Winter’s coming in fast. What’s a Torontonian to do when the city’s plunged in a stormy chill – you’ve got to keep warm. If you have commuting to do on a particularly cold day, it can be challenging. While you’re out and about, grabbing a bowl of Vietnamese pho can be a kind solution for winter’s worst.

What is pho?

Pho originated in Vietnam roughly a century ago, as a mix of traditional Vietnamese cuisine alongside French colonial influences. These days, pho is one of Vietnam’s most popular street foods and has traversed the globe in recipes shared by immigrants in family homes and restaurants. Pho can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, which makes it the perfect meal come winter. It’s hot, healthy, filled with herbs, and will keep you warm throughout your travels.

Do you have to eat pho with chopsticks?

You may notice at your local TorontoPHO restaurant that some diners are enjoying a bowl with chopsticks. This doesn’t mean you have to do the same. Pho in Vietnamese culture is in fact traditionally served with both chopsticks and a spoon. There aren’t any rules about how pho’s expected to be eaten and you certainly won’t offend anyone if you go straight to the spoon. Pho’s something that’s meant to be enjoyed by all, not as a food that divides people.

Read more: Beat the Winter Chill in Toronto with a Hot Bowl of Healthy Vietnamese Pho!

For families, Vietnamese cooking is perfect. Most often, the food comes to the table in generous portions and with leftovers being common. No one goes hungry when you are at the table of a Vietnamese meal.

A lot of chefs, consumers, and families unfamiliar with Vietnamese cuisine may be wondering about how to cook and present it. Though there are many, many areas where a family can personalize the recipe to their tastes, there are a number of characteristics that in large part do not change. Here’s everything you need to know about how to cook Vietnamese food for your family.

Lots of vegetables

Vietnamese cooking is hardly vegan or vegetarian but it does warrant a lot of attention for its inclusion of vegetables. In fact, the largest food group or food type in most meals within Vietnamese cuisine are vegetables. They make up a huge portion of this diet which may be in part why it’s considered one of the healthiest ethnic cuisines in the world.

Read more: How to Cook Vietnamese Food for Your Family, As Told by a Vietnamese Chef

You can’t discount the importance, use, and all-around tastiness of carb-friendly noodles in Vietnamese cooking. Often served in soup or separately on the plate, there are more than a dozen creative Vietnamese uses of noodles. Prepared authentically, these noodles are always filling, delicious, and help support a nutritious diet.

Rice noodles

There are two main types of noodles used in Vietnamese cooking. Though you can create a noodle out of almost any food, it is rice and vermicelli that are most popular. Rice noodles are made from rice and are a great choice for salads, stir fries, soups, and more. Sturdier and flatter than vermicelli, they are best cooked – like pasta – in boiling water.

Rice vermicelli

Rice vermicelli is a thinner version of rice noodles, usually cooked by pouring boiling water over them. They are then left to soak until soft. Vietnamese-style rice vermicelli like this is used for a variety of purposes, sometimes confused with cellophane noodles which is a mung bean-derived Asian vermicelli.

Read more: 19 Vietnamese Noodle Dishes that come Fresh, Delicious, and Packed with Nutrients

One doesn’t have to go far down the menu to find healthy eating in Vietnamese cuisine. All of Vietnamese food is built around predominantly healthy components and achieving balance between tastes, ingredients, and textures.

When Vietnamese eating is prepared in a Toronto restaurant like TorontoPHO, only the freshest ingredients are used – whether that’s herbs, vegetables, or meats. A lot of our dishes come equipped with large portions of veggies to help fill up the tummy. What are the healthiest Vietnamese foods to eat in Toronto – check them out below!

Goi ngo sen, or lotus root salad

Most salads are healthy, usually made very fresh in Vietnamese cuisine. Lotus root salad comes rich in fiber and vitamins, with the lotus root known to have numerous medicinal benefits from lowering blood pressure to improving digestion and reducing cholesterol. Sometimes, the lotus root salad is mixed with carrots, pork, shrimp, and seasonings to create a balanced, tasty Vietnamese meal you won’t be challenged to finish.

Read more: What is the Healthiest Vietnamese Food You Can Find in Toronto – read here!

Unlike in Canada, the Vietnamese New Year falls on a different date. This year, the New Year begins on Saturday, January 25, 2020. For those that don’t know why it’s a different date, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year references the beginning of a calendar year that coordinates months to the cycles of the moon. The same is done in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, and Tibetan cultures among other cultures.

Just like in Canadian culture, in Vietnam, food plays a central role in the celebration around special occasions like New Year’s. This is the most important holiday of the year for many Vietnamese families and so the meal prepared is one that is endlessly special. There are a lot of traditional dishes, prepared from recipes passed down for generations. There are also newer cuisine favourites that have been gaining popularity as Lunar New Year dishes. Here’s what Vietnamese foods will be used to celebrate Lunar New Year this year.

Banh chung, or square steamed cake

Eating a healthy, balanced meal on New Year’s is central to Vietnamese cooking. Banh chung comes from northern Vietnam. They are square shaped rice cakes usually made from rice, seasoned pork, and mung bean, and then are wrapped in banana leaves. Sometimes, a small ribbon usually in red or green is tied on it signifying good luck.

Read more: What Food and Meals are Eaten on Vietnamese Lunar New Year – read here!

Do you love healthy, balanced meals? What about noodles, soups, or light fare with herbs, vegetables and the tastiest broths? In a nutshell, this is where Vietnamese cuisine starts. Everywhere you turn in the great Vietnamese cookbook, you’ll find delicious and popular Vietnamese meals that are loved not only in Vietnam but also by Canadians in our beautiful country.

This year saw a record number of Vietnamese restaurants in Toronto, Ontario, and Canada maintain operations. More Canadians than ever are digging into Vietnamese food and loving it. Healthy herb and vegetables, a little bit of influence from French cooking, and of course all the unique variations ranging from choice of protein, noodles, and broth, to vegetarian and vegan options, this is what makes this ethnic cuisine so special. In celebration of Christmas, the holiday season and the New Year ahead, here are 2019’s top Vietnamese food in Canada, as selected by Canadians.

Ca Phe Trung, or egg coffee

For those who haven’t had it, they may think, what the heck is Vietnamese egg coffee? As you may suspect, it’s essentially a whipped egg served over hot coffee. It combines a little French cuisine with Vietnamese harkening back to decades ago when the region was once a French colony. With some extra condensed milk in there and you’ve got a winning beverage!

Read more: What is the Most Popular Vietnamese Food in Canada for 2019 – See the List!