For all those calorie conscious out there, Vietnamese cuisine is a must try! And the fact that it is fresh, light and flavourful adds as bonus. Delhiites can get a flavour of Vietnam at the ongoing Vietnamese food festival at the Double Tree hotel, Gurgaon.
Chef Hoang Thanh Tuan, Vietnamese says, “We are serving some of the most popular, local and traditional dishes of Vietnam. For those who prefer healthy eating, we have delicacies like the banana blossom salad, the grapefruit salad, aloe vera salad, kohlrabi salad with carrot and herbs among many others.”
Vast shorelines make seafood a staple for people in this region.
Explaining about the condiments and spices that are used in Vietnamese dishes, Chef Tuan says, “Vietnamese people usually use a lot of raw vegetables as condiments for their dishes. We use a lot of local fresh herbs like basil, Vietnamese mint, lemon grass, galangal and fresh coriander for adding that authentic touch.”
Chef Tuan adds, “A simple style of cooking like stir frying, steaming and grilling is employed in making these dishes.”
“We also add fish sauce, shrimp paste that enhance the flavour and aroma of the dish,” he adds.
Executive chef, Rajat Tuli explains, “Indian food is completely different from the Vietnamese cuisine. Though, spices like cardamom, cinnamon, coriander seeds, star anise, curry powder are used extensively in both the cuisines but the cooking styles are very different.”
There is no doubt that there’s a common gene pool of lemon grass, basil, coconut milk that makes up most dishes of South-East Asia. But, traditional Vietnamese cooking is known for minimal use of oil, and reliance on herbs and vegetables.
“People’s palates are opening up. Since Chinese, Italian and Japanese cuisines are already popular amongst Indians, we decided to present flavours of Vietnam to them,” says Vinay Gupta, GM, DoubleTree hotel.