Mmm simple Vietnamese garlic fried rice (Com Chien Toi Trung) with fried shrimp!

Super simple, I even bought pre-cooked/peeled shrimp for this and fried it in Annatto sesame oil for that dark sunset orange shrimp 🍤 color!

The secret to get that extra yellow, eggy color and taste is to mix in one raw egg with your cold day old rice prior to frying up the rice. I also like partially scrambling eggs separately as well for those bigger egg chunks in your fried rice! Mmmm

Salt and pepper crab (cua ran muoi) is one of the most visually appealing and popular dishes in Vietnam. It’s like finger licking good- the crab is first deep fried in a light flour batter then tossed with roasted salt and pepper, jalepenos and green scallions.

In Vietnamese this is known as Mỡ Hành. This simple garnish is simply made with lightly fried green scallions and is often served with traditional Vietnamese dishes.

Growing up my dad used to make these pickled mustard greens all the time. In Vietnamese culture we would have these pickled sour things to accompany very salty meats. I never really realized but we ate these when we were kids so I guess my fermented infatuation started off very young!

Dua Gia is a classic Vietnamese pickled beansprouts and a beloved staple in any Vietnamese household. It’s a light and colorful pickle great to pair with salty meat and fish dishes. In Vietnam, it’s usually seen and served as a companion of roasted pork!

Nuoc Mam Gung is a Vietnamese Ginger Fish Sauce that’s salty, fishy, sweet, with a little sour and spicyy zing. It’s a traditional Vietnamese dipping sauce typically used for meats cooked on the plainer side like poached duck or chicken.

One of my favorite all time childhood dishes. My parents made the traditional pork/shrimp version but we also had this as well which is the vegetarian version that has savory fried onions, crumbled tofu and woodear mushrooms as the filling and it’s topped with more crispy fried onions, fresh cilantro, and Nuoc Mam which is the fish sauce dip for this.

Gỏi cuốn, Vietnamese fresh summer rolls are easy to make and is a Vietnamese favorite that is flavorfully packed with fragrant herbs, vegetables, noodles, and a protein of choice like shrimp.