Rare feast

Vietnamese food has subtle,balanced flavours and is healthy and present only in regions that have Vietnamese emigrants. “I would summarise Vietnamese food as sweet and sour with a little bit of spice,” says Vietnamese chef Ly Vi Cham,Head Chef of Asia 7. “Our food is very mild and we primarily use lemon grass,chilli,lemon and fish sauce,” he continues. The Delhi-based restaurant chain aims to represent seven south-east Asian countries,but tellingly has only one Vietnamese dish on its permanent menu. Its pan-Asian food festival,though,makes more of an effort,featuring four Vietnamese dishes that is roughly a third of the offering.

More than the pan fried fish,salt and pepper vegetables or the lemongrass chicken,it’s the prawn with fish sauce and pepper that fascinates. This fish sauce,integral to Vietnamese food,is made by fermenting dried fish and salt. It is so ubiquitous,however,that Cham says that “nobody makes it at home anymore. It is so big in our culture that a lot of companies make ready-made fish sauce.” With a sharp salty flavour,the light brown sauce imparted a strong umami flavour. The prawn also had whole pepper corns which give it spicy warmth; Vietnam is the world’s largest producer of pepper.

While it wasn’t possible to feature in this festival,the other dish almost as famous as fish sauce is Vietnamese spring rolls. Typically served cold,these are made from “rice paper flour that is thinned out,dried,and made into a roll. This thin wrapping is then stuffed with pre-cooked meat,” explains Cham. Another unique dish is the sweet soup — made using green and red beans,sago,egg,water chestnut,sweet potato and coconut milk.” Within the country,Cham explains that the difference in regions is in its primary ingredients. He expands,“In the South the food is sweeter and richer; in the North it’s earthier with heavy usage of MSG; the poverty in middle Vietnam led to salt being the most important ingredient. One of the staples there is rice with fish sauce,ginger and salt.”

While Cham maintains that Vietnamese cuisine is distinct from that of its neighbours,occupation by the Chinese and the French has visible effects on its food. Urban areas such as Ho Chi Min city have cafés serving breads,dairy products and pastries such as flan. Cham says that a less famous but typical dish is pork and egg in fish sauce and sugar,a delicacy that is popular around Vietnam’s biggest festival,the New Year. This is celebrated on the same day as the Chinese New Year.

Pan-Asian food festival,5-24 May. Asia 7,Palladium Level 3,High Street Phoenix,Lower Parel. Tel: 022 4347 3901