Vietnamese food is one of the world's most loved cuisines. Foreigners line up for phở, bánh mì (the sandwich), gỏi cuốn (rice paper rolls), bún chả (Hanoi grilled pork) and cà phê sữa đá (iced coffee).
The trick: fresh herbs, fish sauce, and balancing sweet, salty, sour and spicy in every meal. Most dishes can be eaten in any country, but they always taste a little better in Saigon.
You can travel the whole world without leaving your kitchen, just by tasting different things. Each country's food is the result of thousands of years of cooks, farmers, traders, and grandmothers improving recipes — using whatever they could grow, catch, or trade for.
Try one new thing every trip.