The first day of the Cultural Exchange of STEKOM University part 8 (Vietnamese cuisine and traditions)

This news article is a continuation of previous news articles on the same event. If you want to read about the event in its entirety, please save the related news sections. For part 1 news articles, click the following link https://international.stekom.ac.id/en-news-and-event/.the-first-day-of-the-cultural-exchange-of-stekom-university -part-1. For part 2 which contains presentations from Kazakhstan, you can visit the following link: https://international.stekom.ac.id/en-news-and-event/the-first-day-of-the-stekom-university-cultural -exchange-part-2-culinary-and-traditions-of-kazakhstan. Part 3 of Uganda, can be seen via the following link: https://international.stekom.ac.id/en-news-and-event/.the-first-day-of-the-stekom-university-cultural-exchange -part-3-uganda-culinary-and-traditions. For part 4.1 of the first part of Ukraine, it can be seen via the following link: https://international.stekom.ac.id/en-news-and-event/.the-first-day-of-the-cultural-exchange-of -stekom-university-part-41-culinary-and-ukrainian-traditions. News article part 4.2 of the second part of Ukraine, can be viewed via the following link: https://international.stekom.ac.id/en-news-and-event/.the-first-day-of-the-cultural-exchange- of-stekom-university-part-42-culinary-and-ukrainian-traditions. News article part 5 can be visited via the following link: https://international.stekom.ac.id/en-news-and-event/.the-first-day-of-the-stekom-university-cultural-exchange-part -5-culinary-and-malaysian-traditions. News article part 6 which discusses Uzbekistan culinary and traditions can be visited via the following link: https://international.stekom.ac.id/en-news-and-event/.first-day-of-stekom-university-cultural- exchange-part-61-uzbekistan-cuisine-and-traditions. The news article part 6 which discusses the culinary and traditions of Brunei Darussalam can be visited via the following link: https://international.stekom.ac.id/en-news-and-event/.the-first-day-of-the-cultural -exchange-of-stekom-university-part-7-culinary-and-traditions-of-brunei-darussalam.


This cultural and culinary presentation is from Indonesia's neighboring country, namely Vietnam. The presentation from Vietnam was delivered by Thua Thien Hu. At the beginning of the presentation, the presenter gave an introduction about the country of Vietnam. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is the easternmost country on the Indochina peninsula. Vietnam is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east.


With a population of around 90 million, Vietnam is the 13th most populous country in the world. Vietnam belongs to the "Next Eleven" economic group; according to the government, Vietnam's GDP grew by 8.17% in 2006, the second fastest growing country in East Asia and the first in Southeast Asia. At the end of 2007, the finance minister stated that Vietnam's GDP growth was expected to reach a record high in the last ten years at 8.44%.


Vietnam's history dates back 4000 years. Vietnam from the 11th century BC to the 10th century AD was mostly under the rule of the Chinese empire. In 939 AD, Vietnam became politically independent, and began using Champa as the country's name. This period is considered a period of building Vietnamese identity.


Vietnam has an area of ​​332,698 km², almost the size of Germany. The part of Vietnam that borders its international boundaries is 4639 km long and its coast is about 3444 km. The topography consists of heavily forested hills and mountains, with lowlands covering no more than 20% of it. Mountains account for 40% of Vietnam's total area, with small hills contributing 40% and tropical forests 42%. The northern part consists mostly of mountains and the Red River delta. Phan Xi Pang, located in Lao Cai province, is Vietnam's highest mountain at 3,143 meters. The south is divided into coastal lowlands, the peaks of the Annamite Chain, with extensive forests. Consisting of five flat plains of basalt soil, mountains contribute 16% of cultivated land and 22% of Vietnam's total forested land. Ha Long Bay, a World Heritage Site

The Red River Delta (also known as Song Hong), is a flat triangular area of ​​15 000 km²,[12] smaller but more developed and densely populated than the Mekong River Delta. Formerly the Red River Delta was a small bay in the Gulf of Tonkin region, filled by large deposits of river sediment over the millennial period and extending 100 meters into the Gulf of Tonkin each year. The Mekong Delta covers about 40,000 square kilometers, is a lowland no more than three meters above sea level from any point and is crossed by a network of canals and rivers. So much sediment is carried by the branches and flows of the Mekong River that the delta extends about 60 to 80 meters seaward each year.


Vietnam has a tropical monsoon climate, with an average humidity of 84% throughout the year. However, due to differences in latitude and topographical diversity, climate tends to vary greatly from place to place. During the winter or dry season, generally from November to April, the monsoons usually blow from the Northeast along the coast of China and towards the Gulf of Tonkin, increasing the amount of humidity; As a result, winter in most of Vietnam is dry. The average annual temperature is generally higher in the lowlands than in the mountains and highlands.


The presenter said that Vietnam is a multi-ethnic country with more than fifty different groups (54 in total). Each has a different lifestyle and cultural heritage. Vietnamese people make up the largest ethnic group, and are also called Viet or Kinh. Their population is concentrated in sediment deltas and lowlands along the coast. A homogeneous social group, the Kinh influence national life through their control over political and economic affairs and their role as purveyors of the dominant culture. In contrast, most ethnic minorities such as the Muong people, the ethnicity most closely related to the Kinh people, are mostly found in the highlands which cover two-thirds of the country's total area. The Hoa (ethnic Chinese) and Khmer Krom mostly live in the lowlands.


Vietnamese is the official language of Vietnam. About 85% of the population speaks Vietnamese as their mother tongue, while ethnic minorities speak it as their second language. In early history, the Vietnamese wrote with Chinese characters. In the 13th century, the Vietnamese developed their own character, Chu Nom. The ever celebrated epic Doan Truong Tan Thanh (Truyen Kieu or The Tale of Kieu) by Nguyen Du was written in Chu Nom. During the French colony period, Quoc Ngu, a romanization of the Vietnamese alphabet based on spoken Vietnamese developed jointly by several Portuguese missionaries, became popular and brought literacy to the masses. Several other languages ​​are used in conversation by some minority groups in Vietnam. The languages ​​are Tay, Muong (Hmong), Khmer, Chinese, Nung, Lolo, Man, Meo, Banahr, Rhade, Medium, Ede, Thai. Despite the fact that Vietnamese words have their own single syllables and accents as in Chinese, many of the words have a sound similarity to Malay. For example sun (mặt trời), eye (mắt), hand (tay), river (sông), wood (cây is pronounced kay), milk (sữa), throw away (buông, quăng), this (này), that (đó) , already (đã), moderate (đang) and others. French, a relic of colonial times, is still used by older Vietnamese as a second language but has lost its popularity. Russian - even less important ones like Czech and Polish - is often known among those whose families were tied to the Soviet bloc. In recent years, Mandarin, Japanese, and English have become the most popular foreign languages, with English becoming a compulsory subject in most schools.


Women's traditional clothing is called Ao Dai and is worn on special occasions such as weddings, Chinese New Year or festivals. Ao Dai used to be worn by both women and men but is now mostly worn by women.

Vietnamese cuisine uses less oil and lots of vegetables. The main meal often consists of rice, soy sauce and fish sauce. The taste characteristics are sweet (sugar), spicy (serrano peppers), sour (lime), umami (fish sauce) and various flavors of mint and basil.