safoco rice paper, instant noodles, and various Vietnamese spices in quite large booths, proving that they are consumed quite strongly. Vietnamese rambutan in the fruit booth, even though the fruit has bruised skin, is still bought up by buyers.
Tay Do fresh rice noodles are displayed quite a lot in Hong Kong markets.
Ms. Le June - living in the Sugarloaf area of Atlanta - said that not only Vietnamese people but also many of her American friends love to drink G7 and Trung Nguyen coffee, and eat Vietnamese rambutan and durian. When craving some Vietnamese dishes, she goes to City Farmers Market to buy coconut milk to cook sweet soup, fresh coconut water to braise meat, Huong Xua Mikko powder to make banh xeo, and Ba Cay Tre rice vermicelli to eat with grilled meat. Sometimes, when she misses Chuong Duong Xa Xi, she also comes here to buy it.
Vietnamese cuisine spreads quickly
We were truly delighted to see many traditional Vietnamese cakes: banh tam, banh da lon, banh bo, banh it, banh tet, banh chung... sold daily in the City Farmers Market chain (Hong Kong market) and Asian Pacific Market in many states.
Vietnamese restaurants near Hong Kong market
The cakes are produced by Vietnamese-American production facilities and supplied to supermarkets every day. According to Han Nguyen, having these types of cakes in America helps her satisfy her craving for Vietnamese cakes. Foreigners living in America have chosen to buy Vietnamese cakes as much as fresh European-style cakes.
There is a common opinion among many people that "Vietnamese kitchen" is spreading rapidly in the US. Almost every commercial area and food court in every state has Vietnamese restaurants and eateries, and they are all crowded. The customers are not only Vietnamese but also many Americans and Asian, European and African Americans who come to Vietnamese restaurants.
"Pho" is probably the most common word in the names of Vietnamese restaurants, such as: "What The Pho", "New Super Pho", "Pho Dai Nam", "Pho Filling", "I love Pho", "Wild Ginger Pho"... However, there are restaurants whose signs do not have any Vietnamese written on them, but inside the menu is 70%-80% Vietnamese dishes, such as Flying Monk Noodle Bar in Savannah, Georgia; Bay Fusion in Houston, Texas. Whenever they see a restaurant with a picture of a bowl of pho, a meat-filled sandwich, spring rolls, spring rolls, iced milk coffee..., diners immediately tell each other to go in.
Ms. Oanh Nguyen said that in the past, the place with the most diverse Vietnamese dishes was California. Now in other states in the US, in addition to pho, bun bo Hue, banh mi, goi cuon, cha gio, and iced milk coffee that are considered quick to recognize, Asian restaurants and Vietnamese restaurants have added many other Vietnamese dishes to the menu, such as: bun rieu, bun mam, bun thit nuong, hu tieu, congee with longan, congee with duck, congee with chicken, congee with fish, cua ga, co gai, ca ca, ca ca, com tam, banh beo chen, com ca chien (whole fish), fried ca chao with salted fish... Drinks include iced lemonade, apricot juice, tamarind juice, sugarcane juice, various types of sweet soups...
The rapid spread of Vietnamese cuisine has forced Pad Thai restaurants and Chinese restaurants to add some Vietnamese dishes to their menus to retain customers. At the food market specializing in Mexican food for the Mexican community in Georgia, there is only one Vietnamese food stall serving and no other Asian food stalls.
Therefore, Ms. Oanh Nguyen affirmed that relatives and friends who come to visit or travel to the US now do not have to worry about having to eat dairy, greasy foods or unfamiliar fast food when going out.
Amber, 28, lives in Grinnett County, Georgia, and loves Vietnamese food so much that after trying a few dishes, she asked for instructions on how to cook them, then went to the market to buy ingredients and tried each dish herself. Amber also learned to read and write Vietnamese so she could look up how to cook Vietnamese dishes online.
"Ambassador" for tourism?
Foreigners commented that Vietnamese dishes often contain enough protein (meat, fish), starch (pho, vermicelli, hu tieu, rice, etc.); vegetables and spices are just right, not bland, not too spicy, not too greasy, balanced, nutritious, good for health. The dishes are diverse, the prices are affordable, so Vietnamese cuisine has a very good development prospect, and can become the leading culinary trend in the US in the future.
Vietnamese food fairs are held in many states during the Mid-Autumn Festival and Lunar New Year; Sunday gatherings after church mass to enjoy Vietnamese food in the Catholic community have contributed to making a mark and promoting Vietnamese cuisine.
Vietnamese food stall in Mexican market
The increasingly deep impression of Vietnamese cuisine has made young people in Vietnamese families increasingly want to travel back to their homeland, bringing their foreign friends along.
Peter (living in Atlanta) came to Vietnam when he was 15 years old, and still remembers the feeling of admiring the beautiful scenery in Da Nang, Quang Binh, and enjoying many delicious dishes in Ho Chi Minh City, the Southwest region. Having only worked for a year, Peter said he is saving money to decide to take a trip to Vietnam next year. His plan is to go to Ha Long, Hanoi and must try the Bun Dau Mam Tom dish, to see what it is like. We agreed to be tour guides for Peter and his friends.
Ms. Phuong Thao - living in Seattle, Washington - said she will bring her husband's family (American) back to Vietnam in early 2024. The place they want to go is the Mekong Delta (Southwestern region), they want to know the floating market here, they want to eat authentic noodles...
It can be seen that the profound influence of Vietnamese cuisine in the US is creating momentum to promote Vietnamese tourism, attaching the image of food to the beautiful scenery of each region in the most authentic and familiar way. Using cuisine as an "ambassador" for tourism can attract tourists from the US to Vietnam, and can also promote more and more Vietnamese goods to the US from popular Vietnamese dishes.
"The interesting thing is that many foreigners or young people in Vietnamese families, even though they are not fluent or even do not know Vietnamese, when they go to a restaurant selling Vietnamese food, they remember the Vietnamese names of the dishes. Some people even put a list of Vietnamese dishes in their personal culinary notebooks to gradually explore.
Attracting many foreigners
People who return to Vietnam and then return to the US no longer have to worry about packing food and spices to bring with them, because Vietnamese markets are everywhere in the US.
Nowadays, almost every state in the US has Vietnamese restaurants and eateries in commercial and culinary areas.
Vietnamese green-skinned grapefruit is very popular in the US.
The increasing presence of Vietnamese dishes, foods, and vegetables in the US not only serves the needs of "tasting and eating deliciously like at home" of Vietnamese people, but also attracts more and more foreigners to enjoy the rich flavors of Vietnamese dishes. From there, they have the need to come to Vietnam, to explore the country that has "kitchens" expanding throughout the US.
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