Vietnam: the World’s Healthiest Cuisine?

                Vegetables are the star of every Vietnamese meal & very little red meat is used

I’m already salivating at the thought of Wine-Knows’ fourth trip to Vietnam (February 2026).  While Vietnam does make wine due to its historical roots as a French colony, it’s the nation’s food that pulls at the culinary strings of my heart.   I love everything about their gastronomy, but most of all I’m hooked on how nutritious the cuisine is.

Traditional Vietnamese cooking is well known for its fresh ingredients, along with its minimal use of dairy, red meat, and oil.   With nearly a 2,000 mile coastline, fish is a common ingredient in the diet.  There’s also a huge reliance on herbs and vegetables.  Because of this, many believe that Vietnam’s cuisine may be one of the healthiest diets on the planet.

Below are three main reasons why the Vietnamese diet is one of the healthiest on the planet:

1.  Antioxidant fresh herbs

    Fresh herbs accompany many classical dishes such as Pho soup & egg/spring rolls

Many Vietnamese dishes are accompanied by a large platter of fresh herbs like cilantro, basil & mint.  Lettuce leaves serve as a wrap for many items (like a burrito) and the herbs are placed inside the wrap along with fish, eggroll, or whatever is being served.  Herbs have been used throughout history as a medicine.  We know today that they exert an antioxidant influence and contain essential oils, vitamins, and other important substances that help protect our bodies against infection, as well as boost our immunity systems.

2.     Mind-boggling array of nutritious fruit

Vietnam is located in a tropical zone with long hours of warm sunshine, as well as humidity---both of which create nirvana when it comes to fruit.  Not only is there a tremendous assortment, but the Vietnamese pick their fruit ripe.  This has a big influence on why every fruit tastes so better in Vietnam.  It’s no wonder that people from China drive hours by car (or ride the bus) to the Vietnamese border to stock up on these extraordinary fruits.

Tropical fruits have long been known for their promotion of health.  High in essential vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and fiber, they are a staple in the Vietnamese diet.  Fruits are served raw, juiced, used in salads, mixed with main courses and are served in desserts.

A jackfruit vendor displays the gigantic fruit alongside of ready-to-eat fruit

In fact, one of my favorite fruits from any country is Vietnamese.  While we don’t grow it in the US, due to the vast Vietnamese population in California the fruit is now being imported.  Called jackfruit, if you don’t know it, you should!  This fruit is a party in your mouth.  Offering a mélange of big-time tropical flavors, it tastes somewhere between a pineapple, a banana and a cherimoya (another tropical fruit found in many countries including Vietnam). 

Jackfruit is definitely a love-at-first bite kind of fruit.  It is a rich source of vitamins and minerals, in addition to fiber and protein.  While it does contain some fat, it’s not the bad saturated fat that leads to cholesterol buildup in our arteries.

3.     Very little saturated fat

          This feast for Wine-Knows' eyes had minimal fat & was chocked full of healthy flavors 

Unlike Americans, the Vietnamese eat very little saturated fat.  While beef and pork are used, they are used in small portions---abundant vegetables and fruits are mixed with the proteins.  Fish and seafood are used, as is tofu---all appear in concert with vegetables and/or fruits.

Enrollment on the February 2026 only has 3-4 remaining spaces.  Prices will be coming in January 2025, and the itinerary is already posted on our website.   Come experience this healthy way of eating with Wine-Knows!

 

www.WineKnowsTravel.com

Jack Fruit---the Yummiest Fruit I've Had

                                      Exotic jack fruits are seen in every Vietnamese market

Five years ago two of my clients of Vietnamese heritage visited us for a weekend at our home near San Diego.  They came baring gifts of strange looking fruit with wonderfully exotic aromas.  One of them was jack fruit…and it was love at first bite.  The two women friends intermingled stories of their families’ escape during the Vietnam War with heart-warming accounts of eating jack fruit back in Vietnam as small children.  While not yet available in traditional supermarkets in California, this fruit is sold in many Vietnamese food stores in California’s urban centers with large Asian populations.

So what is jack fruit?  The flavor is an addictively delicious symphony of pineapple, banana, mango and apple.  While the fruit is used in Vietnamese desserts such as puddings and cakes, I prefer the raw version where I can taste every one of its special notes.  Perfectly ripe jack fruit is like no other fruit you will ever taste.  The texture is also unusual---somewhat fibrous, it is an excellent source of dietary fiber ( as well as high in protein, potassium and vitamin B). Jack fruit is also the largest tree-borne fruit in the world growing up to a ginormous 80 lbs, and as much as a yard in length. 

Although Vietnam is one of the largest producers of jack fruit, this delectable edible is widely cultivated throughout Southeast Asia.  Archaeological findings indicate that it was cultivated in India as long as 3,000 to 6,000 years ago.  Jack fruit is also grown in Brazil.

The inside of the jack fruit is very unusual.  It looks to me like something from another planet...somewhat alien.  The first time I saw it sliced open I was shocked.  There's no way to actually describe it.

                         Hard to imagine that something this strange could be so yummy

Those of you who are coming with us on next February’s culinary tour of Vietnam will see jack fruit throughout the country---I even saw a tree growing in the downtown of Hanoi.  Every outdoor market we visited on the 2014 tour had them.  In Saigon there was a woman selling bite-size morsels of jack fruit in a handy take-out container…luckily her small stand was stationed just outside my uber-modern spa hotel located in the heart of the city.  I was a BIG customer of her products for the several days I spent in this fascinating French-inspired metropolis. 

                                           Jack fruit morsels ready for plucking                                             

For more information about the 2016 foodie’s tour of Vietnam check out the upcoming trip:   http://www.wineknowstravel.com/Vietnam_itinerary.htm

For a slideshow of the much-loved 2014 Vietnamese tour with Wine-Knows, don’t miss this slideshow of how we ate and drank our way across this mesmerizing country:

http://play.smilebox.com/SpreadMoreHappy/4e4441334d5441774f44453d0d0a