viet food — Recipes — gondirtin - Outdoor Cooking, Overlanding, & Camping

Dalat style Vietnamese Pork Meatballs, Xíu Mại Da Lat

Nestled amidst the lush plateaus and misty mountains of Vietnam, the charming city of Dalat unveils a tapestry of beauty that captivates the senses. Known as the "City of Eternal Spring," Dalat is a hidden gem beloved by travelers seeking tranquility, breathtaking landscapes, and, of course, gastronomic wonders. During the French occupation of Vietnam, French citizen would often flock to the cooler temperatures of the mountainous region of Dalat to as a get-away from the usual hot and humid climate of the cities and jungle below. This is the reason many buildings look French and have that small French town vibe.

porkgondirtinOctober 5, 2023vietnamese food, viet cooking, vietnamese camping food, vietnamese cooking, viet foodComment

EASY CAMP RECIPE: Vietnamese Chicken Salad, Gỏi Gà

Good salads should never be hard find. But its increasingly becoming more and more difficult to find a salad at any fast casual restaurant that isn’t at some ridiculous price for a few leaves, a few nuts, a protein, and dressing. I should never have to chose between being able to get two hamburgers for the price of one salad. The current meteoric rise of inflation hasn’t helped. Because of the Great Salad Dilemma™, we tend to make our own salads at home and at camp.

EASY CAMP RECIPE: Vietnamese Chicken Rice Porridge, Cháo Gà

Few things hit harder than a bowl of hot soup at a chilly camp night. A bowl of chili is fine. But it doesn’t get the body temperature up. Chili is a hot dish that is best enjoyed when its much cooler to make it much more shovel-able (the act of taking a spoon of food to shove into your mouth without worry of burning your whole mouth). Asians LOVE soups that take time tested techniques to enjoy when they’re face melting-ly hot. You know, soups that are so hot that they fog up your glasses as you go into for a bite. That’s the kind of hot soups we’re talking about here.

Vietnamese Seared Tuna Salad with Tomatillo Fish Sauce Dressing, Gỏi Cá Ngừ, at Camp

On our month long trip in Baja, improvisation was key. We couldn’t depend on our usual “things to buy” whenever we’re in the States. We were at the whim of what the markets had to offer. We lived the gentrified millennial dream: eating locally and seasonally. We travel with a fairly wide selection of spices and seasoning so we can whip together basically anything we want. We can throw together American, Indian, Korean, Mexican, or Vietnamese pretty easily. This salad was inspired a traditional Vietnamese chicken salad, gỏi ga, then fused with our love of grill seafood from the streets of Vietnam.

Camp Vietnamese Hot Pot, Lẩu Thái

Hot pot. It’s a phrase that is synonymous with parties, get togethers, celebrations, and good times for many people around the world. Ever wonder how to feed a bunch of people delicious food without breaking the bank? Hot pot is the answer. Growing up, the lẩu thái (thai-inspired) variant of Vietnamese hot pot, was the go-to dish for my mom to serve whenever we knew that the rest of the massive Nguyen clan was coming.

Camp Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup, OXTAIL PHO!

Phở is the spaghetti of the Vietnam. It’s the country’s most known dish, the most talked about, and somehow translated extremely well to non-Vietnamese people when made the leap over the pond to western countries. And, like spaghetti, mom always makes it best. The next best thing while you’re traveling on the road? Make phở yourself and have a full on chill day at camp.

Camp Vietnamese Iced Coffee, Cà Phê Sữa Đá

It’s a well known fact that camping and coffee go hand-in-hand. The fact that we make the choice all leave our day-to-day grind to slow down and appreciate what’s around us for a few days, a week, a month, or indefinitely. That very cup filled with that black soul nourishing liquid is the exact catalyst for many of us to take a step back, breathe in a little deeper, and turn down the go-go-go clock.

Vietnamese Smoked French Dip

The most American I ever felt as an immigrant kid growing up in America was when I was 18 and I ordered my first French dip at Applebee’s. Nothing felt as far removed from home-cooked Vietnamese food than, to me, a decadent meat filled sandwich where you dip the whole contraption into its own juices. In those few moments of enjoying the sandwich, the feeling of being included and accepted as just another American kid, and not an immigrant kid with strange cultural traditions and stinky food, was incredibly powerful.

Food has this crazy way of transporting you back instantly to a specific moment in time. Memories of the place you were at. Memories of the people with you. Memories of the flavors. Memories of the smells. Memories of your reaction to a first taste….

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