UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND LAW

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HO CHI MINH CITY

THE INFLUENCE OF OTHER CULTURES

ON VIETNAMESE CUISINE

Students’ names: Huỳnh Công Trương – K174040493

Vũ Nguyễn Thảo Minh – K174040483
Trần Nguyên Ngọc – K174050615
Nguyễn Thanh Nhã – K174050616
Phạm Ngọc Thương Thương – K174081010

December 2018

Research supervisor: Chung Từ Bảo Như

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Abstract:
The purpose of this research is to clarify the situation in which Vietnamese food is
influenced by other countries’ cuisine. In order to narrow down the width of information
and gain more precise results, a research was conducted on four countries: China, France,
Korea and Japan. Upon some primary resources and data collected from foreigners, it
became clear that Vietnamese cuisine has been strongly influenced by other countries.
This is particularly true with countries that colonized Vietnam. By showing the
involvement of other countries in Vietnamese dishes, this study also highlights creations
by adapting outsiders’ recipes.
Introduction: Understanding Vietnamese history through food (Headley, 2018)
Looking at Vietnamese culinary trend toward integration, it will not be strange if the food
culture of Vietnam is as complex as its fascinating, it becomes more diversified and
various nowadays. Through the course of building and developing, Vietnam suffered
from many long periods of war and domination: 1000 years by Chinese, 100 years by
French ... (Tour, 2017). Thus, Vietnamese food has been affected heavily by other
countries. However, unique features of the food are still retained. Being an agricultural
country, Vietnamese cuisine mainly consists of rice and tropical seasoned ingredients.
Dishes are prepared by various cooking methods and enjoyed in many ways (Alotrip,
2014).
The variety of ingredients, leading to the difference in types of dishes. We concentrate
mainly on four countries that mostly impact us:
 China:
Based on Yin-Yang principle from China, the concept of five fundamental tastes is
applied to Vietnamese food (sweet, spicy, hot, sour, bitter). Besides, “bánh phở” was
created in Vietnam as an adaptation of Chinese noodles (Danko, 2016).
 France:
Flan cake, soup and Vietnamese baguette (bánh mì) are created by altering French
original recipes (Monaco, 2015).
 Korea:
Vietnamese spiciness are extremely similar to that of Korea, but Koreans prefer more. As
a result, we evolve kimchi into our traditional taste which is less spicy (Chung, Yang,
Shin, & Chung, 2016).
 Japan:
While Japanese have miso – Japanese version of fermented soybean paste, Vietnamese
have “tương”. They are quite comparable in terms of ingredients and preparation method
(Hieu, 2018).
Materials and Methods:
The study is based on the original idea about presenting the new aspects of Vietnamese
cuisine. A dataset was developed by directly interviewing foreigners in Ho Chi Minh
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City, specifically in District 1. Our questionnaire consisted of 10 questions. In order to
collect data effectively and efficiently, the maximum time for each interview was 15
minutes. Besides, interviews were also affected by weather condition and the agreement
of interviewees. There were three questions that were mainly focused on:
1. What do you think about a country’s cuisine being influenced by other cultures? Is it
good or bad?
2. Can you tell me the importance of Vietnamese cuisine to you when you decide to visit
Vietnam?
3. In your opinion, is Vietnam’s cuisine heavily affected by other countries’ cuisine?
Due to the limit of time, we gathered the results of eleven respondents from six different
countries. Along with data-collecting method, information was also collected from
reliable sources. The report’s topic is new, so there is little relation with other researches.
By combining two methods, the report provides the information about the opinion of
foreigners towards Vietnamese cuisine which is affected by that of other countries.
Results
All results were collected based on quantitative analysis by using questionnaires while
directly interviewing with foreigners on the street. Table 1 shows how outsiders thought
about the effect of other countries’ cuisine on Vietnamese cooking. Regarding the growth
of Vietnam’s tourism industry, another two tables were also developed. Table 2 shows the
level of significance of Vietnamese food to foreigners when they decide to visit Vietnam.
And table 3 presents how newcomers thought about the diversity in Vietnamese cuisine.

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Table 1: Opinions on Vietnamese cuisine being influenced by other cultures

Degree Very Bad Bad Fair Good Very Good Extremely Good
Respondents 0% 0% 0% 33.33% 0% 66.67%

Table 2: Importance of Vietnamese cuisine in terms of making travelling decision

Degree Not Slightly Fairly Importan Very Extremely
at all Important Important t Important Important
Respondent 0% 0% 0% 0% 18.18% 81.82%
s

Table 3: Level of influence from other cultures on Vietnamese cuisine

Degree Not Barely Slightly Clearly Highly Radically
at all Affected Affected Affected Affected Affected
Respondent 0% 0% 44.44% 22.22% 11.11% 22.22%
s

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Discussion: Vietnamese cuisine stands alone
When the world is getting smaller, there are increasing interactions in many different
aspects between countries. Among those is cuisine. As stated in the introduction,
Vietnamese cuisine is very diverse, which raises a question of whether the distinctive
characteristics of Vietnamese food will be lost. A research was conducted by interviewing
foreigners on the street in Ho Chi Minh City. Interviewees are from different countries to
make sure that the results are objective as much as possible. Overall, answers for the first
two questions are distributed only to two levels, while those of the last question are
allotted more equally.
Table 1 shows that all respondents agreed on the influence from other cultures having
positive effects on Vietnamese cuisine, good and extremely good (33.33% and 66.67%
respectively). This result can be explained by one of the elements that affects the
decision-making process of travelers to Vietnam. Table 2 reveals that Vietnamese
culinary beauty is what draws foreigners to this S-shaped country. 18.18% of
interviewees responded that cuisine was very important to them when they decided to
visit Vietnam, while a huge percentage of asked people believed in the extreme
importance of Vietnamese food (81.82%). Table 3 points out how foreigners thought
about the degree of different cultures’ influence on Vietnamese food. The answers ranged
from slightly affected to radically affected. 44% of respondents believed that Vietnamese
cuisine has just been slightly affected. More than half of the surveyed people agreed that
the influence can be easily seen in any Vietnamese food.
Although most answers support the fact that many combinations between Vietnamese
food and specialties from other countries have been being created, there are still opinions
on the distinctive features of Vietnamese dishes being carefully preserved. Government
should maintain current policies and encourage more diverse cuisine for the goal of
Vietnam tourism development.
Conclusion:
The Vietnamese food has been shaped and developed with strong influences from other
countries’ cuisine which are represented by Chinese, French, Korean and Japanese. From
traditional dishes to street food, there are some similarities between Vietnamese version
and the original ones. However, Vietnamese did not copy completely, but adjusted the
recipes to make those dishes become more popular and suitable with Vietnamese’s
appetite. Most of interviewed foreigners agreed that it is clear to identify other countries’
influence on Vietnamese dishes, especially from four listed countries. However, outsiders
also believed that Vietnamese cuisine stands out having its own characteristics. This
special feature makes tourists want to taste and choose Vietnam as their travelling
destination.

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References
Alotrip. (2014). Vietnam food culture overview. Alotrip.com.
Chung, H.-K., Yang, H. J., Shin, D., & Chung, K. R. (2016). Aesthetics of Korean foods:
The symbol of Korean culture. Journal of Ethnic Foods, 3(3), 178 - 188.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jef.2016.09.001
Danko, D. (2016). Yin and yang in the kitchen. Alimentarium.
Headley, M. (2018). Understanding Vietnam's history through food. City Pass Guide.
Hiếu, T. T. M. (2018). The story of tương: Vietnamese fermented soybean paste. City
Pass Guide.
Monaco, E. (2015). The French Influence On Vietnamese Cuisine. Epicure & Culture.
Tour, H. A. F. (2017). How French influences on Vietnamese cuisine.
Hoianfoodtour.com.