Vietnamese cuisine encompasses the foods and beverages originated from Vietnam. Meals feature a combination of five fundamental tastes:sweet,salty,bitter,sour,and spicy. The distinctive nature of each dish reflects one or more elements,which are also based around a five-pronged philosophy. Vietnamese recipes use ingredients like lemongrass,ginger,mint,Vietnamese mint,long coriander,Saigon cinnamon,bird's eye chili,lime,and Thai basil leaves. Traditional Vietnamese cooking has often been characterised as using fresh ingredients,not using much dairy or oil,having interesting textures,and making use of herbs and vegetables. The cuisine is also low in sugar and is almost always naturally gluten-free,as many of the dishes are rice-based instead of wheat-based,made with rice noodles,papers and flour.
Glutinous rice is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast East Asia,the northeastern regions of India and Bhutan which has opaque grains,very low amylose content,and is especially sticky when cooked. It is widely consumed across Asia.
A mooncake is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節). The festival is primarily about the harvest while a legend connects it to moon watching,and mooncakes are regarded as a delicacy. Mooncakes are offered between friends or on family gatherings while celebrating the festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is widely regarded as one of the four most important Chinese festivals.
Youtiao,known in Southern China as Yu Char Kway,is a long golden-brown deep-fried strip of wheat flour dough of Chinese origin and also popular in other East and Southeast Asian cuisines.
Kuih are bite-sized snack or dessert foods commonly found in Southeast Asia and China. It is a fairly broad term which may include items that would be called cakes,cookies,dumplings,pudding,biscuits,or pastries in English and are usually made from rice or glutinous rice. In China,where the term originates from,kueh or koé (粿) in the Min Nan languages refers to snacks which are typically made from rice but can occasionally be made from other grains such as wheat. The term kuih is widely used in Malaysia,Brunei,and Singapore,kueh is used in Singapore and Indonesia,kue is used in Indonesia only,all three refer to sweet or savoury desserts.
Nian gao,sometimes translated as year cake or New Year cake or Chinese New Year's cake,is a food prepared from glutinous rice flour and consumed in Chinese cuisine. It is also simply known as "rice cake". While it can be eaten all year round,traditionally it is most popular during the Chinese New Year. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao during this time of the year because nian gao (年糕) is a homonym for "higher year" or "grow every year" (年高),which means "a more prosperous year". The character 年is literally translated as "year",and the character 糕(gāo) is literally translated as "cake" and is identical in sound to the character 高,meaning "tall" or "high". In Mandarin,Nian gao (年糕) also is an exact homonym of "sticky cake" (黏糕／粘糕),the character 黏／粘(nián) meaning "sticky".
A rice cake may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped,condensed,or otherwise combined into a single object. A wide variety of rice cakes exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten. Common variations include cakes made with rice flour,those made from ground rice,and those made from whole grains of rice compressed together or combined with some other binding substance.
Bánh xèo is a crispy,stuffed rice pancake popular in Vietnam. The name refers to the sound a thin layer of rice batter makes when it is poured into the hot skillet. It is a savoury fried pancake made of rice flour,water,and turmeric powder. It can also be called a Vietnamese crêpe. Some common stuffings include pork,prawns,diced green onion,mung bean,and bean sprouts. Bánh xèo is often served with sides. Usually,some commonly added ingredients include leafy greens like lettuces or perilla leaves,other herbs as flavor enhancers like mint leaves and Thai basil,cucumbers,and pickled vegetables,usually carrots and radishes. Lastly,its dipping sauce is nước chấm. Elements of each side and sauce add to the fresh-tasting fried Bánh Xèo.
Kue is an Indonesian bite-sized snack or dessert food. Kue is a fairly broad term in Indonesian to describe a wide variety of snacks including cakes,cookies,fritters,pies,scones,and patisserie. Kue are made from a variety of ingredients in various forms;some are steamed,fried or baked. They are popular snacks in Indonesia,which has the largest variety of kue. Because of the countries' historical colonial ties,Koeé (kue) is also popular in the Netherlands.
Bánh bò is a sweet,chewy sponge cake from Vietnam. It is made from rice flour,water,sugar,and yeast,and has a honeycomb-like appearance on the inside due to the presence of numerous small air bubbles. Coconut milk is also usually a part of the batter,imparting a slight flavor and aroma of coconut. The cake is of Southern Chinese origin,although the Chinese version,called bái táng gāo,does not contain coconut milk. Bánh bò are generally eaten as a dessert,although they may also be consumed as an accompaniment to a meal.
Bánh rán is a deep-fried glutinous rice ball Vietnamese dish from northern Vietnam. In Vietnamese,bánh is a category of food including cakes,pies,and pastries,while rán means "fried."
In Vietnamese,the term bánh translates loosely as "cake" or "bread",but refers to a wide variety of prepared foods that can easily be eaten by hands or chopsticks. With the addition of qualifying adjectives,bánh refers to a wide variety of sweet or savory,distinct cakes,buns,pastries,sandwiches,and other food items,which may be cooked by steaming,baking,frying,deep-frying,or boiling. Foods made from wheat flour or rice flour are generally called bánh,but the term may also refer to certain varieties of noodle and fish cake dishes,such as bánh canh and bánh hỏi.
Bánh bèo is a Vietnamese dish that is originated from Huế,a city in Central Vietnam. The English translation for this dish is water fern cakes. Bánh bèo is made from a combination of rice flour and tapioca flour. It is popular street food in Vietnam. The ingredients include rice cake,dried shrimps,crispy pork skin,scallion oil,and dipping sauce. It is usually eaten as a snack but is now considered a dish in restaurants and can be eaten as lunch and dinner.
Sponge cake is a light cake made with eggs,flour and sugar,sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks,like angel food cake,but most of them do. Sponge cakes,leavened with beaten eggs,originated during the Renaissance,possibly in Spain. The sponge cake is thought to be one of the first non-yeasted cakes,and the earliest attested sponge cake recipe in English is found in a book by the English poet Gervase Markham,The English Huswife,Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman (1615). Still,the cake was much more like a cracker:thin and crispy. Sponge cakes became the cake recognised today when bakers started using beaten eggs as a rising agent in the mid-18th century. The Victorian creation of baking powder by English food manufacturer Alfred Bird in 1843 allowed the addition of butter to the traditional sponge recipe,resulting in the creation of the Victoria sponge. Cakes are available in many flavours and have many recipes as well. Sponge cakes have become snack cakes via the Twinkie.
Ang ku kueh,also known as red tortoise cake,is a small round or oval-shaped Chinese sweet dumpling with soft,sticky glutinous rice flour skin wrapped around a sweet central filling. It is molded to resemble a tortoise shell and is presented resting on a square piece of banana leaf. As suggested by its name,red tortoise cakes are traditionally red in color and has a sticky,chewy texture when eaten. Red tortoise cakes are shaped like tortoise shells because the Chinese traditionally believed that eating tortoises would bring longevity to those who are eating it and bring about good fortune and prosperity. Considered to be auspicious items,these sweet pastries are especially prepared during important festivals such as Chinese New Year as offerings to the Chinese deities.
Betawi cuisine is rich,diverse and eclectic,in part because the Betawi people that create them were composed from numbers of regional immigrants that came from various places in the Indonesian archipelago,as well as Chinese,Indian,Arab,and European traders,visitors and immigrants that were attracted to the port city of Batavia since centuries ago.
