In the past few years Vietnamese food has become more and more popular around the world. Food lovers may have tried the two best known Vietnamese dishes – spring rolls and bread rolls. Rice, noodles, fresh vegetable and herbs all play big roles in Vietnamese food, making it one of the healthiest cuisines in the world. In Vietnam you’ll discover one unmistakable fact: Vietnamese people love noodles. They eat them every day, sometimes for every meal. Vietnamese noodles are made from a few basic ingredients, the most common being rice, wheat and mung beans, but a whole sub-cuisine is built on these basics. 

Known for its balance of five elements, many Vietnamese dishes include five fundamental taste senses (ngÅ© vị): spicy (metal), sour (wood), bitter (fire), salty (water) and sweet (Earth), corresponding to: five organs (ngÅ© tạng): gall bladder, small intestine, large intestine, stomach, and urinary bladder. Vietnamese dishes also include five types of nutrients (ngÅ© chất): powder, water or liquid, mineral elements, protein and fat. Vietnamese cooks try to have five colours (ngÅ© sắc): white (metal), green (wood), yellow (Earth), red (fire) and black (water) in their dishes.

Anthony Bourdain wrote for the Financial Times in 2005: A year from now, I plan to live here. I will move to a small fishing village in a coastal area of Vietnam near Hoi An. I have no idea what I'm going to do there, other than write about the experience. I plan only on being a visual curiosity, the lone westerner in a Vietnamese community; to rent a house, move in with few, if any, expectations and let the experience wash over me. Whatever happens, happens. Vietnam is also well known for its street food. According to Forbes.com, Ho Chi Minh city, the biggest city in Vietnam, is one of the best 10 places to have street food.