ABC in Vietnamese (Food Edition): Inspiration

Ask a stranger to define Vietnam, and most likely, you'll receive prominent responses about the food.  Vietnamese cuisine is world famous for its flavors, and so much of our culture centers around food.  We even have folklore behind some dishes (for example, google the origins of bánh chưng and bánh tét). 

What better way to learn the Vietnamese alphabet than to combine it with traditional and cultural cuisine?  I want to feature typical appetizers, entrees, desserts, fruits and ingredients commonly found in Vietnamese dishes.  From a practical perspective, I hope this book will also help readers recognize and order dishes at Vietnamese restaurants :).

For each letter, I chose a dish that holds either some type of cultural relevance or may be prevalent in child's daily life to further cement the Vietnamese words.  For example, bánh ít is clearly a Vietnamese dish whereas kem (ice cream) is not just Vietnamese, but ice cream is something our children are likely to see more frequently than sticky rice dumplings. 

I share short factoids on selected dishes through IG @embebooks.  Follow along if you'd like to learn more.