Typical Vietnamese Family Meal: What to Expect

The meal in Vietnam is particularly important; it's more than a simple lunch. It's a family reunion; it's a moment of sharing where you taste each dish deliciously, etc. You will have the opportunity to discover it during your trip to Vietnam. Often you will notice that you are generously invited to dinner and this is a tradition. For example, when we receive guests, we tend to invite them for the meal; we will cook them succulent dishes and serve them generously.

During the first of the lunar month, when it is the middle of the month, we spend a certain time to make a real meal for our ancestors, we deposit it on the altars and we wait for the incense to burn completely. Then we take the dishes and warm them up and the meal is considered sacred. However, every day, we deposit fruit or cookies or other things for the ancestors; they always come before us and then it is up to us to take them back.

In the pagodas, twice a week, we gather to eat a vegetarian meal with the monks and everyone is strongly invited, even tourists and visitors. The meal is synonymous with sharing and joy, and love, of course.

Why are Vietnamese so busy during Tet? Because we make banh chung, chicken, soups, etc. for the ancestors, it is essential in our culture. It's a great gathering of the whole family; wherever you are, you have to come home to have Tet's meal with the family and to see all the family members. It's an important time, a time of happiness. There is so much food for Tet that there are still some for days.

Rice is our source of life. We eat a bowl for two each meal with dishes of vegetables and meats available to everyone. When we do not eat rice, it will be vermicelli. A soup to be tasted at the end and then some fruit as a dessert. The chopsticks are practical for tingling on the plates. The typical meal is rice for everyone, a dish of meat or fish, a vegetable dish and a soup.

Even for breakfast, we eat rice like all other meals, but in a lighter form, or vermicelli. The morning meal takes place around 6-7am, at noon, and at 11-12h and dinner is around 6-7pm. After lunch, we take a mid-day break so we take a nap, a moment of rest to be in shape for the rest of the day.

Take a Vietnamese meal when you visit the homestay in Vietnam; you will love it!

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