Cultural Connections: Cooking Edition–Chinese & Vietnamese Dishes

Micaella Balderrama

PrideTime Reporter 

Brien McMahon is an incredibly diverse high school. Many members of the student body and staff come from very ethnic backgrounds. Senior Ashley Hong (‘19) comes from a Chinese background.

“Both of my parents are Chinese, but they lived in Vietnam. They came to America at separate times and met here,” she shared.

All Hong’s life, her parents have been cooking traditional Chinese and Vietnamese dishes. To delve a little into these Asian cultures, PrideTime researched some of her favorite recipes and meals.

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Meals:

Hong (‘19)’s favorite Vietnamese dish is Pho. When asked which variant of the food she likes best, she shared: “My favorite recipe for pho would be beef. I don’t ever eat the other types of it– chicken, vegetables, etc.”
Pho, or Phở, is a classic Vietnamese soup, made up of broth, rice noodles, a few herbs– cilantro, scallions, onions, etc., and meat– choice of chicken or beef, primarily. It’s also a popular street food in Vietnam and is a speciality in numerous restaurants across the globe, including Sono’s Mecha.

As for Hong’s favorite Chinese dish, she says it would have to be soup dumplings. Soup dumplings, known as Xiao Long Bao in Chinese, which translates to “little-basket bun.” The soup dumpling is a type of steamed bun filled with soup and usually pork (variants include: minced crab meat, seafood, other meats, and vegetarian fillings). Soup dumplings may be eaten throughout the day, but usually aren’t eaten for breakfast. They’re sold in restaurants around the world, as well, and also are popularly bought in stores frozen.

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Desserts:

As far as dessert goes, Hong (‘19) reckons her favorite would be an egg tart. Egg tarts have been popularized in China, but are also found in other Asian countries, along with Britain, Argentina, Portugal, and Brazil. Made with an outer pastry crust, the egg tart is filled with egg custard and then baked. Egg tarts are sold internationally in bakeries and pastry shops.
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Chinese & Vietnamese Staples:

Every culture has their staples, or ‘must haves’; for Italians, it may be pasta or some kind of sauce. For Hong (‘19), she says that, “having rice or noodles is a must,” going on to say that her family eats soup “with every meal.”






​Different kinds of rice:

• White rice (usually steamed)
• Brown rice
• Arborio rice
• Basmati rice

Different kinds of soup:

• Chicken soup (seasoned with ginger, scallions, black pepper, soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil)
• Egg drop soup
• Noodle soup
• Hot and sour soup

*Not all listed

​Different kinds of noodles:

• Cellophane noodles
• Shahe fen
• Yi mein
• Cumian
• Lamian

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