Hellooooo, everybody!
Let me ask you: Do you like eating?
I sure do!
Me too.
Even though I look pretty skinny, I really like eating,
and I usually eat a lot.
And aside from a few unpleasant dishes, I love Vietnamese food.
Because of that, in this video I want to show you how to talk about Vietnamese food in English.
My intention isn't to try to find translations for all of Vietnam's signature dishes.
For example:
Like I said in a previous video, you should call Vietnamese dishes by their Vietnamese names.
And I also don't intend to talk about things that you could easily find in any dictionary.
For example, if you don't know what "sả" is, then check your dictionary.
There you go.
Right the first time.
Instead, I'm going to focus on things that are vague and unclear.
That is to say, the things I think you guys wouldn't know if you didn't have a native speaker like me for a guide.
The video's got four sections:
ingredients
cooking methods,
things that are easily confused,
and, last, fruits and vegetables that the West doesn't have.
Let's start with ingredients, shall we?
I think that to start with, I should mention the most important ingredient in Vietnam.
Of course you guys know that "cơm" is "rice."
But English also uses the word 'rice' in lots of situations where Vietnamese uses a more detailed word.
"Hạt gạo" is also rice.
"Hạt thóc" is rice.
"Cây lúa" is rice.
And the meanings of "rice" don't end there.
"Xôi" is sticky rice.
And "cốm" is green rice.
So when people grind rice into a powder, what's that called?
In English, the powder made from any kind of cereal grain is called "flour."
However, since wheat is used more than anything else in English speaking countries,
the word "flour" by itself is understood as wheat flour.
And "bột gạo" is rice flour.
"Bột nếp" is either rice flour or sticky rice flour.
But please remember that "flour" isn't used for all kinds of powders.
For example, "bột ớt" isn't chili flour, but chili powder.
Same goes for "bột gia vị." Spice powder.
Ok, let's go back to rice flour.
When people make long strands out of rice flour, what are those called?
Bún, right?
I've found that a lot of people think the word "noodle" only means "bún."
But that's wrong.
In English, "noodle" refers to any kind noodle. (Duh.)
"Bún" are rice noodles.
"Bánh phở" are also rice noodles, and if you want to be more descriptive, you can say, "flat rice noodles."
Noodles made from wheat are "wheat noodles." (Duh.)
And "miến" have several different names:
clear noodles, glass noodles, or bean thread noodles.
All right, we know a few ingredients now. Let's move on to cooking methods.
First, I want to talk about the word "fry," because it gets used in a lot of situations.
"Rang" is fry.
"Xào" is stir fry.
With "rán" and "chiên," it depends.
If you chiên something like this, then it's just "fry."
But if you chiên in a pot full of oil, then that's "deep fry."
"Boil" also gets used a lot.
It means "luộc," "đun," and "sôi."
Remember to add -ed and -ing when necessary, though.
For example, "trứng luộc" are boiled eggs.
And if you want to say, "Nước sôi kia,"
then you should say, "The water's boiling!"
Vietnam also has some cooking methods where the food is simmered on low heat for a long time.
For example, "om," "kho," and "hầm."
It might not be possible to translate those words into English very exactly,
but if you say "braise" or "stew," native speakers will understand clearly enough.
And one more way of preparing food, which I really like, is "muối," for example "muối dưa."
That method is called "pickling."
"Hành muối" are pickled onions.
"Dưa cải muối" are pickled mustard greens.
And "cà muối"are . . .
I don't know what "cà pháo" are. I just know how to eat them.
Ok, when food has been cooked, it's "chín," right?
"Chín" food is cooked.
And "sống" food is raw.
But the word "chín" is also used for fruit.
"Chín" fruit is not cooked, of course.
It's ripe.
And "xanh" fruit is green or unripe.
Ah, speaking of green fruit, I just remembered that a lot of people are also confused about limes and lemons.
Here's the difference.
Limes are "chanh,"
and lemons are "chanh vàng."
Ah, something else related to the color green:
"súp lơ."
If you check a dictionary, you'll see that it's called "cauliflower."
That's correct, if you're talking about white súp lơ.
And green súp lơ is "broccoli."
And the last easily confused thing
is that a lot of people have asked me how to differentiate "canh," "súp," and "món nước."
But the answer is English doesn't differentiate them. They're all just "soup."
And when you want to talk about a dish's "nước dùng,"
it's not "water," but rather broth or stock.
Vietnamese cuisine has a lot of things in common with the cuisine in English-speaking countries,
for example cabbage, tomatoes, and green onions.
And some other things, like durian, we don't have in the West,
but it's famous nevertheless, so most people know it's called "durian.
But Vietnam has a lot of other fruits and vegetables that most Westerners have never even seen,
so English truly doesn't have words for them.
Or, at the very least, those words aren't remotely common.
I'd like to introduce them now.
Wow, Vietnamese cuisine is so rich!
Why am I still making this video?
I'm going out to eat!
I've got one more suggestion for you.
If you're curious about some food or another, a lot of times a better method than checking the dictionary
is to check Wikipedia.
Here's how to do it:
Go to the Vietnamese Wikipedia,
search for something like "nấm hương."
and then on that page, go down and choose English.
You'll find that Wikipedia's results are far more accurate than those of online dictionaries.
Have a good time learning more,
and bon appétit, as well.
Ok, there's one more thing.
I want to thank everyone supporting me on this channel.
But you guys know that I don't make these videos entirely by myself, right?
My girlfriend helps a lot.
Take this scene, for example. Who do you think that is stir frying the chicken?
Or this scene. My tripod isn't that tall.
So who do you think is holding the camera?
My girlfriend, of course.
Two weeks ago, she and her little sister opened this adorable little clothes shop.
If you'd like to support her, too, then check out her page, facebook.com/BlueberryShop21,
and see if there's anything you like.