Food in the US and a VN bride

[Dai. 7]

From my experience with my wife, it helps when we go out with other people besides just me and her. When we were in Vietnam my brothers and other family members came and we ate greek food, hamburgers, pizza, Steak, brazillian churrascaria, korean food, Thai food (she really loves Thai food because it's spicy) big exotics like Kangaroo, alligator, wild boar, snake meat, and deer. I think she saw other Vietnamese people eat it and it made her feel comfortable and she had an open mind to eat and it try new things. When she came here to Texas with me, I bought my mom, my brother and my wife taco bell and she ate it all up because my mom was saying how great it was. Now she craves it now like burger king whooper and specially french fries. I took her to eat crawfish the other day, I am so happy she loves it because I love that stuff too. I think what opened up her tastebuds was the Thai food (because I worked in Thailand and brought her with me) being the first different thing she ate besides VN food and it being spicy made her love it. I have yet to let her try indian food, but with me I wasn't open to it until last year when my co worker went and I tagged along and tried it for the 1st time and it was supprisingly good. I thought it looked nasty from what I saw on TV but when I really tried it, it was awesome. One day when I eat it again with my indian co worker I will try to bring my wife along too.

[Anh map 2,098]

My wife didn't have too much of a problem adjusting to American foods. This may be because we spent a lot of time in Ho Chi Minh City and ate at KFC, Pizza Hut, etc. She loves McDonald's and Wendy's go figure. She also like TGIFridays, Applbee's and Chinese food. My suggestion is to let her try different things and let her decide what she likes and doesn't like. She will have to be open to trying new foods though. My wife's aunt on the other hand has lived in the US for about 30 years and refuses to eat anything other than Vietnamese food so it depends on the person.

J & Q Wow.. 30 years and she stuck to what she knew... I actually tried to get her to eat BK in Singapore airport...the burger was a no go 4 sure.. the fries were kinda acceptable...

Jim .. You are lucky being in SF, in many ways.. The closest thing to what you have in SF is orlando for me... I can see us going to O-town every now and then... as there is a huge area of VN businesses there..

Also===I have already done research to find VN TV for her to watch here.....success

Scott, you'll find plenty there in Orlando. I lived there for several years. My VN friends there are actually what got me started on this "journey." If you want some specifics , PM me.

[ScottThuy 140]

From my experience with my wife, it helps when we go out with other people besides just me and her. When we were in Vietnam my brothers and other family members came and we ate greek food, hamburgers, pizza, Steak, brazillian churrascaria, korean food, Thai food (she really loves Thai food because it's spicy) big exotics like Kangaroo, alligator, wild boar, snake meat, and deer. I think she saw other Vietnamese people eat it and it made her feel comfortable and she had an open mind to eat and it try new things. When she came here to Texas with me, I bought my mom, my brother and my wife taco bell and she ate it all up because my mom was saying how great it was. Now she craves it now like burger king whooper and specially french fries. I took her to eat crawfish the other day, I am so happy she loves it because I love that stuff too. I think what opened up her tastebuds was the Thai food (because I worked in Thailand and brought her with me) being the first different thing she ate besides VN food and it being spicy made her love it. I have yet to let her try indian food, but with me I wasn't open to it until last year when my co worker went and I tagged along and tried it for the 1st time and it was supprisingly good. I thought it looked nasty from what I saw on TV but when I really tried it, it was awesome. One day when I eat it again with my indian co worker I will try to bring my wife along too.

I love Indian food and was able to slip in some good Chai tea in Singapore, but she wouldn't eat anything there because she thought they were "dirty" in how they kept the cooking area.. That threw me for a loop having seen some off the wall stuff in VN... I really hoped singapore would be the bridge that Thailand was for you.. maybe just not enough time there and we were not with others...

[aaron2020 11,651]

From my experience with my wife, it helps when we go out with other people besides just me and her. When we were in Vietnam my brothers and other family members came and we ate greek food, hamburgers, pizza, Steak, brazillian churrascaria, korean food, Thai food (she really loves Thai food because it's spicy) big exotics like Kangaroo, alligator, wild boar, snake meat, and deer. I think she saw other Vietnamese people eat it and it made her feel comfortable and she had an open mind to eat and it try new things. When she came here to Texas with me, I bought my mom, my brother and my wife taco bell and she ate it all up because my mom was saying how great it was. Now she craves it now like burger king whooper and specially french fries. I took her to eat crawfish the other day, I am so happy she loves it because I love that stuff too. I think what opened up her tastebuds was the Thai food (because I worked in Thailand and brought her with me) being the first different thing she ate besides VN food and it being spicy made her love it. I have yet to let her try indian food, but with me I wasn't open to it until last year when my co worker went and I tagged along and tried it for the 1st time and it was supprisingly good. I thought it looked nasty from what I saw on TV but when I really tried it, it was awesome. One day when I eat it again with my indian co worker I will try to bring my wife along too.

I love Indian food and was able to slip in some good Chai tea in Singapore, but she wouldn't eat anything there because she thought they were "dirty" in how they kept the cooking area.. That threw me for a loop having seen some off the wall stuff in VN... I really hoped singapore would be the bridge that Thailand was for you.. maybe just not enough time there and we were not with others...

Ha! Ha! That is funny. I've had guys smoking cigarettes and sweating like pigs prepare my meals in VN. That's foul. Even though my dad spent 40 years living in VN, he found Chinatown in San Francisco to be disgusting after living in the US for 34 years. My non-Asian friends will not go into to the local VN markets because the butcher/fish departments have wet cardboard on the floors, animal blood in the bins or on the fishes. The tub of fish heads make them want to barf.

It's all relative. If you are used to something, you don't think is is disgusting. Once your wife gets accustomed to the sanitary conditions at the local Kroger, Safeway or Winn-Dixie, she will probably think that the markets and kitchens in VN are disgusting. Most Viet Kieu that I know feel that VN is a filthy place.

Get your wife to a good Asian market and let her stock up on the things she likes. Remind her that food odor should be a consideration. The house should not smell like shrimp paste.

Edited July 12, 2009 by aaron2020

[Anh map 2,098]

From my experience with my wife, it helps when we go out with other people besides just me and her. When we were in Vietnam my brothers and other family members came and we ate greek food, hamburgers, pizza, Steak, brazillian churrascaria, korean food, Thai food (she really loves Thai food because it's spicy) big exotics like Kangaroo, alligator, wild boar, snake meat, and deer. I think she saw other Vietnamese people eat it and it made her feel comfortable and she had an open mind to eat and it try new things. When she came here to Texas with me, I bought my mom, my brother and my wife taco bell and she ate it all up because my mom was saying how great it was. Now she craves it now like burger king whooper and specially french fries. I took her to eat crawfish the other day, I am so happy she loves it because I love that stuff too. I think what opened up her tastebuds was the Thai food (because I worked in Thailand and brought her with me) being the first different thing she ate besides VN food and it being spicy made her love it. I have yet to let her try indian food, but with me I wasn't open to it until last year when my co worker went and I tagged along and tried it for the 1st time and it was supprisingly good. I thought it looked nasty from what I saw on TV but when I really tried it, it was awesome. One day when I eat it again with my indian co worker I will try to bring my wife along too.

I love Indian food and was able to slip in some good Chai tea in Singapore, but she wouldn't eat anything there because she thought they were "dirty" in how they kept the cooking area.. That threw me for a loop having seen some off the wall stuff in VN... I really hoped singapore would be the bridge that Thailand was for you.. maybe just not enough time there and we were not with others...

Ha! Ha! That is funny. I've had guys smoking cigarettes and sweating like pigs prepare my meals in VN. That's foul. Even though my dad spent 40 years living in VN, he found Chinatown in San Francisco to be disgusting after living in the US for 34 years. My non-Asian friends will not go into to the local VN markets because the butcher/fish departments have wet cardboard on the floors, animal blood in the bins or on the fishes. The tub of fish heads make them want to barf.

It's all relative. If you are used to something, you don't think is is disgusting. Once your wife gets accustomed to the sanitary conditions at the local Kroger, Safeway or Winn-Dixie, she will probably think that the markets and kitchens in VN are disgusting. Most Viet Kieu that I know feel that VN is a filthy place.

Get your wife to a good Asian market and let her stock up on the things she likes. Remind her that food odor should be a consideration. The house should not smell like shrimp paste.

AMEN brother on the shrimp paste!!!

[ScottThuy 140]

I can top the shrimp paste smell.. I dropped a whole bottle of Chin Su a few months ago... on the tile kitchen floor. Imagine nuoc mam soaking into the grout.... took a week to get the smell out..... I love the taste but not thrilled with the smell in the house..

A buddy of mine found a workaround when it comes to cooking and the unique VN food smells... his family is from VN and they have a kitchen setup on the lania... anything that may smell is prepared outside...

[aaron2020 11,651]

I can top the shrimp paste smell.. I dropped a whole bottle of Chin Su a few months ago... on the tile kitchen floor. Imagine nuoc mam soaking into the grout.... took a week to get the smell out..... I love the taste but not thrilled with the smell in the house..

A buddy of mine found a workaround when it comes to cooking and the unique VN food smells... his family is from VN and they have a kitchen setup on the lania... anything that may smell is prepared outside...

Do the neighbors complain? I love the smell of BBQ while hanging out in my back yard. I don't think I would feel the same way if shrimp paste and nuoc mam odors creep over the fence and I am laying out in my pool.

Edited July 12, 2009 by aaron2020

[dalegg 143]

I have found great resistance to change with these people when it comes to food. All of the people I have known that have come from Vietnam to the US have one thing in mind for what's for dinner- vietnamese food. Gradually my wife has learned to like Japenese food and now even Italian food- but these come with time. You'll be able to ease her in with Thai food and chinese food, but it looks like Mexican food is just not happening.

[ScottThuy 140]

I can top the shrimp paste smell.. I dropped a whole bottle of Chin Su a few months ago... on the tile kitchen floor. Imagine nuoc mam soaking into the grout.... took a week to get the smell out..... I love the taste but not thrilled with the smell in the house..

A buddy of mine found a workaround when it comes to cooking and the unique VN food smells... his family is from VN and they have a kitchen setup on the lania... anything that may smell is prepared outside...

Do the neighbors complain? I love the smell of BBQ while hanging out in my back yard. I don't think I would feel the same way if shrimp paste and nuoc mam odors creep over the fence and I am laying out in my pool.

His mother lives next door

[Frank and Duyen 0]

While in VN with my wife and her family, I cooked a couple times. One night I made cheese burgers, they didnt enjoy em at all, even my 8 year old step son didnt finish his. At least they were politite about it I've got a vn cook book I use here at home often and honestly I prefer vn food anyway. Once my SO gets here we both will be cooking, mostly vn style with some western bbq on occasion. The holidays will be interesting when we visit my family. I will have to be sure there is some vn cuisine mixed in with the traditional stuff. As far as dinning out, we've got some vn restauratns nearby that we'll go too and I know my stepson enjoys kfc and pizzia from time to time.

[lindal24 1]

Being from Hanoi area I think her family is a little more conservative when it comes to trying new foods.. or at least that is how it seems from all of us going out to eat... Ah bonefish! great idea.. and really close.. I used to go there all of the time before my money got tied up in this proccess... the cost of the trips add up when work isnt paying for them. got a japanese steakhouse also.. thats another good one! I'm working on getting a VN cookbook.. a friend got me two but forgot that my primary reading language is English.. the books were not.. The big plus that I have is a VN market that is pretty close.. yes a VN market not an asian market... they also rent DVD's.. .

I'm going there mid-august thru sept 9th. pm me the location of your eatery and I'll be sure to stop by one day!

[chuckandkim 0]

Whatever you do, do not take her to TACO's BELL

[toddandhien 2]

After 5 weeks, Hien is beginning to enjoy American food. I agree with others that when she first arrives, plan on eating at home and let her cook what she is comfortable with. That will mean quickly taking her to the local Asian market and getting stocked up with nuoc mam and other vital ingredients, along with the "correct" type of rice. Remember that she has just flown for 20-28 hours and is setting up camp in a new country...she may want something that makes her feel comfortable.

Hien much prefers when we eat at home. Whether we cook VN or US is now less an issue but controlling the cooking and the taste is very important to her, as well as not spending money at restaurants. Last week we made buffalo wings at home. She liked them so much that we have had them twice now. We used the hottest sauce we could find and it was barely enough spice for her.

I found that her desire to eat American foods is much higher here than in VN. The reason is that the American food in VN does not taste like it does here so she never developed much of a taste for it.

[Anh map 2,098]

Whatever you do, do not take her to TACO's BELL

Yo Chuck Map,

Heading down to AC for work on Wed. Come down and sample some good hot dogs.

[Anh map 2,098]

I can top the shrimp paste smell.. I dropped a whole bottle of Chin Su a few months ago... on the tile kitchen floor. Imagine nuoc mam soaking into the grout.... took a week to get the smell out..... I love the taste but not thrilled with the smell in the house..

A buddy of mine found a workaround when it comes to cooking and the unique VN food smells... his family is from VN and they have a kitchen setup on the lania... anything that may smell is prepared outside...

The lanais here in the northeast tend to have a bit of snow some months. That's the thing I did not appreciate. In Vietnam all the houses are so open that the aromas tend to dissipate. In the colder months here the cooking smells stay in the house, and the carpet.