Nuoc mam is now available in most Asian stores. When mixed with garlic, chilli, sugar and some lime or lemon juice, it is called nuoc cham and is put on the table to be added to almost everything, starting with the breakfast bowl of noodle soup and continuing through lunch to dinner. These meals may begin with an entree of fresh or fried rice paper spring rolls, wrapped in a lettuce leaf, with sprigs of fresh coriander or mint, the whole thing dipped in nuoc cham and eaten. Vietnamese Chicken and Cabbage Salad is one of my favourite Vietnamese dishes. While many of the ingredients used in Vietnam are common to the Chinese kitchen, Vietnamese cooks fry fewer foods than Chinese cooks do, so naturally the food is lighter.
Rice is the staple, and fish from the long coastline provides most of the protein.
Pork and poultry are more readily available than beef. Beef is considered a luxury meat, which is what makes pho so popular. Paper-thin slices of beef are barely cooked by the heat of the stock. Migration has resulted in restaurants as well as stores selling ingredients such as fresh rice noodles, fruits, vegetables and herbs needed for Vietnamese cooking in many a Western city. Nearly 100 years of French colonisation has also influenced the cuisine.