Let’s talk FOOOOD

The food in Vietnam looks seriously delicious and I honestly want to eat it all…there’s just one issue. I’m one of those awkward vegetarians. I’m not going to lie, it has been hard to pin down what I can, and can’t eat here. Some of things I ate had no animal ingredients listed but they had, what I like to call , surprise meat.

Thankfully a fellow intern at IRRI helped me out and told me the word for vegetarian. It’s ‘Chay’ and forms 90% of my Vietnamese vocabulary. Sometimes I spice it up and say ‘Mon Chay’ which is Vietnamese for vegetarian meal.

Armed with my new information I began on my mission to google translate what all of these amazing looking foods were. Not going to lie, this definitely gave us a few giggles in the office….

Seriously though, the Vietnamese make these ‘meat substitutes’ that taste really delicious. I would definitely recommend trying them even if you’re not vegetarian!