Yes, the Vietnamese “boat people” and their horrendous experience was something we’d always remember from the 70s/80s. Since most of those who fled were from the losing South Vietnamese side, they took their southern cuisine over to the West, where many of them resettled as war refugees. Many Westerners usually have their first taste of Vietnamese food in a South Vietnamese-run eatery - in America, UK, France or Australia - and, as a result, identify what they had as the Vietnamese food as they know it.
My first taste of Vietnamese food was from Kim Anh, a popular Vietnamese restaurant in Perth, Western Australia, where I grew up. I actually dreaded going to Kim Anh (a fave among my family and friends), because it served the spiciest food I’d ever had, and I couldn’t really take much chilis in my younger days. I couldn’t even eat its fried rice because of the amount of chilis added into it during the frying process! So, for many years, I tended to associate Vietnamese food with deadly spicy cuisine. It was only from 2000 onwards, with my constant business travel to Vietnam, that I realized what a misguided impression I’d had of the cuisine.
Vietnamese food is quite regional - from the mild-tasting North Vietnamese, to the spice-loving Southerners with their predilection for fresh herbs and vegetables. So, as one moves down Vietnam’s long coastline (3,260 km / 2,030 miles), the food gets spicier and spicier, and sweeter, too. Northern-style banh mi ham sandwiches start having fresh vegetables and crunchy pickles added to them, whilst pho bo has chili-spiked nuoc cham as a side-condiment.
Saigon House Cuisine here remains rooted to the Southern-style cuisine of Vietnam, which probably suits the spice-loving palate of Malaysians and Singaporeans.
