Are you a Master Chef of your kitchen kingdom willing to explore the world’s wonders? Then this blog post will take you to the land of the Vietnamese Cook Cave. From Vietnamese cooking terms to Vietnamese food and cuisine vocab, this blog has you covered from every corner to make your trip to Vietnam filled with the essence and knowledge of rice noodles to rice porridge, and you will not miss out on any important terms that you should know.
So, if you are interested in understanding some of the basic and essential cooking vocabulary and food words, start learning Vietnamese with us right away!
What Does Vietnam Have To Offer?
Before we get started with our cooking terms and sentences, let us witness the beautiful food culture of Vietnam. Vietnamese food has always secured a safe position in millions of people’s a heart, and there is nothing that can deny such a fact.
Like many Asian countries, Vietnamese people take three regular meals consisting of their traditional food platter or main dish that emphasizes rice, boiled vegetables with soupy broth, chopped meat, or fish. The cooking techniques often involve stir-frying or cooking steaming.
However, from fish sauce to a spring roll, every Vietnamese food is embedded with the utmost cultural taste and essence, making it pure and ethnic. It is a land in southeast Asia full of unique food combinations and cooking techniques that every soul on earth craves to behold the beauty through their own buds.
While Banh mi (baguettes), chicken noodle soup, grilled pork, and special Vietnamese noodle soup with veggies are some extremely famous Vietnamese food known worldwide, there are even more savory dishes such as fried rice, fried shallots, shredded pork, sticky rice, and bò Kho beef stew that are equally amazing and worth craving for.
Thus, we can see that Vietnam is a pool of ultimate staples that one can never have enough of. Once you land in Vietnam, you will constantly engage with native food-related terms. So, learning some cooking words will only help you communicate more precisely.
Vietnamese Cooking Terms
Learning some of the known food items made this learning journey already exciting and fun. So, let’s get acquainted with the cooking vocab that will help identify the techniques on how a particular dish is made. Especially if you’re traveling to Vietnam intending to explore their food culture, these terms will come in handy in many situations.
| English | Vietnamese |
| Boil | Sôi lên Sôi lên |
| Bake | Nướng Nướng |
| Beat | Tiết tấu Tiết tấu |
| Cut | Cắt Cắt |
| Peel | Bóc Bóc |
| Stir | Khuấy động Khuấy động |
| Fry | Chiên Chiên |
| Heat | Nhiệt Nhiệt |
| Microwave | Lò vi sóng Lò vi sóng |
| Steam | Hơi nước Hơi nước |
| Roast | Thịt nướng Thịt nướng |
| Poach | Poach Poach |
| Grill | Nướng Nướng |
| Saute | Áp chảo Áp chảo |
| Steam | Hơi nước Hơi nước |
Cooking Verbs In Vietnamese
For a more precise and clear understanding, it is important to know how to use the cooking terms to convey the right message. So, to help you communicate with the locals of the famous ho chi Minh city, this section will introduce some cooking words in their verb forms.
| English | Vietnamese |
| To cook | Nấu ăn Nấu ăn |
| I am cooking | tôi đang nấu ăn tôi đang nấu ăn |
| To bake | Để nướng Để nướng |
| She is baking | Cô ấy đang nướng Cô ấy đang nướng |
| To mince | Để băm Để băm |
| He is mincing | Anh ấy đang cắt nhỏ Anh ấy đang cắt nhỏ |
| To chop | Chặt Chặt |
| They are chopping | Họ đang chặt Họ đang chặt |
| To grease | Tra dầu mỡ Tra dầu mỡ |
| I am greasing | Tôi đang bôi trơn Tôi đang bôi trơn |
| To slice | Để cắt Để cắt |
| She is slicing | Cô ấy đang cắt Cô ấy đang cắt |
| To barbeque | Đến đồ nướng Đến đồ nướng |
| To mix | Trộn Trộn |
| To stew | Hầm Hầm |
Common Phrases In Vietnamese
| English | Vietnamese |
| She loves to cook noodle dishes | Cô ấy thích nấu các món bún Cô ấy thích nấu các món bún |
| It is hard to cook sticky rice | Xôi khó nấu Xôi khó nấu |
| Northern Vietnamese cooking techniques are quite unique | Kỹ thuật nấu ăn miền Bắc Việt Nam khá độc đáo Kỹ thuật nấu ăn miền Bắc Việt Nam khá độc đáo |
| I want to stir fry noodles with soy sauce | Tôi muốn xào mì với xì dầu Tôi muốn xào mì với xì dầu |
| I would love to bake bread myself | Tôi rất thích tự mình nướng bánh mì Tôi rất thích tự mình nướng bánh mì |
| Steamed rice is just a boiled dish | Cơm trắng chỉ là một món luộc Cơm trắng chỉ là một món luộc |
| Add Vietnamese coriander while poaching eggs | Thêm rau mùi Việt Nam khi luộc trứng Thêm rau mùi Việt Nam khi luộc trứng |
| Deep-fried spring rolls are the bets | Chả giò chiên là món cá cược Chả giò chiên là món cá cược |
| She roasted a shaking beef | Cô ấy nướng thịt bò lắc Cô ấy nướng thịt bò lắc |
| Steamed rich broth is amazing | Nước dùng đậm đà hấp dẫn thật tuyệt vời Nước dùng đậm đà hấp dẫn thật tuyệt vời |
| I boiled sweetened condensed milk | Tôi đun sôi sữa đặc có đường Tôi đun sôi sữa đặc có đường |
| Mix oyster sauce with broken rice to make something unique | Trộn dầu hào với cơm tấm để tạo nên món ăn độc đáo Trộn dầu hào với cơm tấm để tạo nên món ăn độc đáo |
| It is easy to cook some of the main dishes of Vietnam | Rất dễ để nấu một số món ăn chính của Việt Nam Rất dễ để nấu một số món ăn chính của Việt Nam |
| Always add fresh vegetables to your steamed rice dishes | Luôn thêm rau tươi vào món cơm hấp của bạn Luôn thêm rau tươi vào món cơm hấp của bạn |
| The Vietnamese cuisine is very interesting to cook | Các món ăn Việt Nam nấu ăn rất thú vị Các món ăn Việt Nam nấu ăn rất thú vị |
Vietnamese Cuisine
Now, although you are acquainted with the cooking terms, whenever you order food in Vietnam, you should not lack the ability to understand their standard terms. In fact, in many restaurants, Vietnam does not keep English menus.
They are very fond of their language, and it is an important prerequisite for pro-chefs and foodies like you to know their native terms. So, to help you with that, we will now touch upon some of the famous Vietnamese food vocab that is common and essential.
Learn these and order your rice vermicelli and chicken dishes like a real local.
| English | Vietnamese Food |
| Fresh herbs | Thảo dược tươi Thảo dược tươi |
| Rice Flour | Bột gạo Bột gạo |
| Bread | Bánh mì Bánh mì |
| Coffee | Cà phê Cà phê |
| Pickled carrot | Cà rốt ngâm chua Cà rốt ngâm chua |
| Rice paper | Bánh tráng Bánh tráng |
| Chinese broccoli | bông cải xanh Trung Quốc bông cải xanh Trung Quốc |
| Flank steak | Sườn bò Sườn bò |
| Bean sprouts | Giá đỗ Giá đỗ |
| Thai basil | Húng quế Húng quế |
| Corn beef | Bắp bò Bắp bò |
| Boiled Pork | Thịt lợn luộc Thịt lợn luộc |
Vietnamese Language With Ling
Ever since the French colonial rule, Vietnam has nurtured its culture and tradition into every inch of its customs and behavior. It can be seen by their food habits and traditional cooking techniques that the Vietnamese version of cultivation will never vanish.
From Fish sauce to the spices of star anise, spring rolls to northern Vietnam dishes, even the shrimp in the banana leaf displays a well-maintained cultural behavior. Thus, knowing some basic and common verbs and terms related to cooking and food will help you understand more about Vietnamese cuisine and its cooking habits.
Ling App by Simya Solutions is here with entertaining content such as 10+ Easy Vietnamese Buildings And Places Vocabulary and Vietnamese Zodiac: 12 Signs And Wonders to help achieve your dream of learning Vietnamese. Along with vocabulary and grammar, you will also see blogs on Vietnamese people and their culture with clear details and facts that will grow your skills further.
So, let go of your old books and start learning today with Ling free from your mobile screen!
