I am Vietnamese, and I love Vietnamese food. We might all have been there, on a street, or other public places like a market, or a traditional cuisine fair, pampering our taste buds to the fullest. Still, we might not know that there's much philosophy behind Vietnamese cuisines./ or every Typical Vietnamese meal.
Yin and Yang (For Hot/warm and Cold/Cool)
If you ever read bout Fengshui - the belief system of Asian, Yin- Yang covers everything in life. Yin and Yang in food help balance out the food as it goes inside your tummy. Yin for Cold and Yang for Hot.
So, most of the vegetables and fruits on the left are Yang (helps alleviates the Yin), which should come with some herbs and greens on the right, Yin - warm. Consumption of either too few or too many Yin or Yang food could lead to, in most cases, an upset stomach.
- For example, Vietnamese eat seafood (Yin - cold) with spicy ginger fish sauce (Hot - Yang). which is expected to harmonize the two. So your body won't get upset.
- Or When you get a cold (Yin), ginger tea (yang - warm) can help.
- Another example: Eating honey (Yin) can offset the excessive Yang caused by pollen. I often have some honey to cure pollen allergy, and that really works.
The five Yin-Yang in each Vietnamese meal.
Those five elements are, first of all, the five spices: Spicy, bitter, salty, sweet, and sour. Just like how you enjoy a meal through 5 elements of the universe (Water, Fire, Wood, Metal, and Earth ) as well as 5 levels of yin and yang:
1/ Cold(extreme yin, for Water)
2/ Hot (Extreme Yang, for Fire)
3/ Warm (Moderate Yang, for Wood)
4/ Cool (Moderate Yin, for Metal)
5/ Neutral (For earth)
Interesting isn't it. I am a Vietnamese myself, but I hadn't even notice much about these principles growing up, till one day I read about it somewhere.
Everything is so natural. It is passed down from generation to generation, an oral tradition for the most part. In the three examples right below, you can see the mutual points:
There is usually soup[Sour/bitter/sweet/salty], a stir-fried/boiled veggie dish [sweet/bitter/salty], some fish/meat [sweet/salty], Fruit [sweet]) (rice, too).
Vietnamese never struggle to think about yin or yang when they cook. Still, each meal seems to fulfill the so-called principles.
Do you happen to learn about any special theories/ stories behind the cuisines in your culture, I would love to hear. Thanks for reading.
Thuan